Ken Borland

Sharks coach Sean Everitt has warned that South Africa’s top rugby players could be facing 12 months of non-stop action which is why the current preparation series has seen all four of the bigger franchises fielding second-string line-ups.

The Sharks play the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Wednesday and Everitt, for the second week running, has left more than 60% of the 23-man squad that featured in the Currie Cup final at the end of January on the sidelines. The Bulls, Western Province and Lions have similarly rested their leading stars.

“There’s not going to be too much time for a pre-season and we could be playing rugby for the next 12 months, so that means we won’t be able to top up the players in terms of strength and conditioning. So the Currie Cup guys can’t just keep on playing, we need them to try and develop more resilient bodies to prevent injury later on. We also need to grow our depth and prepare for the Rainbow Cup.

“Our motivation in these matches is slightly different to that of the Cheetahs, so we’ve split our squad into two groups of 33 and 12. The 12 are doing strength and conditioning work and at the end of the Free State game, those 12 will come back into the playing squad and another 12 will go into the conditioning camp. So when we play the Lions away from home it will be a vastly different starting line-up,” Everitt eplained.

Everitt said the plan in the opening two weeks of the preparation series was to give all the fringe players an equal opportunity to impress.

“We’re trying to balance selection because I would like everyone to have had equal game time after the first two matches and then we will rotate the bigger group. The preparation series is an opportunity to see where we might need to add some depth. We have explored some options already to bolster the squad, but we have nothing definite to announce to the public.

“Siya Kolisi has come along very well and went straight into team training. He’s found it a bit difficult with the severe heat on the coast at the moment, but it’s been tough on all the players. He’s also provided good leadership off the field, as you’d expect of the Springbok captain. At the moment we are building something really special here,” Everitt said.

Sharks star Sbu Nkosi is a top-class wing, a current Springbok and World Cup winner. He will be coming up against two young rising stars in Bulls wings Kurt-Lee Arendse and Stravino Jacobs.

“They are both very good players or Jake White would not have selected them. We all have a lot to learn but I guess I’m a bit further down the road in my journey so there are probably a couple things more that I have picked up. But they are both very exciting players and they will bring energy. I will bring my best game as if I’m playing against the best in the world,” is what Nkosi said about Arendse and Jacobs.

So what will Nkosi be up against in the Currie Cup final on Saturday? Former Springbok captain Jean de Villiers runs the rule over Jacobs and Arendse.

Stravino Jacobs

“I’m extremely proud of how he has really stepped up to another level, especially since he comes from my alma mater Paarl Gim. So I’ve watched him for a while, he was already a beast at school and Jake White is always good at giving those sort of talents opportunity. He’s a big, physical guy but he doesn’t lack pace either,” De Villiers told The Citizen on Wednesday.

Kurt-Lee Arendse

“He also comes from Paarl even though he did not take the traditional route to the top. But he has all the skills and I have been so impressed by his all-round performance. He’s smaller than Stravino but he doesn’t shy away from defence and he has a good eye for every opportunity. It’s very exciting to see the way he’s playing and the influence of Sevens on XVs, so credit to Springbok Sevens coach Neil Powell and his work and guys like Cornal Hendricks and Stedman Gans who are also in the Bulls team.

“As a combination, both of the Bulls wings have speed and they’re a bit like a Julian Savea and Cheslin Kolbe combo – those are the two extremes when it comes to wings, but it’s complete package,” De Villiers said.

Nkosi, who is not lacking in power, will be marking Jacobs so that could be a titanic clash out near the tramlines on Saturday.

Schalk Burger was usually at the vanguard when it came to setting a high intensity for the Springboks, but the legendary loose forward does not see that same intensity yet in the current crop of players as they return from Lockdown, which is why he does not believe the national team are ready to compete in the Rugby Championship.

The South African-based players have only had a maximum of three games each – the SuperFan Saturday warm-up, the dour Springbok Showdown and just the opening round of Super Rugby Unlocked. But a decision is due to be made on Friday as to whether they travel to Australia for the Rugby Championship, which is due to start on November 7, with the Springboks taking on Argentina in Brisbane.

“At the moment the Boks are not ready. I just haven’t seen the intensity to match the intensity we saw in the All Blacks/Australia game on the weekend. For us to perform away from home, I think the guys are a few games short. Rassie Erasmus said he wanted them to have six games before playing Test rugby, but if it is true that the November 7 match has already been postponed then they will have more time.

“But we have magnificent players and we play differently to the All Blacks and Wallabies, especially in the way we defend. It was so easy for Australia to get width with just one or two passes, but we rush up and make that so difficult. And we pride ourselves on our scrums and lineouts, so we would have put Australia under so much more pressure,” Burger said in a Laureus Sport For Good Foundation webinar on Wednesday night.

Burger also added that he was concerned about the injury suffered on a French field by Handre Pollard and the lack of certainty over who will back up Elton Jantjies at flyhalf, as well as the injuries at lock.

“Lock and flyhalf are real concerns. Lood de Jager, Handre Pollard and RG Snyman have all suffered major injuries and they are nine-to-10-month injuries, so one wonders if they will be ready for the British Lions tour next year, which is a red-letter event for South Africa. I’m waiting for a few young locks to really stand up, there’s massive scope for that now.

“At flyhalf, Elton is the most natural choice to take over from Handre, but we need someone else too. The question is whether that is Damian Willemse or Curwin Bosch. Kicking for poles will be very important and that’s probably Damian’s most inconsistent area. Or do they use Frans Steyn as cover for flyhalf? That’s all got to unfold over the next year and there are still lots of questions to be answered,” Burger said.

“But the biggest worry is that the guys have not played much rugby. Their intensity is not sharp enough and it looks like they are having difficulty handling the fact that there are no crowds and they need to adapt to that.”

Pretoria Country Club probably has two favourite current professional golfers in George Coetzee and Tristen Strydom and on Friday the two ‘pets’ went head-to-head in the final round of the Titleist Championship with Coetzee emerging as a four-shot winner in a contest he said was tighter than the final margin suggested.

Coetzee and Strydom began the day both on seven-under-par, but Coetzee added to his two Tshwane Open titles at the Waterkloof course by firing a superb six-under-par 66 on Friday, winning himself R95 100.

The 23-year-old Strydom, in just his second season on the Sunshine Tour, performed admirably to post a 70 and earn R69 000, more than his total previous earnings of R58 877. And the resident and member of the Pretoria Country Club estate would have been properly in contention were it not for consecutive double-bogeys on the par-three fifth and the par-four sixth holes, from which he did exceptionally well to still shoot two-under-par.

“Tristen is a really exciting player, he hits the ball so good and definitely has a bright future. Were it not for just a couple of holes he would have really had me sweating,” Coetzee admitted. “But it’s always special winning at Pretoria Country Club and being a Titleist player, they have both supported me my whole career. I’m really happy to have won in front of everyone who was expecting me to perform, I could hear their cheers from a long way off,” he added below the clubhouse balcony that was littered with people supporting Coetzee and Strydom.

“Usually expectation is the killer so it was nice to pull it off,” Coetzee continued. “I really enjoyed the pressure of playing while in the lead, being in a tournament situation and under stress, because I’ve worked a lot on my mental game in Lockdown and made a lot of good strides. I felt comfortable attacking the flags, tending to a certain side if I missed so I would still be safe.”

Coetzee actually made an awful start to the day with bogeys on the first two holes. A five at the first was in fact a big escape for the 34-year-old, who had to fashion a cunning piece of innovation to only drop one shot as his ball was against the boundary wall. Coetzee hit it into the wall and rebounded it back on to the green.

“The last time I was against that wall was when I was 13 years old, I learnt my lesson then but obviously forgot it today. In the end I was very happy to make bogey because it was a tough putt,” he said.

Another bogey on the par-four second may have suggested Coetzee was vulnerable but it was one of the great cons as he powered his way back from his poor start with six birdies between the fourth and 10^th holes. He added two more birdies on the par-three 14^th and the par-four 17^th holes to complete his 11^th Sunshine Tour victory.

“On the second I basically hit the ball flush over the green so I had really hit just one bad shot, so I was still pretty happy and was confident to still go for the flags,” Coetzee said.

On a glorious sunny day that was fantastic for those wanting to work on a spring tan, Darren Fichardt made the biggest move on the final day with a top-class seven-under 65 that lifted him into fourth place on six-under. Jaco Ahlers completed a solid week’s work with a 67 to finish third on seven-under, two behind second-placed Strydom.

The Rise Up Series now takes a three-week break before resuming with the penultimate event at ERPM Golf Club on September 23.