Ken Borland

Cricket South Africa’s failure to find witnesses willing to testify against Mark Boucher was the most telling blow to the disciplinary proceedings against their men’s national coach that they abandoned on Tuesday, with the message from the embattled former wicketkeeper/batsman being that he hopes he can now just focus on the Proteas’ on-field performance.

Following the decisions of both Paul Adams and Enoch Nkwe to not take part in the disciplinary hearing, where their allegations would have been cross-examined, CSA announced on Tuesday that their “lawyers engaged with various other potential witnesses over the last month and concluded that none of the three charges [against Boucher] were sustainable.”

CSA chief executive Pholetsi Moseki issued a conciliatory statement and sources close to Boucher indicated that he also wanted to put the whole imbroglio behind him.

“CSA appreciates that it has been very difficult for Mark to deal with these charges hanging over his head over the last few months. CSA regrets this,” Moseki said.

“CSA is also appreciative of the fact that Mark has at all times conducted himself properly and professionally – refusing to be drawn into public debates about the charges and carrying out his duties with commitment and dedication.

“The performance of the Proteas men’s team over this period has been extremely impressive, particularly in the Test arena, and this speaks to the efforts of Mark, his support staff and the players,” Moseki said.

Boucher will thus see out the remainder of his contract as Proteas head coach, which runs until after the World Cup in November 2023, and is eager for there to be détente now between him and CSA.

“It’s all systems go and everything has been normalised as far as Mark is concerned,” a source close to Boucher told The Citizen on condition of anonymity.

“He wants to put cricket first now, just focus on his job as a coach. He is hoping that cricket will be the only focus now.”

Boucher admitted that CSA’s efforts to cut him adrift had severely discomfited him. While trying to stabilise the Proteas team following the tumultuous events of 2019, Boucher also had to fight a war, raging over his own head, against his employers.

“The last few months have been extremely difficult to endure for me and my family,” Boucher said in a statement. “I am glad the process has finally come to an end and that CSA has accepted that the charges against me are unsustainable.

“The allegations of racism that were levelled against me were unjustified and have caused me considerable hurt and anguish,” Boucher said.

The Bulls had to come from a 13-0 deficit to beat Benetton Treviso 46-29 in their United Rugby Championship match at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, and coach Jake White said he was most pleased by the adventurous rugby they played under pressure to do so.

The Bulls scored six tries to make it a bonus point win and only two of those tries were scored by forwards driving over from close range.

“What I was most pleased about was the brand of rugby we played, but we did not finish enough of our chances,” White said after the win. “There was a nice balance to our rugby, we used our forwards and our backs.

“You’re not going to win this competition by winning matches 13-9, you need to score tries, and how we counter-attacked and looked to play with ball-in-hand was most enjoyable to watch.

“Like when Kurt-Lee Arendse [fullback] runs from his own half to score, that’s where rugby is going. You have to be able to play like that, you need different arrows in your bow.

“We’re still not close to where we want to be, but it was good that we showed we can muscle up and use our maul as well. To be 13-0 down and still win 46-29 shows a lot of character,” White said.

The Bulls have been criticised in the past for their lack of creativity, some going as far as to liken them to the marvellous athletes but mechanical players of Russia under Communism, but those days are long gone.

The Bulls could, in fact, have scored a few more tries and the finishing, as well as the finer technical details of their breakdown work, are two areas White says need work.

“One can always be critical after a match and we were a bit inaccurate at the breakdown and three or four times our clearance kicks did not go far enough,” White said.

“We just needed to show more calm and not be so hasty. There were also three or four times we were on their tryline but we let the ball fall.

“The slow start was maybe because we haven’t played for two weeks, but we got in their 22 many times but did not finish. We’re not going to get 10 chances against one of the big sides.

“But Benetton were very tough physically and they did not go away, we had to work hard to break down their defence on the goal-line. We definitely have to improve,” White said.

The rampant form of two South African centres based overseas has not gone unnoticed by one of the Springboks’ most celebrated midfielders, with Jean de Villiers this week heaping praise on Damian de Allende and Andre Esterhuizen.

De Allende is the incumbent Springbok No.12 and still a crucial part of the Munster side that is in the European Champions Cup quarterfinals and in fourth place in the United Rugby Championship, while

Esterhuizen has been a roaring success at Harlequins. The former Sharks player is very much a specialist inside centre though, so in terms of the Springboks, he is only likely to get called up if De Allende is injured.

“Damian has been crucified at times for the way he plays and some people only see him as an abrasive midfielder,” De Villiers told a URC media briefing. “He was getting boxed into that role over here.

“But Damian has been phenomenal the way he plays for Munster and the Springboks, the value he brings is massive. He was probably one of South Africa’s top three performers at the last World Cup.

“His distribution skills are fantastic and his defence is aggressive, it’s like having another loose forward in the midfield. He’s also so good at competing on the ground, him slowing the ball down makes it easier for the rest of the defence.

“And there’s no reason to think he’s slowing down, he gave another great performance on the weekend when Munster beat Exeter. Damian is critical for the Springboks and his partnership with Lukhanyo Am is phenomenal,” De Villiers said.

The former Springbok captain, speaking in his capacity as a SuperSport analyst, was also full of praise for Esterhuizen and said his departure from the Sharks has been the reason for many of their attacking frustrations.

“Andre has been a big loss for the Sharks and has been fantastic for Harlequins, his partnership with flyhalf Marcus Smith really just works for both of them.’

“The Sharks have lost both him and Lukhanyo Am and they are lacking in midfield. And with Aphelele Fassi out injured too, they are not able to fire the way they were when those two were available.

“I think Makazole Mapimpi has been affected as well. He and Lukhanyo are just on the same wave-length and the Sharks have missed Mapimpi’s X-factor with Am,” De Villiers said.

Former Scotland lock Jim Hamilton, another URC analyst and someone well acquainted with barging over the opposition during his 63 Tests, is also a big Esterhuizen fan.

“Esterhuizen has been carving it up over here, I can’t believe what a signing he’s been for Quins. He would be one of the first names on my team-sheet,” Hamilton said.

It was the most unusual and bittersweet of Test debuts for Khaya Zondo on Monday morning as the second Test between South Africa and Bangladesh resumed at St George’s Park.

The 32-year-old Zondo was brought into the Proteas Test team for the first time on the fourth day of the match as a like-for-like Covid replacement for opening batsman Sarel Erwee.

Erwee and all-rounder Wiaan Mulder were feeling unwell on Monday morning, and tested positive for Covid, meaning they had to be withdrawn from the match. Under the ICC regulations, they are allowed to be fully substituted for the remainder of the game.

That means Glenton Stuurman, who made his Test debut in New Zealand in February, is allowed to bowl in place of Mulder. But because South Africa have already had both their innings in the match, there will no batting for the less fortunate Zondo.

One hopes that Zondo’s Test career does go further and he does not become one of those unlucky cricketers who play just one Test and do not bat or bowl.

The KZN Dolphins batsman has been prolific in first-class cricket this season, averaging 73.50. Having made two centuries in 2020/21, he went a step further this summer, notching his maiden double-century, 203 not out against Western Province at Newlands at the end of October.