Ken Borland

Having attended a private school in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, I’m as used to the accusations of my alma mater being stuck-up as I am to the reality that in national terms, we are pretty low down the pecking order in terms of schoolboy rugby.

Barring the odd golden periods, the private schools generally struggle to compete with the likes of your Grey College, Paul Roos, Paarl Gym, Affies and Paarl Boys’ High. But where their contribution is proportionally greater is in providing Black players for the pipeline.

And perhaps this is one of the key reasons a thriving schoolboy scene does not translate into greater success for our Junior Springboks side. There has been a lot of angst expressed in the last week over their performances on their tour of the United Kingdom – they were hammered by England and could only snatch a last-minute win over Wales.

The displays did not engender much confidence that South Africa can compete for the honours in the World Rugby U20 Championship that starts in Argentina early next month. It’s a tournament which the Junior Springboks have not won since 2012 and they have not appeared in the final since 2014.

It’s not as if they’re finishing at the bottom of the log either, though, with South Africa having finished third three times in the last four years and fourth once. But given the widely-held belief that we have the strongest schools rugby system in the world, there’s the lingering feeling that we should be doing better.

The problem is the advantages our schoolboy behemoths have in terms of strength, power and pace don’t last through into the senior ranks. Winning at all costs in the highly competitive schools scene means physical characteristics are relied upon and developed, to the detriment of skills. At senior professional level, everyone is pretty much on a par physically thanks to the scientific advances in conditioning, and South Africa loses its advantage.

This mentality also means South Africa’s great rugby schools have been ignoring their responsibility towards the pipeline of our rugby through their reluctance to embrace the need to develop more Black talent. It is time those top-10 schools become more transformed in their recruitment and in the teams they put out on to the field week in, week out.

Quotas or targets have been in place in our national teams for a long time now, and our top rugby schools really need to get with the program. That’s if they really have the national interest at heart and are truly preparing their pupils for the real South Africa outside their secluded cloisters.

Most of the Black players in the Junior Springboks system come from private schools, but I would love to see those great establishments mentioned above push more previously disadvantaged players through their outstanding rugby systems, which can only see better players being produced. I am pleased to hear that Grey College are planning big changes in this regard.

Quotas are obviously controversial and are not a perfect tool. Personally I don’t like them, but I liken them to elephant culling.

Elephants are my favourite animal and I cannot stand the thought of them being killed. But I also recognise the need for culling because if their populations in game reserves are left unchecked, elephants destroy their environment leading to the deaths of both themselves and many other creatures.

The fact that elephants are confined to game reserves is a man-made problem, therefore man has the responsibility to find a solution. Likewise, Apartheid was a man-made problem and quotas seem to be the best solution on the table right now to undo the damage.

Given how long we have waited for the Springboks to comprise just 50% players of colour, I shudder to think what would have happened if quotas were not in force.

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-citizen-gauteng/20190504/282467120320394

Kagiso Rabada said playing cricket in midwinter on the Highveld will remind him of the freezing water in ice baths during school camps in the off-season, but the new Solidarity Cup 3TCricket match to be played at SuperSport Park in Centurion on June 27 might be an even bigger shock to the system for cricket purists.

South Africa’s first taste of live sport and cricket’s return to action after the Covid-19 Lockdown will be a day of cricket lasting just 36 overs. But while this may seem to be a watered down version of cricket to go with such gimmicks as T10 and The Hundred, 3TCricket does at least bring some interesting innovations to the game.

Having three teams playing against each other at the same time, batting in six-over blocks, will change the flow of limited-overs cricket. And the Last Man Standing rule could provide for some thrilling conclusions to games. Paul Harris, the former top banker and Cricket South Africa independent director who is now chairman of wireless tech company Rain, who will present the Solidarity Cup, came up with the concept, and sharp cricketing minds such as former Hampshire captain and leading commentator Mark Nicholas, CSA director for cricket Graeme Smith and Proteas coach Mark Boucher have fine-tuned the idea. Former Springbok captain and Rugby World Cup winner Francois Pienaar, who has made such a success of the innovative VarsitySports stable, has come on board as CEO of 3TCricket.

“This is a new format and I’ve always believed that you can’t have too many formats of cricket. Just from my playing days we’ve had single and double-wicket competitions and limited-overs cricket has gone from 65 overs a side to 10 and everything in between. An eight-player, three-team format is perfect for kids and clubs who don’t have many resources, and the game has long searched for a format that will embrace all the players, no-one will be left at third man wanting to get involved.

“So we are throwing it out there, we think it is exciting and fresh, and hopefully as we come out of Lockdown it will inspire children to watch. Of course the stadium will be empty, but hopefully there will be full lounges watching on SuperSport TV. Last year’s World Cup in England showed that ODI cricket is not dead but we think this could breathe new life into the middle overs,” Nicholas, one of the founders of the 3TCricket company, said in a virtual launch on Wednesday.

The country’s leading limited-overs cricketers – barring the unavailable Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir – have all signed up for the game and superstars Rabada, Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers have been chosen to captain the three sides that will launch a brave new era on June 27. Government have come on board with the Solidarity Fund being the beneficiaries of the fundraising efforts on the day.

“We envisage this format helping our pipeline and we will introduce it to schools and clubs. As temporary custodians of the game we are tasked with taking the game to the people, which is difficult in a country with such inequality, but this is another vehicle to do that, which is wonderful. We think it will have a big impact, maybe even internationally.

“The world has been starved of cricket and the goal is to have it televised worldwide and we are in conversations with our broadcast partners about that. It’s great to be part of something innovative, launching a new product, and it’s a nice opportunity to share it. But it’s going to be tremendous just to be able to see live sport again,” Smith said.

Having a sponsor called Rain is always running a risk for cricket, but in midwinter they should be fine.

Peter Siddle would like nothing better than to chop through South Africa's top-order.

Fast bowler Peter Siddle was a competitive woodchopper at school in Gippsland, the large rural area east of Melbourne, a quintessentially Australian pursuit that one can safely say does not feature in the extramural activities of many South African schools.

His parents gave him his first axe when he was just two years old and, although he is no longer a woodchopper, Siddle brings many of the strengths he learnt from those days into Australia’s favourite summer sport.

He goes at batsmen with the same aggression, he is indefatigable and, despite being a lean machine who has converted to a vegan diet, has considerable strength and stamina.

And the 29-year-old has plenty of character too: His tussles with the South African batsmen in the summer of 2008/9 were epic viewing and the Wanderers crowd chanting “Siddle is … a wanker” remain fresh in the memory. Apart from his undoubted qualities as a bowler, there is something of the pantomime villain about Siddle, who is a most likeable fellow off the field.

“I think we’re similar to the South Africans in that we do play aggressively. Intimidation can work against anyone, we’re fortunate to have someone like Mitchell Johnson, and at those speeds, batting is hard work whatever the conditions,” Siddle says.

Siddle will be one of the star attractions of the thrilling late summer that lies ahead, but, having played 51 Tests now, he is a clever bowler these days. He has erred in the past by bowling too short too often, but Siddle now tends to keep the ball full and straight and uses a swift, well-directed bouncer as a nasty surprise.

Australia’s slide began after that 2008/9 home and away series against South Africa and a couple of coaches have paid the price for their indifferent form. A 5-0 whitewash of England suggests they may have turned the corner, but the opposition did throw in the towel in feeble fashion and South Africa at home should provide a real test of their new order under Darren Lehmann and Michael Clarke.

They certainly seem a more settled outfit.

“As a whole, the team is a lot more suited to our plans now. We’ve come a long way, with a couple of personnel changes, we’ve got back to a couple of older boys in the bowling attack. The Ashes showed how far we’ve come,” Siddle says.

“We need to stay a lot more patient, with both bat and ball. We’ve bowled very consistently as a group, Nathan Lyon has done so well at the other end and the three quicks have been able to bowl fast, short spells.”

Siddle chuckles at the suggestion that the English batsmen were soft and says the Australians know the South African batting line-up is a formidable one, but plans have been set in place.

“We know it’s going to be a tough series, we’re going to have to be consistent over four or five days, building pressure and not letting them get away with partnerships.

“It makes us a bit more happy that Jacques Kallis won’t be there because his record speaks for itself. He’s one of the greats and, although it’s disappointing not to play against him, it’s a nice feeling not having to bowl at him!

“But there are still plenty of others to take his place and we’re going to have to work hard, South Africa are number one for a reason. Like Faf du Plessis, who gave us a really tough day in Adelaide 18 months ago. That showed the character of the player, he enjoys the challenge. But we have a bit more understanding of him now and I’ve no doubt we have good plans to bowl to him,” Siddle says.

Siddle said talk that South African pitches were different to those they were used to Australia was wide of the mark.

“The Gabba, Melbourne to an extent and Hobart are all very similar to here with the ball moving around. But it’s still about bowling the right line and length and I think we’ve achieved that in the last six months,” he says.

The eater of 15 bananas a day is famous for the tight line he employs just outside off stump, with the occasional mean delivery banged in [he famously hit Gautam Gambhir on the head with his first ball in Test cricket], and seems to thrive on the hard, unglamorous work of Test bowling.

His batting has also improved markedly and last March he became the first number nine batsman in Test history to score a half-century in each innings of a Test, against India on a turning track in Delhi.

The Victorian who took a hat-trick against England on his 26^th birthday is the archetypal determined Aussie and the three-Test series is definitely the better for having him in it.