Ken Borland

It was a very exciting weekend of rugby – although obviously the SuperRugby results weren’t very good for South Africa – and the importance of competing hard at the breakdowns was shown in two of the biggest games of the weekend.

One of the positives for South African rugby to take out of the weekend was France beating England in such passionate, collision-dominant fashion. They really blitzed England at the breakdowns and the tackle and have certainly given the Springboks a blueprint for success in their June series against England. The things which worked for France are certainly tactics we can do as well.

Defensively, France really competed at the breakdown and were able to disrupt England’s really flat attack. The decision needs to be made by the Springboks to replicate this, although it also depends on what loose forward combination they choose. But the Springboks tend to prefer having 14 players on their feet, all defending in a row. I can remember Chean Roux and Rassie Erasmus preaching to us that for the first 15 minutes the Springboks mustn’t compete at all at the breakdown! Fortunately we ignored that.

Obviously England have breakdown problems away from home and they were only able to get go-forward when their finishers came on, guys like James Haskell and Kyle Sinckler. When they came on it solved their problem in terms of power in the collisions and I’m sure Eddie Jones would have learnt some lessons about having more power up front. Especially with two of the Tests against South Africa being played at altitude, the power factor really comes into play in what should be high-scoring games.

The Lions versus Blues game was also a very exciting encounter. The Blues gave it their all, they played with an utter sense of purpose and passion, and they played with that intensity for the full 80 minutes. Normally against the Lions at altitude, the wheels come off at the back end of the match – think back to the game against the Hurricanes in the semi-final last year and even against the Crusaders in the final when the Lions only had 14 men. The Lions certainly finished the stronger team in both those games.

But the Blues were the stronger finishers last weekend and I’m not convinced the balance of the Lions back row is correct. Playing lock is very different to blindside flank and the Lions have been at their best when Kwagga Smith, Warren Whiteley and Jaco Kriel have been their loose trio, along with Malcolm Marx at hooker. That group is good on the floor, at the breakdown and in the tackle, which enables them to slow down the opposition’s ball and win turnovers.

And because the Lions generally play to a 1-3-3-1 system, it means they usually have two back-rowers on the edge of the field, which provides them with strike power, certainly Smith and Kriel have given them real impetus in the past.

It’s not quite the same when you look at Franco Mostert playing that role, and then you look at the ease with which the Blues scrumhalf was able to get around him at scrum time. The Lions need to look at whether he should be persevered with at number seven; the problem is they are well-stocked at lock and maybe they feel their other back-row players aren’t up to the level needed.

With the loss of Whiteley for the next four games we will see whether the experiment will continue or whether the Lions will go down another road.

To be fair to the Blues, they were very disciplined and they gave a blueprint as to how to beat the Lions. They denied them entry into their own 22, from where they strike with their strong lineout and drive, and they obviously didn’t give them many penalties.

The Blues were also able to keep the ball, through many phases, and the Lions were just not able to get over the ball and get steals. The Lions defence was good, but there were few turnovers, so they were on the back foot for long periods of the game.

Aphiwe Dyantyi made two key interventions in the match – his interception try was absolutely superb and then his charge down of a restart, if he had just been able to gather the ball then the game would have been won … those are the small margins in SuperRugby.

But the major thing is that the Lions spent too long defending and the Blues got the confidence to come back. And what a good effort it was to come back from 21-3 down. At altitude things change quickly, but normally for the home team.

The Blues generally kicked off shape – in other words they would keep the ball in order to bring the Lions wings up and isolate Andries Coetzee at the back, meaning they were able to find space in the corners quite easily, and a good chase then meant the Lions were under pressure.

Most importantly, your scrum has to stand up to the opposition front five, and the Blues did that all game.

You have to credit the Blues for never running out of steam, and credit to the Lions for their part in a fantastic game of rugby. It shows the high standards of Swys de Bruin that he was very upset and complaining about his team at halftime, even though they were 21-10 up. Swys favours all-out attack, he has a simple philosophy of beating your man, he wants his players to take on their opposite number.

It’s been a big month for the Lions with two local derbies, but there will always be a slight let-up in intensity somewhere in the competition and there are times when you have to win when you are not at your best.

It was also interesting to note Marx being kept on the field for the whole time, so he’s now played four straight 80 minutes, even though Robbie Coetzee is not a bad replacement. The Lions are going to have to look at Marx’s workload.

I was with the Sharks at the weekend and I was able to visit my old Springbok friend Ricardo Loubscher, who is now coaching their SuperSport Rugby Challenge side. It was nice to exchange ideas with him and meet up with a lot of old friends at Kings Park.

I was also able to meet and chat with Alan Zondagh, the former Western Province coach, who has a great passion for attack. He raised a very interesting point that all teams play a similar style of attack these days – the 1-3-3-1, you see the same style from all the teams.

It will be an interesting weekend of SuperRugby again and I think the Lions will bounce back, they’ll be expecting five points as they have the good fortune to play the Sunwolves, and remain in a good position before they go on tour. I don’t think their slip-up against the Blues will be too costly because the Aucklanders are not really seen as contenders, and a bonus point win this weekend will see them still in a good position.

The Sharks now have a difficult run of four games away on tour and it was interesting to see coach Robert du Preez being so positive as to target four wins. That would be a first for a touring side!

The Bulls are in Hamilton, John Mitchell’s old stamping ground, to face the Chiefs and it will be interesting to see how they go. The Chiefs have been competitive this season, they beat the Blues before their good win this last weekend. It’s been an interesting change to have Damian McKenzie at flyhalf and I didn’t expect them to be as good as they have been. But in New Zealand they just seem to be able to rustle up fresh 100kg centres and wings that are flippen quick.

The Stormers have a home game against the Blues and it is non-negotiable to win at home if you are going to try and get a home semi-final. Anything away from home is a bonus. Just look at the Hurricanes, who were not very convincing against the Bulls but then smashed the Crusaders quite convincingly in Wellington last weekend.

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

The Lions have been really dominant in South African rugby for a long time and they have built that dominance on old-fashioned values.

The great thing about the Lions is that they can play in a number of ways, they can take you on up front or they can go around or through you. It’s all led to them being unbeaten against South African opposition for three years, which is an unbelievable record.

At one time the Bulls were as dominant but now they’ve taken three 50-point defeats in a row from the Lions and two of them have been at Loftus Versfeld!

It was Franco Mostert’s first game at flank and he really came through well, but the match was decided by the maul and the Bulls’ indiscipline, which led to penalties and allowed the Lions into their 22 to set the lineout drive. There were a lot of turnovers and penalties, but it’s the latter that allowed the Lions to gain the ascendancy.

The Bulls are employing a new system to stop the maul, with the hooker almost acting as a second wave behind the initial effort to stop. The only problem with that is that it means there is a lot of weight down the one side of the maul and the Lions were able to shift their drive and score easily. In fact two of their rolling maul tries were from shift drives. If the Bulls don’t stop the initial momentum then they will be in trouble.

The Lions competed in the lineout five metres from their line, while the Stormers utilised sacking, so there are many different ways of defending the maul and you just have to perfect the system you use. But the Bulls really need to look at that.

It is in their favour that they are now playing New Zealand sides, although the Crusaders can come hard at you at maul-time. The one positive is that the Bulls’ lineout is functioning well, a 94% success rate means they are winning their own ball.

Lions wing Aphiwe Dyantyi looked really dangerous and the Lions back three were subjected to an aerial barrage, for which the Bulls only received the odd return. So the Lions wings stood up well and that puts another tick in the box towards a Springbok place.

Ironically, all three of the Lions’ locks (Ferreira, Orie, Mostert) – were Blue Bulls players as youngsters and played most of their rugby there until they were 23/24, so the Bulls were given a taste of their own medicine when it came to the driving maul!

Speaking of Marvin Orie, the way he chased down that Elton Jantjies grubber was really excellent, he beat some of the Bulls backs to the ball through sheer commitment. It was also a pinpoint chip and I thought Jantjies was really good. He played flat when he needed to, he played guys off his shoulder, dictated with the boot and his defence was also up to scratch.

The Sharks will be disappointed with their performance against the Waratahs. They just couldn’t convert their mauls or scrum opportunities in the 22 and they need to show far more patience with ball in hand and build pressure.

For the Waratahs’ final try that drew the game, the chase was very poor and the Sharks gave them far too much space down the side. In situations like that, there are basically only two attackers, the fullback and wing, so you only need three chasers and it’s vital that the opposite wing does not get sucked in.

There was also an opportunity for the Sharks at the end: with their scrum so dominant I felt they would scrum for a penalty, but unfortunately the reserve tighthead went up in the air.

I’m quite looking forward to the Sharks versus Sunwolves game this weekend because there will be four Kubota players in the visiting team, which is quite an achievement for our club.

Sunwolves flyhalf Harumuchi Tatekawa is a quality player who played centre against South Africa in that World Cup match. He can dictate a game, he’s a very strong defender and he has good hands, as well as being able to take it to the line.

At centre the Sunwolves will have Sione Teaupa, who I think is a real talent. There are quite a lot of Tongan recruits in Japan, they go there for university or the final years of school, and then a lot stay and make their life in Japan.

The other two Kubota players – Grant Hattingh and Lappies Labuschagne – are well-known to South Africans. I’m especially pleased to see Lappies back in SuperRugby and he’s leading the tackle and turnover counts again.

It will be interesting to see how the Sunwolves cope in Durban; it’s not going to be a crisp Tokyo afternoon but a balmy, humid day and the ball will be very slippery.

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

It is really exciting to have rugby starting again in the Southern Hemisphere this weekend and what I’m really looking forward to is having a traditional South African Saturday afternoon braai here while watching the rugby, something I won’t be getting in freezing Japan when I return there.

SuperRugby is a ‘new’ competition this year with 18 teams having been cut to 15, supposedly to ensure more closer contests and greater competitiveness. But I do have my reservations because SuperRugby must be the only competition in the world where over 50% of the competing teams make the playoffs, apart from the Currie Cup of course!

Despite eight teams making it through to the quarterfinals, there are clearly only a few places up for grabs, and you can pretty much see already the teams that aren’t going to make it – the Melbourne Rebels, Queensland Reds, Sunwolves, Jaguares and one New Zealand side.

I would say the Kiwi team to miss out will probably be the Chiefs because they are under new management and have lost some massive names – Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Liam Messam, Michael Leitch and most importantly coach Dave Rennie.

And then there will be two South African sides that miss out. I’m pessimistic about our chances because of our SuperRugby record in New Zealand over the last six years, which is nothing to brag about. We can beat New Zealand teams in South Africa, but it is a whole different kettle of fish doing it away from home – and those are the points you have to get in order to succeed in SuperRugby.

The other thing about the rule that eight out of 15 teams qualify for the knockout rounds is that it makes bonus points very necessary for teams to pick up, so it has been pleasing to see the stated attacking intent of our franchises. But because you only get a bonus point by finishing three clear tries ahead of your opponents, that means teams have to defend as well.

In terms of the South African teams, there have been many changes in coaching set-up.

The Bulls have a fresh coaching team and I know they have been working hard and it will be interesting to see how they go. Having been to training at Loftus Versfeld, they certainly look in good shape, for which you have to credit the conditioning staff and John Mitchell.

The Bulls do have certain strengths, especially at hooker and their lock pairings, and the spine of their team is quite strong – hooker, the locks, eighthman, scrumhalf, flyhalf and fullback all look good. I suppose we can be not entirely sure about scrumhalf because Ivan van Zyl and Embrose Papier have got just two SuperRugby appearances between them. How those two cope with the step up to SuperRugby will be crucial; they are both certainly talented and this is now their chance and their time. These days scrumhalf is a young man’s position because it’s all about energy and work-rate.

The Bulls have a very tough start to the competition and how they get through that will be key. They play three New Zealand teams and the Lions in their first five games and if they can come through that with a positive ledger then they will really be contenders.

The Stormers have obviously lost a lot of quality centres and the injuries around their locks is also a concern. It’s interesting to see the changing roles of their coaching staff  and how that works out.

The Stormers were certainly a real handful in Cape Town last year with their offloading game and the way they scored tries. They will now have even more danger on the wings with the players they’ve added, but the big question mark will be how they defend away from home.

They obviously have problems at flyhalf after losing their lynchpin from last year in Robert du Preez, who really made a difference in the Currie Cup final with his control and ability to dictate field position, as well as his immaculate goal-kicking.

Unfortunately the Stormers have a real draw from hell after being in relatively easy Super 18 pools, but if they get a good start then they obviously can be playoff contenders.

The Sharks have also made changes to their coaching set-up. Dick Muir has come back to Durban and they are obviously not going to die wondering in terms of attack.

They have also made some astute signings like Du Preez and Makazole Mapimpi, and with Japanese players like Philip van der Walt and Andre Esterhuizen coming back, they should certainly be a handful. It’s also going to be interesting to watch Thomas du Toit’s move to tighthead after the Sharks scrum was demolished by Western Province in the Currie Cup final.

The Sharks do have a quality, big forward pack and if they keep them all fit and start well (they have a couple of nice games at home early on), that should bear them in good stead.

The Lions have also undergone a change in coaching staff, making appointments from within the franchise and giving guys their first chance at SuperRugby level, although Swys de Bruin has been there through all their recent success. It will be interesting to see how he steps up to being head coach and how well the Lions ride the loss of the Ackermanns, father and son.

The Lions’ strength is in their centres, with Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster and Rohan Janse van Rensburg certainly a quality trio. How the Lions accommodate all three of them through the season will be interesting.

The key for the Lions is that the spine of their team are now all seasoned Test players – Andries Coetzee, Elton Jantjies, Ross Cronje, Warren Whiteley and Malcolm Marx – so their core is still very strong.

It’s vital that they make a good start and they have always had strong set-pieces, so it will also be interesting to see how that evolves under new forwards coach Phillip Lemmer because the Lions have always scored a lot of tries through driving mauls and lineout special plays. Will that strength still be there?

The Sunwolves will be in action next week and they will certainly be stronger this year, they have a whole host of foreign players and the rest are basically the Japan national squad working towards the next World Cup. They are also under the former Highlanders pairing of Jamie Joseph and Tony Brown, who are very experienced SuperRugby coaches.

Once again the Kiwi franchises are the ones to beat, but obviously the British Lions’ success in New Zealand in June gave a little blueprint to teams in terms of how to succeed over there. You need a strong pack of forwards, good set-pieces to put them under pressure, a rush-defence to deny their playmakers time on the ball and extremely accurate box-kicking from scrumhalf because that is the hardest kick to counter-attack from because of the chase.

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

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I must confess to a certain sense of relief today as our rugby season (the 15-man game anyway) comes to an end this weekend with the misfiring Springboks facing a daunting assignment in Cardiff. Sad to say, but I find myself more and more irritated by rugby these days.

The uninspiring fare dished up by the Springboks, made worse by the tantalising glimpse they gave of what they are capable of in the Newlands Test against the All Blacks, brings little joy and the two domestic sides I cover, the Bulls and Sharks, have had more heartache than cheer this year. Even the Lions’ loss in the Super Rugby final still hurts.

Nevertheless, just to get two last parting shots in before Christmas, rugby made me angry twice more this week.

It’s annoying that Springbok coach Allister Coetzee is not expediting the smooth introduction of the tremendously talented Warrick Gelant into international rugby. Instead of playing him in his natural position of fullback, where change is surely required because the solid Andries Coetzee has done little to suggest star-quality, coach Coetzee has plonked Gelant on the wing for his first start.

The selection of players out of position has become something of a Springbok curse in recent years, but the disappointing treatment of Gelant might also be due to the lack of options Coetzee has on the wing. As at fullback, we can all see change is necessary, but the only other specialist wing in the squad is Raymond Rhule, and would he really improve things?

A rugby sage once told me that Springbok coaches stand or fall by selection and, judging by the number of times Coetzee has replaced an injured player with someone who plays in a different position, the current national coach is obviously failing in this regard. Just on this tour, we’ve had an eighthman, Duane Vermeulen, replacing a prop, Coenie Oosthuizen, and lock Ruan Botha came in for flank Jean-Luc du Preez, which clearly shows he got the initial selections wrong.

But the failure of WorldRugby to honour their own processes and award the 2023 World Cup to South Africa was the low point of the year; at least South Africa’s 57-0 thrashing in Albany came with plenty of wonderful rugby from the All Blacks to admire.

The duplicity and lack of integrity shown by their council members makes the blood boil, and the reputation of rugby took a major hit in London a fortnight ago.

So it was with utter shock that I observed the sheer nerve of WorldRugby this week trying to clamp down on players writing messages on their strapping. The rationale was that WorldRugby had no control over what messaging was displayed and with the pettiness typical of the jobsworths who have more regard for their own positions and privilege than the good of the game, the decision was made to clamp down.

Perhaps WorldRugby should worry more about the game being brought into disrepute by their own administrators; the message sent by the 2023 World Cup decision was far worse than anything a player could fit on to his strapping.

Sport did bring me some happiness this week though. It was wonderful to see a cricketing legend of yesteryear, Mike Procter, team up with one of the country’s most talented young writers, Lungani Zama, to launch an updated autobiography.

Procter, of course, played in an era when someone like Zama, who is a good enough cricketer to have played for the KZN Inland side before they gained first-class status, was not allowed to fully express their talents.

Procter, one of the all-time greats of South African cricket and a former national coach and selector, understands these issues and it is wonderful to see him so actively involved in cricket development through his coaching work at the Ottawa Primary School outside Durban, introducing the game to nearly a thousand underprivileged children.

A cricketer capable of taking the new ball and bowling at 145km/h, with prodigious swing, and a good enough batsman to score 254 against Western Province in a Currie Cup game, Procter was obviously a rare talent and one that the current lovers of the game really need to know more about.

He is certainly one of the contenders for the title of greatest all-rounder the game has known and the story of his playing days is augmented with fascinating accounts of his stint as an ICC match referee, having to deal with the major controversies of Darrell Hair abandoning an England v Pakistan Test match, the Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds ‘Monkeygate’ saga, and the bomb blast that ended international cricket in Pakistan.

As Caught in the Middle details, Procter is one of the heroes of the game still adding value in the present day.