Ken Borland

There has been probably more activity in the offices of Loftus Versfeld than out on the field recently as director of rugby and head coach Jake White decides who gets one of the 45 Bulls contracts he is limited to and he admitted that some of the players in the squad named on Monday to play the Pumas in Mbombela on Tuesday have already been told they are going to be released.

So while the Prep Series warm-up match will not give some players the opportunity to sway White’s mind, he did say he still wanted to be fair to them by giving them game time that could get them noticed by other franchises. The former Springbok coach is intent on creating a super-squad at Loftus, full of internationals, to challenge the powerhouses of the North.

“There are some players that I want to see if I should re-sign them or not as we are planning for the Rainbow Cup and there are some juniors I have not seen as much as I’d like. Combinations are on trial too and of course some of these players could start in the Rainbow Cup, where I have to make sure our squad is good enough and our combinations are tried and tested.

“But I’d like to be fair to every player so I don’t wait right to the end before they know they need to make other plans. I’m trying to create a really talented group, a squad that can beat teams in Europe that have Test players on the bench. They don’t have average players filling in places in the squad. So my mind may be made up about someone, but I still want to give them game time so they can prick up the ears of other franchises,” White said on Monday.

One of those unfortunate players who is in the squad to play the Pumas but will be released is utility back Clinton Swart, who White signed in July 2020 and clearly rated very highly after coaching him in Japan. But the inspirational fashion in which Cornal Hendricks has fitted in at inside centre and the promise shown by Chris Smith as the back-up flyhalf have meant Swart’s opportunities have been limited. And with Springboks Johan Goosen and Damian Willemse probably arriving in Pretoria later this year, White said he could see no space for the 27-year-old.

“I know Clinton very well and I have a bit of a soft spot for him because he’s a great, tough guy who trained hard. He added value, but has been unfortunate that other players have developed so much in a short space of time. Cornal was named the best back in the Currie Cup and with Chris going so well, it was impossible to play Clinton and we’re struggling to commit to him long-term.

“So my mind is made up, I’m glad we helped him and I hope he can find something else. It’s no secret we’re looking at Damian and Johan could be coming, so we will have several permutations for an explosive backline. If a player has to leave a champion franchise like the Bulls, I like to think their market value will be much higher because they’re playing in a province where the best are playing,” White said.

Bulls: David Kriel, Madosh Tambwe, Marnus Potgieter, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Stravino Jacobs, Chris Smith, Embrose Papier, WJ Steenkamp, Tim Agaba, Nizaam Carr (C), Janko Swanepoel, Jan Uys, Mornay Smith, Joe van Zyl, Gerhard Steenekamp. Bench – Janco Uys, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Nolan Pienaar, Reinhardt Ludwig, Werner Gouws, Bernard van der Linde, Clinton Swart, Richard Kriel, Henco Beukes, Willie Potgieter, Dawid Kellerman.

Kagiso Rabada has just one IPL team on his portfolio – the Delhi Capitals – but notwithstanding his loyalty to them, the fast bowler said on Thursday that the Proteas are his first priority and he will probably have to miss the first week or so of this year’s T20 extravaganza in India.

The Delhi side, which was originally known as the Delhi Daredevils before a name change ahead of the 2019 IPL, were runners-up in last year’s competition, with Rabada playing a key role as the leading wicket-taker in the competition. He has unsurprisingly been retained for this year’s edition, at a salary of $575 000.

But the Capitals have expressed some anxiety about his availability this year as fixture-starved South Africa are hosting a white-ball series against Pakistan from April 2-16. Although the dates for the IPL have not yet been officially confirmed, it is believed likely that there will be some overlap.

“In terms of the IPL, my country comes first. It looks like I might miss about a week of the IPL, but the Proteas are my priority. That being said, Delhi is my home in India. They’re the only team I’ve played for in the IPL and they have looked after me really well,” Rabada said on Thursday.

While Rabada has stayed with Delhi since 2017, other leading South Africans have moved around: Faf du Plessis has played for Chennai and Pune; Quinton de Kock has played for four different franchises as have Chris Morris and Dale Steyn.

CSA’s director of cricket Graeme Smith said earlier this week that no definite decision had been taken yet over when the Proteas would be released because they were still waiting for the IPL dates to be confirmed.

The 25-year-old Rabada is now with the Imperial Lions side in Durban preparing for the CSA T20 Challenge which starts on Friday with the Titans playing the Knights and the Dolphins taking on the Cape Cobras. The Lions, who won the CSA T20 Challenge the last time it was held in 2018/19, start their campaign on Saturday against the Warriors. The entire tournament is being held at Kingsmead.

The Lions certainly have the firepower to be considered one of the favourites with Rabada leading a bowling attack that includes fellow Proteas in pacemen Dwaine Pretorius, Beuran Hendricks, Wiaan Mulder and Lutho Sipamla and the left-arm spinners Bjorn Fortuin and Aaron Phangiso.

“We’re going to be up against some really good opposition, it’s going to be a stiff challenge with the majority of the Proteas back. We saw in the Mzansi Super League that we have some great cricketers in this country and that was a competition I really enjoyed. This is also going to be awesome for South African cricket and it’s going to be well-contended.

“There’s always a lot of banter in the Proteas squad because we are always representing our franchises, for instance I’ll chirp the Cape guys that the Cobras haven’t won anything for a while. It shows how much pride there is when the Proteas go back to the franchises and I think everyone will see that in this competition. I always put pressure on myself, but it’s not a given that I’m just going to roll the opposition,” Rabada said.

The Bulls fired on all cylinders for probably just the first 25 minutes, but it was enough for them to beat the Pumas 21-5 and clinch some more, long-awaited silverware for their Loftus Versfeld trophy cabinet as they won the Super Rugby Unlocked competition by four points over the Stormers and Sharks.

In what is probably the last ever Super Rugby tournament, it was perhaps fitting that the Bulls, as the only South African winners of the competition, signed off as the winners of this strictly local event. But it is also the first senior trophy to find a home at Loftus Versfeld since their 2010 Super Rugby triumph, so there will be great relief in Pretoria and a sense of justification that the appointment of Jake White as director of rugby has indeed borne immediate fruit.

The Bulls raced into a 21-0 lead inside those first 25 minutes, playing clinical rugby. Their superb pack was once again utterly dominant, they squeezed the Pumas in all the set-pieces, their driving maul was well-used and their ball-in-hand play was direct and incisive. And the Bulls’ breakdown work was hugely impressive, with flank Marco van Staden absolutely rampant and eighthman Duane Vermelen not far behind.

Wing Kurt-Lee Arendse opened the scoring in the 11^th minute from close range after one of numerous penalties had been kicked to touch five metres out; six minutes later flyhalf Chris Smith rounded off a period of very direct running by the Bulls as he forced his way through three tackles to score; and scrum Ivan van Zyl then sniped through a gap to score after a big scrum by the Bulls had earned a penalty against the Pumas on their own ball.

The marvellous rugby of the first half gave way to a scrappier, but more intensely competitive second half as the Pumas showed pleasing improvement. They stopped conceding a flood of penalties, they were better in the set-pieces, made fewer mistakes and, were it not for some lapses in decision-making at crucial times, they could have pushed hard for the win given how they turned around the territory and possession stats.

They showed their intent from the start of the second half, hooker HP van Schoor muscling over for a try from a lineout drive.

Given how brave the Pumas have been in fronting up for this game after 11 of their squad have been in quarantine for the last week, it was pleasing that they ended this phase of the season with their heads held high.

Also coming out of the math with great credit was referee Aimee Barrett-Theron, who became the first woman to referee at senior professional level in South Africa, and officiated with confidence, certainly being the mistress in charge out on the field.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Kurt-Lee Arendse, Chris Smith, Ivan van Zyl. Conversions – Smith (3).

Pumas: Try – HP van Schoor.

A hard-hitting letter from Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa to Beresford Williams probably ices the cake in terms of sealing the fate of Cricket South Africa’s acting president, who has indicated his desire to stand for the permanent position at the AGM on December 5.

Williams was told by parliament’s sports portfolio committee to recuse himself from Tuesday’s hearing with CSA because he is implicated in the Fundudzi Forensic Report, not only for his involvement in a R5 million loan to the Western Province Cricket Association that he was formerly president of, but also being on the Board committee who appointed Thabang Moroe as full-time CEO in 2018 after he had been acting for a year despite him not meeting the minimum requirements for the post.

But Williams’ shares have fallen even further with the leaking of a letter from sports minister Mthethwa, who is clearly adamantly against Williams continuing as president. Replying to a letter from CSA, signed by Williams, which states that the CSA Board have decided not to step down and told Mthethwa he did not have the legal power to force them, the sports minister threatened: “As a parting shot, I wish to reiterate that I shall not be dissuaded from applying what the National Sport and Recreation Act 110 of 1998 enjoins me to do”.

The Mthethwa letter begins: “I note that instead of accurately depicting what was said at the meeting we had on 6 October, you have taken the liberty to put words into my mouth. To that end, I will use my response to correct some of the inaccuracies that are evident in your letter”.

Mthethwa went on to say he did not provide the directive for Williams and the Board to step down, but instead was agreeing with Sascoc’s call for this to happen.

“In addition to the National  Sport and Recreation Act 110 of 1998 you seem to selectively quote from, to show that I do not have the power to intervene, you are kindly reminded that as a sovereign country in which I am the Minister responsible for Sport, Arts and Culture, there is a raft of laws at my disposal, that empower me to deal effectively with recalcitrant behaviour within my portfolio,” Mthethwa stated.

The four main outcomes Mthethwa wants to see, according to his letter, are the full implementation of the Nicholson Commission recommendations, the appointment of a new, stable Board, effective transformation and the correct handling of the Fundudzi Forensic Report.

Apart from telling Mthethwa he did not have the power to force the Board to step down, CSA also said they viewed his intervention as government interference which probably “jeopardises CSA’s continued membership of the ICC”.

The bad news for CSA and Williams is that Mthethwa has the power to no longer recognise them as a national federation, thereby making their membership of the International Cricket Council moot in any case.