Ken Borland

Gio Aplon may be only 1.75 metres tall and weigh just 78kg but he is a feisty individual who is able to produce moments of magic on the rugby field, often enough to convince a famous ‘sizeist’ like Jake White to sign him for the Bulls.

While White was Springbok coach between 2004 and 2007 he made no secret of his belief that a good big ʼun was always better than a good little ʼun, but it seems Aplon first convinced the resolute coach of his merits while playing for Grenoble in France between 2014 and 2017, when White was coaching Montpellier.

When The Cistuses and White split ways not entirely amicably, the coach went to mentor Verblitz in Japan, and signed Aplon early on in his stint.

And now that White has been appointed director of rugby at the Bulls, he has once again brought Aplon with him. The Pretoria-based franchise announced on Wednesday that Aplon will join the team from June or as soon as he is able to travel back to South Africa, saying in their statement that he “epitomised the phrase ‘size doesn’t matter’ with his explosive speed and nimble feet allowing him to score tries from almost anywhere on the field, taking on the biggest and the best the game had to offer”.

Aplon has played 17 Tests for the Springboks, scoring five tries. But his last appearance for South Africa was back in late 2012, although he was part of Rassie Erasmus’s training group in 2018, without making a match-day squad.

The Bulls have developed something of a penchant for bringing veteran players to Loftus Versfeld, from Victor Matfield to Adriaan Strauss, Duane Vermeulen and Schalk Brits, and Aplon continues the trend as he is 37 years old.

Aplon spoke of his respect for the Bulls and what the brand has achieved in the statement, while he has previously spoken of how much he enjoys playing under White.

“The Springboks won the 2007 World Cup because he is such a fantastic coach. System-wise he is exceptional, he has implemented a good programme. He isn’t just there to fill up the post as head coach, he is there with the purpose of making Verblitz better and, as players, we feed off that. Jake is a serial winner and to be coached by him was one of the reasons I went to Japan,” Aplon told SA Rugby Mag.

Cheslin Kolbe, who is even smaller at 1.71 metres and 74kg, has made a massive impact with the Springboks and White will be hoping Aplon, although 11 years older, will prove of similar benefit to the Bulls while also serving as a mentor.

There were many inspiring individual performances in the Proteas’ 3-1 win over Australia in what was an incredible series, but the events in Durban on the fourth afternoon of the first Test may have been the most important catalyst for the impressive comeback.

It’s fair to say that the Proteas probably weren’t in the good books of their fans after they were walloped 5-1 in their ODI series against India and lost the T20 rubber as well, and then they were decidedly flat at Kingsmead as Australia put themselves in an unassailable position.

And then David Warner behaved as if he had a hornet in his pants, never mind sandpaper, after AB de Villiers was run out in the second innings, with an unhinged display of angry, crass celebration in the face of young Aiden Markram. It was clear Australia’s attack dog in chief had lost control, but insipid umpiring ensured nothing was done.

Much of the afternoon session was spent verbally abusing Markram and Quinton de Kock, who eventually decided to respond to all the personal taunts with a verbal volley of his own. Of course, according to the Australian team rules, that crosses the line and Warner was now threatening physical harm.

All of this drama had the effect of making the Proteas angry, as captain Faf du Plessis admitted, and from that moment on they were a different beast, and the South African public rallied behind their cause. It was like an unstoppable wave and all because of Warner’s sledging, a tactic which Du Plessis considers counter-productive, due to its motivational effects on the opposition.

The Australians were also angry, Warner’s exposure, Kagiso Rabada winning his appeal in Port Elizabeth and then the crowd in Cape Town making them feel more and more victimised. Warner, who was made vice-captain to bring positive energy into the camp, then crossed over onto the dark side because of how unfair he felt it all was. Ironically, it was he who had set all this in motion.

On the outside, Cricket Australia have seemingly been very upfront in dealing with the issue. But, as the dust has settled, it has become clear that they have merely stage-managed the whole fiasco, they have been doing their utmost to control the narrative and ringfence themselves from any major damage.

They have their three scapegoats in Smith, Bancroft and Warner, who have now accepted major penalties, but what of the organisation itself which has promoted the win-at-all-costs attitude in crass social media posts and that awful gloating podium presentation set-up after the Ashes?

Cricket Australia have not made the whole truth accessible, leaving questions unanswered such as how was it possible that not a single bowler knew what was going on? South African media were deliberately excluded from Darren Lehmann’s first press conference after the scandal and I was effectively banned from asking questions at Australian press conferences – whenever my hand was up, a firm shake of the head by their media manager would follow.

It should also incense South Africans that Cricket Australia came into this country, which holds democratic ideals so dear after our dark past, and tried to interfere in the rights of free speech of spectators. In Cape Town, several spectators were evicted for using abusive or foul language, the kind that is commonplace in Australia, at the behest of the tourists’ management, who had their security manager practically in the field of play.

There has, however, been a lot of soul-searching in Australian cricket this past two weeks, which is a positive, and in Tim Paine they have a captain who can lead them into the new brand of cricket they say they want to play.

But there are already murmurs in Australia that perhaps some leniency should be showed to the culprits, so whether they really do head in a new direction is by no means certain.

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-citizen-gauteng/20180407/282475709397424

Last weekend’s SuperRugby action was filled with some tremendous games of rugby and superb individual performances.

The Bulls versus Stormers game at Loftus Versfeld took us back to the good old days of real war on the gainline, full of big hits and turnover attempts.

The Stormers will be disappointed to lose because they had opportunities they didn’t take, but the Bulls will be very excited to return to winning ways after their tour. They were under pressure after losing four in a row and questions would certainly have been asked if they had lost last weekend too.

What made the difference in the match was the kicking game of the Bulls, their ability to get the ball behind the Stormers wings and then put in a good chase, and they scored two excellent maul tries.

The Bulls were obviously all motivated to put in a big performance for Adriaan Strauss in his record appearance. I remember him wandering up to my office at Loftus as a 19-year-old, many moons ago, and then when he was 21, at the end of 2006, he decided to further his career with the Free State Cheetahs. And then he came back to Pretoria as a seasoned Springbok.

Adriaan is currently in great shape, the rest he took during last year’s Currie Cup clearly did him good and he is still a really quality player. Directing things at the back of the maul, where you have to sense when and where the momentum is, is not an easy job.

Stormers flyhalf Damian Willemse, for all the hype, really struggled against the pressure the Bulls exerted on him through the rush defence. His option-taking was not great and he wanted to kick or go around the rush defence, when actually you must go through it and then you have lots of numbers on the fullback. If you go around the rush defence then the fullback is in the defensive line and it closes down your options.

Jake White did not do young Willemse any favours with his comments about the 19-year-old needing to be picked for the Springboks right now. Willemse still needs time to develop.

He is, however, a real talent and you have to credit Stormers coach Robbie Fleck for playing him so early. Willemse has a lot of strengths – he tackles well and has silky running skills, but the tactical appreciation is not quite there, which is so important. He doesn’t have the kicking game yet, that appreciation of space that allows a flyhalf to play the suffocation game that is so important in Test rugby. I don’t think Rassie Erasmus will change the blueprint he presented to us when we were the Springboks coaching staff – a strong kicking game and a big pack of forwards.

I thought the two Bulls flankers, Hendre Stassen and Roelof Smit, had a huge effect on the breakdown. It’s interesting because the Stormers had Nizaam Carr and Siya Kolisi, both possible Springboks later this year, but there’s no doubt that the Bulls did win the breakdown battle at the back end of the game.

Stassen is just 20 and will be a heck of a player. In the last few weeks he has really announced himself, he’s tough and he goes hard on the ball.

For both teams, the defence on the wings was not good, guys shot up and opened holes in the defensive line. It’s a concern in our game at the moment that we don’t seem to get the right decisions being made in defence out wide. We have Springbok wingers there and they are not covering themselves in glory on the outside at the moment.

For the Sharks, what a turnaround!

To score 63 points in New Zealand when they were really under pressure, what a response that was! To out-score a New Zealand side so convincingly deserves great credit.

I could certainly see the effect of Dick Muir in the coaching staff, they played with no fear whatsoever. Jean-Luc du Preez had a colossal game and to see him swatting off defenders really bodes well for the Springboks later this year.

Flyhalf Robert du Preez may be in the Springboks mix himself, along with Handre Pollard. Du Preez is a consistent goal-kicker, he has steered teams to big wins in finals before, and he knows where the space is behind. He’s also a big guy, but he does struggle a bit to find the right level to hit guys when defending. But Du Preez can certainly win you a game.

It’s been a funny four weeks for the Lions, starting when they came so close in the Blues game, with the TMO overturning a try. But in SuperRugby, every team goes through some sort of mini-crisis because it is such a tough competition. It’s about how you deal with it and recover.

After the bad result in Argentina, the Lions gave the Crusaders a huge run for their money and 14-8 is not a typical Lions score. Coach Swys de Bruin takes great pride in outscoring the opposition, but it was good to see their defensive system function well, even though they did not do enough to get the win.

They are missing their captain, Warren Whiteley, hugely; just the calmness he brings and he is much more comfortable with the tactical side of the job. Franco Mostert is also an inspirational captain but he is more of the follow-me type leader.

As far as the Lions not taking that kick at goal at that penalty midway through the second half, sometimes the coach will put on a message to kick for the corner because he believes the momentum is with his side; but sometimes a captain just goes for the corner when the coach wants the team to go for poles!

It happens in rugby and is reminiscent of that famous SuperRugby semi-final at Loftus Versfeld in 2013.

John McFarland won three SuperRugby titles (2007, 09, 10) with the Bulls and five Currie Cup crowns with the Blue Bulls as their defence coach. In all, he won 28 trophies during his 12 years at Loftus Versfeld.

He is currently 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.

Aiden Markram hit the highest individual score in competition history as the Titans hammered the Highveld Lions by 169 runs in their Momentum One-Day Cup derby at the Wanderers on Friday night.

Markram belted 183 off 138 balls to steer the Titans to 415 for three after they had elected to bat first, beating the previous record for the highest total ever – the 400 for five they had made against the Cape Cobras at Newlands last month.

The previous highest individual score was the 181 Reeza Hendricks had scored when he was playing for the Knights against the Dolphins in Bloemfontein in 2014/15; it was a bad night in general for the Lions opener as he was dismissed first ball as the home team’s run-chase never really took off.

Markram and in-form fellow opener Henry Davids put on 222 off 203 balls for the first wicket, but they took their time at first against some threatening new-ball swing bowling from Beuran Hendricks, whose first five overs cost just eight runs.

But patience is rewarded even in limited-overs cricket and, after scoring just 41 in the 10 powerplay overs, Markram set the early pace, going to 50 for the first time in the Momentum One-Day Cup off 56 deliveries.

But Davids is a vastly experienced batsman and he weathered some early storms and struggles and was soon breezing past his partner with some impressive strokeplay.

He reached his century in the 30^th over of the innings, with the Titans on 190 without loss, off 94 balls, needing just 32 deliveries for his second fifty. It was important during this stage that Markram, who is way more mature than his 22 years, shifted gear downwards and allowed Davids to prosper during his hot streak.

Markram performed his changing roles to perfection and would bat through to the penultimate over of the innings, but Beuran Hendricks claimed the important wicket of Davids for 128, off 108 balls, as he had him well-taken by cover-sweeper Rassie van der Dussen.

Heino Kuhn came in and ensured that the run-rate never dipped with an energetic 34 off 23 balls, but it was a low full toss from Wiaan Mulder that undid him in the 42^nd over.

Markram ploughed on, reaching his maiden franchise 50-over century off 99 deliveries and ensured that he batted practically through the innings, while also showing that he has the ability to collect boundaries, scoring 18 fours and five sixes in all.

His magnificent, record-breaking innings eventually came to an end when he picked out long-off when trying to hit Dwaine Pretorius, who he punished as 80 runs came off the international all-rounder’s 10 overs, over the top.

But you cannot ask for a much better finisher of an innings than Farhaan Behardien and he ensured the Titans made the highest ever total with his tremendous 62 not out off just 31 balls, including 19 off the last over bowled by Beuran Hendricks, ruining the left-hander’s figures.

You always felt one of the Lions openers, Van der Dussen or Reeza Hendricks, needed to go big for the home side to have a chance, but Titans new-ball bowlers Lungi Ngidi and Eldred Hawken removed them both in their opening overs.

Van der Dussen hit the third ball of the innings from Ngidi square through the off side for four, but then had the misfortune to choose an even wider delivery to try and cut, only managing to edge a catch behind to wicketkeeper Kuhn.

Hawken, a useful swing bowler who deserves more opportunity, then struck with his first ball as Reeza Hendricks edged to first slip, a fine delivery angled in from back-of-a-length and then holding its line.

It ended a bad day for the Proteas hopeful, but wicketkeeper/batsman Mangaliso Mosehle was at least able to partly atone for dropping both Markram, before he had scored, and Davids on 36, by lashing a dazzling 74 off 44 balls.

Mosehle was making few friends when it came to the Titans bowlers, being particularly hard on wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, who he swept for fours and sixes and hit back over his head for a magnificent, soaring six that brought up the Lions’ 100.

But Shamsi had the last laugh when he had Mosehle well-caught by Markram at deep square-leg.

Captain Dominic Hendricks went carefully to 21 when he was stumped by precision work by Kuhn off Shamsi, and Wihan Lubbe (31) and Wiaan Mulder (29) added 53 off 41 balls before being removed by seamers Hawken and David Wiese respectively.

It was clearly Markram’s day as he trapped the dangerous Pretorius lbw for nine, the big-hitting all-rounder swinging around a dipping full delivery.

Nono Pongolo impressed as he played some fine strokes for his 35 off 21 balls, but Shamsi wrapped up the tail as he finished with five for 74, conceding runs against some hit-and-hope slogging from the tail.

The Lions were all out for 246 in just 33.5 overs as the Titans completed their biggest ever victory in terms of runs in the competition.

http://citizen.co.za/sport/sport-cricket/1461445/markram-hits-record-score-titans-hammer-lions/