Ken Borland

I suppose one should pay Cricket South Africa’s Members Council their dues for the sort of sheer bloodymindedness and obstinacy that, if our batsmen could replicate it at the crease, would ensure that the Proteas never lose another Test match.

But now, with the game in this country teetering on the precipice, it really is time for them to give up the stonewalling and save us all a lot of time, effort and frustration, by accepting the inevitable changes in governance that will bring a majority independent board. Ultimately, they are trying to defy the sports minister, which is a pointless exercise reminiscent of when the SA Rugby Union, through their bombastic president Louis Luyt, took Nelson Mandela to court in 1998.

You may win the odd legal battle, but you are most certainly not going to win the war.

Dr Stavros Nicolaou, the chairman of the Interim Board, this week detailed every step in the negotiations with the Members Council and it reminded me of those World War I soldiers who would fight for days in the muddy, bloody trenches to add just a metre or two to their frontline.

And now, the handful of recalcitrants on the Members Council who scuppered the Special General Meeting last weekend are considering legal action to stop both a new constitution and Minister Nathi Mthethwa’s punitive action that is yet to be announced. CSA is an organisation that has spent millions and millions on legal fees in the last couple of years, robbing the game itself of much-needed resources, so it might seem a bit unfair that the Interim Board (their antagonists) now have to give their approval in order for the Members Council to enlist the help of lawyers in their battle, but thank goodness it is the case.

Much of the Members Council’s delaying tactics seem to have revolved around deliberate misrepresentations of what the Interim Board’s new Memorandum of Incorporation actually says. And Nicolaou confirmed this week that, apart from a majority independent board and an independent chair, everything else is negotiable. Which has not been the picture portrayed by the recalcitrants.

Do the Members Council want a 15-person board? That’s fine, then the equation will be eight independent directors, five non-independent and the two executives (CEO & CFO). Or a 13-strong board? Then the make-up will be 7-4-2; even a board of 11 is possible, with six independents, three non-independents and the two executives.

In terms of the criteria for directors, the nominations committee can decide whether they want an emphasis on a cricket background or skills in legal affairs, accounting or finance. There is no need for these criteria to be stipulated in the MoI.

What has been put in the MoI is the make-up of the all-important nominations committee that will select the independent directors. It is pleasing to see the six-person panel will include either a men’s or women’s former international player nominated by SACA, alongside a former CSA president nominated by the Interim Board, a Members Council representative and people from the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Institute of Directors and the Legal Practice Council.

And the definition of an independent director precludes anyone involved in the administration of the game at provincial or national level, not everyone involved in the game such as coaches or former players.

This MoI has been debated and pored over and modified since the first meeting of the working group, made up of three representatives each from the Members Council and Interim Board, on January 31. According to Nicolaou, on April 15, two days before the ill-fated SGM, the Members Council had agreed to the new MoI.

Their sudden about-turn, orchestrated in the most scheming, underhand manner, has meant all those months of effort have been wasted. As Nicolaou pointed out, “the Members Council continuing to kick this can down the road has awful consequences on the hard-working employees of CSA and the players”.

And think of Anne Vilas, the Central Gauteng Lions president who has been at the forefront of taking a public stand against the recalcitrants. In fact, think of her husband Doug, who has hardly seen his wife for the last few months such has been the number of late-night meetings she has had to attend as the Interim Board and the Members Council have wrangled.

For all our sakes, let’s hope the Members Council relents while there is still time.

A South African may not have won a Major title since Ernie Els triumphed at the Open in 2012, but any suggestion our golf is going to the dogs has been refuted by the superb displays of our golfers around the world over the weekend.

Between them, South Africa’s four top performing golfers over the weekend – Louis Oosthuizen, Garrick Higgo, Ashleigh Buhai and Els himself – took home nearly R23 million in prizemoney. And that excludes the cash raked in by the top-five finishes of both George Coetzee and Retief Goosen.

The Major event of the weekend was the U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club outside New York and the powerful Bryson de Chambeau unleashed his dogs of war in the final round, in which he was the only golfer to shoot under-par, to win by a massive six strokes.

Oosthuizen, who was four off the pace at the start of the round, was soon out of real contention for the title as De Chambeau began dismembering the course on his way to a 67, and his challenge ran out of steam with a three-over 73 on the final day. Nevertheless it was good enough for the 2010 Open champion to finish alone in third, two behind second-placed Matthew Wolff.

Oosthuizen took home more than R14.2 million for his efforts and he now has six top-three finishes in the Majors, including being runner-up at least once in all of them.

The PGA Tour Champions is a lucrative way for professional golfers who have turned 50 and qualified for the seniors tour to bulk up their medical aid and Els took home more than R2.6 million at the weekend when he finished third in the Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach.

Unfortunately Els, who was the leader going into the final round, suffered another of his putting breakdowns as he missed a two-foot putt for par on the last that would have secured him a place in the playoff with eventual winner Jim Furyk and Jerry Kelly.

Goosen finished in fourth place, two shots adrift of Els.

Buhai (nee’ Simon) did get into a playoff in her event on the LPGA Tour, shooting a brilliant seven-under-par 65 in the final round to join Major winner Georgia Hall in the showdown for the Cambria Portland Classic title at Columbia Edgewater.

Unfortunately, Buhai’s putter, which had come to her aid numerous times earlier in the day, let her down on the second extra hole as she missed a par putt to deny her her maiden LPGA title.

The good news though for the three-time SA Open winner is that she has earned herself a place in the U.S. Open in December and she won nearly R2.7 million.

There was at least one South African winner at the weekend though and that was young rising star Garrick Higgo, who claimed his maiden European Tour title by winning the Portugal Open at Royal Obidos. In just his seventh start on the tour, a marvellous seven-under-par 65 drove the 21-year-old left-hander to the victory, Higgo beating Spaniard Pep Angles by one stroke.

Higgo was superb with the Driver all weekend, and he did not make a bogey in his last 26 holes, dropping just three shots all tournament.

While Higgo took home a little more than R3 million for his life-changing win, Coetzee continued to capitalise on his fine form by finishing in a tie for third, four shots back.

The Lions’ victory over the Waratahs was a fantastic achievement and one of the best results in the history of our SuperRugby, you have to give credit to the players and the whole coaching staff for pulling off that sort of scoreline in Sydney – and for keeping the New South Welshmen pointless for the first time ever in the competition.

The Lions were really dominant in the scrums and lineouts and they scored some very clever tries. But I would like to single out defence coach Joey Mongalo as their unsung hero.

He took over from JP Ferreira and was under lots of pressure when they started to concede tries in the losses against the Blues, in Argentina and versus the Crusaders, so it is a real credit to him that they have tightened up so much since then. Swys de Bruin took a big punt in appointing his son, Neil, as the skills coach and then he took Joey out of the junior team, where he had been tremendously successful.

It’s a big step up for Mongalo but he can now enjoy the history made in Sydney. He has persevered through the ups and downs and been at the Lions for seven years and was promoted to the Currie Cup last year. He was also the SA U20 defence coach under Dawie Theron and in their last year they finished fourth at the junior world cup. Saru, in their infinite wisdom, decided not to make use of him last year, but he is a quality young coach.

The difference he has made to the Lions’ defence is that they now have great spacing, alignment and width, they really cover the width of the field. They are also very strong in the collisions, guys like Franco Mostert, Harold Vorster and Malcolm Marx really monster guys. They have a great double-hit system which means the ball-carrier can’t get the offload away.

They’ve also shown greater line-speed these last two weeks, they’re coming forward and really laying down the gauntlet to the opposition. With that they can force turnovers through Kwagga Smith and Marx, who is probably the best in the world right now at forcing turnovers. He gets over the ball so often and he is really hard to shift.

The fact that he comes off the lineout and is inside the ball a lot of the time allows him to be very effective at turnovers. The hooker role has changed over the last few years because of the nature of how teams contest for possession and one of the best at stealing ball I ever worked with was Bismarck du Plessis. The hooker nowadays basically defends the inside channel, which enables him to be close to his target.

The other impressive feature of the Lions’ play against the Waratahs was the quality of their kicking game and their lack of fear in doing it anywhere on the field. Elton Jantjies was even prepared to put in a crossfield kick off turnover ball five metres from the goal-line. There was also a great little chip from scrumhalf Dillon Smit in the middle of the field that bounced into Ruan Combrinck’s hands and Kwagga scored.

They have the courage to do it when it’s not expected and they execute those kicks so well. The Lions also have very good chasing wings.

Swys de Bruin obviously gives them the confidence to try anything anywhere on the field and you can never accuse him of taking the safe option. He’s also had his ups and downs as a coach – he spent a long time at the Sharks Academy before Johan Ackermann brought him back into the coaching fold. He brings confidence and a sense of adventure to Lions rugby.

One must also give credit to forwards coach Philip Lemmer. Those two tries from drives off the lineout were really well executed and the way they shifted and created a channel for Marnus Schoeman, ripping a wide open gap for him to go through, was very clever.

So it was almost the perfect performance away from home by the Lions, I expect them to back it up by beating the Reds this weekend, and it is a smart move by Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus to add Swys to the consulting team for the England series. Does it mean the Springboks will play with that same freedom as the Lions do?

Well Rassie is naturally quite a conservative coach so it will be interesting to see if Swys will free up the backs.

Elton Jantjies is now the most capped Lions player ever, having gone past Cobus Grobbelaar’s 94 appearances earlier this season, and he is hardly ever injured, so he is tremendously resilient and looks after his body well. The Lions’ style of play is tailor-made to his strengths and it was encouraging to see him dictate matters in an away game, having shown previously he’s obviously very good at altitude. A lot of it comes down to the backing Swys de Bruin gives him and the question is whether he will now get the same with the Springboks.

I thought the Bulls were good value for their win over the Rebels. Sometimes you have to win ugly but to bank the five points despite that was excellent and coach John Mitchell won’t mind doing that every week.

Adriaan Strauss is certainly in brilliant form, last year’s break did him good and he has dropped some weight. In fact, I have worked with Atta since the U21s and this is the fittest I have ever seen him. He has always been a world-class player, but in the environment Mitchell has created at Loftus Versfeld, he is really performing. Having him there really adds accuracy to the set-pieces and he almost always hits his jumpers with his dead-eye-dick throws.

That brings RG Snyman and Lood de Jager into play and that forms the axis of the Bulls side with flyhalf Handre Pollard.

Under the new regime, Lood is also fitter and more mobile and the offloads and supporting lines of the Bulls forwards are very good, they look to keep the ball alive in space. Their scrum also functioned quite well against the Rebels and they created a great angle on the crucial try scored by Divan Rossouw just before halftime. They took a whole lot of Rebels defenders out of the game, they could not get across in time and the visitors basically ran out of tacklers.

Pollard is also providing direction with the boot and is enjoying a good string of matches, plus you have the magic and game-breaking ability of Jesse Kriel and Warrick Gelant, who has such incredible feet, he could get his way out of a phone box full of tacklers!

In fact there are now a lot of players with good feet on display in South African rugby, there’s that stepping ability. New Zealand’s guys tend to rely on their size, but we’re starting to produce it on the wings, guys who are really quick with good feet and are good in the air, which is going to be crucial in the Rugby Championship and against England.

The Rebels’ tactics are well-known on the Highveld, trying to slow down or stop the game, which gives their forwards longer time to recover. Visiting teams to Pretoria either stack their bench with forwards in a 6/2 split, so for the last 20 minutes they almost have a fresh pack on, or they slow the game down, sit down often and make the whole pace slower.

But hopefully the Bulls will also be able to turn over the Highlanders on the Highveld this weekend.

The Sharks versus Stormers game was obviously between two teams desperate for a win and the loss puts real heaps of pressure now on the Stormers. They’ll have to win with bonus points in their next five games in the Cape, which is possible. But for the Stormers to win with bonus points they need to be far more defensively secure than they have been.

But I look forward to watching the games in my 11^th floor Tokyo flat, which overlooks the Springbok training facility for next year’s World Cup. I hope I am still here next year to look out my window and watch them train!

Urayasu City World Cup training facility – where the Springboks will be based while in Tokyo

John McFarland won three SuperRugby titles (2007, 09, 10) with the Bulls and five Currie Cup crowns with the Blue Bulls as their defence coach. In all, he won 28 trophies during his 12 years at Loftus Versfeld.

He is currently the assistant coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan and was the Springbok defence coach from 2012 through to the 2015 World Cup, where they conceded the least line-breaks in the tournament and an average of just one try per game.

“Our players are being evicted, collecting food vouchers and there have been marriages ending in divorce.”

“Many of our staff and players, especially those from out of town, have no money for food and some have children. They cannot pay their rent, they cannot buy fuel – the situation is now beyond desperate.”

These are just two of the forlorn pleas made by people involved in the Eastern Province rugby team in response to the shameful fiasco that has seen them not being paid for the last three months.

The intervention of the South African Rugby Union, that has taken over control of the Southern Kings franchise which is set to return to Super Rugby next year, also seems to have merely fanned the flames of the crisis.

The national body has been accused by one anonymous player of being “corrupt” and “colluding with the South African Rugby Players’ Association” in effectively creating a new team that will exclude Eastern Province players and avoid the debts owed to them.Saru, however, have said around half the 42-man squad will come from the existing Eastern Province team.

“We have been working as hard as we can to put a workable plan into place, but we are unable to go into all the player details right now as we still have to confirm some contracts and tie up loan arrangements. But, considering when we started and from what base, I am very pleased with where we have come.

“I believe we are putting together a more-than-competent squad that will not only be representative of the region, but coincidentally meets the targets of our Strategic Transformation Plan four years ahead of schedule. The squad we have identified will have around 50% black players, while the management team is more than 50% black. Our rugby department has picked the best available talent,” Saru CEO Jurie Roux said when he announced the rescue plan to ensure the Southern Kings are operational come Super Rugby time.

But the EP players have rejected Saru’s plan as it will not deal with money owed to them, will force them to take a pay-cut and leaves half their number high and dry. They are also extremely unhappy that controversial president Cheeky Watson is rumoured to still be involved in the running of the Super Rugby squad.

In the meantime, Watson has reportedly closed the Eastern Province Rugby Union offices a week earlier than expected, sending all the staff away on their Christmas holidays with no money and no idea when they will be paid.

Supporters of the Kings have started raising money for the beleaguered players via the Red&Black Army Facebook page.