Ken Borland

As cricket lovers we often talk about the old days and how our heroes of yesteryear would have fared in modern-day cricket, especially the new white-ball formats which have changed the face of the game.

The more nerdy of us love compiling teams that would never take the field but oh, how we wish they could have. One of the sides that is often discussed is the best T20 XI made up of players who never had the opportunity to play the shortest format of the game. In other words, all cricketers before 2003.

One of my selections would be Chris Wilkins, the former Natal, Eastern Province, Border and Derbyshire batsman who sadly passed away at the start of the week, to open the batting. Members of the younger generation need not feel like total dorks if they have never heard of the man, because he never played for South Africa. But he did command immense respect from his peers and many of them I have spoken to agree that one of the 1966 SA Cricket Annual Cricketers of the Year would make their XI for players who never had the opportunity to play T20.

Opening the batting in limited-overs cricket these days is all about being able to hit boundaries against the new ball by playing orthodox cricket strokes, and Wilkins was a master of that. There is many a former provincial fast bowler who is still bearing the scars of being belted over the covers or straight back over his head to the boundary in the first over of the innings, whether in first-class cricket or limited-overs, by Wilkins.

An average in the mid-30s is not exceptional by today’s standards, but a word of warning to those wanting to cast aspersions on the quality of cricket back then. Because it was three-day cricket, most of the pitches were pretty green and result-friendly, and it was probably the greatest era of South African fast bowling in terms of depth – the likes of Vince van der Bijl, Mike Procter, Garth le Roux, Clive Rice, Eddie Barlow, Rupert Hanley, Kenny Watson and Stephen Jefferies et al were all at the peak of their powers. Back then, only a handful of batsmen would ever average more than 40.

Wilkins was held in high enough esteem to be chosen for the Rest of the World XI that toured England in 1970, making an impact with a swashbuckling 73-minute century, the fastest of the season, against the T.N. Pearce XI at Scarborough.

As well as Wilkins, is not the thought of Graeme Pollock, Barry Richards, Procter and Adrian Kuiper playing T20 cricket a mouthwatering one? Lance Klusener is not eligible for this fantasy XI because he played 53 domestic T20 games, but there would not be a more sought after player in any of the world leagues if ‘Zulu’ were in his prime now.

All those wonderful fast bowlers would have been great to see in T20 as well, but, in these days of spinners being a strike bowler in white-ball cricket, there is not too much by way of South African slow bowlers to choose from. Leg-spinner Denys Hobson would probably have been the Imran Tahir of his day, although the Western Province star would probably have been a better Test bowler.

There are many international bowlers from the 1970s and 80s who are extremely thankful that there was not a T20 format back then during the heyday of the West Indies … bowling to Viv Richards would certainly not have been for the fainthearted.

There is a T20 tournament on the go at the moment in Abu Dhabi, with South Africa’s champions, the Titans, taking part. It seems to be very much a made-for-TV event, judging by a great paucity of spectators in a grandiose stadium. A triumph for the Titans would be nice, but hardly memorable given the gimmicky feel of the event and tiny boundaries that really make it into a slogging contest.

What is clear, however, is that South Africa has a great deal of top-class talent and it was a bittersweet feeling to see Colin Ingram and Kyle Abbott starring for a team from Afghanistan of all places.

As we have seen so often in rugby, making changes to long-standing rules of the game almost invariably brings unexpected consequences and there has been a lot of talk recently about doing away with one of cricket’s most famous traditions, a move which I believe will boomerang badly on the sport.

South African captain Faf du Plessis was the latest to bring up doing away with the toss, although his beliefs lost some credibility because they came straight after the Proteas had been mauled in their two Tests in Sri Lanka.

Various high-profile Australians have also backed the ending of the toss, but again, these comments were mostly made after they had lost the Ashes in England.

Proponents of the eradication of the toss propose that the visiting team just gets to choose whether they want to bat or bowl, thereby supposedly removing home advantage, which the anti-toss advocates say has become a major problem in world cricket.

Happily, a couple of months ago the ICC Cricket Committee discussed doing away with the toss and decided that it was an integral part of the game and should be spared.

No doubt they had a better grasp of the actual facts surrounding the issue. Home ground advantage has always played a role in cricket, as it does in just about every sport, but winning or losing the toss actually does not have a major effect.

In this decade, the team winning the toss still only wins 43.78% of Test matches, so it is not a massive advantage. There is a slight benefit because only 35.13% of teams that lose the toss go on to win the match. Historically, Australia are the only side that wins more than 50% of the Tests in which they have won the toss, and even then it’s just 50.49%, only slightly higher than their overall success rate of 47.16%.

I believe giving the visiting team total control over what they do first would have a major bearing on the game, which is where the unintended consequences come in, especially in countries like India or New Zealand.

It’s fair to say the weather is out of the control of the people who prepare the pitches in those countries and they can only do so much to negate the effect of overhead conditions. Doing away with the toss would grossly undermine teams like India and New Zealand – in the heat of the sub-continent, dry, dusty, deteriorating pitches are almost inevitable and India would be batting second every time; conversely, New Zealand is usually pretty damp and overcast and the Black Caps would find themselves sent in to bat every time.

It would happen often in England as well that the home team would automatically have to bat at the most difficult time and it could also affect the Proteas at home.

What it boils down to is the ICC actually using the mechanisms they already have in place to ensure fair conditions – they already have rules in the playing conditions when it comes to unfair pitches and they just need to enforce them more diligently, especially when it comes to the sub-continent and even some South African green mambas.

The perception that away teams are struggling does have some basis in fact. In this decade, the visiting team has lost 51.75% of Tests, up from 46.40% in the 2000s. It is interesting, though, that the away team has been winning Tests in the last 20 years at pretty much the same rate as they have been doing through the history of the game.

It is, of course, the number of away draws that has dropped significantly in recent times; down from 47.31% of Tests in the 1960s to just 20.76% in this decade. That is obviously a positive but it also points to the rise of T20 cricket and batsmen being able to hit the ball but not defend against the turning, seaming or swinging delivery.

The problem is not the toss, it’s modern-day batsmen being ill-prepared for foreign conditions, and sometimes the ICC allows the home union to get away with cheap shots in terms of pitch preparation.

The Lions have an unbelievable record against all other South African SuperRugby franchises since 2015 and they have consistently been our best team. It really is an amazing record, their dominance of South African rugby is the reason they have been in two successive finals and they have consistently scored the most tries in the competition, so you have to ask why they have so few backs in the new Springbok squad?

With only Aphiwe Dyantyi and Elton Jantjies named in the 43-man squad, there may be no Lions back in the starting line-up against England, which is quite interesting when you consider they have been beating everyone else in South Africa convincingly, and especially with their coach, Swys de Bruin, now with the Springboks as a backline consultant.

There have been suggestions that new Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus is concerned with the defensive prowess shown by our SuperRugby franchises, but the Lions in 2016 had one of the best defences in the competition and you have to play, you can’t just kick the ball downfield and defend.

It’s also interesting that none of the first-choice back three from last year’s Springboks – Andries Coetzee, Raymond Rhule and Dillyn Leyds – have been selected by Erasmus.

It is true to win big competitions you need a rock-solid defence.

If you look at the points conceded figure for our teams, the four South African outfits have all leaked between 381 and 392 points, an average of 27.2-29.8 points per match. In terms of tries conceded, the figures are 49 to 52 per side, which amounts to an average of 3.5-3.7 per game.

In comparison, the Jaguares, who are strong contenders to win the South African Conference, are conceding just 26.2 points and 3.4 tries per match. Only the Sunwolves, the bottom team in SuperRugby, have worst stats than the South African franchises.

What is causing our teams to concede so many points? You can’t just say it’s because we now have an attacking mindset. Not one of our sides has been really convincing defensively, which perhaps reflects where most of them are on the overall log. At Test level, the Springboks used to work on trying to concede less than an average of 15-16 points per game, and 11-12 at the World Cup, with just one try. Then, more often than not, you would be on the winning side. It is imperative to get back to these sort of stats now going forward because big Test matches are often gain-line arm-wrestles.

The really good news for the Springboks though is that England have just conceded nine tries and 63 points against a scratch BaaBaas XV, both record lows for them at Twickenham. So their defence is in real trouble and in their last four games one began to notice some real cracks both in terms of their system and individual tackles.They really are sitting before the tackle which causes them to miss so many and any ‘backdoor’ second-line plays cause total disconnection and confusion.

Eddie Jones turned on his players viciously, saying some of them couldn’t cope with the pace of international rugby, but he picked them in the first place, and it will be even harder on super-fast highveld fields with altitude as a factor.

To get back to our Lions, their win over the Stormers at the weekend was so vital because it maintains a buffer between them and the Jaguares, who have a game in hand but are six points behind. It was an exciting battle with the Stormers exploiting the Lions fullback getting into the defensive line early with attacking kicks and the Lions exploiting the home side’s flimsy defence of the rolling mauls and around the edges – the way Nic Groom dummied Ramone Samuels to score was way too easy.

There is also a difference in the way the Lions use the rolling maul these days, they are prepared to wheel it more in order to exploit space and take out the defenders stopping the maul. It is really good use of forces and you have to credit Philip Lemmer for bringing in something different and innovative.

You have to praise the Lions for the win, but the Stormers will rue the red card to Raymond Rhule. You just can’t do what he did anymore on a rugby field, although the nature of his suspension and those of other players in recent weeks does raise fresh questions over exactly how the judiciary works in SuperRugby. How can the ban cause them to effectively miss no rugby?

The Sharks were really outplayed by the Jaguares in Buenos Aires but they also did some sloppy things.

Coach Robert du Preez also made a massive statement during the week that they would be in the final either this year or next, which smacked of desperation and false news from a side scrambling for a quarterfinal place, and about to come up against one of the form teams in SuperRugby.

The Sharks’ pillar defence was just not good enough last weekend, the guys were either too wide or too upright. You can’t allow yourself to just be cut so easily next to the ruck, that should be the strongest part of your defence because that’s where the ball is, but for the Sharks, it was their weakest area.

The Jaguares did finish well and wing Ramiro Moyano scored three tries and they were backing up the ball-carrier well. The try they scored just before halftime to go 17-0 up would have hurt the most for the Sharks because they were slow to react, players had their backs to the ball and conceding a try from a quick-tap penalty is the sort of thing you can’t afford away from home.

It’s a very long trip to Buenos Aires and they had a quick turnaround from their last game, but the Sharks looked sluggish. The Bulls had similar problems the week before and how to manage that trip is something the South African teams have to sort out. When I was involved with the Springboks, we found it better to train in South Africa for two sessions, then fly over, have a captain’s run and play.

It is pleasing, however, to see the Jaguares hit their straps and when SuperRugby resumes they will have three vital games left in which to clinch their playoff place. Their Australasian tour proved that they can win on the road and they have been really impressive in their recent bonus point wins at home, so they are building nicely. It will still, however, be a big test for them to host the Stormers and then play the Bulls and Sharks away after they have played Tests against Wales and Scotland.

The Bulls were also really disappointing last weekend and they will look at their game against the 14-man Brumbies and really rue their defeat – it will probably be the game that loses them a playoff place.

They did some really good things on attack – Handre Pollard’s show-and-go try and Roelof Smit scoring out wide – but their defence is just not good enough for them to be playoff contenders. An example of that was when they had three defenders on two attackers after the restart turnover, but they all just rushed up and opened the space for the Brumbies on the outside. They will also be disappointed with the try when fullback Tom Banks ran the whole length of the field to score.

The Bulls are just not able to stop momentum close to the rucks, their opponents get go-forward too easily, and especially in the 22 that generally means seven points against you because it leads to space around the pillars, something which Brumbies scrumhalf Joe Powell exploited.

The Bulls have certainly been more entertaining this season but they need to step up over the next few weeks. Pretoria only really comes out to the stadium for winning rugby. The Bulls have a lot of talent in key areas, the locks are the envy of every team and the fetchers are second to none, and they have real X-factor in their outside backs.

Pollard has played plenty of Tests and is at the peak of his powers, Jesse Kriel too, and they have more players in the Springbok squad than the Lions, so how come are the Southern Gauteng side so far ahead of them? The Bulls are certainly an enigma, they do a lot of good things in every game, they just need that consistency of performance, they are too up-and-down at the moment.

On a parting, more positive note, my heartiest congratulations to Siya Kolisi on his well-earned appointment as captain for the England series. I am sure he will fly the South African flag high and do the position proud.

John McFarland was the Springbok defence coach from 2012 through to the 2015 World Cup, where they conceded an average of just one try per game and the least line-breaks in the tournament. He is now the assistant coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan and before that, McFarland won three SuperRugby titles (2007, 09, 10) with the Bulls and five Currie Cup crowns with the Blue Bulls. In all, he won 28 trophies during his 12 years at Loftus Versfeld.

We have a full house of SuperRugby fixtures this weekend for the local franchises and it will be a very exciting clash in Pretoria as the Bulls, having been given a lot of confidence from their win over the Hurricanes, take on a terrific Lions side.

The Lions have a very proud record of not losing to a South African side for the last three years, while the Bulls have obviously been revitalised under John Mitchell.

I think it will be quite a high-scoring game because both sides are really committed to attack and keeping the ball alive in all situations.

Having been privileged to be able to watch a few of their training sessions, one can certainly see that what the Bulls have been working on came out against the Hurricanes, like the tip-ons and offloads. To see South African forwards display such dexterity and skills – locks Lood de Jager and RG Snyman were especially good – was really wonderful.

The Bulls have also worked a lot on their fitness; for prop Pierre Schoeman to get up and score the matchwinning try, beating five or six Hurricanes defenders to get to the ball and be the first player up in support and show up constantly around the field, was proof of this.

It will be interesting to see whether the team that the Lions announced will be the team that runs out on to the field … it’s very unusual for them to name their team on a Tuesday. It will be very exciting to see Franco Mostert at number seven, however, but I think the Lions will miss another ground player. You really need someone to slow down the ball on the highveld and it was great to see Roelof Smit back to his best for the Bulls, buying time for the defence to set.

The Lions had a really good solid win over the Jaguares and Aphiwe Dyantyi really announced himself with an even better try than he scored in the first round. To see a wing beat international wings for pace and then a sidestep is really special. You can’t coach the sort of things he does on attack, although there are obviously things he needs to work on and defensively he was out of position for the two late tries that cost the Lions the bonus point. But he is one of a lot of exciting young wings in South African rugby, along with the likes of Makazole Mapimpi and Sbu Nkosi.

The Lions might rue those two late tries though because if they end up in the middle of the table then bonus points could be crucial.

The Sharks will be looking to bounce back from their defeat in Johannesburg in the opening round when they take on the Waratahs in Durban, but they really have to scrummage better if they are to be any threat in this competition.

It would possibly have been better if they had chosen Thomas du Toit to come on at tighthead at the back end of the game because then they can start with their specialist tighthead. It would be easier for Thomas to come on when the guys are tired, because in the first 20 minutes scrummaging is certainly much harder and at the start of games, referees are really looking at the scrums.

While with the Springboks between 2012 to 2015 we did some research on how many scrum penalties were awarded at the back end of games and it was certainly a lot less. Which is why it was easier to use Coenie Oosthuizen as a replacement tighthead, although in his early years he was a tighthead at school.

But I expect the Sharks to come out firing after their bye, which would have allowed them to work on a lot of stuff. They were also certainly in the game until the last minute against the Lions in Johannesburg.

Three out of the four South African franchises were in action last weekend and they all put in great performances against overseas opposition. Including the Stormers, whose forwards were absolutely superb in the set-pieces where they really dominated the Waratahs, and were most unfortunate not to win the game. The scrum provides such promising opportunities and for the Stormers to do that against one of the strongest packs was most impressive.

But unfortunately an exit lineout went wrong, the calling system broke down, and the Stormers will rue that as being one they should have won and banked four points.

But when you destroy a pack in the scrum as Steven Kitshoff, Wilco Louw (the incumbent Springbok props) and the tight five did then it’s a really good sign away from home.

The Stormers now tackle the Crusaders in Christchurch after the two New Zealand derbies last weekend were try-fests but a lot of it was illegal. There was some quite clever obstruction around the pillars and cleaning out beyond the ball, which is the job of the assistant referees to spot. In the Dunedin game it was not picked up in two of the tries and the officials need to be a lot more vigilant.

John McFarland is the assistant coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan and was the Springbok defence coach from 2012 through to the 2015 World Cup, where they conceded the least line-breaks in the tournament and an average of just one try per game. Before that, McFarland won three SuperRugby titles (2007, 09, 10) with the Bulls and five Currie Cup crowns with the Blue Bulls. In all, he won 28 trophies during his 12 years at Loftus Versfeld.