Ken Borland

Proteas opener Aiden Markram said on Wednesday that a “focus on getting your job done” was a major reason for South Africa’s overwhelming success in the first Test against the West Indies at St Lucia, and it is a habit they don’t want to get out of as the second Test looms at the same venue on Friday.

South Africa beat the West Indies by an innings and 63 runs in the first Test in what was one of their best all-round performances for a long time. The bowlers were outstanding and the batsmen fought hard on a lively pitch. It was also the Proteas’ first win on away soil since beating England by 340 runs at Trent Bridge in Nottingham in July 2017, ending a run of nine straight defeats on the road.

“It’s our first away Test win in just about four years, so it was exciting and nice to be a part of. It’s been a long time coming and it will re-instil a bit of belief that we can still compete away from home. We came across a lot of foreign things we had to overcome, like a strong breeze at the ground, and at one end it was quite an uphill run for the bowlers into the wind, and they had a different ball to what they’re used to.

“But for all of us, the focus was just on getting your job done, no excuses and empty the tank. Conditions were difficult, but hopefully we can now win in foreign conditions more consistently. It’s going to be tough to better the performance in the first Test, but I’m positive there is more in us. We’ve set standards that we must now live by and operate at that standard. I’m confident we’ll put up another good fight,” Markram said.

It is often said that teams take on the personality of their captain, and there is no bigger fighter, no one more determined on the field, than new skipper Dean Elgar.

“Dean has been brilliant as captain now for the last three weeks and it’s great to have someone really experienced like him to lead us, a pretty young team. He has realigned everyone and is driving those standards that will more often than not lead to good results. It’s black or white with Dean, you always know where you’re standing and he’s the perfect man for the job at the moment,” Markram said.

With the first-choice Springbok pack hit by injuries, it makes little sense for the squad for the British and Irish Lions series to be loaded with outside backs, but that’s exactly what coach Jacques Nienaber and director of rugby Rassie Erasmus have done.

Their 46-strong Springbok squad contains eight outside backs, the most well-stocked department of all with one more player than either the loose forwards or props. The allocation of seven loose forwards includes Duane Vermeulen, who suffered what looked like a serious ankle injury at the weekend, and amongst the six locks named for the series, two of them – Lood de Jager and RG Snyman – are still injured.

There are two utility forwards included in Jean-Luc du Preez and Rynhardt Elstadt, but the cynical might surmise that the outside backs have been overstocked in order to get the transformation numbers up – there is only one White player amongst the back three in fullback Willie le Roux.

“Local derbies are like Springbok trials and when you play strength versus strength week in, week out, like the Rainbow Cup has been, then you expect a number of injuries. So every weekend has been quite nervous for us, fortunately there haven’t been too many injuries, but there are many niggles in the squad. We’ll have to reassess after the first couple of weeks.

“But the good thing is our local players will be used to physical rugby, which will be a big part of the Lions series. The big question is when is a player 100% ready for Test rugby, when do we experiment? We play Georgia twice, but we have not played together since the World Cup, so we don’t want to experiment there,” Erasmus said.

Erasmus admitted that he was not optimistic that Vermeulen will be available for the Lions series, and the uncapped Jasper Wiese is likely to replace him at eighthman, with the World Cup winning coach saying the 25-year-old’s form for the Leicester Tigers in the English Premiership cannot be ignored.

“Duane has to be doubtful with his ankle. He’s on his way to Cape Town for scans. I spoke to Jake White [Bulls coach] and it looked bad. For Duane to limp off so early in a match is very unusual, so we are fearing the worst,” Erasmus admitted.

“But Jasper Wiese can play eighthman and we cannot ignore the form he is in, he was outstanding in the Premiership and he knocked the door down weekly. He is explosive and we’re really lucky that he’s versatile, he can play openside as well.”

In just 14 Premiership appearances, the former Free State Cheetahs player has made 701 running metres, beaten 54 defenders, has a 90% tackle success rate and has made eightline-breaks.

While Proteas captain Heinrich Klaasen said he did not really know what his team could have done differently to stop the incredible Babar Azam onslaught that led to a crushing nine-wicket defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the third T20 International at Centurion on Wednesday evening, the skipper is not just sitting back and accepting the hiding that was dished out.

“I’ll be going back tonight and doing a lot of homework to see how we can improve and make sure we draw the last game on Friday,” Klaasen said after Babar had slammed 122 off just 59 balls, allowing Pakistan to romp to their stiff target of 204 with two overs to spare. Perpetual nemesis Mohammad Rizwan scored 73 not out in an opening stand of 197.

“It was a very good pitch and watching that batting from behind the stumps was quite something to be honest. We tried a few things, but you don’t want to be trying too many different things on a good pitch like that. They made a lot of good, well-executed balls look bad with great placement. They batted brilliantly and we did not have enough answers.

“Babar is a special player and when he comes off, it’s very difficult to defend. You always feel maybe you could do something different, but what I don’t know. Maybe we’ll reflect on some execution. But I reckon we were 10 runs short, both openers made more than 50 but we were again guilty of not having a set batsman at the back end. And we were very poor in the field, that was especially bad,” Klaasen said after the chastening loss.

Even though South Africa’s bowling – not well supported by lacklustre fielding – looked utterly toothless, Klaasen did not seem that keen on any major changes for the final T20 on Friday at the same venue, which the Proteas have to win to level the series.

“We’re going to be up for it and we have to bounce back and nail our skills. I don’t feel like we need a big change in personnel, we need some consistency in fact. The question is how do you take wickets on a surface like this where there is no turn, the slower balls skid on and the ball travels miles on the Highveld?

“I reckon the way to take wickets is to defend, we need to build pressure by executing our balls. The bowlers need to work harder to do that. We tried to go to death bowing a lot earlier this evening but that didn’t come off. And we strive to be better in the field, we’ve been brilliant in training but I think the guys are trying too hard, they’re not calm enough,” Klaasen said.

The improvement in Sharks rugby has been most apparent on the field as they led SuperRugby before Covid struck and then reached the final of the Currie Cup, only losing in extra time to the Bulls, but those gains are also dependent on the excellent work done behind the scenes by the administrators.

This may be Sean Everitt’s first major coaching gig but he has a wise rugby head and his player management is superb; the team culture he has helped develop at Kings Park has been phenomenal. The Sharks also have an outstanding CEO of vision in Eduard Coetzee and recently-ascended president Brian van Zyl is a seasoned administrator who built much of the union’s success in the professional era during his time as chief executive.

And the reward for all that good administration has been the confidence expressed in the union by new equity partners MVM Holdings, a consortium with deep pockets, once they had been snubbed by Western Province. That investment will certainly allow the Sharks to bolster their playing resources, and they have done so immediately by signing Springbok captain Siya Kolisi.

But the Sharks are well aware that bagloads of money and buying the best players does not necessarily guarantee success; they know that the entire organisation needs a shared vision that they are all working towards.

That new equity investment means there is suddenly budget for some extra things and I was one of the journalists fortunate enough to be flown down to Durban by the Sharks this week to see Kolisi being officially unveiled as a Sharks player.

And seeing first-hand what is going on at Kings Park, it is obvious that something special is happening and these are very exciting times for the Sharks.

Kolisi spoke about how the whole culture and vibe of the Sharks caught his attention a while back and how obvious it was to him that Durban should be his new home once he had decided to end his 11-year stay in Cape Town.

Following his media duties, Kolisi was part of an induction session with all the wide-eyed new intake of academy players at which Coetzee explained the core values of the Sharks. The motto “We are an inclusive culture underpinned by diversity” featured strongly and the spirit of the Sharks team shows they are living the tenets of that ideal.

The inclusion of all cultures is an obvious part of the team dynamic and Kolisi was part of a ceremony based on the tradition of placing your own stone on a cairn of rocks whenever you should pass by one.

Called Isivivane, it signifies the commitment to contribute your best to the new, shared journey you are embarking on.

Kolisi knows all about commitment – having proposed to his wife Rachel on a helicopter flying over Constantia, they have since built a family that has taken in Siya’s two young half-siblings, who were in foster care.

The Sharks environment is also one of caring, with Coetzee taking pride in how well he treats all his players and staff, although there is a constant focus on meeting the standards required of a top rugby franchise.

Everitt himself popped in even though he is technically still on holiday, and was in good cheer despite the recent trauma of the Currie Cup final.

He will not be putting Kolisi under any extra pressure after the fraught 2020 he had with injuries, Covid and the administrative problems in Western Province rugby. The 29-year-old will be given the time and space to get fully fit and ready in body and mind to produce his best on the field. The captaincy will stay with Lukhanyo Am, whose leadership has been a great positive, but there is no doubt Kolisi will be an inspirational presence.

 From the office of the CEO down to the junior staff, there is just a good energy at Kings Park these days. These are exciting times indeed for Sharks rugby.