Ken Borland

The wonderful thing about sport is that it will constantly surprise you, with tales of the underdog triumphing being one of its most inspirational features. But it will also humble you, especially when hubris is allowed to take root.

Cricketers will talk about Mother Cricket and making sure no-one gets big-headed; rugby players will constantly talk up the opposition to ensure they will not be complacent on match day.

But every now and then, someone will get it horribly wrong and sporting misfortune will come back to bite them, often hard.

The Springboks, having played so brilliantly to beat the All Blacks in Nelspruit, came a cropper the following weekend at Ellis Park. They did not seem over-confident in the week leading up to the clash and said all the right things about an expected New Zealand rebound.

But there were certain selections which have led to them being accused of hubris and Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber needed to do better when asked questions about these controversial picks after the game.

No-one who was in the cauldron of Ellis Park last weekend will doubt the passion of Springbok supporters. And they don’t like having the wool pulled over their eyes or being told the reasons for a player being selected are “privileged” or a secret.

And yet this is what Nienaber did when the media wanted to know his justification for starting Joseph Dweba at hooker ahead of the rampant Malcolm Marx, and an underdone Duane Vermeulen at eighthman.

Both selections smacked of arrogance – fielding anything less than your best team against the All Blacks, and a desperate one at that, is bound to result in embarrassment.

When considering the worths of Dweba and Marx, the latter is clearly the better hooker at the moment and one of the best, most dangerous forwards in world rugby.

But given the injury to Bongi Mbonambi, Nienaber almost had to play Dweba and then the discussion could change to how does one get the best out of both players? If the inexperienced Dweba has to play, when will he be most effective?

There’s no doubt that a fresh Marx coming off the bench is a massive weapon for the Springboks, so one can understand the attraction of going that route.

But there’s also no doubt All Blacks coach Ian Foster, craggy-faced during the week but etched with relief after the game, was smiling inside when he heard their nemesis of Mbombela would not be tormenting them for the full 80 minutes.

Nienaber has already put himself among the elect group of coaches who have beaten the British and Irish Lions, but the hallmark of great coaches is their ability to keep the public on their side whether winning or losing, while also grooming the confidence and belief of their players.

Nienaber needs to embrace the fact that the fans are his constituents and the media are his conduit to them. Nobody is suggesting the fans should have a say in selections, but they do deserve to have them better explained than just being told “it’s privileged”.

There was another example of hubris in the last week that made me chuckle.

England Lions captain Sam Billings had some strong things to say after his team had played the Proteas off the park in an innings win in Canterbury, albeit in a warm-up match in which South Africa only fielded two first-choice bowlers. He implied Proteas captain Dean Elgar was stupid for ignoring how wonderful ‘Bazball’ is and said it should have been a massive wake-up call for the tourists.

But as the Springboks discovered, things seldom stay the same for long in the world of sport, and now it’s England who are under the pump at Lord’s.

PRETORIA, Gauteng – Albert Venter enjoyed a dream start to his round, but then had to stay chill to ensure he converted it into a brilliant one on the opening day of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Time Square Casino at the Wingate Park Country Club in Pretoria on Wednesday.

Venter, teeing off shortly before noon, birdied the first three holes and then made sure he gave nothing away as he compiled a bogey-free nine-under-par 63 to give himself a four-stroke lead after the first round of the R1 million event.

The Silver Lakes golfer ensured he didn’t push too hard, making pars from the fourth to eighth holes, before making his fourth birdie at the par-three ninth hole. Venter went on another superb run from the 12^th hole, going birdie-eagle-birdie, and then he capped his round with another birdie on the 18^th, the third par-five of the back nine.

“Those three birdies in the first three holes really put my round in place, but it was important not to get ahead of myself,” Venter said. “I just tried to keep hitting greens and give myself chances.

“I had to still go through my processes. I reached the turn in four-under even though there was only one par-five on the front nine. With three par-fives on the back nine, I always thought there would be scoring opportunities there and I just had to be patient.

“On the 13^th I had only an eight-iron in, but finished on the fringe because of an unlucky bounce. But then I putted in from there, although it counts as a chip-in on the stats,” Venter laughed.

There’s not much water around Wingate Park and it’s nice to golfers off the tee, but the firm greens, especially at this time of year, are what generally prevents golfers from really laying down the law on the course established in the late 1940s.

“Wingate Park in winter is quite difficult because the greens are quick, firm and fast,” Venter said. “That’s the defence – it’s unpredictable how the ball will bounce on them, so your approach shots have to be more accurate, you have to be more specific about where you land the ball.

“Hitting 10 fairways obviously helped me. The course is quite tree-lined so those fairways I missed, fortunately it was not a big enough miss to land me in too much trouble,” Venter said.

Other golfers to get good returns on Wednesday were Hennie O’Kennedy, Richard Joubert and Martin Rohwer, who all shot five-under 67s to share second place.

Estiaan Conradie, Wynand Dingle, Keagan Thomas and Ruan Korb were a further stroke back after shooting 68s.

Kagiso Rabada is the one bowler you would expect to lead the South African attack in the series against England and he duly put himself in the forefront of a wonderful first session for the Proteas as they reduced the hosts to 100/5 at lunch on the first day of the first Test at Lord’s.

After Dean Elgar had won the toss and elected to bowl first in partly-cloudy, humid conditions in London, Rabada removed both openers as he and Lungi Ngidi (5-1-12-0) began brilliantly with the new ball.

Rabada was on the money from the outset and struck in his second over as Alex Lees (5) wafted loosely outside off-stump, trying to drive a delivery that was far too short, a ball with zip and bounce drawing the edge to wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne.

The other opening batsman, Zak Crawley, lasted twice as long but received a thorough working over, and eventually fell for just 9 as he was well-taken at second slip by Aiden Markram off Rabada (9-1-26-2).

England were 25/2 inside the first nine overs, and their situation became deeply troubling when their batting talisman, Joe Root (8), was trapped lbw by a big inswinger from left-arm quick Marco Jansen, on the stroke of the opening hour.

Anrich Nortje initially battled to find his radar, but in his third over he produced a thunderbolt that would have sent resounding tremors through the England camp, bowling the in-form Jonny Bairstow for a duck. Delivered at almost 150kp/h, it was full and angled in, and one of England’s key batsmen was comprehensively castled as the home team sank to 55/4.

Ollie Pope, having come in after the fall of the first wicket, resisted stoutly as he reached a determined 51 not out off 70 balls by lunch. Busy and compact, he had struck four fours in a fine display of positive batting.

He and captain Ben Stokes had fought back with a fifth-wicket stand of 45, but England were cut deeply by the loss of Stokes to the final ball of the session. Nortje struck the massive blow, moving the ball away late from the left-hander and finding a leading edge that went to fourth slip. Stokes had played some thumping drives straight down the ground and was looking ominous.

As South Africans enjoyed Women’s Day on Tuesday, the country’s golfing fraternity were still celebrating Ashleigh Buhai’s phenomenal Major triumph in the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield. The Buhais are apparently one of the more well-liked families on the LPGA Tour and the victory, on the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff, was a most popular one.

Ashleigh did it the hard way, too. Having dominated the middle section of the tournament with rounds of 65 and 64 on the second and third days, the 33-year-old Buhai had to rebound from giving away a five-shot lead with a triple-bogey on the 15^th hole.

A brilliant bunker shot eventually won her the playoff over tenacious three-time Major champion Chun Ingee, Buhai joining Gary Player and Ernie Els as South Africans who have won Majors at Muirfield. Both were famous for their determination and bunker play, and Buhai is fit to join them as one of the country’s golfing elite.

Sally Little is the only other South African to win a women’s Major (1980, 1988) and Buhai’s triumph is the first at that level since Els claimed the Open crown at Royal Lytham and St Annes in 2012.

When she was still Ashleigh Simon, before she married husband David Buhai, who became a celebrity in his own right at Muirfield, dashing across the 18^th green to embrace his wife, the Johannesburg-born golfer was considered a prodigy when she won the SA Amateur aged 14, the youngest to do so. She then won the SA Open three times in a row, which had not been done in more than a century, before winning her third event on the Ladies European Tour, the Catalonia Masters in 2007.

But it has been tough going for her since she crossed over to the LPGA Tour in 2014. The AIG Women’s Open was her first win on that tour in her 221^st start.

From almost looking like she was destined to become a forgotten talent, like one of those antiques that was so admired but now gathers dust on the mantelpiece, Buhai says she is now playing the best golf of her career.

Hopefully winning the Major title many people predicted for her, will free her up to now go from strength-to-strength and be a major force in the women’s game. At 33, she can certainly look forward to peak years ahead of her.