Ken Borland

Bulls coach Gert Smal was quick to deflect a question over how it is going to feel for him to return to Cape Town and take on arch-rivals Western Province, a team with whom he enjoyed considerable success as a player, coach and director of rugby, in their Currie Cup match on Wednesday night.

But it will be a poignant moment for the former Springbok loose forward and World Cup winning assistant coach to Jake White. In answering the question, Smal did give an insight into how quickly allegiances can change in the world of professional rugby.

“Ja, it’s funny. In the past week-and-a-half I’ve been having one-on-ones with the players and some of them are guys I contracted at Western Province and now they are at the Bulls,” Smal, who was director of rugby at Newlands from 2014 to 2018, said. He coached the Western Province and Stormers teams between 2000 and 2005.

“There are others here who I was looking at, wanting to bring them to Western Province. But it’s always nice to see talent growing, on both sides. Western Province played well too over the weekend.

“I’m looking forward to the contest, I’m really excited to see how it pans out. It’s a new, big match for us and it’s important we put the game together that we want to see on the park,” Smal said.

And Smal is not the only Springbok who will be visiting Cape Town with the Bulls. He has been able to name fellow internationals Bismarck du Plessis, Marcell Coetzee, Morne Steyn and Lionel Mapoe in his side.

Smal was cagey when it came to the question of whether they are just on loan to him until the United Rugby Championship gets back into full swing.

“It’s a new dynamic, running with two teams and it’s a nice challenge to get the balance right. It’s important for some guys to get some game-time and it’s nice to have them with us at the moment.

“They bring great experience and the youngsters around them are getting experience, in terms of intellectual property and leadership, from the senior players.

“It’s about managing the squad, giving everyone some game-time. The beauty of us being one squad is that all the players feel they are part of it, in with a shout.

“Obviously our big names in the team are going to motivate Western Province quite heavily. The challenge for us is to keep our concentration and processes going for 80 minutes,” Smal said.

Bulls team:James Verity-Amm, Canan Moodie, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Sibongile Novuka, Morne Steyn, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Muller Uys, Cyle Brink, Marcell Coetzee, Janko Swanepoel, Sintu Manjezi, Robert Hunt, Bismarck du Plessis, Simphiwe Matanzima. Replacements– Schalk Erasmus, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Sebastian Lombard, Reinardt Ludwig, WJ Steenkamp, Keagan Johannes, FC du Plessis, Stedman Gans.

The Springbok team culture is so good at the moment that no-one would ever question the hunger or desire of the team but, as they now head straight into a gruelling Rugby Championship starting with Saturday’s Test against Argentina at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, the management will be asking in private whether certain players will be needing a break over the next couple of matches.

Three ferocious clashes with the British and Irish Lions would have not only taken a massive physical toll on the players, but mentally as well, the players have been through an emotional rollercoaster. The outpouring of emotion after the gripping series-clincher last weekend in Cape Town was a graphic description of how much it meant to the squad to win.

It would be entirely understandable for that incredible high to be followed by something of a downer, perhaps just a flatter week in terms of intensity. But Argentina are no longer the sort of side one can afford to slacken off against and the Pumas will be fancying their chances of upsetting the world champions on their home turf, just as they did in Durban in 2015.

But Springboks forwards coach Deon Davids said on Monday that dealing with any potential mental or physical fatigue has been part of their plan from the beginning of the season.

“Obviously we celebrated our achievement on Saturday night, but because of the professionalism of the squad and the preparation we have done before, the focus was quickly shifted on to the next task. It was important as coaches that we brought that reality as soon as possible, and we have done that. We had earlier given the players an idea of our planning going into this week.

“So we trained full-out today, it will be a normal Test week. The players understand the importance of the Rugby Championship, we are the defending champions and we obviously want to be successful. We have a bigger squad because we’ve just come from a very tough series and there are a couple of niggles and injuries. We want to assess our depth in the Test matches going forward,” Davids said.

The interesting conundrum is how many of the players who started all three Tests against the Lions will the Springboks dare to rest against an Argentina team that beat the All Blacks once and drew twice with Australia last year, playing all their matches away from home.

There are some players waiting in the wings who can obviously step in and do the job though against the Pumas.

Willie le Roux, as solid as ever at the back, could take a break to give Aphelele Fassi another chance to shine, while Jesse Kriel could get a start and break up the brilliant midfield combination of Lukhanyo Am and Damian de Allende. Elton Jantjies might get a well-deserved run at flyhalf.

It is the forwards, as ever, who have shouldered the greatest burden and players like Franco Mostert, Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth made immense contributions. No-one could begrudge them a break and it will be exciting to see Duane Vermeulen make his return. Kwagga Smith and Marco van Staden have largely played off the bench and Lood de Jager is probably still building to peak match fitness.

Ox Nche is set to make his return from injury after his impressive first Test against the Lions, and between himself and the superb Trevor Nyakane, who one fancies still has a bit left in his tank, they can cover loosehed prop more than adequately, allowing Steven Kitshoff a break. Frans Malherbe, who battled hard through all three Tests, could perhaps do with a week off as well.

At hooker, Malcolm Marx said on Monday that he is eager to keep going.

“There are a few sore bodies and mentally it has been a bit draining, but we did not play together for over a year and I know I am still hungry to keep going, regardless of the body being sore or how mentally tired I am,” Marx said.

First-choice Proteas spinner Keshav Maharaj is suffering from a rib cartilage injury and is in doubt for the second Test against Pakistan starting on Thursday in Rawalpindi, and with wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi’s fitness also in question after he withdrew from the first Test due to a back strain, South Africa could go from wanting to field three spinners to just playing one.

George Linde is definitely fit, but although he bowled tidily, he went wicketless in Karachi and is very much the back-up to Maharaj, who took four for 102 in 34.1 overs in the first Test. But it would seem coach Mark Boucher would ideally like to play both orthodox left-armers, as well as another all-rounder in accurate seamer Wiaan Mulder.

“Keshav’s rib area is playing up, he has pain in that area and scans showed something is there – either a slight tear or a bruise of some sort. But he bowled quite a few overs today [Wednesday], 15 or so, and he said it was bearable. But we’ll wait and see how he is tomorrow, only he knows if he can deal with the pain and I’ll have to trust his call on that.

“It was a very big blow not to have Shamo in the first Test and I would have loved to have seen how he bowled on that pitch, seeing how their leg-spinner [Yasir Shah] went and wrist-spinners always turn the ball more. But there were other reasons we lost and he has not bowled a lot of overs lately because of that back injury. He might be effective here, but if he has to bowl a lot he will be sore and then he could wake up the next day and not feel he can push through and then we’re a bowler short. So that’s a big red light for me.

“Wiaan is certainly in our plans and if the cracks in the pitch become more like puzzle pieces then the bounce will be up-and-down and someone who can hit good areas for long periods of time will be a threat. He will also add a different look to our batting, having that extra all-rounder,” Boucher said on Wednesday.

Boucher admitted to an air of bewilderment over what conditions to expect at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

“The history of this ground shows that it is more seamer-friendly and there was quite a bit of grass on the pitch three days ago. But that had all been taken off yesterday [Tuesday] and the surface looks very dry. The locals aren’t sure either how it is going to play, but there has been a lot of talk about drying out the pitch because of the way we played in Karachi and making it spin-friendly.

“But there are also a lot of plates on the pitch, there’s going to be early-morning dew and we won’t get full days’ play because it gets dark early here. And if the Pakistanis themselves aren’t sure how it is going to play, we can’t be certain either so we will try and cover both angles. And we’ll need a lot more mental application in how we play in these conditions,” Boucher said.

Opening batsman Dean Elgar, who was pinged on the hand by fiery left-arm quick Shaheen Shah Afridi in the first Test, has been pronounced “fit and ready to play”.

Probable Proteas XI: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Wiaan Mulder, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje.

A quick question, if you will.
When did the position of Springbok captain become downgraded to one in which the office-bearer is not allowed to speak on matters of major national interest, especially in terms of rugby?
The furore that has greeted Siya Kolisi’s comments on transformation and quotas has been rife with suggestions that it is not his place to talk about such matters.
Which is absolute nonsense.
I would far rather listen to Kolisi’s views on the subject because he is most affected by it; as a player he is at the coalface of the whole transformation debate. I would far rather listen to Kolisi, surely the embodiment of what transformation hopes to achieve, than either a politician, who lies most of the time and is unwilling to actually do the hard work required to change our society, or an administrator, who in this country is generally self-serving and sadly divorced from the realities of professional sport.
It’s typical of our easily distracted political discourse that everyone has focused on Kolisi’s comments about Nelson Mandela not supporting quotas. It’s not a viewpoint I agree with, my recollection of the 1990s being that Mandela certainly supported efforts to ensure all-White teams did not represent South Africa anymore.
But it’s not the most important thing Kolisi was saying. With respect to the late great Madiba, who did more for sports unity in this country than anyone, his views on quotas are really not relevant anymore. Our society, by and large, has changed so much.
And yet the demographics of our national teams (excluding football) still don’t really reflect this. And it’s because of the other, way more important, issues that Kolisi raised.
It’s hard to believe sometimes when you see the super-athlete that Kolisi has become, and how inspiring and authoritative a figure he is when speaking, that he grew up in poverty. Taking the big hits on a rugby field is probably nothing compared to the feelings of hunger and hopelessness he must have felt before rugby so dramatically changed his life.
Kolisi mentions in his interview with Kyodo News that if he hadn’t have been given a bursary to Grey High in Port Elizabeth he would never have been a professional rugby player, never mind Springbok captain.
South African sport – and especially our rapaciously opportunistic politicians and administrators – owes our Model C schools a tremendous debt of gratitude because they have mostly been driving transformation ever since the 1990s.
Which brings us to the crux of Kolisi’s comments. He is one of the fortunate few to be given the opportunity to fulfil his God-given talent and he made the most of it through tremendous hard work and strength of character. But what of the millions of other township kids who are lost?
One cannot expect them to compete on a level playing field when they are struggling for regular meals, they have no facilities and even getting to practices and games is a major issue.
This is where transformation should be focused and not on the numbers that are so beloved by two-faced, box-ticking politicians and administrators.
It is a sad fact though that many White South Africans have a tough time rating Black players fairly, and Kolisi will no doubt be aware that there are some who believe he is not worthy of his place in the Springbok team.
To blindly stick to a quota system and to not concentrate efforts on ensuring there is a level playing field – equal opportunity – all through the pipeline, is only going to feed into that sort of bigotry.
Our Black sportspeople don’t need quotas to make it; they just need fair opportunity and a level playing field. But that’s going to take hard work from our grandstanding politicians and administrators.