Ken Borland

Lionel Cronje is an extremely well-travelled rugby player, but he is yet to win the Currie Cup and probably still burns a bit from his experience in last year’s final, giving the flyhalf a good reason to return to the Sharks and try and put that right.

The Sharks announced on Monday that the 32-year-old Cronje has returned to Kings Park on a two-year contract. Apart from playing for the KwaZulu-Natalians in 2014/15 and on loan last year, he has also  been on the books of five other South African provinces as well as playing in Australia for the Brumbies and, most recently, for Toyota Verblitz in Japan.

While on loan in Durban last year, he spoke candidly about his burning desire to win the Currie Cup, but the Sharks were hammered 44-10 in the final by the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld. The chance to play in Europe, in the United Rugby Championship, also figures high up on Cronje’s wish-list.

The Sharks have had a bit of an issue at flyhalf this season, with Curwin Bosch suffering a poor run of form and Boeta Chamberlain and Tito Bonilla not excelling enough to suggest they can help the Sharks to European glory. Cronje’s experience will now be thrown into the mix.

You would think that, with all the money they now have in their coffers from the MVM consortium, the Sharks could attract a world-class, high-profile flyhalf to Kings Park, but for the moment they are backing Bosch, but Cronje will be putting pressure on his position when he becomes available for selection in September.

The Sharks have also announced that locks Emile van Heerden and Renier Hugo have signed contracts that will keep them at Kings Park for the next three years, while exciting scrumhalf Grant Williams has extended his contract by another two years.

To Bulls fans at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday evening, it would have seemed clear that they did not enjoy equity from the referee in the second half of their Currie Cup match against the Lions, but coach Gert Smal preferred to praise the opposition rather than blame the officials after the match.

The Bulls, having led 35-17 at halftime, ended up scraping to a 43-37 win as the Lions piled on relentless pressure in the second half. Referee Griffin Colby ended up penalising the Bulls 18 times in the match, and the Lions just eight times, and at one stage he gave 11 successive penalties to the visitors.

“I don’t want to say anything about the referee,” Smal said, “There is a system in place, comments go through Mark Lawrence and we will do that. We must remember referees are not perfect.

“The Lions started playing really well in the second half. And Juan Mostert had played well at flyhalf in the first half but then got injured, and we had to move Keagan Johannes there.

“So the Lions had their big guys running at our scrumhalf, who had to play flyhalf, and they gained a lot of momentum there. We were always under pressure to close the spaces down.

“It was sad that we could not keep our momentum in the second half, but this Lions team has been together for five weeks and they played very good rugby. They are a good team and they came hard at us. We struggled to get momentum and conceded unnecessary penalties,” Smal said.

Despite spending most of the second half inside their own 22, the Bulls produced a marvellous defensive effort, and Smal praised the tenacity and character they showed to pull through the win.

“In the first half we stuck to our plan, that was the way we wanted to play and it was outstanding. We were composed, the guys did what was expected and we did the small things well.

“In the second half there was big pressure on this team and it was good that they were able to get a good win. My message to them in the changeroom was that I am really proud of them and the way they applied themselves.

“No-one went and hid away and so we got the win by putting our bodies on the line. My captain, Lizo Gqoboka, was a real warrior and you should see what his face looks like now.

“But we would like to do the first-half game for the whole 80 minutes next time,” Smal said.

The Bulls host the Pumas in their next Currie Cup match, on May 27.

Cricket South Africa’s failure to find witnesses willing to testify against Mark Boucher was the most telling blow to the disciplinary proceedings against their men’s national coach that they abandoned on Tuesday, with the message from the embattled former wicketkeeper/batsman being that he hopes he can now just focus on the Proteas’ on-field performance.

Following the decisions of both Paul Adams and Enoch Nkwe to not take part in the disciplinary hearing, where their allegations would have been cross-examined, CSA announced on Tuesday that their “lawyers engaged with various other potential witnesses over the last month and concluded that none of the three charges [against Boucher] were sustainable.”

CSA chief executive Pholetsi Moseki issued a conciliatory statement and sources close to Boucher indicated that he also wanted to put the whole imbroglio behind him.

“CSA appreciates that it has been very difficult for Mark to deal with these charges hanging over his head over the last few months. CSA regrets this,” Moseki said.

“CSA is also appreciative of the fact that Mark has at all times conducted himself properly and professionally – refusing to be drawn into public debates about the charges and carrying out his duties with commitment and dedication.

“The performance of the Proteas men’s team over this period has been extremely impressive, particularly in the Test arena, and this speaks to the efforts of Mark, his support staff and the players,” Moseki said.

Boucher will thus see out the remainder of his contract as Proteas head coach, which runs until after the World Cup in November 2023, and is eager for there to be détente now between him and CSA.

“It’s all systems go and everything has been normalised as far as Mark is concerned,” a source close to Boucher told The Citizen on condition of anonymity.

“He wants to put cricket first now, just focus on his job as a coach. He is hoping that cricket will be the only focus now.”

Boucher admitted that CSA’s efforts to cut him adrift had severely discomfited him. While trying to stabilise the Proteas team following the tumultuous events of 2019, Boucher also had to fight a war, raging over his own head, against his employers.

“The last few months have been extremely difficult to endure for me and my family,” Boucher said in a statement. “I am glad the process has finally come to an end and that CSA has accepted that the charges against me are unsustainable.

“The allegations of racism that were levelled against me were unjustified and have caused me considerable hurt and anguish,” Boucher said.

As a father of two and someone who rose to the top of the rugby world despite coming from an under-resourced background in Zimbabwe, it is no surprise that looking after the welfare of children would feature strongly in the post-Springboks life of Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira.

The 36-year-old Mtawarira, the most-capped prop in Springbok history, was announced this week as the Regional Ambassador for Eastern and Southern Africa for Unicef, the United Nations Children’s Fund.

His role will be to bring much needed attention to Unicef’s humanitarian and development priorities in the region and he has already travelled to the Mukuru informal settlement in Nairobi, where he spoke with the young children about the significant challenges they face.

Mtawarira is passionate about improving the education and sporting opportunities of vulnerable children. As someone who arrived in Durban in 2003 with just a bicycle and one bag as he tried to follow his rugby dream, The Beast knows first-hand what it means to fulfil one’s potential against the odds.

“I’ve always wanted to work with children and I am blessed to have two of my own, my pigeon pair Talumba and Wangu,” Mtawarira told Saturday Citizen. “I want to inspire children to reach their wildest dreams.

“In my playing days I saw myself as a role-model, as a symbol of hope. I was that kid once upon a time, who needed support to fulfil his talent, and now I want to pass it on.

“So it’s a massive honour for me to be Unicef’s regional ambassador, humanitarian issues have always meant a lot for me and to impact lives is the most meaningful thing I can do.

“I was in Nairobi last week, at an informal settlement, and it was humbling to see families in very tough circumstances. But Unicef allows those children to access quality education, sanitation and water,” Mtawarira said.

But the third most capped Springbok of all time is also an inspiration to adults, and his busy schedule also sees him playing a mentorship role at the Sharks. He is hopeful that Kings Park will become a factory for great tight forwards, picking up the baton he left in 2019.

“I spend a lot of my time involved with the Sharks, in a mentorship role with the players and I also represent MVM Holdings [the Sharks’ equity partners] as a strategic advisor on the board.

“So I am quite hands-on. It’s been impressive to see how the pack has done lately. The arrival of Bongi Mbonambi [hooker] has made a significant difference and Ox Nche [Beast’s successor in the No.1 jersey] is coming up in leaps and bounds.

“So there are a lot of positives around the Sharks at the moment, which is what I wanted to see when I retired, so I’m happy.

“They have a core group of senior players, guys like Siya Kolisi, Bongi and Thomas du Toit, who are World Cup winners and understand what it takes to be a top-performing pack in such a tough competition as the United Rugby Championship.

“The youngsters will learn from them and Globis, the Georgian scrum coach [Akvsenti Giorgadze], has set really high standards. He’s great on technique and his attention to detail in training has seen significant progress in the scrum,” Mtawarira said.

The man who made 159 appearances for the Sharks in SuperRugby also says the move to the URC in Europe has been very good for South African rugby.

“I was blessed to play so many SuperRugby games, but the URC has been a great shift for the South African teams. The players relish the opportunity of playing in Europe.

“There are a lot of positives for South African rugby – especially that it’s the same time zone and you’re not necessarily going to be playing with jetlag.

“It’s not so similar conditions for the players, but no South African is going to shy away from a bit of cold weather. There is a lot more in our favour than there was in SuperRugby,” Mtawarira said.

While Beast was a vital part of the South African team that won the 2019 World Cup and he is confident they can defend that title in France next year, he says he hopes to see the births of some legendary new Springbok careers in the build-up to that tournament.

“I think the Springboks are in a great position to defend the World Cup, we have a lot of depth and talent, but the big thing is to not peak too early.

“I hope we give the youngsters a chance before the World Cup, especially during the Wales tour here in July. Guys like Aphelele Fassi, Damian Willemse and Wandisile Simelane have been shining in the URC and we must blood them.

“It’s also important to perform well in the Rugby Championship, we must win that, and you also want to get through this season without any serious injuries.

“A lot of other teams will have studied our game-plan and will see how they can break us down. We know our strength lies in our pack and so our method will not change, but hopefully there are a few tricks or variations we can bring in,” Mtawarira said.