Ken Borland

Duane Vermeulen will be there to check the momentum of the Wallabies, and Faf de Klerk is also back to cause mayhem in defence, but the selection that is most telling in terms of how the Springboks want to nullify Australia on Sunday is that of three loose forwards on the bench.

Marco van Staden, Kwagga Smith and Jasper Wiese, all of whom are mobile enough to play openside flank, are all on the replacements bench named on Wednesday, and coach Jacques Nienaber confirmed this was to counter Australia’s expected efforts to speed up the Rugby Championship game at the Super Stadium on the Gold Coast.

“It’s because of how Australia play – with pace, tempo, massive continuity and an awesome skill-set as they look to stretch you from touchline-to-touchline. It looks weird to have three loose forwards on the bench, but then one of our locks is playing as a starting loose forward in Franco Mostert. So in effect we are starting with three locks.

“We think the Wallabies are going to play a quick, high-tempo game. We have a plan around the substitutions, but things happen in the game and we must adapt. So although Duane will take some time to get used to the pace of international rugby again, the number of minutes he plays will depend on how the game unfolds. But he knows the shortcuts on the field … ” Nienaber said on Wednesday.

While the attacking skills of the injured Cheslin Kolbe will obviously be missed, Sbu Nkosi is back on the right wing and the Sharks star is also no slouch in the try-scoring department. The 25-year-old Nkosi has dotted down eight times in 12 Tests, which compares very favourably to Kolbe’s nine tries in 18 Tests.

“All our players have their own ‘circus trick’, personality and energy that they bring to the team. So when you lose what one player brings, you gain something else from the other player coming in. There’s not that much to choose between our players and we are very fortunate to have that depth. Sbu has scored a few fantastic tries already, like Makazole Mapimpi, he’s also a bit of a try-machine, he knows where the tryline is,” Nienaber said.

There will be howls of dismay again over how badly the Proteas bat against spin following their capitulation to 125 all out and defeat by 78 runs to Sri Lanka in the third and decisive ODI in Colombo on Tuesday, but it was seam bowler Dushmantha Chameera who actually had a massive say in the series-clinching win for the home side.

Chameera first of all scored a crucial 29 runs after coming in at 154 for seven to lift Sri Lanka to 203 for nine in their 50 overs, and give them belief that they had a total they could defend on a turning pitch.

Given how South Africa’s spinners had dominated, it was always going to be the Sri Lankan slow bowlers who were going to be the chief risk for the Proteas batsmen.

But it was Chameera who made two massive strikes up front with the new ball to immediately undermine the run-chase. The lithe fast bower bowled Reeza Hendricks (1) through the gate with a cracking delivery and then, in his next over, had key man Rassie van der Dussen (5) superbly caught by a diving Kamindu Mendis at short midwicket.

And then it was easy for the Sri Lankan spinners to keep kicking the Proteas batsmen in the shins as they took full advantage of a pitch that provided sometimes vicious turn.

From 19 for three, Heinrich Klaasen lifted them to 45 without further loss with a positive approach, but then debutant Maheesh Theeksana, a mystery off-spinner in the same mould as Ajantha Mendis, cut the legs off the innings with his carom balls.

He removed opener Janneman Malan (18) and then Klaasen fell for 22 when he got his pads in the way of a delivery that turned like a leg-break.

South Africa were 54 for six and doomed.

They were eventually bowled out in just 30 overs as Theeksana finished with four for 37, Chameera took two for 16 and leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga claimed two for 32.

South Africa, who had lost the toss, had actually bowled really well as stand-in captain Keshav Maharaj employed a battalion of spinners.

Sri Lanka struggled throughout with Dhananjaya de Silva (31) and the man of the series Charith Asalanka (47) the only batsmen to prosper for a while.

But Chameera made sure the last three wickets added 49 runs as the Proteas again faltered when it came to closing out an innings in the field.

Kagiso Rabada was out of sorts as he went wicketless in eight overs and conceded 46 runs, while Andile Phehlukwayo and Wiaan Mulder only bowled one over each.

For the rest it was all spin. Slow left-armers Maharaj (10-0-38-3) and George Linde (10-1-32-2) tied up the batsmen superbly, Tabraiz Shamsi nipped out a couple of batsmen and even Aiden Markam got through a full quota of 10 overs, conceding only 41 runs and dismissing Dhananjaya.

The Springboks are a little nervous over how socialised they are to playing in front of a big crowd supporting the opposition because many of the players have not done that for 18 months, giving them another factor to adapt to when they play Australia on the Gold Coast on Sunday.

While the Wallabies have been the whipping boys of the All Blacks of late, the Springboks are approaching their first away game in the Rugby Championship with great caution because Australia, especially at home, have always been a side that throws up different, awkward questions for them.

And more than 25 000 mostly pro-Australian spectators in the Super Stadium, with Rugby Australia implementing a ‘bring your mate for free’ campaign, will be another curve-ball for South Africa to handle.

“We’re really excited to be playing in front of a capacity crowd again, but it means we will have to adapt our on-field communication. But it will be fantastic to play in front of a big crowd and hopefully it will spur our players on to perform even better,” forwards coach Deon Davids said on Tuesday.

“To have fans out there is going to be unreal, I can’t even remember how it feels to play in a full stadium,” prop Ox Nche said. “I’m a bit nervous about it but also very excited.”

And the Wallabies will also bring a totally different threat to Argentina, who the Springboks beat twice, with Davids saying lineouts and the tempo of their play are the two areas the world champions will need to adapt.

“They have different philosophies. We had to be smart to keep Argentina at bay and play the way we wanted too. Australia are very competitive in the lineouts, they turned over a few New Zealand balls and put them under pressure. That’s an area we really want to improve, it let us down a bit in our last game. The set-pieces will be well-contested and we have to make sure we execute well so we have a solid base and top-quality ball.

“In my past experience coaching against Dave Rennie, when he was with the Glasgow Warriors, the Waikato Chiefs and now the Wallabies, an attacking philosophy is part of his approach. He likes to play with ball-in-hand, to build pressure with the ball. I’m sure they will bring the same approach but just try to do it better in certain areas. The tempo was very high in the matches between the Wallabies and All Blacks,” Davids said.

It is often said that rugby teams don’t care how they win, but knowing coach Sean Everitt’s philosophy, the Sharks will be disappointed in their performance even though they beat the Free State Cheetahs 38-31 in their Currie Cup match at Kings Park on Sunday.

The Sharks produced a messy first-half showing but still managed to go into the break 19-18 up. They then received what should have been an enormous boost when Cheetahs flank Jacques Potgieter was red-carded for a shoulder to the head of hooker Dylan Richardson in a rash tackle.

But they just could not stamp their mark on their game due mostly to their own dreadful ill-discipline, but also a failure to do the hard yards first before trying to play fancy rugby. They also lost the territory battle and tried to do too much in their own half.

And so, when the final 10 minutes arrived, the Sharks only had a 38-26 lead when disaster struck them and flank Henco Venter and lock Emile van Heerden were both yellow-carded in the space of a minute as the Cheetahs piled on the pressure and referee Stuart Berry tired of repeated infringements.

The short-handed defence did their best but eventually cracked in the 79^th minute when Robert Ebersohn, back in Free State colours for the first time in eight years, went over for a try in the corner. Replacement flyhalf Reinhardt Fortuin missed the tricky conversion and substitute flank James Venter then won the crucial turnover in injury time to ensure the Sharks finished in front.

The Sharks had moved into a 26-18 lead straight after Potgieter’s red card as centres Marius Louw and Jeremy Ward broke through in midfield, with scrumhalf Cameron Wright on hand to round off the try, and then went 33-21 up when hooker Kerron van Vuuren went over for the second time in a lineout drive.

Another moment of ill-discipline – this time a tip-tackle by replacement lock Jeandre Labuschagne straight after he came on the field – led to a try for Cheetahs substitute prop Cameron Dawson, but the Sharks struck back when Louw’s excellent kick into the Cheetahs’ in-goal area was chased down by wing Thaakir Abrahams.

They then spent most of the rest of the match clinging on by their fingertips in their own half.

The Cheetahs have conceded plenty of points in recent weeks and, having dominated the first half, two moments of poor defence cost them two tries and the lead. The first came in the 12^th minute when they left a big gap next to a maul and Wright was able to burst clear before passing a long pass out wide to Abrahams, who showed his searing pace to score.

Then, on the half-hour, Henco Venter was able to pick up at the base of a scrum and make it almost to the tryline without being challenged, then crashing through two tackles to score.

The Sharks will find themselves up against much tougher and more clinical opposition as the Currie Cup heads to a finish in the coming weeks and will have to regain their focus.

Scorers

Sharks – Tries: Thaakir Abrahams (2), Kerron van Vuuren (2), Henco Venter, Cameron Wright. Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain (3), Lionel Cronje.

Free State Cheetahs – Tries: Evardi Boshoff, Craig Barry, Cameron Dawson, Robert Ebersohn. Conversion: Brandon Thomson. Penalties: Thomson (3).