Ken Borland

AB de Villiers plundered 61 off 24 balls to lead his Eagles team to a commanding total of 160-4 in their 12 overs, something neither the Kites nor the Kingfishers were able to chase down in their 3TCricket match in Centurion at the weekend, and afterwards said he enjoyed the format and it definitely was something worth continuing.

The new format sees three teams of eight playing at the same time, with each side batting for six overs against each of their opponents. With Aiden Markram firing alongside him in a dazzling innings of 70 off 33 deliveries, captain De Villiers was the first to lift the Solidarity Cup, with Kites posting 138-3 and the Kingfishers finishing on 113-5.

“It was great fun and lovely to just be out there, I’ve been pretty frustrated not playing any cricket. It was great to have a hit-around and the format is pretty good. It definitely has scope for the future, I liked the flow of the game that you spend time in the dugout and the teams rotate. I was also incredibly impressed by a lot of the bowling. I thought they’d be rusty but they were nailing their yorkers and clearly there’s a lot of talent around.

“I also really like that the leading team at halfway bats first in the second innings because chasing is definitely an advantage in limited-overs cricket. This was just one of those rare occasions when we were able to take our score out of reach. My only suggestion would be to have teams start from zero again in terms of wickets lost when you bat again, because otherwise they try to consolidate and think of the next innings. With that bit of insurance, teams can have a really attacking mindset,” De Villiers told The Citizen after the match.

With De Villiers in scintillating form, his starring role has again raised questions about his possible return to the Proteas, at least in T20 cricket, in which a World Cup is scheduled for October in Australia but is probably going to be postponed to next year. The 36-year-old said the Covid-19 pandemic has left everything in limbo, but he still has an interest in playing for South Africa again.

“I have no idea when I’ll be playing cricket again, there’ve been lots of talks about all sorts of leagues. So I will just stay fit and keep hitting balls. It’s difficult to commit myself a year ahead of time, but I have a good relationship with Graeme Smith [director of cricket] and Mark Boucher [Proteas head coach] and I would love to play again. But once we know what the calendar will be like then we can sit down and I will make a decision because I have to be either in or out,” De Villiers said.

After a fractious week in South African cricket, the launch of 3TCricket has provided some balm, with an air of unity and reconciliation at SuperSport Park as all the players wore black armbands with Black Lives Matter written on them and all three teams, the officials and the commentators took a knee before the start of play in support of the movement. “I’m happy with how things have unfolded, we’ve had really good communication, nobody felt left out and it was all explained to us. Black Lives Matter and the campaign against Gender Based Violence were the causes that were the focus for today and it was most important for us to show that unity,” De Villiers said.

Bulls coach Jake White on Thursday said he is confident his decision to bring utility back Gio Aplon and tighthead prop Marcel van der Merwe back down south for SuperRugby will bear fruit for the new-look Pretoria franchise.

White has first-hand knowledge of the qualities of the two Springboks, having seen both shine in French rugby when he was in charge at Montpellier up until 2017. The World Cup winning coach then took Aplon, capped 17 times by South Africa, with him from Grenoble to Toyota Verblitz when he first moved to Japan for the 2017/18 season.

Van der Merwe, who played seven Tests in 2014-15, joined Toulon from the Bulls in mid-2016 and became a regular for the powerful outfit. The 29-year-old can only have benefited from the emphasis on set-piece play in the Northern Hemisphere.

“Gio is a very talented rugby player and I’m surprised he did not play more Test rugby for South Africa. People may question his age because he’s 37-years-old but I’ve worked with him for the last three years in Japan and he is still in very good shape and is as professional as anyone in looking after himself. Plus given the nature of rugby in Japan, those three years should allow him to play for longer.

“So that’s why I’ve brought him over for one more year of top rugby and it’s not as if we have to pay him something over the top either. I believe he can have the same effect as Schalk Brits and look at the impact he made at the Bulls last year. Gio has that sort of personality which I just feel can be very important to the group I’m getting together,” White told The Citizen on Thursday.

Van der Merwe may be coming from the trenches of French rugby but SuperRugby is arguably the toughest competition in the game, with a big attrition rate among the forwards and White is ensuring he has two top-class tighthead props now.

“The old saying that the most important position in a rugby team is tighthead prop and the second most important position is the reserve tighthead is true. So we now have a very good Springbok in Trevor Nyakane there and another Springbok in Marcel so we are in a comfortable position. Marcel was a massive force at Toulon and won all sorts of championships with them.

“At 29 years old he is still reasonably young as a frontrower and he has played all over the world, so he has had to adapt his game and he is older and wiser now, with a massive amount of experience. But the most important factor for me is that he has an unbelievable, burning desire to play for South Africa again, he is very driven to get back into the Springboks,” White said.

Prop Thomas du Toit is refusing to get bogged down in thoughts of how unfortunate he is to miss out on the World Cup but is rather focusing on ending what he called a “good year” on a high note by helping the Sharks to defend their Currie Cup title.

Du Toit must have been close to making the 31-man squad for Japan because he can play either side of the scrum – a “swing prop” which is so valuable in squads for long competitions like the World Cup. Instead, the 24-year-old will be heading to Bloemfontein this weekend for the Sharks’ semi-final against the Free State Cheetahs.

“It has been a bit disappointing realising that I’m not going to play in the World Cup, sport is not always a fairytale. But you still have to be on standby, I’m aware that there might be injuries – hopefully not – and then obviously I’ll be back in the mix. So I just want to play as much as I can and it was nice to be at loosehead again last weekend.

“Loosehead is something I’m starting to get back into because it’s not quite as familiar any more. Super Rugby was good and it gave me the opportunity to play on both sides, I learnt a lot and it was what I really wanted. I was very happy to have more time at tighthead, that was the plan from the start. And then I had an awesome time with the Springboks as well,” Du Toit said on Tuesday.

Up front is probably going to be where Saturday’s semi-final is won and lost and Du Toit reckons the Cheetahs are going to be quick to pull the tricks they are famous for.

“Maybe they’ll use that substitution tactic again, but we just have to adapt to whoever starts and not look too far ahead. They have a very good front row and Ox Nche is a brilliant scrummager. The Cheetahs love a very quick game though and they enjoy playing from anywhere. They have so many attacking threats, so it’s going to be a big challenge, but we’re excited for it,” Du Toit said.

The Cape Town-born, Paarl Boys High-educated Du Toit was an integral part of the Sharks team till he was called up to the Springbok squad, with the Sharks having a mixed start to their Currie Cup defence. But now that he has returned in the midst of a three-game winning streak that began with a last-minute win over Free State in Durban, he senses a very happy vibe in the squad.

“The mood is very positive, everyone’s very excited and there’s a good buzz, the boys are all keen to play and ready to go. There’s a very good vibe and everything is very professional. The guys are training and working hard, doing their reviews on the other teams, because that’s the Sharks culture – we work hard and we work for each other,” Du Toit said.

https://citizen.co.za/sport/south-african-sport/sa-rugby-sport/currie-cup/2172161/philosophical-thomas-shrugs-sport-is-not-a-fairy-tale/

Stephen Cook on Wednesday stood down as the Highveld Lions captain after their disappointing 2017/18 season but the franchise are still going to enjoy the benefits of his leadership and experience, with the 35-year-old set to fulfill the role of a senior pro as new coach Enoch Nkwe looks to rebuild.

“I have captained the side for the better part of five years and we had some success, but I’ve been thinking of standing down. At the back end of last season, with all the uncertainty over coaches, would not have been the right time though, but with the changing of the guard it’s a good time now for a fresh start.

“I spoke to Enoch and my leadership will not be lost. I know what has worked effectively in the past is to have the benefit of a senior player who is not the captain, and in my career, guys like Adam Bacher and Neil McKenzie are examples of that. So it’s just a different position I’ll be filling and I certainly don’t see it as the end of my career,” Cook told The Citizen on Wednesday.

Cook denied that the captaincy had distracted him from his batting, after a mixed season in 2017/18. Although he had many failures, when he occupied the crease for some time he still scored heavily and a return of 632 runs at an average of 37.17, including three centuries, was still solid.

“I’ve played some of my best cricket while I’ve been captain, but last season was a bit patchy, I was not as consistent as I would have liked but I still felt it was a good campaign. Of course cricket is a performance sport and if I don’t get the numbers on the board now I will be in trouble like anyone else.

“But I’m excited about next season, Enoch and I played together from when we were 11, we came through the ranks together. My resigning might actually help him because I might not have been his first-choice skipper and he can now go ahead freely with the new way he wants to bring in,” Cook said.