Ken Borland

The meeting between Cricket South Africa’s Members Council and Sascoc was not as successful as CSA’s official statement made out on Tuesday, with a major sticking point being even if the Members Council vets the Sascoc independent task team investigating their affairs, who is going to pay for it?

While the Members Council have agreed to a “collaborative approach in the interest of good governance and executive operations” with Sascoc, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee were apparently not yet able to furnish CSA with the details of who the task team would comprise, how it would function and, crucially, who would take charge of all CSA’s operational functions if the executive management stepped aside as requested by Sascoc.

The mother body, which is also cash-strapped after a series of their own legal disputes, has also stated that CSA should pay for the task team. Figures as high as R40 million for a month’s work have been mentioned.

“We have made some progress and we have agreed to allow Sascoc to investigate what they want to, we are not trying to hide anything. But Sascoc have not been able to tell us how this task team will be structured and if they remove the whole executive team, who is going to run CSA and handle the finances? And the Members Council have said there is no way we are going to pay for the task team,” a Members Council delegate told The Citizen on Tuesday.

“Nobody knows exactly how this task team will happen, but hopefully the follow-up meeting on Thursday will clarify these things,” the Members Council member added.

Another Members Council delegate said it has been amazing to see the growth in unity and purpose within the body, which comprises the 14 provincial presidents and technically has oversight over the Board of Directors, who they appoint.

“It was a fantastic Members Council meeting and we seem to be finally understanding the level of authority that we have,” the cricket administrator said.

Three representatives of the Members Council – Anne Vilas (Central Gauteng), John Mogodi (Limpopo) and Xolani Peter Vonya (Easterns) were meant to hold a press conference on Tuesday afternoon but this was postponed in another indication that CSA and Sascoc are not yet on the same page.

The presence of Vonya on the Members Council, never mind speaking for it, is also a point of conjecture because he has allegedly been suspended by his own union, which should then make him ineligible for the body of union presidents. He is one of several administrators with clouds over their heads who are still there on the Members Council.

SA Rugby chief executive Jurie Roux is not subscribing to the views of players and former players from Australasia that the days are numbered for South Africa’s partnership with Sanzaar, but he did acknowledge on Monday that major changes for both SuperRugby and the Rugby Championship were inevitable in a post-Covid world.

New Zealand’s SuperRugby franchises will resume play this weekend in an internal competition, while Australian teams are set to follow a similar route. There has been talk of the two countries setting up a Trans-Tasman competition and increased speculation that South Africa will cast its lot in with the Northern Hemisphere.

“As far as Sanzaar goes, we are busy with negotiations in good faith. I’m not too phased about whatever former players, current players or media have to say in Australia or New Zealand, I’m only interested in the people that sit around the negotiating table and they have a completely different viewpoint. But I always have a Plan B, you need the foresight to plan for the worst-case scenario.

“We are very dependent on the decisions of government and that changes quite regularly. But hopefully next Monday we will hear that we can return to training and then return to play in August. That would be a home-based, truncated version of SuperRugby, followed by the Currie Cup and then moving into more international exposure with the international window now moved to October/November.

“It depends on border restrictions, but there is a biosphere model for our teams to be based in Australia, Argentina or here, with a competition in the Northern Hemisphere being an alternative. The biggest influence on Sanzaar will be if New Zealand and Australia don’t open their borders until April. But it’s very clear that the pool format is not the preferred option, we had to come up with a round-robin in which all the teams play each other and it had to make commercial sense.

“We’ll make a rugby decision and then look at the commercials and logistical challenges like reduced flights and number of business class seats, plus whether teams will have to isolate, which means being in a bio-bubble, or quarantine, which means a month in a hotel room without training, will determine those. But the current format will be too tight in a post-Covid world, which is why we’re looking at different options,” Roux said in a virtual press conference on Monday.

The CEO said that the pandemic had at least provided world rugby with the impetus to move towards a global calendar.

“Covid has enabled us to do what we couldn’t do for 130 years and that’s get a global calendar aligned because all competitions are on hold, agreements have been breached or are being re-negotiated. Basically rugby in the Northern Hemisphere will move from winter to summer. The Rugby Championship will move to the beginning of the year with the Six Nations, SuperRugby will stay at the beginning of the year and international rugby will be in October/November. We’ll probably have that all done by July 1.

“We can’t make a final decision on the Springboks until government opens the borders, but by the end of July we should have a very good idea of their schedule. There are very detailed plans for the Rugby Championship to be held at a single venue. If that doesn’t work out then hopefully we’ll have local inbound tours, otherwise we can go North. Failing that we have some very exciting plans for local competitions,” Roux said.

A quick question, if you will.
When did the position of Springbok captain become downgraded to one in which the office-bearer is not allowed to speak on matters of major national interest, especially in terms of rugby?
The furore that has greeted Siya Kolisi’s comments on transformation and quotas has been rife with suggestions that it is not his place to talk about such matters.
Which is absolute nonsense.
I would far rather listen to Kolisi’s views on the subject because he is most affected by it; as a player he is at the coalface of the whole transformation debate. I would far rather listen to Kolisi, surely the embodiment of what transformation hopes to achieve, than either a politician, who lies most of the time and is unwilling to actually do the hard work required to change our society, or an administrator, who in this country is generally self-serving and sadly divorced from the realities of professional sport.
It’s typical of our easily distracted political discourse that everyone has focused on Kolisi’s comments about Nelson Mandela not supporting quotas. It’s not a viewpoint I agree with, my recollection of the 1990s being that Mandela certainly supported efforts to ensure all-White teams did not represent South Africa anymore.
But it’s not the most important thing Kolisi was saying. With respect to the late great Madiba, who did more for sports unity in this country than anyone, his views on quotas are really not relevant anymore. Our society, by and large, has changed so much.
And yet the demographics of our national teams (excluding football) still don’t really reflect this. And it’s because of the other, way more important, issues that Kolisi raised.
It’s hard to believe sometimes when you see the super-athlete that Kolisi has become, and how inspiring and authoritative a figure he is when speaking, that he grew up in poverty. Taking the big hits on a rugby field is probably nothing compared to the feelings of hunger and hopelessness he must have felt before rugby so dramatically changed his life.
Kolisi mentions in his interview with Kyodo News that if he hadn’t have been given a bursary to Grey High in Port Elizabeth he would never have been a professional rugby player, never mind Springbok captain.
South African sport – and especially our rapaciously opportunistic politicians and administrators – owes our Model C schools a tremendous debt of gratitude because they have mostly been driving transformation ever since the 1990s.
Which brings us to the crux of Kolisi’s comments. He is one of the fortunate few to be given the opportunity to fulfil his God-given talent and he made the most of it through tremendous hard work and strength of character. But what of the millions of other township kids who are lost?
One cannot expect them to compete on a level playing field when they are struggling for regular meals, they have no facilities and even getting to practices and games is a major issue.
This is where transformation should be focused and not on the numbers that are so beloved by two-faced, box-ticking politicians and administrators.
It is a sad fact though that many White South Africans have a tough time rating Black players fairly, and Kolisi will no doubt be aware that there are some who believe he is not worthy of his place in the Springbok team.
To blindly stick to a quota system and to not concentrate efforts on ensuring there is a level playing field – equal opportunity – all through the pipeline, is only going to feed into that sort of bigotry.
Our Black sportspeople don’t need quotas to make it; they just need fair opportunity and a level playing field. But that’s going to take hard work from our grandstanding politicians and administrators.

Judging by some of the brilliant young talent at their disposal, the Sharks will now-now be a major force again in South African rugby; for now, their hopes of defending their Currie Cup title remain alive as their 48-40 victory over the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night secured them a place in the semifinals.

They have been mightily impressive over the last 3 weekends in beating Free State, the Golden Lions and the Blue Bulls, but they paid for a scratchy start as wins for both the Cheetahs and the Lions earlier on Saturday means the Sharks have finished fourth on the log and will have to travel to Bloemfontein for their semi-final.

The departure of coach Robert du Preez, his three sons and other SuperRugby regulars was always going to create some uncertainty, but given some of the performances by the youngsters new mentor Sean Everitt has blooded in the Currie Cup, the future is bright for the Sharks.

Locks Hyron Andrews and Ruben van Heerden look ready to do well at SuperRugby level, Sanele Nohamba is a very exciting young scrumhalf and Aphelele Fassi is a fullback who should come into the Springbok picture in the next World Cup cycle.

And then there’s Boeta Chamberlain, a 20-year-old flyhalf who looks to have the sort of all-round game that the Sharks can build a powerful SuperRugby side on in the next couple of years.

All of these players were outstanding at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night, but Everitt was the first to admit the Sharks were given a major helping hand by the Blue Bulls having to play the last 45 minutes with 14 men after a red card to outside centre Johnny Kotze for a late, high shoulder-charge to the neck of Kobus van Wyk.

It had been a thrilling, ding-dong battle up till then, with the Sharks having pulled back to 20-21 down as the first half entered its last five minutes. There was much at stake, with the KwaZulu-Natalians needing a win to make the semifinals and the Bulls needing a bonus point to ensure they did not finish last on the log and therefore have to face a promotion/relegation match against the Griffons from the Northern Free State.

The Blue Bulls, who decided scoring four tries was the easiest route to that bonus point, were a team released, playing with a tremendous sense of freedom as they made the early running.

Inside centre Dylan Sage launched a superb counter-attack after a poor clearance by the Sharks, Kotze then blazing through on a great run for the first try in the 11th minute; and there were further tries by prop Lizo Gqoboka and flyhalf Manie Libbok, running hard and flat at the line and knifing through, just like Handre Pollard.

The Blue Bulls were 21-13 up after 33 minutes, but then Fassi took over in a top-class display of attacking fullback play.

He was the provider for flank Jacques Vermeulen’s try as he gathered a clearance kick inside his own half, but immediately spotted the opportunities a cluster of tight forwards on the one side of the defensive line provided for a man of his pace; Fassi burst through the weak spot he had targeted and sent Vermeulen charging over.

He was again prominent early in the second half, keeping the Sharks on attack after a Nohamba penalty attempt had bounced off the post, replacement JP Pietersen cleverly taking advantage of the Bulls’ back three being one man short with a grubber through that was easily converted into a try by centre Jeremy Ward.

The Sharks struck the killer blow in the 47th minute as wing Van Wyk counter-attacked off a kick and passed inside to 21-year-old Fassi, who burst through brilliantly before producing a sublime offload to Nohamba, who sent Van Wyk over for the try. Nohamba converted and the Sharks were 41-21 ahead.

The Blue Bulls managed to eke out that crucial bonus point in the 51st minute as wing Cornal Hendricks sliced through for their fourth try and the final quarter saw replacement flank Ruan Steenkamp and eighthman Tim Agaba both scoring as the home side earned respect for their character in hanging on in the contest despite being a man short.

While Fassi was a deserved man of the match, Chamberlain also caught the eye with a polished display. He has an astute boot and superb handling skills.

Soon after Kotze’s red card, it was Chamberlain who produced a moment of magic to ensure the Sharks took a 27-21 lead into halftime. Andrews stole a Bulls lineout after the hooter and Chamberlain then committed two defenders before a brilliant offload to Esterhuizen saw the Springbok cruise over for the try.

Then, with the Blue Bulls having closed the gap to 33-41, Chamberlain chipped ahead into a gap, regathered and quickly whipped the ball away to replacement Rhyno Smith, who raced over for the try.

While the Sharks look like a team on the up, with a pool of talent that is delivering, the Bulls are a side with surely just as much talent, but seemingly without the wherewithal or consistency to be a title-winning force.