Ken Borland

The surprise selection of the exciting Aphelele Fassi on the wing for the first Test against Georgia, making his debut alongside another uncapped wing in the hot-stepping Rosko Specman, does not advertise the Springboks’ intent to necessarily play expansive, attacking rugby, but is rather down to Covid leaving them with no other choice.

While Sbu Nkosi’s positive Covid test was announced at the start of the week, what wasn’t revealed is that his Sharks team-mates Makazole Mapimpi and Lukhanyo Am are isolating as well because they were close contacts, while the France-based Cheslin Kolbe only arrived in camp at the weekend.

The only other wing available in the squad is another Sharks player, Yaw Penxe. But although regular fullback Fassi is younger than Penxe, he has more experience of top-level franchise rugby and has played occasionally on the wing for the Sharks.

“We’ve had a few Covid issues, Lukhanyo and Makazole were deemed to be close contacts after we originally selected the team on Saturday. That’s why Fassi and Jesse Kriel have had to come into the mix. Aphelele is very talented, he has a massive skill set. We know he is predominantly a fullback, but he has slotted in beautifully on the wing.

“Rosko is a livewire who brings lots of energy but he is fully professional. They have both trained really well and will bring x-factor and lots of spice, and they have good guidance around them in Willie le Roux, Handre Pollard and Jesse Kriel, which is important. Hopefully the debutants can express the skills that make them unique on the day,” Nienaber said on Tuesday.

While the Springbok back three all have the ability to score that peach of a try that is like sweet nectar for rugby lovers, Nienaber knows the forwards will have to smooth their way up front first against a physically-imposing Georgian team. The Springboks have a pack with players like Bongi Mbonambi, Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit that know how to get under the opposition’s skin.

And then there’s Jasper Wiese, the massively impactful Leicester Tigers eighthman who will come off the bench for his debut.

“We’ve followed Jasper closely, he’s outstanding at getting and stopping momentum, he basically knocked the door down for selection. Georgia are ranked No.12 for a reason, we’ve done our homework on them.

“In the Autumn Nations Cup their game against Wales was close for 75 minutes. So we need to work hard to get a foothold in the Test. Georgia are very good in the tight phases – scrums, mauls, lineouts and ball-carries,” Nienaber said.

Springbok team: Willie le Roux, Rosko Specman, Jesse Kriel, Francois Steyn, Aphelele Fassi, Handré Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Kwagga Smith, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Trevor Nyakane, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nché. Bench – Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Marvin Orie, Jasper Wiese, Herschel Jantjies, Elton Jantjies, Damian Willemse.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt bemoaned the errors that were littered throughout their game and through the full 80 minutes as being the reason for their exciting 39-38 loss to the Free State Cheetahs in their preparation match in Bloemfontein on Wednesday night.

The Sharks dominated possession and territory in the first half but were 28-7 down as the Cheetahs thrived on attacking off turnover ball, before the visitors pulled a try back to go into the break 12-28 down. The second half was a thrilling affair as the Sharks fought back and claimed a 38-36 lead, only for back-to-back mistakes to allow the Free Staters to kick a last-minute penalty to win the match.

“Our accuracy in execution let us down over the full 80 minutes and an example of that was the four or five attacking lineouts we had 10 metres out which we did not convert. But it was not one particular area that was affected by mistakes, it was all areas – kickoff receipt, lineouts, scrum penalties, breakdown. So we made a lot of errors which cost us,” Everitt said.

Replacement flyhalf Manie Libbok was at the heart of some dazzling rugby in the second half, coolly taking on the defensive line with his sleight of hand and foot, but Everitt was particularly pleased with the showing of the replacement front row, where things have headed south for the Sharks before.

“We did well though to fight back and be in a position to win. We always want to play ball-in-hand, but we can only do it if the conditions and the opposition allow it. We will kick if that’s maybe where the opposition weakness is. But playing attacking rugby needs a solid platform. All attack starts at set-piece and depth in the front row is vitally important,” Everitt said.

“We learnt some hard lessons in the Currie Cup but it was tough for those up-and-coming front rowers because Covid meant they did not get enough game-time and they weren’t able to scrum as much as they would have liked in training. But to see Ntuthuko Mchunu carry the ball and scrum like he did was very pleasing, especially since he was an eighthman at Maritzburg College two years ago before heading down to Durban. With him and Michael Kumbirai we are really growing our depth.”

The size of their target may have been a meagre 197, but the Dolphins needed a tremendously determined partnership between all-rounders Senuran Muthusamy and Robbie Frylinck to get them home by three wickets in their exciting Momentum One-Day Cup semi-final against the Cape Cobras in Potchefstroom on Monday.

The Dolphins had crashed to 58 for five when the pair came together, but they negotiated a big-turning pitch with aplomb, adding 112 off 132 balls to all but seal victory.

The burly Frylinck was the more imposing of the two as he hammered 62 off 60 balls, while Muthusamy played the ideal support role with his 57 off 82 deliveries.

They were dismissed in successive overs but by then the Dolphins only needed 17 more runs, which captain Prenelan Subrayen and Eathan Bosch sorted out with a trio of boundaries.

Eathan’s brother Corbin had struck two big blows up front, swinging the ball late to remove Mangaliso Mosehle and Marques Ackerman for ducks in the first over.

Off-spinner Imraan Manack, opening the bowling with Bosch, then left the Dolphins with a daunting task as he bowled both Grant Roelofsen (34) and Ruan de Swardt (5) with deliveries that turned a mile.

But the size of the fight, as well as their skill and composure, was too great in Muthusamy and Frylinck and the Dolphins will now meet the winners of Tuesday’s semifinal between the Imperial Lions and the Knights in Thursday’s final.

Opening bowler Frylinck (9.2-0-25-2) and left-arm spinner Muthusamy (9-0-34-2) had also played starring roles in the Dolphins attack as the Cobras, who were sent in to bat, were bowled out for just 196 in the 47^th over.

The Cobras were well-placed at one stage as Tony de Zorzi, who showed great composure in battling through a tough time up front and making 61 off 71 balls, and Jason Smith (37) took them to 83 for one in the 19^th over.

But paceman Ottneil Baartman produced an inspired spell as he took three for 15 in five overs, and the rest of the Dolphins attack just continued to squeeze pressure on the Cobras batsmen.

A trio of exciting talents topped the leaderboard after the second round of the African Bank Championship at Glendower Golf Club on Thursday, with Jayden Schaper, Danie van Tonder and Martin Rohwer all tied on seven-under-par as the second event in the Rise Up Series heads into the final round on Friday.

Jaco Ahlers is obviously also very much in contention after he fired the round of the day, a four-under-par 68, to climb into fourth place on six-under, just one stroke behind. And the experience and skills of Darren Fichardt (-5), the winner last week at Killarney, Neil Schietekat (-5), Jake Roos (-4) and George Coetzee (-4) also cannot be discounted.

The combination of a top-class course with slick winter greens and the vagaries of a blustery wind made for a particularly tough test in Edenvale on Thursday, and overnight leader Rohwer could only follow up his brilliant 65 on the first day with a level-par 72. That allowed Van Tonder and Schaper, who both shot two-under 70s, to catch him.

“It got tough out there with the wind blowing at about 30km/h and the greens are slick too. You’ve got to pick your lines carefully and not always go for the flags otherwise you open yourself up for three-putts. It’s about hitting fairways and greens, you’ve got to stick with your selection of club, hit it as hard as you can and just hope it goes on. With the gusts you’ve got to time it correctly,” Van Tonder said after roaring out of the blocks with four birdies on the front nine but then coming home in 38.

Rohwer regained the lead with an eagle at the par-five 15^th, but then three-putted the last to slip back to seven-under. Nevertheless, the 27-year-old from Kloof Country Club was pleased with a day of solid ball-striking.

“I was really solid today from tee-to-green, I felt like I had control of the ball all through the round, but I just struggled on the greens. That three-putt on the last leaves a sour taste, but to be level-par with the conditions we were playing in, that’s not too bad. You were just not sure what the wind was doing so it was difficult to hit your numbers,” Rohwer said.

The winner of the Royal Swazi Open last year says he is up to the challenge posed by both the conditions and the likes of playing partner Van Tonder, who was on the charge early on in the second round.

“Sometimes you just have to play more conservatively, but there is still a fair share of opportunity out there. The wind is mostly across though and, with where the pins are located, it’s difficult to get close. It’s supposed to be windy again tomorrow, but I look forward to a third round in a row with Danie. I knew I was playing well today so I wasn’t too concerned about falling behind,” Rohwer said.

The 19-year-old Schaper showed enormous maturity as he held his round together after an up-and-down start in which he had two bogeys, a birdie and an eagle in the first five holes, before dropping successive shots around the turn.

“There was a lot more wind today, so it was a bit tougher, and the pins were all tucked in on the front nine, so I didn’t make a good start. I only hit three fairways in my first 12 holes and made a couple of three-putts, so I really put myself under pressure. But the back nine is much more accessible, I pulled myself together and finished well,” Schaper said.

But the hulking figure of Ahlers, who has won nine times on the Sunshine Tour, looms large, especially with the way he simply overpowered the par-fives on Thursday, collecting eagles on both the eighth and 15^th holes, and birdieing the 13^th.