Ken Borland

Former Springbok captain John Smit believes rugby will need to be drastically streamlined once it resumes after the Covid-19 pandemic, while his fellow World Cup winner Joel Stransky is hoping for a quicker, less contact dominated game when action gets underway again.

Typically for the great South Africans they are, the two World Cup winners were busy handing out food parcels in Lonehill for the One Cup of Pap charitable initiative when they spoke to The Citizen about what they were hoping for once rugby is allowed to take place again.

Smit’s focus was on the effects of the suspension of play and how rugby organisations are going to have to adjust not just their schedules but also the very structure of the game in their respective countries in order to ameliorate the tough financial conditions that will be prevalent.

“Covid-19 has been a massive storm that has had a massive impact on our game, showing us how we have taken certain things for granted. I think it’s important to remember that rugby is largely a product of the players and wherever the sport is not streamlined enough, guys are going to have to make cuts.

“Decisions are going to have to be made about not just the survival of those in the game at the moment. Where the game is running fat, where most of the money is going, that’s where there have to be cuts and I think we all know where those places are,” Smit, a former CEO of the Sharks, said cryptically.

Former flyhalf Stransky wanted to see a pacier game in which there will be more exciting backline play.

“I don’t think the game will change so much although there will be more screening and testing, we will be more aware of the risks but there will still be running, scrumming and tackling. I would just like to see the space on the field used more. Rugby has become very predictable with defensive structures so well organised. The players are now very physical and tend to just bash it up.

“There is not too much backline excitement anymore; players like Cheslin Kolbe at the World Cup, stepping and beating players, using the space, are few and far between; normally the backs just kick the ball through now and hope for a mistake,” Stransky said.

The 1995 drop goal hero said he hoped being deprived of live rugby would encourage people to go back to the stadiums when the action resumes, and Stransky said he counted himself now amongst the people who used to just watch on television (when not broadcasting) but he would now be taking the family to games.

“There’s still going to be massive drama but every sport is in the same boat and we’re no different to other industries – we have all taken a knock. It could take years to bounce back but as soon as there is sport to watch live then hopefully people will be more inclined to go to the stadiums. I know I will be taking the family once rugby is back,” Stransky said.

Beuran Hendricks has become a contracted Protea for the first time and the left-arm pace bowler admitted on Monday that it has taken him a while to understand just what a different level international cricket is, as his career has gone from the basement to the attic of the game in the last four years.

Hendricks actually first played for South Africa way back in 2014, appearing in a couple of T20s against Australia before going to the ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. He did well enough to gain an IPL contract with the Punjab Kings XI, but he then suffered a stress fracture and when he returned at the end of 2015, he struggled to make the Cape Cobras side.

A move to the Highveld Lions, initially on loan, in early 2017 rejuvenated his career, however, and he was back playing T20s for South Africa that October. He has now played 13 T20 Internationals, taking 20 wickets, an ODI debut followed in January 2019, then he was a late replacement for the World Cup in England, and he reached the Holy Grail in January this year when he made his Test debut against England at the Wanderers and took five for 64 in the second innings.

“I’ve been playing pretty decently at franchise level, enough to warrant selection for the national team. I started my international career well enough but then I felt that my performances dipped and they weren’t really at the standard I set for myself. But I now know the intensity and levels I need to be at which should lead to more consistency for the Proteas.

“My Test debut against England was pretty special and I learnt that you can’t drop your intensity at all, it’s five days against opposition who aren’t giving you anything. I was put under pressure in the first innings [23-3-111-1], on the back foot, but in the second innings I picked it up a notch, my intensity was higher and I was able to bring it back a bit. I now know and understand the intensity I need at that level,” Hendricks said on Monday.

“To get my first Proteas contract makes me feel special and proud, it shows that hard work pays off. It has settled a lot of nerves, I now feel part of the Proteas family and team. A lot of positive decisions have got me where I am now in my game and my personal life etcetera,” he added.

But there will be no resting on his laurels for the 29-year-old because Hendricks believes there are no guarantees of Proteas selection given the amount of talent he sees coming through the franchise system.

“There is so much talent coming through, every year there’s a new name. The franchise system just needs to tap into all that talent and make sure that it’s ready for international selection. I think the national selectors are going to be busy over the next two to three years because there will be a lot of options for them to consider, we’re not far off that point.

“But I’ve thought about what I want for my future and I will do whatever I can to make sure that the Proteas stay one of the best teams in the world. Fortunately I have a pretty good relationship with Charl Langeveldt [bowling coach], he understands my bowling best and we know how to communicate with each other. I’m very sure he’s going to be successful now that he’s back with the Proteas,” Hendricks said.

The Central Gauteng Lions have decided to move away from the prescribed racial constituencies for the election of their board in their AGM on Saturday, because critics say it encourages individuals elected as directors to only focus on their particular segment of the game.

Since the Langa Commission in 2009, which was set up by disgraced Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola as punishment for Gauteng cricket’s role in bringing the bonus scandal to light, the Lions board has had a specific racial composition, with racial voting blocks that meant Black African clubs could only vote for the Black African members of the board, likewise for the Coloured and Indian and White groupings.

Last year, CSA pulled a similar stunt, delaying the AGM when the Ngoepe Commission was instituted to see if the changes brought about by the Langa Commission had aided transformation. Judge Bernard Ngoepe found that they had not, but then said the provisions should continue.

Of the seven non-independent directors to be elected to the board, three of them had to be Black African, with the Coloured/Indian and White constituencies electing two representatives each. But the Members Council, comprising all the province’s clubs, have agreed that in Saturday’s AGM there will be two guaranteed posts for each of the racial categories, for which everyone can vote, while the seventh place on the board is open to anyone.

The Black African Cricket Clubs (BACC) grouping this week lashed out at the Members Council and have threatened to pull out of Saturday’s AGM.

“Transformation has not been fully achieved but there has been progress. The Coloured and Indian clubs don’t feel any less Black than the Black African ones and having more Black African representatives does not automatically guarantee transformation. The board has been majority Black African for a number of years but the report by Judge Ngoepe said transformation had not been achieved.

“We want to vote for the best board, whether that means five Black Africans, seven or two. But the BACC are basically fighting about one seat and have been threating the Concerned Cricketers Forum (Indian/Coloured) and the Previously Advantaged Clubs (White), both of which have definitely changed their demographics anyway. We don’t want to vote by constituency anymore.

“All clubs should play a role in electing all seven board members, so the Members Council have decided that all clubs can vote for all seven, the best seven. There are also the five independent directors to be chosen by the new board and I would be surprised if that wasn’t 80% Black African. We want to be able to hold every board member accountable, with three different constituencies the directors all just look after their own interests. The day a Black African club can ask a White board member what they are doing for that club is the day we move forward,” a Members Council insider told Saturday Citizen.

Central Gauteng Lions CEO Jono Leaf-Wright said he believed the Members Council’s only agenda was to obtain long-overdue unity.

“We just want a united board that can grow all cricket and execute our mandate, including transformation. In terms of transformation, I believe we have ticked many boxes. It would be different if we were fielding lily-white teams, but our system and pipeline are very strong,” Leaf-Wright said.

Monique Smit may not play the most magnificent attacking golf or have been lavished with the most talent when it comes to the South African women’s game, but what she does have in generous quantities is mental strength and that priceless commodity known as BMT.

The ability to play the percentages to perfection has seen the 29-year-old from George reigning at number one on the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s order of merit and she was also all set to compete in Europe before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

The way she qualified for Europe is the story that exemplifies her BMT best. At the Ladies European Tour Qualifying School, won by Amy Boulden of Wales, at La Manga in Spain back in January, Smit won the 20^th and final card in a four-way playoff. The fact that she managed to do it so soon after her mother, Rejeanne, who had been her caddy for six years, passed away from cancer in November, made it even more remarkable.

“That was just a surreal day from start to finish. There were so many mixed emotions. The first time I played in Europe was eight years ago and my Mom was with me, those were such beautiful memories. But then not being able to tell her I had won my card made it bittersweet. To come through nine such competitive rounds and make the final cut was unbelievable to achieve,” Smit told Compleat Golfer.

“I spoke to my Dad before the final round and it was almost like my Mom’s hands were around mine for that final birdie putt on the 18th. I wasn’t nervous and I had no doubt that I could do it, even though it was crazy to be in a four-way playoff.

“I smashed my Driver on the first playoff hole, it was a good one and I knew I could get on in two on the par-five. It was 190 metres and I hit a three-wood into the middle of the green, I could just see myself hitting that shot. I then made a two-putt birdie and the Frenchwoman [Manon Gidali] made a 20-footer for birdie, the rest all made pars.

“I hit a good drive again on our second go down 18, but this time there was a bit more wind coming in and I didn’t feel as comfortable going for the green in two. So I left myself a nice full wedge coming in instead, and I hit it about 10 feet left of the flag. I wasn’t sure of the line so I asked Clara [Pietri, the Swiss pro who was caddying for her] and she said half-a-ball left and in it went. Manon’s putt wasn’t so good.

“So it was amazing to do something I had been planning for since April last year, but it was empty in some ways because I could not share it with my Mom. And then it was straight back home and into the Sunshine Ladies Tour … ” Smit said.

Smit, who is an only child and took up the game as a youngster when her father told her to join him on a course in George, certainly showed her maturity back home as she beat compatriots Stacy Bregman and Lejan Lewthwaite to the order of merit title.

Although Smit missed out on winning the SA Women’s Open at Westlake in mid-March, and qualification for the British Women’s Open that went with first place (English rookie Alice Hewson claimed those prizes), she still managed to finish second, which was enough to give her the order of merit title and a R100 000 bonus.

Once again it came down to a putt – a 30-footer for par on the last hole.

“It was absolutely amazing finishing off that way. Going into the SA Open, Lejan hadn’t had the best of tournaments at Glendower and had slipped to second, while Stacy had catapulted her way into first by finishing second in the Jabra Ladies Classic and I was third. There was about a 500 points difference between me and Stacy so I knew there was an outside chance.

“So you go through the constant calculations of points all the time, wondering who’s lying where? You just can’t control it because so many things need to happen correctly, but going into the last day I knew I still had a chance. But I had so many birdie opportunities but just absolutely nothing would drop. I had 11 straight pars and not one birdie, so, standing on the 18^th green, I said, ‘you know what Mom, nothing has happened today, so this one is for you’. Then about a foot before the hole I knew that putt was going to be in,” Smit said.

Even being seven shots behind going into the final round does not bleach Smit’s resolve, as she showed in winning the Joburg Ladies Open at Soweto Country Club at the end of February.

So where does this BMT come from?

“I don’t think I was born with it, but I’ve managed to learn how to obtain it in the last eight years. When I was first on tour, I couldn’t make a cut to save my life. When I went from amateur golf to being a pro, I thought I had to make a complete overhaul of my game. It was only in the last three or four years, since I did my PGA qualification, that I’ve learnt that the essence is to stick to basics, just your basics, make them as strong as possible,” Smit explained.

She has also had to endure much hardship in her career, which has undoubtedly hardened her mentally.

First she suffered a serious knee injury in early 2018, which forced her to undergo surgery.

“I’ve been through a lot of heartache. I used to do extreme running and explosive exercises and then one day my knee pad went into my meniscus, so I needed emergency surgery. Dr Spike Erasmus said I must take it seriously but if I did my rehab right then I should get there. Plus in Sandra Winter [a multiple amateur champion] I had one of the best physios, especially with her knowledge of golf. I practically grew up in front of her in George.

“So I took it one day at a time, but I realised how much I missed competitive golf. I thought maybe I’m not finished my playing career yet. It’s been a roller-coaster but there have been so many joys and small personal victories,” four-time Sunshine Ladies Tour winner Smit said.

She was back by November 2018 but then a year later, tragedy struck when her mother passed away.

“It was on the final day of the Soweto tournament last year that I got the phone call that confirmed that my Mom had pancreatic cancer and my life changed. I still went over to Europe and played on the LET Access Tour and made a couple of cuts.

“But she was always the first one to phone me. Now I have a new reality. But I still play as if she is caddying for me, you have to find a way of dealing with it. She was always my caddy and travelled with me, those were such beautiful memories. I’m still coming to terms with it,” Smit admitted.

But with her game in great shape and the confidence of being No.1 in South Africa this year, Smit can now look forward to really making her mark in Europe. “I definitely feel that I’m now at my peak, although I need to keep working on my consistency over three rounds. I don’t want to have one good round and then a poor round that makes me lose ground on the leaderboard. But it was fantastic for me to win the order of merit, it proves that what I’m doing is on the right track,” Smit said.