Ken Borland

Lukhanyo Am has a sense of gravitas in his bearing and is the defensive organiser of the Springbok backline, but one gets the feeling that inside that sturdy 98kg frame there is a playful youngster who just wants to throw the ball around and show his considerable skills.

But Test rugby is serious business and Am reiterated the statements of other members of the Springbok camp this week when he said they have to avoid falling into the trap of trying to play too much rugby against the All Blacks on Saturday, while also ensuring they are full of energy on defence.

“We created a lot of opportunities but we just didn’t convert because we did not execute properly. We had a great start to the second half, but soon we were behind again and there was scoreboard pressure. It felt like we were chasing the game or trying to rush things. And then the passes just don’t stick, you look a bit flustered, but it’s purely scoreboard pressure.

“We are fully focused though on bouncing back and rectifying the mistakes of the previous two Tests. If we stick to our processes then hopefully we will get the result. Defence is also one of our strengths, but last weekend we lacked a bit of energy. We don’t need to change anything in our plan, the missed tackles were just individual errors and not the system’s fault,” the 27-year-old Am said.

The outside centre scored South Africa’s only try last weekend against Australia, getting on the end of scrumhalf Faf de Klerk’s neat grubber in the 42^nd minute. It gave the Springboks the lead (17-15) for the first time in the match, but they were the last points the visitors would score in Brisbane.

Saturday’s Townsville Test promises a really interesting midfield battle. Rieko Ioane first broke through at international level on the wing and David Havili played most of his rugby at fullback for the Canterbury Crusaders. They have been fill-ins at centre for the likes of Jack Goodhue and Anton Lienert-Brown, but have certainly put themselves in the mix to continue together as New Zealand prepare for the 2023 World Cup.

Am and De Allende have built a formidable partnership through winning the Rugby Championship and the World Cup in 2019 and beating the British and Irish Lions earlier this year. They were regarded as the leading combination in world rugby, but their mediocre showings over the last two weekends suddenly saw former All Blacks coach Laurie Mains describe them as  being “simply not up to Test level”.

Really?! Either the 75-year-old Mains has not watched any other Springbok games over the last two years or dementia is setting in.

Western Province won’t need an informer inside the Vodacom Blue Bulls camp to tell them how their Absa Currie Cup semi-final opponents will approach Saturday’s game at Newlands after the visitors yesterday named Handre Pollard at inside centre.

Pollard is perhaps the most incisive flyhalf with ball in hand in South Africa since Henry Honiball and the Western Province defence will be on red alert every time the Bulls visit their 22, with the new Springbok sensation proving lethal in recent weeks every time he has run at the opposition line.

But Western Province will not only be under threat from Pollard’s running skills. They can expect an aerial bombardment from the Bulls as well, with two accomplished tactical kickers lining up at 10 and 12 in Jacques-Louis Potgieter and Pollard, and wing Bjorn Basson, seemingly back at his best, giving chase.

“The unfortunate injury to Burger Odendaal gave us this opportunity to play Handre at inside centre, even though his first choice is flyhalf. He played a lot of his rugby at 12 last year and he will definitely bring something different. We feel confident with the options it gives us, we have two decision-makers at 10 and 12 now, they’re more than just kickers but they can also release pressure with the boot or produce attacking kicks,” Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said yesterday.

If the Bulls can get their fair share of front-foot ball from their forwards, then they certainly have the weapons to put Western Province under pressure.

“It’s definitely going to be a collision game, both teams have good packs and that’s where the game will be won or lost,” Bulls captain and flank Deon Stegmann said. “We’ve had some good games up front in the last few weeks, and our scrum and maul are definitely strengths.”

Western Province can expect plenty of ferocious ball-carrying from the Bulls, with Dean Greyling, Bongi Mbonambi and Werner Kruger named as the front row, while there will be explosiveness from the bench with Marcel van der Merwe, rotated scrumhalf Piet van Zyl, the returning Sampie Mastriet and Jesse Kriel lurking there.

Ludeke praised Western Province as a top-class side, but said his team had developed a considerable amount of momentum from a winning run under pressure.

“Western Province deserve to be top of the log, they have played great rugby this season and are deservedly hosting a semi-final. But whatever team takes their chances best on Saturday will win and we’ve seen now what our guys do in tight situations. It brought the guys together, they lifted their game, and the decision-making was excellent, like the way they handled the last few minutes of the must-win game against the Free State Cheetahs,” Ludeke said.

Blue Bulls team – 15-Ulrich Beyers, 14-Akona Ndungane, 13-William Small-Smith, 12-Handre Pollard, 11-Bjorn Basson, 10-Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9-Rudy Paige, 8-Jono Ross, 7-Jacques du Plessis, 6-Deon Stegmann, 5-Grant Hattingh, 4-Paul Willemse, 3-Werner Kruger, 2-Bongi Mbonambi, 1-Dean Greyling. Reserves: 16-Callie Visagie, 17-Marcel van der Merwe, 18-Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19-Wiaan Liebenberg, 20-Piet van Zyl, 21-Sampie Mastriet, 22-Jesse Kriel.