Ken Borland

The flyhalves – Chris Smith v Lionel Cronje

Currie Cup finals are seldom pretty affairs and both Smith and Cronje will probably have to put away many of the slick attacking tricks we know they are both capable of pulling out of the hat. Game-management is going to be their key role on Saturday and much of that depends on the platform given to them by their forwards. So kicking could wll be their key skill: Smith showed his mettle by slotting a 79^th-minute penalty to level the scores in last season’s final and he has also come out tops in other high-pressure situations at home. The 32-year-old Cronje has the experience though to know how to vary his play and, having played for both Verblitz and the Brumbies under Jake White, he has insight into the Bulls’ game-plan.

The Bulls loose-trio v the Sharks attackers

The Sharks do like to play a bit of running rugby and Elrigh Louw, Arno Botha and Marcell Coetzee will be like a hit squad lining up to crunch those visitors looking to provide some attacking spark. They love defence so much one can imagine them shouting “My Kill” to each other on the field. The Sharks are effective though in offloading and playing in the wide channels, and they have potent counter-attackers in Thaakir Abrahams, Curwin Bosch and Yaw Penxe. The Bulls are expected to boss the battles at close quarters, while the Sharks will have an edge in pace as the ball goes wider or play gets looser.

Thomas du Toit v Gerhard Steenekamp

The return of the Springbok tighthead will no doubt make a telling difference to the Sharks scrum, as there has been no consistency in that set-piece for them this season. And that’s not to mention the big hits the mobile 26-year-old makes around the field. Du Toit and lock Gerbrandt Grobler bring a lot of experience to a youthful tight five and the World Cup winner will also bring confidence having been one of the standout performers in the Springboks’ victory in the second Test against Argentina.

Du Toit will obviously not have it easy though against Steenekamp, who has been one of the finds of the season for the Bulls, a strong man both in the scrums and the tight exchanges.

Far from being an environment that alienates anyone, the Proteas camp now has a player-driven culture and everyone has bought into the new captaincy ideas of Dean Elgar, coach Mark Boucher said when asked whether the team looked so happy just because they won the Test series against the West Indies or whether there have been off-field changes that have made a difference.

Boucher said the triumph was the result of “a lot of hard work” off the field and some hard chats the team had sitting around the fire in Pretoria on their pre-tour camp.

“When we sat around the fire in Pretoria, the new captain [Elgar] asked some questions about where we are and where we want to go and there were some tough conversations about the necessity of performing for the Proteas badge again. It’s been quite a tough couple of months for certain guys. But the players are now driving the value system they put on the table in our Skukuza culture camp last year, which is why they’re so happy.

“The team have played really well. We have not won away from home for a long time and the belief taken away from that is important. We asked them to play for each other and we’ve seen that, it was really a team effort and we played the big moments very well.

“The best place to learn is in foreign conditions and we learned a lot of lessons in Pakistan. Different conditions are what develops players. The skills have been executed fairly well and I look forward to seeing how we go when we’re put under pressure because then we can judge whether we are really on track,” Boucher said.

The former captain, Quinton de Kock, was the player of the series for his 237 runs at an average of 118, and far from being angry at his demotion, the wicketkeeper/batsman responded with a flurry of runs and was a breath of fresh air in the changeroom as well.

“Quinny’s been through a tough time of late, not scoring the same amount of runs as he’s used to, but he made such an impact on the whole series. While the other batsmen did well to bat time and force the bowlers to come back for third and fourth spells, Quinny has that x-factor that means he can just take the game away from the opposition.

“I’m very happy that he’s in a very good space and he’s been fantastic off the field, funny and lighthearted. And the way he’s kept wicket has been so good too, he’s been very neat and taken some great catches,” Boucher said.

The increased tempo at which the Springboks are playing is the single biggest difference between the side in 2017 and the bumbling 2016 outfit, according to Ian McIntosh, the former national coach.

The Springboks battled to get out of the blocks in the first year of Allister Coetzee’s coaching tenure, winning just four of their 12 matches and losing Tests against countries like Ireland, Argentina, Italy and Wales. McIntosh also only won four of his 12 Tests during his 14 months in charge of the Springboks in 1993/94, but he also had two draws, including one against the All Blacks in Auckland, and they beat Australia in Sydney as the coach dragged South African rugby kicking and screaming into the modern age.

Coetzee has implemented a similarly dramatic change in approach this year, and the Springboks have responded with three refreshing, convincing wins over France.

“It’s always a worry getting the right balance in your play, but the intensity that the Springboks have played with is what has impressed me most. I’ve seen snippets of what they’re doing at practice and the only difference between us and New Zealand is the tempo at which we play.

“These are early days, but if they carry on increasing their intensity like they have been doing and with the selection of all these juniors who are rising up the ladder, then we can catch the All Blacks. If we keep that intensity, we will be a big threat. We’ve got the talent, let me tell you, just as much as New Zealand do,” McIntosh told Saturday Citizen at a Players’ Fund and SA Rugby Legends Association training day for the Vuka development programme.

McIntosh said a reliance on a core of the top-class Lions team had also led to a turnaround in fortunes.

“The Lions players have had a big influence because they have already seen results playing that up-tempo rugby. They are realising their potential now at international level, which is exciting. People say we don’t know how to coach in this country, but we’ve got bloody good coaches; someone like Johan Ackermann is a great coach,” McIntosh said.

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-citizen-gauteng/20170624/282364039682432

Despite a poor final year in charge of the Springboks, there is little doubt Heyneke Meyer remains a top-class coach and it is a symptom of a sick South African rugby system that the 49-year-old is without a full-time coaching job despite making it clear that he still wants to make a difference to the game in this country.

Meyer was back at Loftus Versfeld a couple of days ago to launch the Beachcomber World Club 10s, a unique tournament for professional teams in a social environment, that will be held in Mauritius next month, but there is no doubt he still harbours a burning desire to be involved in the cauldron of top quality rugby again judging by the passion with which he answered a range of questions on South African rugby.

Although a great admirer of New Zealand rugby and a personal friend of All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, Meyer makes a good point when he says a drive to play like the Kiwis do is a case of chasing the wind for South African rugby.

He reckons it will take us 10 years to catch up to their style of play, by which time their game will have evolved and they will still be 10 years ahead of South Africa. It is perhaps a symptom of our insecurity as a nation that we are always trying to copy other teams – in the early 2000s it was Australian rugby that was the flavour of the month.

Meyer, who has been working with plenty of New Zealanders and Fijians in his part-time role as coach of the Asia Pacific Dragons team, points to a higher innate skills level as one of the main reasons South Africans will find it very difficult to emulate the free-flowing, expansive style of the Kiwis.

“South Africans don’t have the same natural understanding of space that they do, but I truly believe any of our teams can still beat a New Zealand team, especially at home. But if we try and follow them then we’ll never be the best in the world. We have to rediscover what we stand for and play South African rugby – brilliant set-pieces, driving, strong defence. We must do what we’re good at and kick intelligently, not just kick the ball away,” Meyer said.

The national coach from 2012 to 2015 made the point that ex-Springbok coaches are practically driven out of the country and pointed to Eddie Jones travelling from Australia to South Africa and now to England as an example of the value of experience, even if it comes from losing a few games.

“Eddie lost eight games in a row with Australia and was fired, he then helped the Springboks and learnt a lot there. In fact England are now playing like the Boks used to – they have great set-pieces, a great defence and kicking game, they still score tries and they’re on a winning run. It would be 50/50 right now between them and the All Blacks.”

Many observers have pointed to the speed at which New Zealand teams play the game and Meyer said this difference was most marked towards the end of matches, due to the superior fitness of the Kiwis.

“The All Blacks have always been superior in terms of fitness. We have big, strong guys, but it’s harder to get them fit. New Zealand have smaller but more mobile players and they run you ragged in the last 10-15 minutes. Central contracting means Steve Hansen knows the fitness of all his players and whether they need to rest or work harder.

“But you can’t do major fitness work if your players are tired or injured and our guys going overseas makes it very difficult, I’m very concerned about all the guys in Japan because you can’t play for 12 months. Before the last World Cup, I did not see the players for eight months so I asked for fitness reports from the franchises and nobody sent them in.

“So when I got the players I knew we were in trouble and the guys were not fit for the first game against Japan. But the All Blacks get to rest for three months after SuperRugby, so they’re super-fit for the next year, but we’re playing Currie Cup or in Japan. It’s very difficult for the South African coaches,” Meyer said.

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-citizen-gauteng/20170513/282578787965088