Ken Borland

A cat’s ability to right itself and land back on its feet whenever it takes a tumble is well-documented, but whether the Sharks can do the same when they visit the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday for their Currie Cup match remains to be seen.

The Sharks were humbled 20-10 by the Pumas at Kings Park last weekend and now have to play the unbeaten Cheetahs at their home ground, with the Free Staters no doubt sensing a prime opportunity to take control of first place on the log.

The KwaZulu-Natalians are trying to hold off the Griquas and Pumas in the semi-final race, but right now coach Etienne Fynn just wants to see a much-improved display from his side.

“There will definitely be a reaction to last week and hopefully a positive one,” Fynn said on Friday. “We are emotionally bruised, but I expect us to get back on track.

“It’s about sticking to the plan and individual role-execution is critical. It’s never going to work if the players don’t stick to the plan and this week has been a time of self-reflection and getting clarity.

“The buck stops with me as coach, but if the players don’t come back with the answers we’re looking for, then you have to react in terms of selection.

“Fortunately we’ve had positive reactions from the guilty parties from last weekend and we’ve trained well. We’ll have more cohesion because 80% of the team have been playing Currie Cup right through,” Fynn said.

As ever when playing the Cheetahs, Fynn said the key to the Sharks’ success lay in them not allowing veteran Springboks Francois Steyn and Ruan Pienaar to run the game for the Free Staters.

“The Cheetahs are a very settled group, they’ve kept the same combination through the tournament. We simply have to put them under pressure, bring the heat and force those key players to make decisions.

“We have to ensure we disrupt their quality ball and I don’t think it ever goes beyond dominating up front in South African rugby.

“The Cheetahs certainly know how to open the tap and close it, they manage the game well. They can play the throttle game – turn you and make you make mistakes.

“They are a settled combination at home, so it’s going to be a tough time in Bloemfontein,” Fynn admitted.

A hip-and-happening festival will be held in the stadium precincts and the Cheetahs, with such exciting players as Rosko Specman and Cohen Jasper in their backline, will be looking to play some festival rugby.

Teams

Free State Cheetahs – Cohen Jasper, Daniel Kasende, David Brits, Francois Steyn, Rosko Specman, Siya Masuku, Ruan Pienaar (C), Mihlali Mosi, Andisa Ntsila, Gideon van der Merwe, Victor Sekekete, Aidon Davis, Aranos Coetzee, Marnus van der Merwe, Schalk Ferreira. Bench: Cameron Dawson, Louis van der Westhuizen, Conraad van Vuuren, Ockie Barnard, Jeandrè Rudolph, Rewan Kruger, Reinhardt Fortuin, Chris Smit.

Sharks – Nevaldo Fleurs, Marnus Potgieter, Jeremy Ward (c), Murray Koster, Anthony Volmink, Boeta Chamberlain, Cameron Wright, Mpilo Gumede, Thembelani Bholi, Dylan Richardson, Hyron Andrews, Emile van Heerden, Lourens Adriaanse, Fez Mbatha, Khwezi Mona. Replacements: Dan Jooste, Dian Bleuler, Blaine Golden, Le Roux Roets, Nick Hatton, Mthokozisi Mkhabela, Tito Bonilla, Ethan Fisher.

A successful choir obviously needs everyone singing together in complementary fashion and the Proteas’ success over the last summer has certainly been a team effort, but coach Mark Boucher has spoken of the importance of having the two captains, Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma, singing from the same hymn sheet.

Since the unfortunate experiment with Quinton de Kock as captain, Elgar and Bavuma have taken over the red and white-ball sides respectively for the last 13 months and the split captaincy has worked well, although the consistency of the limited-overs side has perhaps left something to be desired.

“Dean and Temba came in as leaders in a tough time,” Boucher said. “They are completely different characters, but they have rubbed off on each other. They feed off each other and they speak to each other a lot.

“They have also both been in really good form with the bat and have been leading from the front.

“What’s been particularly good is that they are on the same page when it comes to where they want to take South African cricket,” Boucher said.

Elgar said the success of the Test team has helped to ease the burden of captaincy, which is never easy when there is so much going on off the field to deal with.

“Everything good comes with a challenge and I like challenges,” Elgar said. “That’s why I’m still playing Test cricket at nearly 35 years old and I feel my best cricket is still ahead of me.

“If I was younger, maybe I wouldn’t enjoy the captaincy as much. It has been extremely testing off the field, but I have an amazing core of players around me, they respect and understand me as a person.

“I think we’re in a very special place as a team and that leads to me being a lot happier with what I’m doing. Getting results and playing good, strong cricket, definitely eases the burden of captaincy,” Elgar said.

Elgar and Boucher are both hard-nosed leaders who would perhaps not be out of place training recruits in the marine corps. And they have both suggested the players who went to the IPL instead of playing in the Bangladesh series will not automatically get their Test places back.

“I don’t think it’s fair to just say they come back,” Elgar said. “The guys playing now have made a massive statement. We have a decent batting pool now.

“Someone like Ryan Rickelton has taken to Test cricket pretty well, he’s had a taste and now understands it. Even if the intensity was not quite what it will be playing England.

“But it’s out of my hands whether the IPL guys get selected again,” Elgar said.

“The IPL guys did vacate their spots and there is now good competition for those spots. It’s a nice position to be in,” Boucher said.

Proteas captain Dean Elgar said on Thursday that “If we want success then we need consistency in selection” as he indicated that much the same South Africa team will take the field at St George’s Park on Friday for the second Test against Bangladesh.

For the first time since 1970, South Africa played two frontline spinners in a home Test during last week’s thumping win over Bangladesh in the first Test in Durban, and Elgar said he expected conditions to be similar. So Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer look set to both play again and even struggling all-rounder Wiaan Mulder remains in contention for the starting XI.

“If we want success we need consistency in selection and it’s normally a similar sort of pitch here as it is at Kingsmead,” Elgar said. “So I don’t think there will be many changes.

“I like the adaptability of our attack and I would love to have used Wiaan more. But when we saw the conditions, we decided to keep the pressure on with our world-class spinners.

“It might be different here in PE, especially if the ball swings, and then we’re more likely to use Wiaan to showcase his skills. The wind is a massive factor and it hasn’t stopped blowing since we got here.

“If it comes over the scoreboard then the locals call it the ‘Swing Wind’. But the players need to adapt to whatever circumstances come their way and the seamers might have a lot more work in this Test,” Elgar said.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, have apparently lodged a formal complaint with the ICC over the Proteas’ alleged sledging during the first Test, which they say was ignored by the South African umpires.

Elgar, in typically hard-nosed fashion, said the tourists have to harden up to the realities of Test cricket.

“It’s not justified what they said towards the South African side. We do play hard, but we were just giving back what we got. And there was certainly no swearing, we do everything with dignity.

“They need to harden up and play at the Test level of intensity. It’s Test cricket and they must dry their eyes. There’s a lot that’s not seen, there are off-camera incidents as well.

“But we would not intentionally intimidate a young player with language, but with skill. When I started Test cricket, the environment was much harsher than it is now.

“We still want to win though, so if some mind-games can help you with that then why not use them? Maybe Bangladesh got caught up in the moment a bit … ” Elgar said.

Former Proteas captain Faf du Plessis continues to bat with the same class and explosiveness as he showed in his first match as skipper of the Bangalore Royal Challengers at the weekend, but his team suffered the same fate as they always seem to when they put a big total on the board – losing by five wickets with a full over to spare against the Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League.

Du Plessis changed gears superbly in his innings as his 88 off 57 balls took Bangalore to 205/2 in Mumbai. Opening the batting, the 37-year-old only scored 17 runs off his first 30 balls in seamer-friendly conditions, but two sixes and a four off West Indian paceman Odean Smith in the 13^th over took him to his half-century off 41 balls. He plundered 38 runs from his next 16 deliveries, adding 118 in 10 overs with Virat Kohli (41* off 29).

But then, in a recurring theme for Bangalore, their bowlers let them down.

As usual when Du Plessis is the star of the day, in what is still though a domestic league, his display led to plenty of questions over why the Proteas have not chosen him since he retired from Test cricket in February 2021.

The current situation is that Du Plessis is technically available for white-ball cricket, but it is difficult to rely on him at national level because his first priority is playing as a T20 free agent in the leagues around the world. Du Plessis wants a contract to play for South Africa, but CSA cannot afford to contract a player who is only available to them some of the time and in only one format.

Last year Du Plessis said he was taking a sabbatical from ODI cricket in order to concentrate on T20 cricket with World Cups being played in 2021 and this year. He has since made no mention of his ODI availability.

So it would seem Du Plessis has had his day in the Proteas shirt.