Ken Borland

Notwithstanding the continued frustrations of Covid, there is very good reason for New Zealand to host both their forthcoming Test matches against South Africa at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch: The ground is a fortress for the Black Caps.

The Proteas were originally scheduled to play the second Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, but because the series will be played in a bio-bubble – New Zealand are currently battling the spread of Omicron – both matches are now in Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island.

And since the Hagley Oval became the venue of choice for international matches in Canterbury in 2014, New Zealand have lost just one of their 10 Tests there – against Australia in 2016. They have been in rampant form in their last four games there – beating Bangladesh and Pakistan by an innings, India by seven wickets and Sri Lanka by 423 runs.

Speaking of rampant, opening batsman Tom Latham has scored 864 runs at an average of 57.60 in nine Tests at Hagley Oval, while ferocious 6’8 fast bowler Kyle Jamieson has taken 22 wickets at 13.36 in three Tests there. Which suggests pace and bounce will come into play.

South Africa have only played two Tests in Christchurch, both of them at the old Lancaster Park rather than Hagley Oval. They won by an innings in 1932 in the inaugural Test between the two countries and then drew in 1999 when Herschelle Gibbs cruised to 211 not out and Jacques Kallis stroked 148*.

The success of Jamieson, Tim Southee and Trent Boult (both of whom average 21 at the ground) at Hagley Oval suggests the Proteas pacemen will be as happy as the songbirds in the adjacent botanical gardens.

But there has also been heavy run-scoring at Hagley Oval, with both Latham and Kane Williamson scoring big double-hundreds in 2022 and 2021 respectively, and there have been six other scores of more than 150 since 2014.

So that will please a South African batting line-up that might be getting a bit frustrated with the extremely sporty pitches they have had to play on at home in recent years.

The Proteas leave for New Zealand on Wednesday evening and the first Test starts on February 17.

Following an encouraging set-piece display in the win against the Lions at Ellis Park last weekend, Sharks prop Ox Nche is confident his team will be able to deliver the goods again when they host the Stormers in their United Rugby Championship match in Durban on Saturday.

The Sharks do seem to have settled down in terms of their scrummaging and much of the credit for that must go to their scrum coach, Akvsenti Giorgadze, the former Georgia hooker who joined the franchise at the start of the URC season. The home side will need to be at their best in the set-piece to counter a strong Stormers scrum led by powerhouse Springbok loosehead Steven Kitshoff.

“The Lions average four or five penalties a game won and at 2-2 last weekend at Ellis Park, it was fairly even,” Nche said on Tuesday. “We were pretty happy, being our first match back.

“We can only get better and there’s not much difference between the guys coming off the bench and the front row that starts, we have all worked hard and put in the same effort.

“We have a good system in place with Akvsenti, he keeps it fairly simple. It’s an all-eight effort and he is very good with the little things like our shape and technique. He brings confidence.

“And he insists on attitude as well, he expects forwards to be forwards! He tries to bring the best out of every player and he’s doing that, we have a good relationship,” Nche said.

The Sharks scored six tries in beating the Lions 47-37 and some of them were dazzling efforts showcasing the brilliant skills of their Springbok-laden backline. Nche, wearing the No.1 jersey and playing an important role in winning the time and space for the backs to flourish, knows the whole team will have to take another step up against the Stormers, who lead the way in the South African franchise, two points ahead of the Sharks.

“The Springboks really put their hands up against the Lions and kept their form, which was good to see,” Nche said. “We have some really special backs.

“But it’s going to be a good challenge this weekend against Kitshoff and the boys. We were shocked when we saw they were 18-0 up in the first half at Loftus Versfeld. We expected the Bulls to come out steaming.

“This Saturday, whoever pitches on the day and executes their plan will come out on top and it’s going to be a pretty good challenge. The Stormers will come here with big confidence.

“We have to man up and be at our best. If we can pull it off, it would be a major win for us, and especially for me because it will be the first time I’m playing with fans back at home,” Nche said.

Right now, no matter how much medical expertise or finance they throw at the injury, it’s not working when it comes to Dean Elgar’s adductor tear and the opening batsman will once again be missing when the Northerns Titans host the KZN Dolphins at SuperSport Park from Friday in the second round of the domestic four-day competition.

Elgar, who has not played since the T20 tournament at the end of September, told The Citizen on Thursday that he is hopeful of being fit for the third round of fixtures which start on November 18. But that will leave the Test captain with just two matches before the first Test against India starts on December 17.

His absence is a continued blow for a Titans side that mounted a fine comeback in their opening match against the Eastern Province Warriors, but simply did not have enough top-order runs in either innings.

It is a problem not shared by KZN, who piled on the runs last weekend at Newlands thanks to an unbeaten double century by Khaya Zondo and a hundred by Jason Smith, while there were also useful contributions from Keegan Petersen and Bryce Parsons. Sarel Erwee and Marques Ackerman missed out last weekend, but they are both quality batsmen.

The Dolphins will be without new-ball bowler Ottneil Baartman, but in-form paceman Daryn Dupavillon is still there and Eathan Bosch is also in their squad. It all adds up to Northerns having to work as hard and as collectively as ants if they are to not lose a second straight home game.

The Central Gauteng Lions know how much assistance their Wanderers home pitch loans them, which they used to great effect in beating North-West last weekend by an innings, but now they have to travel down to St George’s Park to take on Eastern Province Warriors.

Both Lutho Sipamla and Sisanda Magala return to their place of birth in Port Elizabeth, while the Warriors will unleash the exciting pace trio of Glenton Stuurman, Mthiwekhaya Nabe and Marco Jansen in an exciting battle of attacks.

The two teams were the only outright winners from the first weekend of fixtures, so should one of them gain victory again this weekend, it will give them a useful head-start.

Lions coach Wandile Gwavu is optimistic his team will adapt well given their previous record in Gqeberha.

“It’s always been really good games against the Warriors. We have managed to get a positive result at St George’s in 2018 and last season.

“So we are definitely going there with a bit of confidence behind our backs and looking forward to it,” Gwavu said.

The other games starting on Friday are the big Western Cape derby between Boland and Western Province in Paarl, and North-West host the Free State Knights in Potchefstroom.

Brisbane in Queensland has emerged as the most likely contingency plan to host the remainder of the Rugby Championship tournament.
Despite South Africa offering to host the rest of the competition and there being some interest in France and the United Kingdom, New Zealand media were reporting on Monday that the four Southern Hemisphere teams would now be based in Queensland, whose state government has agreed they can quarantine there in the midst of the rising Covid numbers on both sides of the Tasman Sea.
The Rugby Championship looks set to restart though in Perth on September 4, when the All Blacks will take on Australia in the match they were meant to play this weekend. South Africa and Argentina, who are both waiting in Gqeberha for clarity on the travel plans, will by then be quarantining in Queensland.
Meanwhile, the Springboks issued a medical update on Monday confirming Jaden Hendrikse’s worst fears that his leg is indeed fractured. That will rule him out of the rest of the Rugby Championship and his fellow Sharks scrumhalf Grant Williams has been called up to the national squad for the first time.
The 25-year-old has been in fine form in the Currie Cup and his searing pace has caused many difficulties for opposition defences.
The Springboks also confirmed that the scrumhalves who played in the 2019 World Cup final, Faf de Klerk (leg) and Herschel Jantjies (hip), are both recovering well from their injuries and should be available to play when South Africa return to action, probably on September 11.