Ken Borland

Rain washed out the second day’s play of last year’s Boxing Day Test against India at Centurion and, while the tourists enjoyed a lunchtime feast including broccoli soup, Chicken Chettinad and lamb chops, Proteas captain Dean Elgar was giving his team some of his famous tough love after a poor first day.

Having allowed India to rattle up 273-3 on the first day on a pitch that assisted the pacemen, Elgar told his team to “toughen up mentally, take responsibility and wear your big-boy pants”.

South Africa did fight back, but that first day had ultimately done too much damage. Their determination did, however, make them the most tenacious of opponents in the rest of the series and they pulled off a thoroughly unexpected series triumph.

It’s the sort of inspirational captaincy Elgar has now become famous for and he believes England’s newly-appointed skipper Ben Stokes will lead in similar vein when they host the Proteas in a Test series in August.

“I wouldn’t call it ‘stubborn’ captaincy but I’d say we are both f****** tough cricketers,” Elgar told The Citizen on Wednesday.

“It’s going to be a battle of feisty characters and Stokes is a world-class cricketer, and we know what he’s capable of because he’s done pretty well against us, albeit just as player.

“But as captain you need to get the best out of your players and it’s going to be interesting to see how he goes with the added responsibility.

“We play with our hearts on our sleeves because we always want to push for the win, but Test cricket comes down to who controls their emotions best. If you let them get the better of you, then the results generally don’t go your way,” Elgar said.

Elgar and Stokes are both left-handed batsmen, but their contrasting styles are very much the yin and yang of Test cricket.

Stokes is immensely strong and provides much attacking thrust to England’s middle-order, while Elgar, as an opening batsman, does not play with the same freedom but the time he spends at the crease can be equally draining for the opposition.

Both Stokes and Elgar have played 12 Tests since the start of 2021, with England’s new captain scoring just 633 runs at an average of 26.37.

Elgar, on the other hand, has been leading from the front since his appointment, with 881 runs at an average of 41.95.

“I don’t dwell too much on individual battles, my focus is on us as a team,” Elgar said. “And I haven’t had a lot of personal interaction with Ben, even though we have played against each other numerous times since an SA A series against the England Lions in 2015.”

Although there is, as ever in Durban these days it seems, the chance of rain on Saturday evening, the Sharks anticipate that Leinster will be probing their defences with multiple phases of ball-in-hand attack in their United Rugby Championship match at Kings Park.

And with the humidity, even towards the end of April, predicted to be 78% on Saturday, hanging on to the ball for long periods of time has proven very difficult at Kings Park, opening up the possibility of handling errors, turnovers and counter-attacking opportunities.

Which is why Sharks coach Sean Everitt is delighted to have Aphelele Fassi back from injury at fullback.

“I don’t think Leinster will change the way they play, they have a very good academy system bringing players through and a particular style of play,” Everitt said on Friday.

“They enjoy playing ball-in-hand, using multiple phases, but they are really good at managing the game as well. The weather forecast is pretty grim, but you never know what it will be like at kickoff time.

“Any team will struggle if you defend well and then there are always turnover opportunities. Aphelele has been very good in training and we’re very happy to have him back.

“He’s a Springbok and his x-factor on counter-attack is most important to us, but he is also good under the high ball and his left-boot has improved a lot,” Everitt said.

The Sharks’ pack, criticised for its lack of maturity in the past, has been an impressive force recently, but how they cope against the table-topping Leinster forwards will show whether their presence is still at a neonatal stage or they are now ready to be counted amongst the big men.

“Our forwards are a massive part of our plan and they have put in some huge performances lately, so credit to them,” Everitt said. “They have stuck to their task and got dominance up front.

“They know they are going to have to be on top of their game and Leinster have chosen a front row to try and nullify us. We know it’s going to take eight-man efforts in the scrums and mauls.

“Defence also starts at the set-piece and if we get that right then the next job becomes a lot easier. But we are really confident at the moment.

“Being on the front foot also makes it easier to get the attack, which has also improved greatly over the last few weeks, going as well and Jaden Hendrikse and Curwin Bosch have been kicking really well,” Everitt added.

Sharks team: Aphelele Fassi, Werner Kok, Ben Tapuai, Marius Louw, Makazole Mapimpi, Curwin Bosch, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi, Henco Venter, Siya Kolisi, Gerbrandt Grobler, Le Roux Roets, Thomas du Toit (CAPT), Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche. Replacements – Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Khutha Mchunu, Reniel Hugo, Jeandre Labuschagne, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Grant Williams, Boeta Chamberlain.

PORT EDWARD, KwaZulu-Natal (7 October) – Rain continued to fall on the already waterlogged Wild Coast Sun Country Club course overnight and with no play possible on Thursday, the Sunshine Tour took the decision to cancel the SunBet Challenge instead of trying to ram the tournament into an ever-decreasing window of better weather.

The event was originally scheduled to run from Wednesday to Friday, but the first round was postponed to Thursday due to heavy rain on the Wild Coast causing the course to be waterlogged and the tournament extended to Saturday.

At least five holes were still unplayable on Thursday and, with more rain forecast, playing a shortened tournament would amount to an unfair contest for certain golfers.

“There’s been no improvement since yesterday, there is still standing water on the course, the bunkers are full of water despite us pumping it out and in some fairways there is nowhere to drop the ball. So it’s unplayable for the same reasons as Wednesday and it would not be golf if we were to play. The rain just has nowhere to go because the water table is so high,” tournament director Gary Todd said on Thursday morning.

PORT EDWARD, KwaZulu-Natal (October 6) – The country’s leading golfers arrived at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club on Wednesday morning for the first round of the SunBet Challenge to find heavy rain pouring down, eventually leading to the postponement of the opening 18 holes.

The good news is that the Sunshine Tour have been able to push the finish to Saturday, so the R1 million event will remain a 54-hole tournament.

Tournament Director Gary Todd was hopeful of all three rounds being able to be played.

“We had to postpone the first round because of a waterlogged golf course. The golf course has had over 100 millimetres of rain over the last three days, and the water table is just too high at the moment. The forecast is good for the rest of the week and there is a bit of a breeze, so we are targeting a Saturday finish,” Todd said.

The first three-balls will tee-off at 6.40am on Thursday.