Ken Borland

Q: There was a massive impact from the Springbok bench in the second Test against the British and Irish Lions, compared to the first match; how did you guys manage that?

LdJ – I think first of all, being injured for so long, it’s just a massive privilege to be part of this series and I was very happy to have the opportunity to get on the field. As forwards, we worked really hard on the fundamentals and our attitude, especially at the set-pieces. And we had six forwards on the bench so we were able to sustain the energy level of the starters and, if possible, maybe even try and raise it. We were obviously all disappointed in what happened in the first Test, maybe that was due to a bit of rustiness. But for us, the second Test was our last chance to show what we can do and we took it really personally. And it was not just the bench that did that. We were playing for our families and our country, those who are less-privileged than us. So that really fired us up, and not just the players – the coaches, the management, everyone. It was about more than ourselves, we were keeping each other accountable and that was driving our standards. The forwards responded well to the challenges we faced, standards were set and there were areas we improved on. We maybe started a bit slow, but we really improved as the game went on. Hopefully we can carry that same energy into the deciding Test, and we still have to raise the bar higher and set higher standards.

Q: The Springboks must also be very happy with their defence, having conceded just one try in the first two Tests?

LdJ – There are always areas we can improve but we have an exceptional defence coach in Jacques Nienaber. He is never satisfied and he makes sure we aren’t either. So we have had good results in the defence, but there are definitely areas where we can still make small improvements and get even better. Across our whole game there were things we did well and things that we didn’t do so well. So we are looking to improve all aspects of our performance in the third Test, even the areas we did well in.

Q: The second Test was a ferocious game, was there a bit more niggle than usual?

LdJ – There was a little more niggle than usual but that was due to the magnitude of the game. The Lions also have very proud, world-class players. But I think the match was even bigger for us because we knew that if we lose, then we’re done for the series.

Q: So what can we expect from the third Test against a new-look Lions team?

LdJ – It’s going to be like a final for both teams. We are feeling much more comfortable after getting the win, but we know the job is not finished yet. We know we must raise our standards still further to get the final result we want. As I said, the Lions are a world-class team and we know that we have to be at our best, we know that we will absolutely have to give 100% of what we can give. The good thing is we know a lot of their players and we have done enough homework, everyone is ready, and we have to be able to adapt. It’s a must-win game for us and we can fall back on previous situations we’ve been in like the World Cup. When we are under pressure, we can say that we were there before and we came through. The Lions are all world-class players, but the focus is on ourselves and our week’s preparation. We have to make sure our system is functioning at 100% and when you see the impact the bench makes then you know that we are all on the same quality level. The Lions’ changes won’t change a lot in our preparation.

Cheslin Kolbe’s sidestep has become one of South Africa’s most beloved sporting memes but the ace winger has praised the Springboks’ kicking game and their defence for allowing him to pull off his trademark move once again in setting up Lukhanyo Am’s dazzling try in the SA A team’s win over the British and Irish Lions in midweek.

Kolbe fielded a kick just inside his own half and five metres in from touch 32 minutes into the first half, jogged a bit and then exploded, wonderful footwork taking him through a small gap, and his super offload to Am then leading to a try. But the build-up to the try had seen the Springboks constantly driving the Lions back into their 22 with kicks, a tremendous defence then getting up quickly to force the tourists into kicking the ball back.

“A lot of teams try to use the kicking game to launch attacks and it’s about showing the patience for the perfect time to counter-attack. We did well to capitalise on our opportunities. For us, kicking is always about going forward, we want to make sure our backs are always going forward. You need to sum up what the defence are doing and try to bring some x-factor.

“We managed to do that quite a lot, but credit must also go to the forwards. They defend, defend all the time and that gets you energy and excitement and then you can’t wait to attack again. We expected the Lions to use long kicks on to the back three, but their kicks were mostly quite short. Fortunately Jasper Wiese was able to get up and take most of those,” Kolbe said.

While the try gave the Springboks a 17-3 lead, it took the mother of all defensive efforts for them to hold on to that lead until halftime, especially with scrumhalf Faf de Klerk and flank marco van Staden yellow-carded in quick succession. That superb defensive effort continued in the second half as the SA A side won 17-13.

“I was super-proud of the character everyone showed without a lot of preparation. We just had to hang in there, man up and try and stay in the fight. The defence delivered, especially when they defended a number of phases on our line. That showed our fight and we got energy from that,” Kolbe said.

The Bulls may have scored as early as the second minute, but for more than an hour they then struggled to go around or get through a ferocious Lions defence, eventually battling to a 22-9 win in their Rainbow Cup match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.

The Bulls began superbly, retaining possession from the kickoff for two minutes before flyhalf Chris Smith jinked and slipped though some tackles to score the opening try. Thereafter, however, the Bulls found themselves in a tremendous tussle, struggling to cope with the Lions’ line-speed in defence and their aggressive targeting of the breakdowns.

Only once in the whole game was there a short kick over the top of the rapidly advancing Lions defence and it nearly resulted in centre Cornal Hendricks scoring. But the Bulls did not use that tactic or the grubber nearly enough. And for all their possession, the Lions were dominant at the breakdowns so it almost always came to nothing.

Smith added a penalty to the conversion of his try and Lions flyhalf Fred Zeilinga kicked two penalties as the Bulls went into halftime 10-6 ahead. The Lions made a good start to the second half, allowing Zeilinga to close the gap to just one point with another penalty in the  44^th minute.

The final quarter belonged to the Bulls though as they camped in the Lions half. After 10 minutes in the 22 they eventually broke through, helped by EW Viljoen’s yellow card for a deliberate knock-on, when replacement prop Lizo Gqoboka won a turnover to win a penalty, and then produced a mini-break before offloading to substitute scrumhalf Zak Burger to race over under the poles for the matchwinning try.

The never-say-die Lions were better than the final scoreline suggested, conceding a try right at the death as flank Elrigh Louw powered through several tackles to score. Hendricks had fought hard on the gainline in the build-up, before offloading to Burger, who darted well and then found Louw with a neat offload.

But the Bulls will point to having three tries disallowed by the TMO and the soft underfoot conditions as having put paid to their more ambitious plans.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Chris Smith, Zak Burger, Elrigh Louw. Conversions – Smith, Morne Steyn. Penalty – Smith.

Lions: Penalties – Fred Zeilinga (3).

The fact that the Springboks will be missing the defence of their Rugby Championship title – and any international rugby at all this year – is obviously terrible but it is a courageous and correct decision by SA Rugby.

The fact that, for once, the players were not thrown under the bus, sacrificed on the altar of financial gain, speaks volumes for the integrity and willingness to do the right thing for the game of the people who made that extremely tough decision.

Yes, not playing in the Rugby Championship is going to mean South African rugby, already bleeding due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is going to lose out on millions of rand. Fortunately some of the financial blow will be mitigated by some clever work in negotiation that has a clause written into the Sanzaar contract that if a country is unable to play due to circumstances beyond their control, then they still get a share of the revenue.

It is precisely that sort of integrity and willingness to act for the greater good of the game that is entirely missing from the Cricket South Africa Board.

What can we say about a person’s integrity and service to cricket when the forensic report they personally played a role in instituting implicates them in wrongdoing; and when both Sascoc, the controlling body for all high-performance sport in this country, and the Minister of Sport call for them to stand aside to allow for a proper investigation; but they stubbornly refuse to go, even at the risk of the ICC suspending the Proteas from international action?

As someone who has covered top-level cricket and rugby in this country for more than 25 years, I cannot escape the irony of where SA Rugby stands at the moment in terms of public credibility in comparison to Cricket South Africa.

CSA used to be leading the way in terms of transformation and good governance, and the Proteas, despite their miserable World Cup record, were consistently amongst the top three in global cricket. Rugby, slow to transform and with the tail (all the minor provinces) wagging the dog in terms of decision-making, delivered World Cups in 1995 and 2007, but there were many dark times on and off the field in between and after.

One of rugby’s lowest moments came when they tried to take on government, even forcing Nelson Mandela to testify in court. They took a long time to recover from that disgrace.

But with Rassie Erasmus and Jurie Roux leading the way, a third World Cup title was won last year with a marvellously transformed team that was loved by the public at large.

Rugby has learnt the lesson that you should never pick a fight with the sports minister: you might win a battle, but you will definitely ultimately lose the war. The arrogant CSA Board, judging by the awful letter acting president Beresford Williams sent to sports minister Nathi Mthethwa, clearly still need to learn this lesson.

The ICC may be the global governing body of the sport, but they are generally reluctant to get involved in the affairs of their individual members. In fact, they will only step in if a member complains to the ICC itself, which is why there have been numerous thoroughly dysfunctional administrations about which nothing has been done.

Haroon Lorgat, the former chief executive of both the ICC and CSA, has also drawn the important distinction between government interference and intervention. By forewarning CSA and the ICC – he gave them a very generous two weeks grace – Mthethwa has signalled that his stepping in is an intervention rather than interference. There are very few people other than the CSA Board who will not consider it a welcome intervention, so long and revolting this imbroglio has become.

Mthethwa issued his statement, which is one of the most dramatic in South African cricket history, on Wednesday. By Friday afternoon we were still waiting for any response from CSA to what amounts to a massive motion of no confidence in the organisation.

Perhaps they don’t know what to do, given the rank incompetence of so many of their directors. Well here’s a suggestion for the obstinate CSA Board: Do the right thing.

In my mind that involves anyone implicated in the Fundudzi Forensic Report immediately standing down, so Sascoc can do a thorough investigation of CSA’s affairs without these self-serving, power-hungry administrators  continually being in the picture.

That’s the sort of compromise that might just get Mthethwa off cricket’s back and stop him from doing something that could really lead to catastrophe for the sport.

For the sake of cricket, the game you have all professed to love so much, please just stand aside.