Ken Borland

Veteran Duane Vermeulen has been on the sidelines for the last five massive Springbok Tests and as fantastic as their results have been, the eighthman said there are still many areas they can improve on.

“We can always improve. There have been small steps taken through the Georgia game, the SA A matches and the Tests against the British and Irish Lions. We slipped up on the first Test against them, but it’s been nice to see us get some continuity. We want to keep on improving and be consistent. It’s one step at a time but we’re heading in the right direction,” Vermeulen said.

So what are the areas the Springboks still need to work on?

Getting the back three more involved in attack

The Springboks’ five victories so far this year have largely been down to their tight five outmuscling and outworking the opposition. As effective as it has been, forward dominance alone has seldom triumphed in the Southern Hemisphere competition. It would be great to see Cheslin Kolbe, Makazole Mapimpi and Willie le Roux able to exploit space out wide more. They can also be brought into play from clever first-phase plays. Those three are all capable of breaking defensive systems and showing a clean pair of heels.

Increased tempo

One can forgive the Springboks for adopting a wear-them-down strategy against the British and Irish Lions because their lack of high-intensity conditioning after 18 months out of Test rugby made it essential. But they now have a good month of game-time and conditioning work under their belts so the time has come for them to put more speed on the ball. Unlike Argentina, Australia and New Zealand will be actively trying to quicken the game up, so the Springboks will need to be more mobile, with greater continuity between forwards and backs, and maybe even more offloads.

Better discipline

The old benchmark for Springbok teams was to concede fewer than 10 penalties per game. recently they have been in double figures most of the time. It’s not that their discipline has been bad, but under pressure they have tended to err a bit too easily. They can get their penalty count down and that will help with momentum and territory.

More accuracy at restarts

At times the Springboks have looked like a bunch of boisterous pups having a bone thrown to them when it comes to receiving the restarts. The absence of Vermeulen has been felt there and a bit more organisation and clinical execution will help make their exits smoother and relieve territorial pressure.

Improving their strengths even more

In the sage words of Nick Mallett: “It is not up to us to change the way we play because it’s not attractive. You play the way you play best in order to beat the opposition”. And the Springboks’ strengths are their set-pieces and kicking game. Which can still improve!

Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert have been immense at lineout time, but more options can be brought into play there.

Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Trevor Nyakane have excelled at scrum-time, but we are still waiting for Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe to really cut loose and destroy opposition scrums.

And the Springboks can improve their box-kicks and kicking into space.

Cricket South Africa’s long-awaited AGM will take place on Saturday from 10am and the Independent Nominations Panel will be responsible for appointing the eight independent directors to serve on the new 15-person Board, while the Members Council will elect five of their representatives to become non-independent directors.

Dr Stavros Nicolaou, the chaiman of the Interim Board, revealed on Friday at the handover of their report to sports minister Nathi Mthethwa that the nominations panel was headed by the chairman of the Institute of Directors Muhammad Seedat, and the six members included such well-known cricket figures as former first-class cricketer and match referee, attorney Enver Mall; former ICC and CSA president Ray Mali; and former Proteas pace bowler David Terbrugge.

Nicolaou stressed that the Interim Board had no input into the eight nominations that the panel will present on Saturday, except for establishing the parameters around which the members of the Independent Nominations Panel were appointed.

The tenure of the Interim Board will come to an end at the AGM.

“It’s been six months of intense work trying to unscramble many years of problems. Our report contains our learnings and recommendations for the future, and is a template for the next board, hopefully a springboard to more effective executive management. It’s a foundation for the future and that’s most important.

“Our mandate was not just about cricket, it was much bigger than that as Minister Mthethwa highlighted when he first met with us at the end of October. Sport cuts cross every facet of our lives and if cricket fails then it has a much wider impact than just for sport,” Nicolaou said.

Rihan Richards, the acting president of the Members Council that was mostly at loggerheads with the Interim Board and the Minister, thanked both Mthethwa and Nicolaou “for what you have done for cricket”.

“We are entering into a new era for cricket, this will change the face of cricket completely. This is just a report until it is implemented and now we have to take it forward. I don’t anticipate any problems with that at the AGM,” Richards said.

Those who have played under new Proteas captain Temba Bavuma before say his greatest strength is his man-management and that will be put to the test on Wednesday as the skipper will have five new personalities to deal with in the team for the decisive third ODI against Pakistan at Centurion thanks to the IPL departures.

Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi all played their last games before leaving for the Indian Premier League in the impressive victory at the Wanderers over the weekend and so two new batsmen and a rejigged bowling attack will have to take the field at SuperSport Park for the final match of the ODI series.

Judging by the first two games, South Africa will find it tough to crack a Pakistan outfit that has been highly competent thus far on the Highveld.

“We’re using the next couple of days to rest because back-to-back ODIs are not easy, and there’s the IPL dynamic to deal with as well because of the guys going to India to represent us there. I hope the guys coming in are mentally ready to do it for the team on Wednesday. It’s an opportunity for those other guys to stand up and really make a play for the team,” Bavuma said on Sunday evening after levelling the series at 1-1.

While Janneman Malan is the obvious replacement for De Kock in terms of opening the batting, and will be looking to pick up from where he left off against Australia a year ago, Miller’s place could be taken by either Jon-Jon Smuts, if the Proteas want another sixth-bowler option, or Kyle Verreynne. Heinrich Klaasen is already in the team and can keep wicket, or the talented Cape Cobras youngster can take the gloves.

It is in the bowling department, however, where South Africa will be looking for able replacements most carefully. It is probably fair to say that only Nortje and Rabada have really met expectations in the attack so far, so the bowlers are certainly going to be under pressure in the decider against a Pakistan batting line-up that is confident they can dominate.

Lutho Sipamla and Beuran Hendricks are apparently the most likely bowlers to come into the starting line-up, while Wednesday might offer the opportunity of bringing another all-rounder into the team in Wiaan Mulder.

And with spinner Tabraiz Shamsi having taken one wicket for 111 runs in 17 overs in the series thus far, giving Keshav Maharaj a go as the frontline spinner might be timely too.

Possible Proteas XI for 3^rd ODI: Aiden Markram, Janneman Malan, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Jon-Jon Smuts, Heinrich Klaasen, Wiaan Mulder, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks.

One of the most vital aspects of the Bulls’ success this season has been belief and in this respect they have reminded me a bit of the last great side to play out of Loftus Versfeld, the one that won three SuperRugby crowns and five Currie Cup titles between 2002 and 2010.

Even when Jake White’s team were 10 points down with less than 20 minutes to go in the Currie Cup final against the Sharks last weekend, there seemed to be a singleminded focus that even though they had looked an ill-disciplined, ragged lot for long periods of the game, there was no way they would allow themselves to be beaten in the end.

Arno Botha was one of the heroes of the match as he came off the bench and scored two tries, and he spoke this week about the confidence a coach like White and a captain like Duane Vermeulen give the team.

Heyneke Meyer, the coach of that Super Rugby winning Bulls side of more than a decade ago, had a similar effect on his team, having done the same rebuilding job after years of failure in Pretoria. And reading Meyer’s recently-released book 7 – My Notes on Leadership and Life, written with journalist Marco Botha, it seems as if the coach almost brainwashed his players into believing they could achieve the extraordinary if not what was considered impossible.

One of the seven points in order to be successful that Meyer expounds on in his book is “You must believe in your vision”.

Of course all top sportspeople and teams have a belief that they can win, but the type of belief Meyer is talking about is what happened at the end of the 2007 SuperRugby campaign when the Bulls won their last four round-robin games with bonus points including the scarcely-believable 92-3 win over the Reds which gave them a crucial home semi-final, something they had earlier identified as being crucial if they wanted to win the daunting competition.

The book is full of the sort of motivational stories, aphorisms and mind tricks that Meyer employed on his team. Whether or not these ploys would still work today is a matter of conjecture, but there is no denying that belief was one of the key characteristics of that superb Bulls side.

Obviously belief alone is not going to win trophies and Meyer also explores the importance of having all the team’s energy flowing in the direction of a vision – the more unrealistic the better; having the willpower to keep fighting whatever the hardship and the mental toughness to always go another round; and the work ethic that set apart players like Morne Steyn (now a driving force in White’s team) and Victor Matfield.

Meyer also rightly devotes chapters to how no-one can achieve success on their own and on the importance of enjoying the journey. 7 – My Notes on Leadership and Life is certainly an enjoyable journey through Meyer’s extraordinary achievements as a Bulls coach but also his time in charge of the Springboks.

The foreword is written by former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen and it was Gauteng’s privilege to host some of the best Test matches ever played when Meyer’s South Africa hosted Hansen’s New Zealand. The book tells the story of their friendship and there is no doubting the mutual respect between the two.

Like Hansen, White has also won rugby’s biggest prize in the shape of the World Cup and he is also undoubtedly building something special at Loftus Versfeld. Much of that revolves around the inspirational presence of Vermeulen and Meyer also talks about the Springbok great and how highly he rates him for his mental toughness.

Let’s hope that the success in Pretoria can also translate to players coming through and contributing to the continued success of the Springboks.