Ken Borland

In a week in which they returned to normal, non-bubble life and played in front of a crowd for the first time since the World Cup, the Springboks seemed to have stage-fright as they slid to a 28-26 defeat at the hands of the Wallabies on the Gold Coast on Sunday.

Flyhalf Quade Cooper, playing his first Test in four years, was the hero with a 100% kicking record of  seven penalties and a conversion, including a long-range, angled penalty after the final hooter to snatch the victory.

But it was an unfocused performance by the world champions, who made basic mistakes and conceded too many penalties against a Wallabies side who were far from the weak pushovers they seemed to be against the All Blacks. They were crafty as ever in the scrums and avoided many of the physical battles by shifting the ball quickly away from the contact points.

The lineout was the only area where the Springboks enjoyed a clear advantage, and all three of South Africa’s tries, scored by hookers Bongi Mbonambi in the first half and two by Malcolm Marx in the second, came from the rolling maul.

The visitors started well, using an aerial bombardment and their lineout prowess to win two penalties for flyhalf Handre Pollard, but the Wallabies began to find weaknesses in their defence as they came on strong at the breakdowns and the Springboks started to make soft mistakes to put themselves under pressure.

One minute after captain Siya Kolisi was yellow-carded for a tip-tackle, Australia took control of the game with the opening try. There was no danger involved in Kolisi’s tackle, but referee Luke Pearce was strict when it came to sending players to the cooler, dishing out four yellow-cards in all, two to each team.

The try came when Faf de Klerk rushed up in defence as usual, but missed the tackle and excellent centre Samu Kerevi sidestepped him, creating space out wide which was quickly spotted by the Wallabies, wing Andrew Kelleway then cutting back inside to finish well.

The Springboks struck back with Mbonambi’s maul try after Australian lock Matt Philip had been yellow-carded for collapsing the drive, but Pollard had a poor night with the boot, missing three kicks either side of halftime.

Pollard knocked his second penalty of the second half over to close the gap to 14-19 as the Springboks came out energised after the break. But the Wallabies continued to play the smarter rugby and replacement scrumhalf Nic White’s brilliant kick, making use of the new 50/22 trial law, put them on attack. From there, fullback Willie le Roux’s yellow card for a deliberate knock-on stalled the visitors’ momentum and cost three points as Quade Cooper slotted his sixth successive kick at goal.

Fortunately, Australia hooker Folau Fainga’a was yellow-carded six minutes later for a no-arms tackle and the Springboks were able to maul Marx over for their second try, getting them to within one point.

And with eight minutes left Marx went over from the lineout drive again. But Damian Willemse, on for Pollard, pushed the conversion well wide to complete a miserable night from the tee for South Africa – 10 points in all being wasted.

There were a couple of crucial scrums towards the end in which the Springboks clearly dominated but were not rewarded by the referee, and then Australia wheeled the last scrum of the game, isolating replacement eighthman Jasper Wiese, who conceded the turnover penalty.

Cooper did exactly what he was brought in to do, showing the coolest of heads as he knocked the tricky penalty straight over.

Scorers

Australia – Try: Andrew Kellaway. Conversion: Quade Cooper. Penalties: Cooper (7).

South Africa – Tries: Bongi Mbonambi, Malcolm Marx (2). Conversion: Handre Pollard. Penalties: Pollard (3).

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.

Western Province shocked the Sharks and disappointed all those supporters of the underdog who thought it would be cute to have both Griquas and the Pumas in the Currie Cup semi-finals as they won 35-24 at Kings Park on Saturday night.

Griquas and the Pumas shared the spoils 13-13 in their earlier match in Kimberley, played in tough conditions with a gale-force wind, which meant Western Province had to beat the second-placed Sharks with a bonus point in order to stay alive in the competition.

And Western Province were inspired, playing with great tempo and ambition, with their outstanding support play and ability to maintain quick ball leading them to five tries.

Centre Dan du Plessis enjoyed an excellent first half as he scored two tries to put Western Province 14-3 up in the first quarter. The Sharks struck back with two excellent tries sparked by scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba, with wing Yaw Penxe and roving eighthman Phepsi Buthelezi dotting down as the home side led 17-14 at the break.

Western Province opened the scoring in the second half as their outstanding scrumhalf Paul de Wet dived over for a try from close range.

The Sharks were guilty of trying to be a bit too cute on attack and their only points of the second half came when flyhalf Lionel Cronje cut back inside and somehow managed to elude a handful of defenders with good footwork and a deceptive turn of pace. He then chipped ahead and Penxe raced through to score the try.

But Western Province responded immediately as they once again won the restart, roared on to attack and replacement hooker JJ Kotze powered over for the crucial bonus point try and a 28-24 lead with six minutes remaining. Wing Edwill van der Merwe then sealed the win with an 83^rd-minute intercept try as the Sharks desperately tried to snatch victory at the death.

At Loftus Versfeld, the Free State Cheetahs were like ravenous pups as they nipped at the heels of the table-topping Bulls throughout, harassing them with an excellent kicking game led by veteran halfback Ruan Pienaar and held their own in the physical exchanges, while their attacking play was typically incisive.

The Bulls eventually seemed to have settled matters down when they led 39-24 going into the final quarter, but fullback Cohen Jasper and wing Malcolm Jaer scored superb tries to reawaken the Cheetahs’ hopes.

Eventually the Bulls held on to win 39-36 and will host their semifinal against Western Province.

The Pumas will be kicking themselves for wasting so many points-scoring opportunities, allowing Griquas into the semi-finals and they will face the Sharks in Durban.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Marco Janse van Vuren, Elrigh Louw, Jan-Hendrik Wessels (2), Madosh Tambwe. Conversions – Johan Goosen (4). Penalties – Goosen (2).

Free State Cheetahs: Tries – Mihlali Mosi, Duncan Saal, penalty try, Cohen Jasper, Malcolm Jaer. Conversions – Ruan Pienaar (3). Penalty – Pienaar.

Scorers

Sharks: Tries – Yaw Penxe (2), Phepsi Buthelezi. Conversions – Curwin Bosch (3). Penalty – Bosch.

Western Province: Tries – Dan du Plessis (2), Paul de Wet, JJ Kotze, Edwill van der Merwe. Conversions – Tim Swiel (5).

Scorers

Griquas: Try – Chris Hollis. Conversion – George Whitehead. Penalties – Whitehead (2).

Pumas: Tries – Tapiwa Mafura, Sebastian de Klerk. Penalty – Eddie Fouche.

South Africa’s women have never won a series in the West Indies, but coach Hilton Moreeng is confident the Proteas can knock their hosts off that perch when they tour the Caribbean for three T20s and five ODIs starting on August 31.
Much of Moreeng’s confidence is based on the return of players such as captain Dane’ van Niekerk and Chloe Tryon, plus the wonderful form shown by South Africa’s representatives in The Hundred competition in England that ended last weekend. All-rounder Van Niekerk was named player of the series as she led the Oval Invincibles to the inaugural title, and pacer Marizanne Kapp was named player of the match in the final, her record figures of four for nine destroying the Southern Brave.
“This is the first time we’ve had the entire squad fully fit and raring to go since the last World Cup. We have not won a series before in the West Indies and our last tour there was not very joyful. But this time we are anticipating a very good tour as we welcome back Dane’ and Chloe. We’re very happy where we are sitting now.
“To see how our players contributed in The Hundred, the way Dane’ and Marizanne dominated in the final, shows the quality we have. We’re very happy with their achievements and it means we have players who are in good nick. And along with someone like Shabnim Ismail, they show the other players how to handle that high-pressure environment and execute your skills on the day,” Moreeng said on the morning of their departure on Monday night.
South Africa’s previous away series against the West Indies was in 2018 when they drew both the ODI and T20 series. In the final wash-up it was the slowness of the pitches that caused the Proteas the most problems.
“We know what to expect, we have players who have played a lot in the West Indies. The hardest thing are the very slow pitches, the West Indies play well on those and use their bowlers very well. We’re used to more pace on the ball, but over there you have to deal with the ball keeping low and facing lots of spinners.
“Our expectation though is to win a series in the West Indies, something we haven’t done before. We arranged slow pitches on this side to prepare better and it’s up to us to adapt. Our last tour to India was a good indicator of how well we can bat in those conditions and we must make sure we continue with that,” Moreeng said.