Ken Borland

Rilee Rossouw has been one of the most exciting products to emerge from South African cricket in the last 15 years, and the left-handed batsman is finally back in the Proteas fold after being named in the T20 squad to play in England at the end of July.

Having announced himself in the 2008/9 domestic season as a 19-year-old, Rossouw was first chosen for the Proteas in August 2014. He played 36 ODIs and 15 T20s, and finally seemed to have nailed down a regular place in the batting line-up, even though he had not entirely done his talent justice yet with an ODI average of 38.71 at a strike-rate of 94, and an average of 29 and strike-rate of 137 in T20s.

But at the start of the 2016/17 season, having just negotiated a contract renewal with CSA, who had also paid for a big shoulder surgery, he jumped ship and took up a Kolpak deal with Hampshire. The timing of his departure – in the middle of a series against Sri Lanka – blindsided CSA, and even when all Kolpak contracts came to an end in early 2021, Rossouw seemed to still be out in the cold.

But the unavailability of Temba Bavuma for the England tour due to a torn tricep muscle has led to Rossouw returning from the wilderness. His form certainly justifies it: playing for Somerset in the T20 Blast, the 32-year-old has scored the third-most runs (498), passing fifty six times in his 12 innings, at a scintillating strike-rate of 191.53, making him by far the most explosive batsman in the competition.

And in terms of eligibility he met the national selectors’ requirements by playing in the CSA T20 Provincial Cup at the start of last summer and topping the batting charts with 295 runs in five innings, at a strike-rate of 157, leading the Free State Knights to the title. He did not play in the CSA T20 Challenge later in the season though, and the Knights finished last.

According to the national selectors, they have had discussions with Rossouw and he is only looking to play through to the T20 World Cup at the moment, but they believe he can provide the x-factor the team needs at the top of the order.

Simon Harmer and Duanne Olivier (Tests) and Wayne Parnell (T20s) are the other former Kolpak players who have passed muster and will be touring England.

Harmer has proven his worth in the Test arena and the selectors are seriously considering playing him alongside Keshav Maharaj in a five-strong bowling attack that would include Marco Jansen as the all-rounder at No.7.

Olivier’s experience of English conditions and ability to swing the ball have counted in his favour too.

Bavuma passed up the option of having surgery on his elbow, which can sometimes speed up the process of healing a triceps tear. The more reliable route is apparently to totally rest the arm and let natural healing take place, although this will take 8-10 weeks.

With the World Cup in France rapidly approaching, the selection of South Africa’s squad to face Wales in the incoming series in July will be under the spotlight.

Three former Springbok greats – Joel Stransky, the hero of South Africa’s 1995 World Cup triumph, 2007 World Cup winning captain John Smit, and Victor Matfield, the man of the match in the 2007 final -discussed who they would select at a function at the French embassy this week to unveil the tourism attractions in southern France.

Joel Stransky: “There should be one or two changes from the team we have seen in the past. There really must be an eye cast forward in selection to the World Cup, because Jacques will probably have to pick his squad in 12 months time.

“Some guys are getting on a bit. I don’t see Wales posing a formidable challenge given how they struggled in the Six Nations and lost to Italy. So it’s a chance to blood youngsters, certainly off the bench.

“He needs a fullback, Willie le Roux last year was already borderline and I don’t think Jacques should pick him. But who else is there? I don’t think Jacques will do it, but I would love to see Warrick Gelant play there, there’s Aphelele Fassi or maybe even Cheslin Kolbe has been suggested for fullback.

“But now’s the time, there were guys who have shone in the URC and you can’t ignore them. There are guys we all believe can play Test rugby, but my concern is that some of them have not even been at the alignment camps.”

John Smit: “The Springboks should use the Welsh games to see who the next eighthman, flyhalf and outside centre is. Other than that we have depth. I think Willie le Roux will still be at fullback, and we’ve got Aphelele Fassi and Warrick Gelant too, so there’s no drama in that position.”

Joel Stransky: “The problem is if we pick a similar squad to 2019 to play at the next World Cup then there’ll be half-a-dozen players 33 and over.”

Victor Matfield: “Whoever is going to play at the World Cup, no matter their age, they must play now. It was not a great year for the Boks in 2021 and they need to build a team and their confidence.

“There are one or two players who everyone says should be in the side, but they haven’t been at the alignment camps. Warrick Gelant and Evan Roos are unbelievable game-breakers.

“If you have one or two youngsters between the experienced players, then it will feel like they’re playing provincial rugby. But we’re not saying pick five or six new guys.”

Joel Stransky: “It might be better to pick the best 30 players now and, say one or two of them don’t step up, then you can always bring the older guys back in.”

John Smit: “The only worry with older players is that there is going to be a far bigger demand on athletes who can go the distance, so much depends on the capacity of players, the size of their engines and their ability to keep bouncing back on the field.”

Victor Matfield: “I don’t believe in testing players at Test level, but you need one or two players with x-factor that can bring the magic, otherwise you struggle to break teams down, especially with defences being so tight.

“Ruan Nortje is a fantastic player, but it’s unfortunate for him that we have four unbelievable second rowers: Eben Etzebeth is the best in the world, Lood de Jager is arguably second; there’s RG Snyman if he’s ready and Franco Mostert always adds value. Maybe Ruan will be in the group if there are a couple of injuries.”

With the World Cup rapidly approaching, the selection of South Africa’s squad to face Wales in the incoming series in July will be under the spotlight and three former Springbok greats have called for the introduction of some fresh blood.

South Africa will defend the title they won in Japan in 2019 when the next World Cup kicks off in September 2023 and Joel Stransky, John Smit and Victor Matfield all believe the time is now for Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber to start building depth for that tournament.

“The Springboks should use the Welsh games to see who the next eighthman, flyhalf and outside centre will be. Other than that we have depth,” 2007 World Cup winning captain Smit said.

Stransky, the hero of South Africa’s 1995 World Cup triumph, said there should also be change at fullback.

“There must be an eye cast forward to the World Cup because Jacques will probably have to pick his squad in 12 months time,” Stransky said.

“Some guys are getting on a bit, if we pick a similar squad to 2019 then there’ll be half-a-dozen players 33 and over. It’s a chance to blood youngsters, even off the bench.

“He needs a fullback, Willie le Roux last year was already borderline and I don’t think Jacques should pick him. I would love to see Warrick Gelant play there, there’s Aphelele Fassi or maybe even Cheslin Kolbe.

“But now’s the time, there were guys who have shone in the URC and you can’t ignore them. But my concern is that some of them have not even been at the alignment camps,” Stransky said.

“Whoever is going to play at the World Cup, whatever their age, they must play now,” Matfield, man of the match in the 2007 final, added. “It was not a great year for the Boks in 2021 and they need to build a team and their confidence.

“There are one or two players who everyone says should be in the side, but they haven’t been at the alignment camps. Warrick Gelant and Evan Roos are unbelievable game-breakers.

“If you have one or two youngsters between the experienced players, then it will feel like they’re playing provincial rugby. But we’re not saying pick five or six new guys,” Matfield said.

The legendary lock said he hoped a couple of x-factor players as well as Bulls second-rower Ruan Nortje would be added to the Springbok party.

“I don’t believe in testing players at Test level, but you need one or two players with x-factor that can bring the magic, otherwise you struggle to break teams down, especially with defences being so tight.

“Ruan Nortje is a fantastic player, but it’s unfortunate for him that we have four unbelievable second rowers: Eben Etzebeth is the best in the world, Lood de Jager is arguably second; there’s RG Snyman if he’s ready and Franco Mostert always adds value,” Matfield said.

The success of the alignment camps and the likelihood that there will not be any Covid bubbles to negotiate means Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber is in no rush to name his squad for the incoming series against Wales in July and will wait until the URC plays itself out.

Nienaber, speaking at SA Rugby’s announcement of a three-year initiative with Betway called Next Phase, which will develop the women’s game through growing coaching capacity, said his squad has not even been chosen yet. Wales announced their touring group on May 18.

“I’ll announce the squad only after the players have completed their commitments with their franchises,” Nienaber said in Rosebank on Thursday. “They don’t need to hear from the national coach now, just their franchise coaches.

“We haven’t yet had our selection meeting, although there is a certain group that we are looking at. We know who we’re looking at, we’ve had alignment camps, but we’ll let the teams play their URC playoffs first.

“The Welsh teams are already all out of the URC, so Wales can already be in camp, but it’s going to be more staggered for us, with players joining us as their teams fall out. The overseas players are in the same position.

“Last year it was very tough to plan, almost impossible, you’d have 10 different scenarios and see what pans out. This year looks like normal and hopefully there won’t be any bubbles to contend with,” Nienaber said.

While only a handful of players from the UK tour last November will be nervous about the beul’s axe hanging over their heads, Nienaber said he was heartened by the performances of the South African teams in the United Rugby Championship.

“I was encouraged by all four teams, all of them have played excellent rugby. Even the Lions did well with their comeback, they had a great winning streak here.”

Nienaber, who helped out with the coaching of the Springbok women’s team in 2014/15, said Next Phase came from an epiphany that their approach was wrong back then.

“Women’s rugby is on another development level and we probably made a mistake trying to foist a men’s programme on them back in 2014/15. The basics are not necessarily there with the girls because they start playing so late.

“You need to build the basics and then put the next layer in, which is adding the creative plans. I became a better coach through my involvement with them,” Nienaber said.