Ken Borland

Tristan Stubbs, the sensational young Warriors batting talent, will have his first taste of international action when he tours India with the Proteas T20 squad next month and his Eastern Province coach, Robin Peterson, believes the 21-year-old will only get better as he gains more experience in the shortest format.

Stubbs’s maiden Proteas call-up came on Tuesday following two outstanding T20 campaigns for the Warriors, scoring 506 runs in 17 innings, at an average of 38 and a strike-rate of 156. Many of his innings have been memorable efforts under great pressure at the death.

“We’re very proud of Tristan and very chuffed that he is getting this opportunity,” Peterson told The Citizen on Tuesday. “It’s a testament to his hard work. He’s a very natural player and being aware of the situation is where he has really improved.

“His biggest strength is that he reads the game well. And he doesn’t feel the pressure because he has the skills to get off strike quickly, get in and then explode.

“He comes in in different situations and he will only get better as he builds a database of doing it in different conditions against different opposition.

“Hopefully his IPL experience now with the Mumbai Indians will help make the transition to international cricket smoother. Mixing with Kieron Pollard, he’s getting some elite thinking on middle-order batting, and he has a great opportunity to play alongside David Miller now in the Proteas side,” Peterson, who represented South Africa in 100 white-ball matches, said.

As befitting someone who could come to the crease with three wickets down inside the powerplay, or with just 20 balls left in the innings, Stubbs has the all-round game for all circumstances.

“He has sound thinking around the game and he has all the natural attributes for the middle-order – he plays spin well, he can hit sixes and he runs hard so he doesn’t use up a lot of dot balls,” Peterson said.

“He loves his golf and was a great hockey player, which is probably why he has such good wrists.

“He’s a very laid-back surfer-boy from Knysna, but very competitive and very driven to succeed. It’s been a meteoric rise for him, but I just hope people are patient with him,” coach Peterson said.

Thirteen of South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad have been selected for the series in India, with Stubbs and left-arm quick Marco Jansen the only inclusions who have not yet played in the shortest format at international level.

All-rounder Wayne Parnell has also earned a recall, while fast bowler Anrich Nortje is fit again and available for South Africa for the first time since last November.

Squad: Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, Dwaine Pretorius, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi.

“Our players are being evicted, collecting food vouchers and there have been marriages ending in divorce.”

“Many of our staff and players, especially those from out of town, have no money for food and some have children. They cannot pay their rent, they cannot buy fuel – the situation is now beyond desperate.”

These are just two of the forlorn pleas made by people involved in the Eastern Province rugby team in response to the shameful fiasco that has seen them not being paid for the last three months.

The intervention of the South African Rugby Union, that has taken over control of the Southern Kings franchise which is set to return to Super Rugby next year, also seems to have merely fanned the flames of the crisis.

The national body has been accused by one anonymous player of being “corrupt” and “colluding with the South African Rugby Players’ Association” in effectively creating a new team that will exclude Eastern Province players and avoid the debts owed to them.Saru, however, have said around half the 42-man squad will come from the existing Eastern Province team.

“We have been working as hard as we can to put a workable plan into place, but we are unable to go into all the player details right now as we still have to confirm some contracts and tie up loan arrangements. But, considering when we started and from what base, I am very pleased with where we have come.

“I believe we are putting together a more-than-competent squad that will not only be representative of the region, but coincidentally meets the targets of our Strategic Transformation Plan four years ahead of schedule. The squad we have identified will have around 50% black players, while the management team is more than 50% black. Our rugby department has picked the best available talent,” Saru CEO Jurie Roux said when he announced the rescue plan to ensure the Southern Kings are operational come Super Rugby time.

But the EP players have rejected Saru’s plan as it will not deal with money owed to them, will force them to take a pay-cut and leaves half their number high and dry. They are also extremely unhappy that controversial president Cheeky Watson is rumoured to still be involved in the running of the Super Rugby squad.

In the meantime, Watson has reportedly closed the Eastern Province Rugby Union offices a week earlier than expected, sending all the staff away on their Christmas holidays with no money and no idea when they will be paid.

Supporters of the Kings have started raising money for the beleaguered players via the Red&Black Army Facebook page.

The Eastern Province Kings thrilled their home crowd as they overwhelmed the Griffons 60-19 in their Absa Currie Cup First Division match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

The tightly-knit Kings pack and their suffocating defence shut the Griffons out of the match from early on in a top-class performance by Eastern Province.

The win was set up up front by a dominant pack, who ruled the scrums with a fist of iron, and a now familiar rolling maul that saw loose forward Luke Watson cross for a hat-trick of tries.

But the Kings also boasted a slick, clinical backline, with Samoan Paul Perez a juggernaut on the wing.

Perez was the man who set the ball rolling for the Kings with a marvellous try, running 50 metres and bumping off half-a-dozen tacklers on his way to the tryline. Unsurprisingly, he was the go-to man whenever the Kings wanted momentum out wide.

The Kings backline was also efficient in capitalising on their front-foot ball and fullback SP Marais and centre Tiger Mangweni also scored before the first half was ended with Watson’s first try, giving Eastern Province a 29-0 lead at the break.

Although the match was totally one-sided, the Griffons did fight back in the second half with tries by centres Japie Nel and Werner Griesel. But they were missing the sheer physicality and precision of the Kings and were clearly going to finish the day as also-rans, despite being third on the log at the start of the game.

Flyhalf George Whitehead, loose forward Cornell du Preez (fittingly as he was the outstanding player of the night), replacement centre Siyanda Grey and Watson, twice, all crossed the tryline for the Kings in the second half as they cantered to victory in far more impressive fashion than even they probably presumed.

SCORERS:

Eastern Province Kings – Tries: Paul Perez, SP Marais, Tiger Mangweni, Luke Watson (3), George Whitehead, Cornell du Preez, Siyanda Grey. Conversions: Whitehead (6). Penalty: Whitehead.

Griffons – Tries: Japie Nel, Werner Griesel, Nicky Steyn. Conversions: Hansie Graaff (2).

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup-first-division/news/120914/Kings_beat_Griffons

The Eastern Province Kings survived a close call in Wellington on Friday as they beat the Regent Boland Cavaliers 25-20 (half-time 15-7) in their Absa Currie Cup First Division opener on Friday.

It needed the late intervention of fullback SP Marais and the accurate boot of replacement flyhalf Wesley Dunlop, called off the bench in the final quarter, to win the match for the EP Kings, as the Boland Cavaliers dominated the second half.

The Kings’ tactic of keeping Boland pinned in their own territory worked in the first half as they did not have the kicking game to relieve the pressure.

The Cavaliers were nowhere in the first quarter and Kings flyhalf George Whitehead was initially the star of the show as he scored the first 10 points.

His opposite number, Elgar Watts, struggled to kick the ball out and the Cavaliers lineout also seldom went as intended, giving the visitors great attacking platforms. Whitehead kicked a fifth-minute penalty and then, running off first phase, threw an outrageous dummy and strolled through for a try in the 13th minute, which he converted.

Boland finally made their way into Eastern Province territory in the 19th minute and were able to win a lineout, leading to a period of concerted pressure on the Kings’ line. That led to a penalty, which scrumhalf Bolla Conradie took quickly and passed to fullback Jacquin Jansen, who went through a defender on his way to scoring.

Watts converted to close the gap to 7-10, but the home side were unable to produce any other points despite their second-quarter dominance.

The Kings weathered the storm until the 33rd minute when their backs were able to produce a slick breakout, leading to an infringement at the ruck by Boland. The penalty was kicked to touch and loose forward Cornell du Preez then scored from an impressive rolling maul.

Eastern Province deserved their 15-7 half-time lead but they were given an almighty wake-up call in the second half as they produced some lacklustre rugby, with an inventive Cavaliers side only too happy to capitalise.

In the antithesis of modern rugby thinking, Boland ran the second-half kickoff from their own 22 and, with the Kings suddenly shying away from physical confrontation at the collisions, the home side were able to carry the ball through 11 phases before Jansen blazed through the close-in defence for his second try.

The try was the product of wonderful handling and support play by the Cavaliers, and their ball-in-hand approach meant they were smouldering on attack during the second half.

It was never-say-die rugby at its best and loosehead prop Ashton Constant, normally a hooker but shifted to the side of the scrum in an emergency, was a prominent feature in the tight-loose as well as scrumming manfully against experienced New Zealand giant Clint Newland.

Constant did however loose his bind to present Whitehead with a 53rd-minute penalty, but the star of the first quarter became the villain of the piece as he missed that kick and another penalty two minutes later that was practically in front of the poles.

Watts, who had succeeded with both conversions, then put Boland into the lead (17-15) for the first time in the 65th minute with a penalty kick that bounced over off the crossbar.

But with 10 minutes to go, Marais finally stepped up into the game. Boland couldn’t handle his booming kick downfield, turning over possession. Marais then made a break that set up a ruck close to the tryline, and the talented fullback then dived over the ruck to score the match-winning try.

Dunlop calmly slotted the conversion to put the visitors out of penalty reach (22-17), but there were nervous times ahead for the Kings as Boland came roaring back and once again looked dangerous on attack.

But replacement back Tiger Mangweni was on hand to support strong defence and steal the ball, allowing Eastern Province to go tearing back into Boland territory.

The Cavaliers would then go offsides, allowing Dunlop to kick a penalty to stretch the lead to 25-17.

The hooter had already gone when the Kings engaged early at a scrum and Boland were able to run the free-kick into the EP 22, winning a penalty which replacement flyhalf Ricardo Croy kicked to ensure they did not go away empty-handed, gaining a losing bonus point.

SCORERS

Regent Boland Cavaliers – Tries: Jacquin Jansen (2). Conversion: Elgar Watts (2). Penalties: Watts, Ricardo Croy.

Eastern Province Kings – Tries: George Whitehead, Cornell du Preez, SP Marais. Conversions: Whitehead, Wesley Dunlop. Penalties: Whitehead, Dunlop.

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup-first-division/news/120629/EP_Kings_survive_close_call