Ken Borland

Western Province have endured a most average season and, unless they beat the Sharks in Durban on Saturday, they will miss out on the Currie Cup semi-finals for only the second time since 2008. And Sharks coach Sean Everitt foresees a desperate visiting team that will play more rugby than usual.

The problem with that is that Durbanites are expecting to see squalls of rain sweeping in from the sea and the Sharks have made using their kicking game to force teams deep into their own territory something of an art form.

“Western Province are a proud franchise and they won’t be happy with where they are on the log. They will see the opportunity to get five points, I’m sure they will come to Kings Park and give it their all and play more rugby than usual. Our kicking game will certainly help us because the conditions Durban is expecting will bring a lot of rain and gale-force winds.

“So we are very happy to have Curwin Bosch back and we will have another look at him at fullback, where he played very well against Griquas when we played them at Kings Park. He’s certainly dying to play again and that big boot of his will definitely be very useful for us,” Everitt said this week.

The Sharks lost that match to Griquas because they failed to grab their scoring opportunities and the Northern Cape team have since moved to third on the log with their thumping of Western Province last weekend, giving them wins home and away against the team that has won the Currie Cup more than any other (34 times).

The match between Griquas and the Pumas in Kimberley on Saturday afternoon will be a feast of celebration for the winners as they will be assured of a semi-final place. The losers of this 2.30pm clash will have to wait until after dinner on Saturday night to see if Western Province can upstage the Sharks and sneak past them into the knockout round.

In between those games, the Bulls host the Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld. Having devoured the Pumas pack in the set-pieces, which was crucial as the Bulls were not dominant in any other area, Jake White’s young pack will be eager to stamp their mark again and get the win that seals first place on the final log.

“I do not think the Pumas have been dominated at set-piece before this season like they were by the Bulls, which was a great boost for us. We generally have quite a young pack, only Arno Botha is older than 25, and their performances have given us massive confidence. Credit to forwards coach Russell Winter, who has done a fantastic job getting that pack going.

“Mornay Smith at tighthead is one of the most improved players we’ve had and I’m very happy to have Jacques du Plessis covering lock and flank. Ruan Combrinck is not a bad replacement either, he’s a Springbok who has played in Super Rugby finals. Although he has not played for a while, I’ve seen enough in the small time he’s been with us to know he has rugby in him,” White said on Friday.

Tabraiz Shamsi is the sort of cheerful fellow who is usually lighting up a room and the champion spinner has been a particularly bright ray of sunshine since rejoining the Proteas squad for their flight to Sri Lanka, where they are now preparing for their ODI series that starts on Thursday.

Shamsi was not with the team when they held a training camp in Potchefstroom earlier this week, because he was playing in The Hundred in England. That was an enjoyable experience for him and he has also received the great news that he will be playing in the remainder of this year’s IPL, when it resumes next month in the United Arab Emirates, for the Rajasthan Royals. It is no less than the world’s No.1-ranked T20 bowler deserves and it is inexplicable that his only previous IPL contract was in 2016 with Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Apart from all those happy developments though, Shamsi says he is always just delighted to get back into the Proteas environment, whatever some people have said about its culture at present.

“The Hundred was good, it’s like a much faster version of T20 and I’ve picked up how to save time in T20 just by showing more urgency in the field. And I enjoy bowling a lot, I don’t like long breaks, so it was good to be playing. And now to be signed by the Royals is special, I’m very excited because I’ve never played in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. It will be nice to get some inside info on those pitches before the T20 World Cup.

“But the excitement of playing for South Africa again is something different, just the thought of it made me smile even in between all the turbulence on the flight that had me sweating and holding on to my chair!  These are my people, I have my boys, the guys I grew up playing with and against, and that’s what makes it special playing for the Proteas,” Shamsi said on Friday.

While Shamsi’s outstanding bowling in the West Indies and Ireland has stolen the limelight for himself, the 31-year-old is adamant that he has a very good Proteas attack around him.

“Our confidence levels are obviously high and I honestly believe we have one of the best bowling attacks in the world. The talent is there, we’re just a little inexperienced at international level. But the skill is there, have no doubt. The more we play together the better we will get.

“Personally, with the year I’ve had, it’s like living your dream. But I’m never completely happy with the way I’m bowling, even after the West Indies and Ireland tours. I’m constantly working behind the scenes and I’m also hoping to contribute something with the bat. I spent a month on the sidelines during the Test series in the West Indies and I spent it in the nets … so much so that I got a batting niggle!” Shamsi said.

For the first time since before winning the World Cup, the Springboks will take on Argentina at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.

Argentina are a well-settled, quality outfit that has only lost to New Zealand since the World Cup, having played the All Blacks, Australia and Wales twice each in that time. All but one of the 23-man squad coach Mario Ledesma announced on Thursday is based overseas.

Who are the players the Springboks have to be especially cautious about?

Pablo Matera

The loose forward is as tenacious and irritating as a mass of blackjacks on your socks, such is his presence all over the field, but particularly at the breakdown. The former Pumas captain is a perpetual nuisance, a massive disruptive force to anything the opposition are trying to achieve. Enormous passion oozes from atera at every turnover he makes, every powerful carry he terrorises the opposition with. He may have been lucky to escape more punishment when discriminatory and xenophobic tweets from 2012 were exposed late last year, but his calibre as a player was shown when the Crusaders signed him for next year.

Jeronimo de la Fuente

When Argentina first beat the Springboks in South Africa, winning 37-25 in Durban in 2015, De la Fuente was at inside centre and looked as comfortable against Damian de Allende and Jean de Villiers as if he was having a stroll along Umhlanga beach. Six years on and the similarities with De Allende are striking. The 30-year-old is exceptionally strong, has great skills and pace and plays with an intensity that lights a fire in those around him. Much like South Africa’s No.12 star, he does the simple things well and is a force on the gainline.

Nicolas Sanchez

The veteran flyhalf has set himself apart with his ability to bounce back from tough times. A player with vision and a genius with the boot, Sanchez turned what was meant to be a chastening Rugby Championship for the Pumas last year into a triumph. With Argentina racked by Covid and the team having played no rugby, Sanchez scored all 25 points as they beat the All Blacks in Sydney in their first match after the 2019 World Cup and then drew twice with Australia.

Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro

Another of the players who made the Springboks look silly at Kings Park in 2015, this time Chaparro will take them on as a loosehead prop, having playing tighthead on that historic day. A formidable scrummager and powerful defender, Chaparro has the experience of 65 Test caps behind him and has the sort of versatile skills demanded of modern-day tight forwards.

The British media have been gleefully pointing out how little rugby the Springboks have had against top-tier opposition since winning the World Cup in November 2019, but coach Jacques Nienaber has found haven in being able to select so many of the players who won that final for the first Test against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town on Saturday.

Nienaber announced a Springbok team on Tuesday in which only six of the 23 players were not on the field on that heady evening in Yokohama. Starting loosehead Ox Nche and replacement flank Rynhardt Elstadt are the only players who were not part of the triumphant World Cup squad.

“Without any Test rugby in 2020 and limited preparation games now, obviously selecting players who have been in the system is quite important. That experience, to have over 500 Test caps in the starting team and more than 700 in the squad of 23, is what we’re looking for. These are guys who have been here before, they understand the pressure they will be under.

“And there will be immense pressure, so it’s great to have players who have experienced it before. This is the real thing and we are going to need calm, steady heads. I think we are going to have new pictures thrown our way by the Lions and will be forced to make solutions on the field. One of the big challenges is that the Lions have a very versatile squad that can play in multiple styles,” Nienaber said on Tuesday.

Amongst the backs, there have been fitness question marks over Handre Pollard, Makazole Mapimpi and Damian de Allende, so Nieneaber has decided not to field the Bomb Squad 6-2 split on the bench. He understandably has confidence the forward replacements – Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx, Frans Malherbe, Lood de Jager and Elstadt – will be able to man up to whatever the Lions pack throws at them.

“Handre has not played a lot of rugby and he’s just come back from Covid, Makazole is the same. If we were fully confident about them then we could have gone with a 6-2 split. It’s probably just not the right time to only have two backs on the bench. We are comfortable with a 6-2 split, we will go with it again, but there just wasn’t the opportunity for this specific game.

“We’re not 100% sure everyone will last the whole 80 minutes because, due to Covid, some of them have not been exposed to much rugby for quite some time. The bench might only come on for 20 minutes, but it will happen the moment a player on the field is not producing his required role due to tiredness. We look to the subs when the performance starts to drop off,” Nienaber explained.

As selections go, it is a vote of confidence in the tried and tested, even if that means a gamble on recent returnees like captain Siya Kolisi, De Jager and Mapimpi. Given the opposition and the question marks over their preparation, it would be silly for the Springboks not to look at their World Cup winners.

Springbok team: Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handré Pollard (vice-captain), Faf de Klerk, Kwagga Smith, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Trevor Nyakane, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nché. Replacements – Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Lood de Jager, Rynhardt Elstadt, Herschel Jantjies, Elton Jantjies, Damian Willemse.