Ken Borland

The Bulls will be pleased with their performance but will obviously be bitterly disappointed not to get the result they wanted against the Highlanders last weekend.

To outscore a New Zealand team four tries to two is quite a performance and there were so many good things about their display at Loftus Versfeld. They scored a good try through the driving of their forwards and Handre Pollard’s brilliance at the end to put Jesse Kriel away for a try was an example of exquisite timing. It takes quality players to execute that sort of move and cut through the defensive line.

The key talking point of the game, however, was the offsides penalty against the Bulls right at the end. In that situation, you should never be putting doubt in the referee’s mind. Normally there is a designated player on the outside who makes sure everyone is one metre back from the offsides line and you don’t go as hard at the ball on the floor. The fact that the guilty player was four or five players away from the ruck makes it even more disappointing.

With the Springboks, we experienced many games that were that close; the 2012 Test against England in Port Elizabeth springs to mind. They had possession at the hooter and we were locked at 14-14, but we went 24 phases without conceding a penalty to secure the draw. To do that you want numbers on their feet and staying out of the rucks. You look for the opposition to make a mistake, and obviously you need quality tackling in that period.

And you don’t want to put any doubt in the referee’s mind, especially when you have already conceded too many penalties – the Bulls gifted Lima Sopoaga with five shots at goal.

Also, at the back end of the game, the only really experienced forward the Bulls had on the field – someone with 50+ caps – was Lood de Jager. They needed calmness and assurance, some wise old heads. Those small differences can make or break you on the final log.

There was also bitter disappointment for the Lions in Brisbane, where they just weren’t sharp in the first half against the Reds. You very rarely see the Lions forwards being so dominated, but the three tries they conceded in the first half came from bring drilled at a scrum, a lineout drive and a sloppy intercept given away at scrumhalf.

Maybe there was a bit of complacency, the Lions just didn’t have that sharp edge and they woke up too late. You have to give them credit for getting the bonus point though, which could prove very crucial on the final log. It all depends on how they go in New Zealand, but the South African Conference could still be wide open.

The worry for the South African teams – and our national side – is how well the Jaguares are doing. Three away wins on the trot is unheard of and they have all been quality performances by the Argentinians, who are clearly starting to peak at the right time for the Rugby Championship.

Coach Mario Ledesma is starting to bring through some younger players with real talent and belief, which is what we want to see in the Sanzaar competitions, and they will certainly be a handful at home. It would really throw a spanner in the works if one of the SuperRugby conference winners is based in Argentina!

This is also the time of the year when speculation over the Springbok captain heightens. It is a really prestigious job that all the players aspire to and it’s not just about the on-the-field duties but also the ceremonial role off the field. The captain also has to manage the relationship between the coaches and players, which is a real skill in itself.

It’s also the start of a new era in Springbok rugby, so the appointment requires a lot of consideration. There are a few players available who have done the job before, but Rassie Erasmus may have different ideas about what he wants. The two incumbents – Warren Whiteley and Eben Etzebeth – are both injured at the moment and they both bring different strengths to the role.

Eben is more of a follow-me type leader who brings great physicality. Maybe some of that was lacking last year at the end of a long season and maybe he was carrying an injury or two. But there are four really good options at lock for Rassie to choose from, it’s one of the most competitive positions in South African rugby, and Lood de Jager, RG Snyman, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Franco Mostert are all world-class.

Warren Whiteley ticks all the boxes: He has good empathy with his team, he always turns up and has a very high work-rate, while also being a good speaker and person. Taking the Lions to two SuperRugby finals must count for something.

Of the SuperRugby franchise captains, Ruan Botha and Burger Odendaal are probably not going to be picked in the national squad, which leaves Siya Kolisi as the other option. He has done a good job for the Stormers and was in the form of his life last year for the Springboks. He would obviously tick a lot of boxes too in terms of the demographics of our country and what most people want to see.

He hasn’t been as influential this year though and I feel he is a bit out of form. He’s been playing a bit like a hybrid six or seven and is not really fulfilling the role of an openside or being an influential carrier.

All indications are though that Duane Vermuelen will make his return to the Springboks this year and he is also an option going forward, depending on where he decides to play his rugby. His body will be a bit tired after the end of the French season and he will need to be managed. The Springboks always do well against the European sides in June and that is why they have been so successful – they hardly ever lose in June in South Africa because the northern hemisphere guys are tired while the Springboks are excited and fresh to play.

So a lot of thought will be needed going into the series against England: Does Rassie choose a captain just for the series or for the whole season, or even nail his colours to the mast and pick someone for the next World Cup? But as the career of Jean de Villiers showed, many things can change in World Cup year …

Interestingly, New Zealand are also under the cosh a bit in terms of the All Blacks captain with Kieran Read being injured and England will be without their captain, Dylan Hartley, when they arrive in South Africa. But our position needs clarity too, which I’m sure will come as the injury situation eases.

John McFarland, the assistant coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan, 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.

The Lions roared into the SuperRugby final with a 42-30 victory over the Highlanders at Ellis Park on Saturday due in no small part to a masterclass in flyhalf play by Elton Jantjies.

Jantjies was his usual brilliant self with ball in hand, scoring one try and setting up another for wing Courtnall Skosan with a dazzling blindside break from his own 22, while he was once again reliable kicking for poles, nailing four conversions and three penalties from his eight shots at goal. He was also strong defensively, holding his channel well and it was his hit in midfield in the 24^th minute that provided the loose ball for centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg to score and increase the Lions’ lead to 17-3.

But it was his tactical kicking that was at another level in Saturday’s semifinal as the Lions consistently cleared any danger in their own 22, nullifying the strong kicking game of the Highlanders and driving them back in the territory battle, as well as turning their defensive line around very well.

Jantjies said it was due to getting the decision-making right on the day.

“It’s a privilege to play with this group of players and it just came down to making the right decisions. You look to create opportunities and you hope the gap opens up, otherwise you kick. I just play what is in front of me,” Jantjies said. “I just enjoyed it out there, we worked hard at playing at huge intensity and to go for the whole 80 minutes, which we needed to do.”

Coach Johan Ackermann was more forthcoming in praising his flyhalf general.

“It was very important that we did well at the exits, as shown by the one time we let it slip and the Highlanders scored. In general we were accurate at our exits, and decision-making goes hand-in-hand with that. The kicking and passing games were both good tonight, and now’s the right time for players like Elton to be in really good form,” Ackermann said.

Jantjies had some bad defensive misses when playing for the Springboks against Ireland in the June internationals to raise some question marks over that area of his game, but the 25-year-old was excellent in defence on Saturday and put it down to hard work during the week.

“I’ve had a few challenges, but this week I did a lot of one-on-one tackling work, I focused on that,” Jantjies said.

The Lions will now fly to Wellington on Sunday night, arriving midnight on Monday, and one of the features of the final will be the battle of the flyhalves between Hurricanes star Beauden Barrett and Jantjies, probably the two most in-form number 10s in the world right now.

But Jantjies was not going to be drawn on that match-up.

“I don’t have individual battles, it’s all about the team and just making sure I do my job for the team. The Hurricanes and Beauden Barrett are playing good rugby, and obviously they’re one-up on us after giving us 50 points at Ellis Park a few months ago. But we learnt a lot from our last game against them and we played some good stuff tonight. But we will have to reassess again on Monday,” Jantjies said.

Ackermann said he was content going to Wellington for a chance to put the cherry on top of what has already been a historic season for the Lions – their best ever in SuperRugby.

“Three years ago this week we were playing promotion/relegation and now this week we’ve made the final, which is really stunning. In finals, I believe everyone has a chance, they’re 50/50. Yes, we have to travel, but we won three out of four games last year and two out of three this year on the road, so this team loves to be together and to travel.

“It’s a once-off game and, as the Highlanders reminded us when they came into our changeroom after the game, they won there in Wellington last year. The pressure is on the Hurricanes, it’s a home game for them,” Ackermann said.

The Sharks will be contemplating the rest of their SuperRugby overseas tour with sheer terror after they were put to the sword, 48-15, by the Highlanders in their opening match in Dunedin on Friday.

The Lions’ scrum was superlative against the Crusaders in their SuperRugby quarterfinal and I think it will be one of the key things they will use against the Highlanders in their semifinal this weekend.

They really put the Crusaders under pressure in the scrums and that’s against an All Blacks tight five, so that’s very encouraging for the Lions’ championship hopes.

Their scrum is a destructive weapon and it will be one of the keys against the Highlanders, as well as mauling well.

The Highlanders don’t have the same quality forwards as the Crusaders do, but they do have explosive backs and if the Lions don’t kick for distance then there will be problems for them, they will find themselves under a lot of pressure around their own 22.

Ben Smith is so good at counter-attacking, he’s the best in the world at it for me, ahead of Israel Folau. He will run the ball back and he has a tremendous ability to step, find gaps and beat people.

The one negative about the Lions team is the distance they get on their relieving kicks and that’s at altitude, they might have to take that to sea level if the final is in Wellington. You compare their kicking against the Crusaders to the quality of Beauden Barrett’s tactical kicking in a gale in Wellington and you can see that will be a concern in an away final. Every South African will be praying the Chiefs win that semifinal against the Hurricanes.

The Highlanders are a very different New Zealand team in that they have a very strong kicking game thanks to Lima Sopoaga and Aaron Smith.

Sopoaga is very clever with his little chips which always seem to find space, while Aaron is a superb tactical kicker and takes responsibility for it. Having a kicker at scrumhalf means the chase line is right on top of you, so the kicks are normally contestable. Aaron always kicks off at the restarts and the Highlanders have two big wings who are very good in the air, when Patrick Osborne and Waisake Naholo are running at you, you know you’re going to go backwards!

So field position still has a huge influence and top teams turn that into points. The Lions got away with not having much territory against the Crusaders because they were very disciplined, they didn’t give a lot away, and they built a score early on so the Crusaders were under pressure. Those two early tries took the wind out of the Crusaders and they had to chase the game from the start.

It’s typical of that Lions team, they have come through such adversity. It’s a tremendous story, most of their players were rejected somewhere else, they weren’t the first choices when they were 19 or 20 years old.

Franco Mostert was at the Bulls for four or five years and didn’t get the opportunity, and now he’s a player the Lions rally around. Warwick Tecklenburg also didn’t make it at the Bulls and he’s really matured as a player.

A lot of them have also spent seasons overseas, Elton Jantjies, Lionel Mapoe and Tecklenburg have all played in Japan. So a guy like Elton gets coaching from Swys de Bruin but also from someone like Rob Penney at NTT Shining Arcs, who used to coach Canterbury.

The way Malcolm Marx has progressed is very pleasing for me because I worked with him before. He used to drive for an hour to Pretoria to come throw for an hour and then drive back on his off day, because there was a perception in his junior days that his lineout throwing wasn’t good. He’s worked so hard and that’s what people don’t appreciate about this Lions team.

Rohan Janse van Rensburg is tearing up trees now but he also played Vodacom Cup for the Blue Bulls and look at how he is playing now. Andries Coetzee was also at the Bulls as a junior and was released, even though he had that big left foot even then.

The Lions have played together consistently, they’re very grounded as a group. Most of them actually live in Pretoria and are up at 5.30 every morning so they can be at the Lions by 6.30. Johan Ackermann and JP Ferreira get up at 4.30am! So they are a very hard-working bunch.

But the keys this weekend will be for them to use their scrum and to maul well, and to kick more contestable balls. They can’t give the Highlanders time on the ball, the defence must be on top of them, and the Lions have been defending very well, plus their back row are all stealers of the ball and Malcolm Marx is like a fourth loose forward. The Lions need to raise the tempo, like they did when they carved up the Crusaders midfield.

In terms of the other quarterfinals, the Stormers were such a disappointment and they have lost so many playoff games now, and convincingly at that and at home! So they have to look at their preparation. Their generals against the Chiefs, Robert du Preez and Jaco Taute, just haven’t played enough rugby this year.

To say they were taken by surprise by the extra intensity of the New Zealand sides is a weak excuse. The Stormers should have had that intensity and enthusiasm playing at home in a playoff game and it was Schalk Burger’s last appearance at Newlands.

The Chiefs did play really well, you have to give them credit, but I don’t think not playing a New Zealand side before was that relevant for the Stormers.

The wheels have really come off the Sharks since the June Tests, they’re not the same side they were before that. What was most disappointing about their loss to the Hurricanes was that they showed so little ambition. They just had the maul, pick-and-go and kick, they never used their Springboks back three.

The Hurricanes played well, Beauden Barrett kicked superbly, but the Sharks never fired a shot, that’s what was really concerning.

For the South African teams to concede 17 tries in their three playoff games is a big worry.

I would say the Hurricanes/Chiefs semifinal is a 50/50 game, although the Hurricanes are without Dane Coles, who is their talisman as captain, he’s full of energy and he rallies the team. The Hurricanes lineout will be under intense pressure from Brodie Retallick and Dominic Bird and they don’t have their first-choice hooker. So that game could go either way.

John McFarland is the assistant coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan and was the Springbok defence coach from 2012-15, having 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.