Ken Borland

Social media was full of praise this week for the great Dale Steyn following the fast bowler’s retirement from all forms of the game. His opponents from around the world were generous with their tributes, but perhaps the greatest accolade I can pay one of my favourite cricketers is to say he achieved what he set out to do and more.

When I asked Steyn this week how he would like to be remembered, his answer was typically honest and refreshing.

“It’s their decision how people want to remember me. But I wanted to play hard, be a fierce competitor, but also have fun. I wanted to not be slow to be the first person to buy a round of drinks at the end of the game, whether that be beers or soft drinks, because that’s important too. I wanted to meet other people, enjoy their company, and for there to be no animosity,” Steyn said.

The lad from Phalaborwa certainly ticked all those boxes. He was one of the most aggressive and highly-skilled fast bowlers the world has seen, but off the field there was no-one more affable. Dale Steyn was not just a great cricketer, he is a great human being, which is why he is so popular with cricketers, fans and media.

Long-time rival Jimmy Anderson simply described Steyn as “The Best”, while Australia’s Pat Cummins, who inherited Steyn’s mantle as the world’s best paceman, said “Set the standard for fast bowlers world round to follow for 20 years. No better competitor to watch in full flight”. Proteas nemesis Mitchell Johnson said Steyn was “overall the best fast bowler who had it all through my time of playing; fire on the pitch, ripping bloke off it”.

From the raw youngster who arrived at the Titans from unfashionable Limpopo with a skateboard and a shock of blonde hair – he was promptly nicknamed ‘Sunshine’ – and the ability to swing the ball away at high pace, Steyn developed even more skills and also became a tactical genius. Statistics can sometimes be misleading when it comes to the true impact of a player, but Steyn’s are not. The best strike-rate of any bowler who has taken 300 Test wickets and an away average of 24, including on the subcontinent, were prime reasons South Africa became the No.1 Test side.

In fact, it is his performances in India (long considered a graveyard for pace bowlers) that most support his claims to being one of the all-time greats: In six Tests there he took 26 wickets at an average of 21.38. His spell of five for three after tea on the third day of the first Test in Nagpur in 2010 is still spoken about with awe in India; it is arguably the greatest display of reverse-swing bowling ever as the home side crashed from 212 for four to 233 all out, as South Africa won by an innings.

I was fortunate enough to be there and, having just iced one of the strongest batting line-ups in the world, Steyn was typically jovial and relaxed, not wanting to focus on his own performance in the media conference at the end of the day.

The archetypal cool dude embodies all that is great about sport – the competitiveness, the high levels of skill and the determination; but also the acknowledgement that they are playing a game for the joy of it. That same spirit finds expression in the many ‘adventure’ sports Steyn loves and will now have the time to pursue more often.

Many players find it difficult to have a good relationship with the media and they can be forgiven for that. Dale had a fantastic rapport with the media, mostly because he treated them as fellow human beings who also had a job to do, much like the opposition.

He is genuinely interested in people and there were many discussions about the holiday he had just been on, or even the trip you had just taken. I will never forget the genuine concern and advice he gave talking to a media colleague who had undergone shoulder surgery.

Dale Steyn lit up the cricket field, and we can now only wish him many years of fun on his new playgrounds – the sea, bush, jungles and mountains that are waiting for him.

Veteran Duane Vermeulen has been on the sidelines for the last five massive Springbok Tests and as fantastic as their results have been, the eighthman said there are still many areas they can improve on.

“We can always improve. There have been small steps taken through the Georgia game, the SA A matches and the Tests against the British and Irish Lions. We slipped up on the first Test against them, but it’s been nice to see us get some continuity. We want to keep on improving and be consistent. It’s one step at a time but we’re heading in the right direction,” Vermeulen said.

So what are the areas the Springboks still need to work on?

Getting the back three more involved in attack

The Springboks’ five victories so far this year have largely been down to their tight five outmuscling and outworking the opposition. As effective as it has been, forward dominance alone has seldom triumphed in the Southern Hemisphere competition. It would be great to see Cheslin Kolbe, Makazole Mapimpi and Willie le Roux able to exploit space out wide more. They can also be brought into play from clever first-phase plays. Those three are all capable of breaking defensive systems and showing a clean pair of heels.

Increased tempo

One can forgive the Springboks for adopting a wear-them-down strategy against the British and Irish Lions because their lack of high-intensity conditioning after 18 months out of Test rugby made it essential. But they now have a good month of game-time and conditioning work under their belts so the time has come for them to put more speed on the ball. Unlike Argentina, Australia and New Zealand will be actively trying to quicken the game up, so the Springboks will need to be more mobile, with greater continuity between forwards and backs, and maybe even more offloads.

Better discipline

The old benchmark for Springbok teams was to concede fewer than 10 penalties per game. recently they have been in double figures most of the time. It’s not that their discipline has been bad, but under pressure they have tended to err a bit too easily. They can get their penalty count down and that will help with momentum and territory.

More accuracy at restarts

At times the Springboks have looked like a bunch of boisterous pups having a bone thrown to them when it comes to receiving the restarts. The absence of Vermeulen has been felt there and a bit more organisation and clinical execution will help make their exits smoother and relieve territorial pressure.

Improving their strengths even more

In the sage words of Nick Mallett: “It is not up to us to change the way we play because it’s not attractive. You play the way you play best in order to beat the opposition”. And the Springboks’ strengths are their set-pieces and kicking game. Which can still improve!

Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert have been immense at lineout time, but more options can be brought into play there.

Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Trevor Nyakane have excelled at scrum-time, but we are still waiting for Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe to really cut loose and destroy opposition scrums.

And the Springboks can improve their box-kicks and kicking into space.

Western Province have endured a most average season and, unless they beat the Sharks in Durban on Saturday, they will miss out on the Currie Cup semi-finals for only the second time since 2008. And Sharks coach Sean Everitt foresees a desperate visiting team that will play more rugby than usual.

The problem with that is that Durbanites are expecting to see squalls of rain sweeping in from the sea and the Sharks have made using their kicking game to force teams deep into their own territory something of an art form.

“Western Province are a proud franchise and they won’t be happy with where they are on the log. They will see the opportunity to get five points, I’m sure they will come to Kings Park and give it their all and play more rugby than usual. Our kicking game will certainly help us because the conditions Durban is expecting will bring a lot of rain and gale-force winds.

“So we are very happy to have Curwin Bosch back and we will have another look at him at fullback, where he played very well against Griquas when we played them at Kings Park. He’s certainly dying to play again and that big boot of his will definitely be very useful for us,” Everitt said this week.

The Sharks lost that match to Griquas because they failed to grab their scoring opportunities and the Northern Cape team have since moved to third on the log with their thumping of Western Province last weekend, giving them wins home and away against the team that has won the Currie Cup more than any other (34 times).

The match between Griquas and the Pumas in Kimberley on Saturday afternoon will be a feast of celebration for the winners as they will be assured of a semi-final place. The losers of this 2.30pm clash will have to wait until after dinner on Saturday night to see if Western Province can upstage the Sharks and sneak past them into the knockout round.

In between those games, the Bulls host the Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld. Having devoured the Pumas pack in the set-pieces, which was crucial as the Bulls were not dominant in any other area, Jake White’s young pack will be eager to stamp their mark again and get the win that seals first place on the final log.

“I do not think the Pumas have been dominated at set-piece before this season like they were by the Bulls, which was a great boost for us. We generally have quite a young pack, only Arno Botha is older than 25, and their performances have given us massive confidence. Credit to forwards coach Russell Winter, who has done a fantastic job getting that pack going.

“Mornay Smith at tighthead is one of the most improved players we’ve had and I’m very happy to have Jacques du Plessis covering lock and flank. Ruan Combrinck is not a bad replacement either, he’s a Springbok who has played in Super Rugby finals. Although he has not played for a while, I’ve seen enough in the small time he’s been with us to know he has rugby in him,” White said on Friday.

One will not often find a young head coach who would not feel threatened by bringing in assistants who are more experienced or better-known than himself, but it speaks volumes for the confidence and character of Central Gauteng Lions mentor Wandile Gwavu that he has fully embraced having JP Duminy and Piet Botha as his batting and bowling coaches.

Duminy played 46 Tests, 199 ODIs and 81 T20s for South Africa, so he has a wealth of knowledge to offer the Lions batsmen, while Botha is vastly experienced in his own right as a coach and is highly-rated when it comes to helping the bowlers. Gwavu said it is not just the players who will be learning from his assistants.

“It’s a superstar coaching staff with JP, Piet and Prasanna Agoram as our analyst. It’s not only going to be great for the players but also for the growth of the head coach, I’m keen to take the learnings on and it will make me better as well. I know I lack international playing experience and the way JP speaks about cricket, I know we totally share the same philosophies.

“I’ve played under Piet Botha, we have a very strong relationship and I rate him as one of the best bowling coaches around. He’s very good with youngsters and Sisanda Magala, Lutho Sipamla and Anrich Nortje have all come through under his watch. And Prasanna is one of the best, if not the best, analysts, so we have world-class people in our camp,” the 34-year-old Gwavu said on Tuesday.

That the Lions have secured the services of Duminy, one of the Western Cape’s favourite sons, is due to the initiative of CEO Jono Leaf-Wright. The team will certainly benefit from one of the deepest thinkers in the game.

“It was an opportunity I didn’t really think of until I had a conversation with Jono during an ODI I was commentating on against Pakistan here. And then when I heard him speak at a coach’s forum I knew I was in,  you can just sense the trust and integrity. I certainly believe I can contribute. It’s mostly about having conversations about game-plans and driving certain mindsets.

“It’s about talking through their processes with the players, but it’s also about the coaches in Gauteng and telling them what happens at the top level. I don’t have all the answers, but hopefully I can ask good questions and it’s about empowering, encouraging and uplifting the batsmen. It all starts with mindset and trying to throw the first punch. It will be a learning experience for me too,” Duminy said at the Wanderers on Tuesday.