Ken Borland

The move to Cape Town Stadium from one of the most famous homes of rugby in Newlands has come under fresh scrutiny after the turf broke up often during scrum time, not helping the Springboks according to prop Steven Kitshoff, in the first Test against the British and Irish Lions.

Cape Town Stadium was originally built for soccer and the turf did not stand up to the rigours of international scrummaging at the weekend. The Springboks, using two quality front rows, were expecting to gain some dominance in the scrums, providing them with an important attacking platform, but they struggled to get the purchase required.

The second and third Tests are both being played at the same venue, having been moved from Johannesburg due to Covid, and it seems highly unlikely that any more changes to the schedule will be made.

“The field cut up a lot and it was difficult to plant and use your feet. The grass just gives way and it becomes very slippery. There are things we can work on to prevent that – everyone having all eight studs in the ground helps a lot. The referee also called ‘Use it!’ at the scrums quite quickly, probably because he doesn’t want re-sets.

“Our scrum was rock-solid and we were starting to feel the cracks coming in the opposition, so we have to try and get our momentum a bit quicker. We have to find solutions to these problems quickly so we can take control as a group of forwards. In the second half we struggled to get our scrum going and that allowed the Lions to use their kicking game to put us under pressure,” loosehead prop Kitshoff said on Monday.

While there have been some bombastic predictions that the Springboks are now heading for a series whitewash, Kitshoff spoke of the quiet determination within the team to repeat what they did at the World Cup: Having been beaten by the All Blacks in the opening game, South Africa did not lose again as they went on to win the title.

“It’s a similar feeling to after that World Cup loss. We only lost by five points, some things just did not go our way and we struggled very badly in certain areas. But there is still a good vibe in the camp and we are very positive, although very disappointed in the result. We know how to fight back and get off the ground for the second game. We’re excited for a big game of rugby.

“The Lions did really well to take away some of our strong points, but as country we always fight back and come back stronger. We are putting a lot of work into our set-piece, we want to get that go-forward and our team on the front foot. Everybody put their bodies on the line, we all tried really hard to get over the gainline and give the team momentum. But there are some tactical and technical things for us to master,” Kitshoff said.

Probably only the most ardent of South African rugby fans will know the name Dugald Macdonald, but he is Springbok number 470 having first slipped the famous Green and Gold jersey over his head in a third-floor room of the President Hotel in Sea Point, on 7 June 1974, while a typical Cape Town cold front splattered rain on to the balcony outside.

Macdonald would wear the jersey that had captured his imagination only once in a Test match, and that was actually a fortnight later when he played in the second Test against the British Lions at Loftus Versfeld. That’s because he was a reserve for the first Test at Newlands, and in those days the replacements sat in the stadium because the ‘bench’ was hardly ever used.

In a disastrous 3-0 series loss for the Springboks, he was destined to become one of the unfortunate one-Test wonders as the national selectors panicked and chose 36 different players for the four Tests, the final match in Johannesburg being drawn. According to veteran rugby writer John Bishop, who covered the entire tour, “Dugald should have been there from start to finish, he was one hell of a player. One of those guys who were simply forgotten about in the chaos of the 1974 tour, a powerful number eight with excellent ball skills. He should have been a Bok great”.

Macdonald has just released a book about the whole experience – the series being one of the most traumatic in South African rugby – called Ja-Nee. It is an engrossing look into the past, a study in how the mentality of Springbok rugby was built and how those attitudes still influence it today, but as with all great writing, it also brings applications and warnings for the future.

And it’s not just about rugby either. It provides a fascinating snapshot of White South African life in the 1970s. It is evocative, humorous and thought-provoking all at the same time.

The sun was shining brightly on that midwinter’s day in Pretoria, but Macdonald makes a decent argument for the Springboks not so much being panicky as arrogant. They were convinced that the Lions could not possibly be better than them and a few changes would sort out their scrum and allow them to dominate possession.

It’s a recurring story in our rugby: Back in 1992 when we returned from isolation and expected to still be better than Australia and New Zealand because “the Currie Cup is the strongest competition in the world” and instead lost both Tests comfortably. And then just last week the Bulls travelled from Pretoria to Italy, everyone back home confident that they would be returning from their jaunt with the Rainbow Cup, only to be played off the park by Benetton Treviso.

When South African rugby retreats into the laager mentality, we tend to become dangerously insular whenever we have been cut off from international trends.

Macdonald was not your typical Springbok of the 1970s, he was a city boy, schooled in Cape Town, he was an Oxford Blue and also played for Parma in Italy and Toulouse in France. Some might say paranoid 1970s South Africa was never likely to give him many more than one Test cap.

This broader world view has allowed him to identify an over-reliance on physicality as being a possible albatross around the necks of the current world champions, who have not played since outmuscling England in the World Cup final in Japan in November 2019. While the Springboks have been inactive, the rest of the world has been plotting.

“If we understood the roots of South African rugby then we’ll know why physicality has actually been responsible for many of our defeats. I fear we are winding up for another one because physicality is all the Lions are talking about. But if we don’t have technique and lucidity, physicality can only get you so far.

“Whenever we have just played inklim rugby it has been the beginning of the end, it’s been a problem down the years, and the same thing is growing again. Physicality is great at the right time and in the right place, but so much thought needs to go into it otherwise it’s helluva easy to get carried away. Fortunately we have really good leaders in the game now,” Macdonald told me.

*Ja-Nee is published by Flyleaf Publishing and is widely available in bookstores and online.

The West Indies are famous for producing the most ferocious fast bowling attack of all time, but conditions in the Caribbean have changed so much since then that low and slow pitches are now far more common than hard tracks with pace and bounce.

South Africa, nevertheless, have won their last three series in the West Indies largely through the use of menacing pace bowling. Of the Proteas bowlers who have taken more than 10 wickets over there, Allan Donald (20), Andre Nel (17), Dale Steyn (15) and Morne Morkel (14) all average less than 25.

Jacques Kallis, who was certainly genuinely quick when the mood grabbed him, has taken the most wickets (27) on tour there, but played four more Tests (12) than any other bowler. Left-arm spinner Nicky Boje is the third-highest wicket-taker, but his 20 scalps came at an average of 40.55.

Current coach Mark Boucher also played 12 Tests in the Caribbean and it looks like the Proteas will be backing their fast bowlers again when the first Test starts on Thursday at Gros Islet, St Lucia.

“These are new conditions for us because we have not played here in the rainy season, normally it’s warmer and dryer. But it has felt more like England: overcast and although I have never seen it rain over here before, the last three days have been rainy. So there is a lot of movement and we are using the Duke ball and not the Kookaburra we used to over here. The Duke stays harder for longer and ball-maintenance will be key.

“We have got the right balance in the bowlers we have over here, we have four seamers that are probably hoping to play and then a spinner. Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi are all different and Keshav Maharaj can bowl well on any surface. Then there’s Wiaan Mulder too. We want to put the West Indies under pressure with ball and bat,” bowling coach Charl Langeveldt said.

So it seems unlikely that wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi will play and George Linde, who kind of does the JP Duminy role of back-up spinner who can bat, is likely to lose out to seam-bowling all-rounder Mulder.

Langeveldt admitted that the Proteas have not done themselves justice in Test cricket recently, and new captain Dean Elgar is certainly giving his team no peace about it in their team chats so far.

“We really want to turn our Test cricket around and the captain has talked about doing the basics for the longest. It might mean boring cricket, but that’s what you want in Test cricket. Dean certainly brings something different, he demands professionalism, discipline and that team ethos, which is something we’ve needed to revisit.

“He has asked the senior players to lead by example and to speak to the youngsters. We need to keep our disciplines for long periods,” Langeveldt said.

South Africa is famous for its loose forwards and it is a measure of our tremendous depth in that department that Roelof Smit, who toured with the Springboks in 2016, can only get a game of top-flight rugby when he turns out for the Toyota Invitation XV to play the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

A 25-man squad for the Invitation XV was announced on Wednesday and includes a fully-fledged Springbok in wing Jamba Ulengo, who played a Test against Wales in 2016.

Smit was chosen for the 2016 end-of-year tour as an openside flank, having burst on to the scene that year as one of the Bulls’ young stars. His only appearance on that tour was against the Barbarians, and although he scored a try he did not play in one of the Tests against England, Italy or Wales and so is not considered an official Springbok.

And since then he has suffered numerous injuries. Even a move to the Lions has not helped and he has fallen down the pecking order there as well after being knocked down by another spate of injuries. Last year he only returned to action in October, but suffered a calf injury in the new year and then yet another knee injury at the end of February.

Ulengo made a fine start to Super Rugby Unlocked action last October but has since rather faded from view at the Lions. But he has picked himself up numerous times in his career and Saturday gives him an opportunity to get himself back into the limelight.

Also amongst the backs named in the Invitation XV is Innocent Radebe, one of the most exciting schoolboy flyhalves in the country whose senior career has also been dogged by much bad luck. He was named by Peter de Villiers as his Eastern Province captain, only to fracture his hand three minutes into his first game in the kick-off series at the start of this season.

Toyota Invitation XV squad

Forwards: Dan Jooste (Sharks), Jean Droste (Cheetahs), Jeandre Labuschagne (Sharks), Johan du Toit (WP), Khwezi Mona (Sharks), Kwenzo Bloze (WP), Marnus van der Merwe (Cheetahs), Michael Kumbirai (Sharks), Mihlali Mosi (NMMU), Reinier Viljoen (Cheetahs U20), Roelof Smit (Lions), Ruhan Straeuli (Lions), Sazi Sandi (WP), WJ Steenkamp (Bulls).

Backs:  Corne Smit (WP), Dillon Smit (Lions), Innocent Radebe (EP), Jamba Ulengo (Lions), Jason Alexander (WP), JP Duvenhage (Shimlas), Keegan Johannes (Bulls), Leolin Zas (WP), Richard Kriel (Bulls), Shane Bolton (Shimlas), Tristin Leyds (WP).