Ken Borland

Aiden Markram is not sure whether or not his game has grown from his couple of weeks playing in the IPL in the UAE, but he does believe he has a better idea of the flexibility required in T20 cricket, which he says is going to be crucial for the Proteas in the forthcoming World Cup.

Markram joined the Punjab Kings for the completion of the IPL following the withdrawal of English star Dawid Malan, and, batting in the middle-order, made starts in every innings as he ended with 146 runs in six innings, averaging 29.20 with a strike-rate of 122.68.

When South Africa begin their T20 World Cup campaign on October 23 against Australia in Abu Dhabi, the middle-order is where Markram is most likely to find a place in the team.

“The pressure is always a lot more at a World Cup, the environment is all about pressure and you need to perform under it. The IPL is also high-pressured,” Markram said on Monday, “but I’m not sure if my game has grown or not.

“But it’s obviously a good standard of cricket and I was learning on the job, mingling with some seriously good players, chatting to legends of T20 cricket, but also trying to work things out in the middle during games.

“The important thing is that you have plans for the conditions before matches, the type of cricket you want to play, but if conditions don’t allow it then you have to have something else to fall back on.

“Trusting that back-up plan is important and we have certainly upskilled ourselves lately. I don’t think this team brings too much baggage from previous World Cups and we haven’t had too many chats about 2019,” Markram said.

In terms of the conditions, the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi is in the desert but within sight of the dhows in the Persian Gulf, and arguably the best place for batting in the United Arab Emirates. The Proteas have an attack to thrive in most conditions, but the question is whether South Africa does have the batting line-up to put up big enough scores.

“Conditions were not too bad in the IPL, but each ground was very different, which I didn’t expect because I thought the conditions would be pretty generic. But each ground poses a different set of challenges.

“The pitches are not the easiest to bat on, but once you get in, you can take the game away from the opposition. But it’s tough at first for the batsman coming in.

“Sharjah [where they play a qualifier and England] was probably the toughest batting pitch and Abu Dhabi the nicest to bat on.

“In general you’re looking to take pace off the ball, that’s the go-to, lots of changes in pace. And you have to bowl your spinners at the right time, getting that decision right is important,” Markram said.

The Springboks may have been conned into deviating from their strengths a bit in their two losses to the Wallabies, but their determination to build on what they did in their narrow loss to New Zealand last weekend will have been boosted by the three changes the All Blacks have made to their backline for Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test on the Gold Coast.

South Africa have spent this week stubbornly refusing to deviate from their plan despite mounting criticism from doe-eyed lovers of ball-in-hand rugby that kicking the ball away in the last 10 minutes was what cost them a 19-17 defeat at the death.

The All Blacks have changed their wings, with Sevu Reece and Rieko Ioane now set to face the aerial bombardment, and have chosen a scrumhalf with an even stronger kicking game in Brad Weber.

“We back our style and our physical presence, and we have great leaders we trust. We have full confidence in our plan and we want to rock up and play great rugby,” prop Steven Kitshoff said this week.

“We believe our DNA is good enough to win big matches, so on Saturday we want to really pitch up and play dominant rugby.”

Perhaps the key work-on for the Springboks, however, is ensuring that the chances that arise from their superb pressure game are utilised better on Saturday, especially in the closing stages. “We had a lot of opportunities and some crucial moments didn’t go our way,” Kitshoff admitted.

Sunny and warm conditions, with a bit of wind, on the Gold Coast on Saturday could also help the Springboks’ kicking game because sweat from what coach Jacques Nienaber described as “the biggest Test of the year, the same intensity as the World Cup final”, combined with sub-tropical humidity could make handling the ball when hundreds of kilogrammes of South African beef are bearing down on you rather tricky.

Nienaber also said South Africa’s strategy was conditional on how the All Blacks chose to defend. But even with three different players in their backline, New Zealand are unlikely to change from the packed frontline of 14 defenders and just one at the back that they had last weekend.

Midfield kingpin Damian de Allende warned on Saturday that the Springbok defence is back at its best, even though the All Blacks were able to just slip from their grasp in the closing moments of their Rugby Championship Test in Townsville, sneaking a 19-17 win through a last-ditch Jordie Barrett penalty.

A stout defensive effort by the Springboks frustrated and harried the All Blacks, who were definitely frazzled and made many uncharacteristic handling errors. It was pressure rugby at its best, but unfortunately South Africa’s lack of attacking intent meant they were unable to capitalise.

“Our defence was much better than in the last two weeks, it was pretty solid and we were dominant in our hits. We got the detail right – they were very good at attacking from set-piece, they move the ball well in contact, but I think we adapted well. New Zealand are a very potent attacking threat but we scrambled well.

“I thought we controlled the tempo of the game quite well, we got into the game nicely, we were dominant. But it was just heartbreaking in the end and I feel we deserved a bit more. But against the Lions we got the last penalty, Australia did it against us and now tonight it’s happened too. But we will keep working hard and hopefully the advantage will turn our way in the next close game,” De Allende said on Saturday.

Kwagga Smith made coach Jacques Nienaber look like a wise old owl with his selection of him as starting flank, the former Springbok Sevens star producing a series of crucial contributions at the breakdown. Smith was at the forefont of a massive effort to restore the pride of the world champions, and All Blacks coach Ian Foster admitted afterwards he was relieved to survive what he called a “ruthless and clinical” onslaught.

Smith promised more of the same next weekend against the same team. “We had real hunger before this game because last week was not a great performance. I think we played well and we were unlucky to fall short. Next weekend is our last game before a break, so I’ll give my all on the field, everyone can leave it all out there,” Smith said.

Apart from blood, guts and glory, and enormous set-piece prowess, the Springboks could not bring enough to the table with ball in hand, leading to a gripping 19-17 defeat at the hands of the All Blacks in an epic 100^th Test between the two great rivals at Townsville on Saturday.

The Springboks were superb in playing their trademark pressure game. The scrum was dominant and their lineout was majestic, reducing the All Blacks jumpers to just standing and watching. When New Zealand had the ball, they were harried and bashed by a feisty defence, with the Springboks also causing the Rugby Championship winners big problems at the breakdown as well.

But pressure is meant to create opportunities to score and, apart from four penalties by Handre Pollard and a gifted try to Sbu Nkosi after a dropped kick, South Africa did no show enough intent with ball-in-hand. In fact, on a couple of occasions they had front-foot ball, in control of the game, on the New Zealand 22, and they chose to turn possession into a 50/50 contest by launching bizarre up-and-unders.

The strategy of kicking everything away cost them in the end as, after Pollard had given them a 17-16 lead going into the last 10 minutes, a frazzled All Blacks side began to get desperate and coughed up more ball. Which the Springboks kicked straight back to them.

Eventually it was a brilliant angled, long-range penalty by fullback Jordie Barrett that snatched the spoils for New Zealand with just two minutes remaining.

The All Blacks started the match in chilling fashion as, with not much on for them in their own half, hooker Codie Taylor stepped superbly and burst clear and one pass later wing Will Jordan was racing over for the try.

But as much as they tried to up the tempo, speed the game up and stretch the defence, the Springboks managed to drag them back into slow-mo rugby through sheer bloodymindedness. Siya Kolisi was immense as a harrying presence and Kwagga Smith was tremendous at the breakdown.

The kicking game tested the wits of the All Blacks three and, apart from Barrett, they did not look secure. But the Springboks were not smart enough to then capitalise on the turnover balls presented.

Their supporters were left praising an incredibly brave, stout effort, but also mourning what should have been if they had just backed themselves with the ball-in-hand a little more.

Scorers

New Zealand – Try: Will Jordan. Conversion: Jordie Barrett. Penalties: Barrett (4).

South Africa – Try: Sbu Nkosi. Penalties: Handre Pollard (4).