Ken Borland

The last time the Sharks hosted Griquas at Kings Park was at the end of July when their own indifferent finishing saw them lose an extraordinary match 37-27, and coach Sean Everitt has blared out the lessons from that upset all week ahead of their Currie Cup semifinal against the same opposition in Durban on Saturday.

Griquas received five yellow cards in that match and the Sharks were almost always playing with extra men. But they wasted numerous scoring opportunities, rather aimlessly bashing away at close quarters when varying the point of attack would have surely seen the incredibly brave Griquas defence crack open.

Maybe it was because they had just come back from Covid-enforced inactivity and the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal, but all in all, it was probably the Sharks’ most bleh performance of the season.

“A lot of lessons were learnt that day, especially how to deal with the opposition getting yellow cards and how to break down defences on the tryline. And we have built some momentum since then, I think we are a better team now and that result has had a lot to do with it.

“Everyone wants to be in a Currie Cup final, so motivation won’t be an issue and there’ll be no questions over energy. Our lineouts and scrums have also improved since we played Griquas the last time,” Everitt said this week.

In order to get the better of Griquas this time, Everitt said his team are going to have to bring a mixture of their ruthless counter-attacking ability and forward grunt that ensures the Sharks can get some fluency with ball-in-hand.

“Griquas have kicked the most in the competition, mostly through Stefan Ungerer, who is an accomplished scrumhalf, and George Whitehead, an experienced flyhalf. They manage the game well, they strangle and squeeze you and I’m sure they will come here and try and disrupt our style of play. I hope we can match their physicality and the breakdown is a massive area we have worked hard on.

“Our flyhalf [Lionel Cronje] and fullback [Curwin Bosch] need to function well, they complement each other, they’ve produced some really good kicking and they can attack too, especially when we split the flyhalf channel on either side. Hopefully we can get the phases going to be able to do that,” Everitt said.

The British media have been gleefully pointing out how little rugby the Springboks have had against top-tier opposition since winning the World Cup in November 2019, but coach Jacques Nienaber has found haven in being able to select so many of the players who won that final for the first Test against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town on Saturday.

Nienaber announced a Springbok team on Tuesday in which only six of the 23 players were not on the field on that heady evening in Yokohama. Starting loosehead Ox Nche and replacement flank Rynhardt Elstadt are the only players who were not part of the triumphant World Cup squad.

“Without any Test rugby in 2020 and limited preparation games now, obviously selecting players who have been in the system is quite important. That experience, to have over 500 Test caps in the starting team and more than 700 in the squad of 23, is what we’re looking for. These are guys who have been here before, they understand the pressure they will be under.

“And there will be immense pressure, so it’s great to have players who have experienced it before. This is the real thing and we are going to need calm, steady heads. I think we are going to have new pictures thrown our way by the Lions and will be forced to make solutions on the field. One of the big challenges is that the Lions have a very versatile squad that can play in multiple styles,” Nienaber said on Tuesday.

Amongst the backs, there have been fitness question marks over Handre Pollard, Makazole Mapimpi and Damian de Allende, so Nieneaber has decided not to field the Bomb Squad 6-2 split on the bench. He understandably has confidence the forward replacements – Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx, Frans Malherbe, Lood de Jager and Elstadt – will be able to man up to whatever the Lions pack throws at them.

“Handre has not played a lot of rugby and he’s just come back from Covid, Makazole is the same. If we were fully confident about them then we could have gone with a 6-2 split. It’s probably just not the right time to only have two backs on the bench. We are comfortable with a 6-2 split, we will go with it again, but there just wasn’t the opportunity for this specific game.

“We’re not 100% sure everyone will last the whole 80 minutes because, due to Covid, some of them have not been exposed to much rugby for quite some time. The bench might only come on for 20 minutes, but it will happen the moment a player on the field is not producing his required role due to tiredness. We look to the subs when the performance starts to drop off,” Nienaber explained.

As selections go, it is a vote of confidence in the tried and tested, even if that means a gamble on recent returnees like captain Siya Kolisi, De Jager and Mapimpi. Given the opposition and the question marks over their preparation, it would be silly for the Springboks not to look at their World Cup winners.

Springbok team: Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handré Pollard (vice-captain), Faf de Klerk, Kwagga Smith, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Trevor Nyakane, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nché. Replacements – Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Lood de Jager, Rynhardt Elstadt, Herschel Jantjies, Elton Jantjies, Damian Willemse.

They say a week is a long time in rugby but the Sharks proved – at least in the first half – that a couple of days can also bring a massive change in fortunes as they matched the British and Irish Lions blow-for-blow until the red card to scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse knocked the stuffing out of them.

Having been hammered 54-7 by the touring Lions at Ellis Park in midweek, the Sharks fielded a new-look team for their hastily-arranged rematch at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday and produced a tremendous first-half display as they held the Lions to 26-26 at the break. The physicality and intensity of the Sharks was at a whole new level, and they managed to create the first cracks we have seen in the touring team, who conceded four tries under the pressure.

And then Hendrikse was red-carded five minutes into the second half for elbowing an opponent in the head, and the wheels fell off as the Sharks succumbed to a 71-31 thrashing.

“In terms of intensity, we were matching the Lions but then the red card obviously didn’t help. We knew we had to come out firing in the second half as well, we had to keep that intensity after the break. For our young team, with lots of 21-year-olds, to put them under pressure was fantastic. The loose trio, especially, they all played for the U21s last year and they certainly matched the Lions’ physicality.

“In the first half we managed the game well and the defence was outstanding, we certainly put pressure on them. That’s a really important aspect because it complements your attack and you can use that turnover possession. I think the Springboks would have seen that with a good kicking game and strong defence, there will definitely be opportunities to force the Lions into mistakes,” Sharks coach Sean Everitt said.

Everitt added that he had sympathy for Hendrikse, a 21-year-old who had a moment of stupidity broadcast around the world.

“Jaden is not a malicious player but there was a bit of niggle in the game and it was a tough contest. He’s a youngster who did something stupid and he’ll get to know where to draw the line, he will learn from it. We have to respect the opposition and we will have a chat.

“Off the field Jaden is totally the opposite, he’s actually very quiet. I feel for the guy, he’s very remorseful and I’m sure it won’t happen again,” Everitt said.

Ace South Africa spinner Tabraiz Shamsi does not believe the Proteas bowling attack are forgoing skill in T20 cricket and the improvement they have shown in their fixtures in the West Indies, winning the last two games for a 2-1 lead in the five-match series, certainly bears him out.

Shamsi, the No.1 ranked bowler in international T20 cricket, has spearheaded South Africa’s comeback after a mauling in the first match, and has taken four for 56 in his 12 overs in the series. He was man of the match in Tuesday night’s encounter as he took two for 13 in four phenomenal overs, as the Proteas just managed to defend 168 in Grenada.

Left-arm orthodox spinner George Linde was man of the match in the second T20 and South Africa’s pacemen have steadily improved as they have found a fuller length, with Anrich Nortje particularly impressive and Kagiso Rabada holding his nerve in the last game as he defended 15 in the final over.

“We’re still learning as a team because we don’t have much experience together as a unit. But the skills are not missing, I firmly believe our bowling unit is up there with the best. The same with our batting, they just need to get into their rhythm. I think the batting has been quite good in the last two games.

“The way we’ve bounced back with the ball though against the West Indies batsmen is very pleasing, they’re hitting sixes but we’ve seen a big improvement in how we are nailing the execution from our analysis. In that first game, I think the rain kept juicing the pitch up which allowed the ball to skid on nicely for the batsmen,” Shamsi said.

While Shamsi sticks to the Proteas’ hymn sheet with his chorale of “just trying to land the ball in the right areas”, there is no doubt the 31-year-old is reaping the benefits of detailed analysis of the individual West Indies batsmen and his feistiness that suggests he is a fast bowler trapped in a spinner’s body.

“I like to do a lot of homework, I’ve always spent a lot of time on analysis. I go back to the videos to see how they play me and I ask myself ‘did I bowl well then?’ I always just try to stay a step ahead with my game. But T20 cricket is a different beast, the West Indies are very strong team, they basically play T20 for a living, and I might go for 60 in the next game.

“We can’t take them lightly given the amount of experience they have, their four most capped players probably have more runs and wickets together than the whole of our team. But it’s all about preparation for us,” Shamsi said.