Ken Borland

The Proteas can be forgiven for not liking the cut of the Hagley Oval’s jib after their humiliation in the first Test against New Zealand, but they have no choice but to adapt and do better when the second Test starts at the same Christchurch venue at midnight on Thursday evening South African time.

Losing an important toss and having to bat first, jetlag, or the effects of 10 days of hard isolation can all be proffered as reasons or excuses for the Proteas’ dismal failure last week, but international cricket, especially these days, is all about adapting to foreign circumstances. South Africa need to find the same resilience they show at home.

“Whoever adapts quicker will get the upper hand,” opening batsman Sarel Erwee said on Wednesday. “It’s not neccessarily the team that wins the toss and bowls first that will have an advantage, the stats show there is not much difference at Hagley Oval.

“We face a lot of tough conditions at home and it’s about adapting to them and making peace with the conditions. Mentally we have gone over our game-plans and processes.

“We need to stick to what we did right and those things that didn’t work, we need to adapt to be better. We mustn’t overthink it, but there were a few mistakes made and we need to put those right.

“It’s not going to get easier and our backs are against the wall. The only way to deal with it is to step forward and try and throw the first punch. I think people will see a different side and energy this Test,” Erwee said.

But taking on the New Zealand attack, even though it will still be without Trent Boult, is an advanced task, not just a simple matter of confidence and energy.

They were magnificent in their discipline, control and skill in the first Test.

“I always knew the intensity would be high and there would be no let-up,” Erwee said of his debut last week, “but the biggest surprise was that the intensity just never went away. It did not seep away, it was there every minute and every ball.”

Notwithstanding all the dropped catches and loose bowling, it is the South African batsmen who are under the most pressure. They need to get in and someone needs to go big. It will require much more discipline and patience in waiting for the Black Caps bowlers to come to them.

The Bulls produced sublime rugby at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night as they pummelled the Stormers 39-6 in their Super Rugby Unlocked match, the visitors being spared further humiliation by divine intervention as lightning forced the match to be abandoned after 64 minutes.

The decison to stop play was a surprise, given that the Bulls and Sharks played through a far more potent storm last weekend.

While a disappointingly flat Stormers side almost gave the impression that they had come to Pretoria for a holiday, the Bulls were outstanding and deserve credit for hammering their opponents into submission. The Bulls were accurate with their kicking game, their rolling maul was magnificent, the scrum put the much-vaunted all-Springbok opposition front row under pressure, and the razor-sharp backs were able to punch holes in the Stormers line with regularity.

And once the Bulls began dominating the breakdown, the Stormers were hapless, with a few forays into the home team’s 22 in the second half not bearing fruit, with Duane Vermeulen, in particular, enjoying a field day when it came to stealing ball.

Another veteran who enjoyed a sensational match was Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn, who rolled back the years to the halcyon days of the late 2000s. He took full advantage of the platform laid for him by the brilliant pack and produced a masterclass of superb tactical kicking and slick distribution, including an outrageous behind-the-back pass that ensured the Bulls took advantage of an overlap they were about to waste for centre Stedman Gans’s first try.

He picked out with unerring accuracy destinations both far, with his long-range kicking ensuring the Bulls dominated territory, and close as his deft little chips over the defence created havoc. Steyn sealed a 32-6 halftime lead as he regathered his beautiful little chip off the left foot over the defence and sent impressive lock Ruan Nortje over with a perfectly-timed pass through a screen of defenders.

Having absorbed some pressure early in the second half, Steyn then produced a lovely little chip into space for Gans to rush on to, the livewire Sevens star bursting through fullback Warrick Gelant’s tackle to score his second try.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Johan Grobbelaar, Stedman Gans (2), Ivan van Zyl, Ruan Nortje. Conversions – Morne Steyn (4). Penalties –Steyn (2).

Stormers: Penalties – Damian Willemse (2).

It’s not exactly been a glorious week to be South African with disgraceful xenophobic attacks adding to the regular shame brought on the nation by corrupt leaders and authorities, and Eskom. But on the sporting front, Cricket South Africa (CSA) are facing humiliation as the threads start to come apart about what really happened in yet another World Cup disaster.

Mike Horn, the world-renowned adventurer, who became the first person to circumnavigate the equator under his own steam in 2000, and motivational coach, has no reason to lie about what happened in the changeroom ahead of the semi-final against New Zealand and his allegations of interference in selection have merely confirmed what just about everyone believes happened.

Remember, not one of the players has stood up and supported the “official” version provided by CSA and their staff, and neither has the Players’ Association.

The only possible reason for CSA to lie so blatantly about interference in selection is that they are ashamed of their own transformation model, because all right-minded people surely support the broader objectives of the policy?

And CSA are right to feel ashamed because they have shown little desire for ensuring that the goals of transformation are met, rather than merely fulfilling a quota and jumping into action when some heat is applied to them by politicians wanting a quick-fix rather than actually making the effort required to change our society.

Their utter disregard for the spirit of transformation was shown by Aaron Phangiso not getting a single game at the World Cup, a damning indictment of how shallow the whole #ProteaFire campaign was. If South Africa really were strong contenders to win the tournament, as their leadership constantly assured everyone, then it had to be utter nonsense that playing Phangiso against Ireland and/or the UAE would jeopardise their log position.

Half of the games the Proteas played in the World Cup were with only three players of colour, so why, if three was fine for the quarterfinal against Sri Lanka and the matches against West Indies, Ireland and Pakistan, did there need to be an intervention on the eve of the semi-final? Why didn’t the same interferer intervene for Phangiso?

The CSA board have shown before that they are as self-serving as any odium of politicians and there are members of that untrustworthy body who have previously severely undermined the Proteas and the players with cheap points-scoring efforts designed to further their own ambitions rather than the good of South African cricket.

With Horn having pulled the first thread out, the truth will eventually come out and then instead of having #ProteaFire, CSA will have been exposed as just one big #ProteaLiar.

But the CSA board are ruthless bullies and whoever breaks ranks can expect their privileged position in South African cricket to come to a quick end. Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat is the man sitting with the most egg on his face at the moment, but as an employee of the board, he will certainly lose his job if he reveals the truth.

It’s little wonder then that someone like Fanie de Villiers, whose out-of-touch views of South African cricket have led to him being persona non grata with the team, is sadly able to entice one of our brightest talents, Hardus Viljoen, into emigrating to New Zealand.

The basic truth, as it always has been, is that until Cricket South Africa have a board whose priority is the good of the game in this country and not their own ambitions and fiefdoms, real transformation will not be achieved.