Ken Borland

Eben Etzebeth is up from the Cape and excited to be making his Sharks debut against Glasgow Warriors at Kings Park on Saturday, with coach Sean Everitt expecting some superhero stuff from the Springbok legend as the home side look to lay down the law up front from the start against their Scottish opposition.

Etzebeth is joining his fellow former Stormers legends Siya Kolisi and Bongi Mbonambi, both of whom will come off the bench and give Glasgow no respite from the physical onslaught.

“Eben is the best lock in the world and we are starting with him because we want to improve our lineout and our ball-carrying ability,” Everitt said on Friday. “A good start is going to be crucial for us.

“He is very excited to be part of the Sharks, he’s settled in well and made Durban his home. He’s in a good place and looks at home. Eben will bring a wealth of experience and leadership, and the younger guys can really learn from him.

“Glasgow have an extremely good lineout, they have some tall timber, and we learnt that the hard way last season. They like to speed the game up and they blew the Bulls away with that pace last weekend.

“They’ll be aggressive at the breakdown too and they like to love the ball around, but a 4G pitch is a lot quicker than grass and I’m sure playing at Kings Park will be a challenge for them,” Everitt said.

With the Sharks now back in town after they began their United Rugby Championship campaign on tour, Etzebeth is one of six current Springboks that will unleashed in Durban on Saturday.

Jaden Hendrikse is back to drive things from scrumhalf, and prop Ox Nche and wing Makazole Mapimpi are also on the bench, so the Sharks will be targeting high-intensity play for 80 minutes, if not high-speed.

“It makes for a very strong match-day 23,” Everitt said. “We are blessed with our front row resources and we have Ox, Bongi and Carlu Sadie to call on off the bench, which will certainly help our cause.

“It’s also better to get Vincent Tshituka back into the mix at flank sooner rather than later after injury. He was the top flank in the URC last season and having him and Eben will certainly improve our lineout options.”

Sharks – Aphelele Fassi, Werner Kok, Marnus Potgieter, Ben Tapuai, Anthony Volmink, Boeta Chamberlain, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi, Vincent Tshituka, Dylan Richardson, Hyron Andrews, Eben Etzebeth, Thomas du Toit (c), Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Bench: Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche, Carlu Sadie, Reniel Hugo, Siya Kolisi, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Cameron Wright, Makazole Mapimpi.

Judging by some safety studies coming out of the UK, playing rugby is seemingly as dangerous as being a passenger in a minibus taxi that is behind schedule after the driver popped into the local shebeen.

There is no denying the alarming figures these studies are revealing in terms of brain injuries since the game went professional, and WorldRugby has been forced into making changes to the law in order to avoid the sort of lawsuits that have cost American Football hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements.

The most obvious of these changes has been the zero-tolerance approach to contact to the head. Unfortunately, in a contact game such as rugby and the highly-fluid tackle zone that features hundreds of kilograms of bone and flesh crashing into, or trying to avoid, each other, accidents are inevitable.

As former Springbok captain John Smit said this week: “You’re never going to make a contact sport 100% safe, there will always be an element of rIsk. And I have never met anyone who was forced to play rugby. I picked up the ball and ran into three guys out of my free will and I understood the risks.

“My shoulder is a mess now, I can’t turn my neck because of the spinal fusion I’ve had, but I’ve had more injuries from cycling! If I was given the choice now, I would still pick up the rugby ball like I did 30 years ago,” Smit said.

An unwanted side-effect of the law changes is that it has made it very taxing to watch rugby these days.

The constant TMO interventions, looking for the slightest head contact, coupled with the rank amateur standard of officiating we see far too often lately, leaves spectators and viewers angry, frustrated and often just plain bored.

I’m not arguing that TMOs should be done away with, they still have a vital role to play in ensuring crucial decisions are made correctly and in stamping out foul play, but their emphasis needs to shift.

So much time was wasted last weekend replaying a totally accidental head-to-head contact involving Bulls flyhalf Johan Goosen, which could easily have been a red card, ruining the game, given how some officials interpret these things.

But when there is obvious dangerous play, sometimes officialdom seems too lenient in dealing with it. Bundee Aki’s cleanout of Seabelo Senatla was clearly dangerous, putting the Stormers wing out of action for months. The Connacht centre has been given an eight-game ban, which seems about right. But it was only that much because of his previous record and the fact he angrily remonstrated with the referee after he was red-carded. The injury to the referee’s pride was obviously much more serious than Senatla’s in the view of the disciplinary tribunal.

And then there’s Darcy Swain, the Wallabies lock, who was only banned for six weeks for the assault on All Blacks centre Quinn Tupaea at a ruck, which must rank as one of the filthiest acts I’ve ever seen on a rugby field. Swain deliberately targeted the trapped leg of Tupaea, twisting it and destroying the New Zealander’s knee ligaments.

Tupaea will be out of action for nine months and is likely to miss the World Cup next year.

It is frustrating enough that there are so many stoppages in a game of rugby these days, with what is meant to be a 40-minute half almost always actually taking closer to an hour to finish, but then the officials so often get the decisions wrong anyway. Now there are also official water breaks scattered through the contest.

Fans are definitely losing interest.

The match between the Bulls and Connacht last weekend at Loftus Versfeld became exciting, on the scoreboard at least, in the second half. But in the main grandstand below the media centre, spectators passed their time cheering and encouraging a trio of spectators who were building a beer snake out of empty cups, making it tall enough to reach the tier above them.

Apparently it was a similar story the weekend before in the Springboks’ crucial Test against Argentina at Kings Park – spectators spent much of the time building paper planes and throwing them around.

Yes, WorldRugby needs to pass laws that make the game safer, but they also need to ensure their product is watchable.

Lifelong Bulls fans will have seen some brilliant backlines in their lives, but not many will be more exciting than the unit coach Jake White announced on Thursday for their United Rugby Championship match against Connacht at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.

Five Springboks, four of them who are part of the national team’s current plans, have been named. New sensations Kurt-Lee Arendse (fullback) and Canan Moodie (right wing) will have a slightly more experienced international in Sbu Nkosi for company in a class back three.

Johan Goosen, who was eased back into action last weekend at fullback, returns as the starting flyhalf for the first time since injuring his knee 11 months ago, and there will be great interest in how he performs given how other experienced No.10s in the country seem to be falling by the wayside.

And then to round it all off, there is the veteran, evergreen Cornal Hendricks at outside centre. And two other backline Springboks on the bench in scrumhalf Embrose Papier and utility back Lionel Mapoe.

Even White called it “an incredible backline we’ve been able to put together”.

“But it’s their first time together as a combination and I look forward to seeing how quick it is before they click. They are all very talented.

“They all like to keep ball in hand, and in training we see so many line-breaks and so many supporting lines. So hopefully we can keep ball-in-hand on Friday evening.

“But rugby is also about clever kicking and they are all very clever rugby players. A guy like Canan can play 100 Tests for South Africa and people are now seeing what I see in him.

“And then you have a guy like David Kriel at inside centre who sums up what we’re about at the Bulls – you need to be adaptable. He brings incredible work ethic and unbelievable skills and rugby intelligence,” White said.

Although there has been a gorge between Connacht’s score and that of their opponents in their first two URC matches – Ulster beating them 36-10 and the Stormers 38-15 – White says they are a team that stays in the game.

“Connacht never go away and in both matches, with 20 minutes left the result could have gone either team’s way. So we must not think that it’s going to just happen for us.

“They beat us 34-7 last season, which was the biggest score against us. So we know we must play well otherwise we’ll get another hiding.

“They are very direct and well-coached, a typical Irish team that fights till the end. They’re good with the ball and defensively. They were not easy games for either the Stormers or Ulster.

“Connacht play a style of rugby that is very difficult to contain. Against the Stormers they were still in the game until they lost Bundee Aki to a red card, they were just one score away,” White said.

Bulls team: Kurt-Lee Arendse; Canan Moodie; Cornal Hendricks; David Kriel; Sbu Nkosi; Johan Goosen; Zak Burger; Elrigh Louw; Marco van Staden; Marcel Coetzee; Ruan Nortje; Walt Steenkamp; Francois Klopper; Johan Grobbelaar; Gerhard Steenekamp. Substitutes – Jan-Hendrik Wessels; Simphiwe Matanzima; Mornay Smith; Janko Swanepoel; Reinhardt Ludwig; Embrose Papier; Chris Smith; Lionel Mapoe.

Kickoff: 6.30pm.

The SA20 Auction resulted in a fabulous outcome for young batsmen Tristan Stubbs and Donovan Ferreira, while some other very good cricketers missed out on being bought, most notably Proteas regulars Temba Bavuma and Andile Phehlukwayo.

Stubbs is just 22 years old but has already made his mark at international level as a devastating finisher who is also a great fielder and can bowl some spin. He attracted the highest price of the auction – a life-changing R9.2 million paid by Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

MI Cape Town just kept their paddle in the air from the moment Stubbs went on auction, from his base price of R175 000 into the millions. They eventually bowed out at R4.6 million as the Sunrisers made a concerted effort to keep Stubbs at St George’s Park. Joburg Super Giants pushed the price past a new high of R7 million and then MI Cape Town came back, before the Eastern Cape franchise held on to keep their star player.

MI Cape Town coach Simon Katich said Stubbs had become like a son to him during the recent Hundred competition in England and he was disappointed not to get him again.

“I’ve just worked with Tristan in The Hundred and he feels like my third son, that’s how much we enjoyed working with each other. He’s a Mumbai Indians player in the IPL as well. He’s a special talent, which is why we went so hard for him,” Katich said.

The 24-year-old Ferreira, who did not have a full-time contract last season and had to get leave to play for the Northerns Titans in the T20 competition, scored a massive R5.5 million from Joburg Super Kings.

A very good ball-striker, and part-time bowler, he is considered a promising white-ball talent, but the bidding frenzy he sparked was scarcely believable.

As was the complete lack of interest in Bavuma, who will captain South Africa at the T20 World Cup next month, and Phehlukwayo, who couldn’t even get interest from Durban, where he is a very effective bowler. Franchises perhaps baulked at their R850 000 reserve prices.

The dangerous Rilee Rossouw was second to Stubbs in terms of price tag and will be going to Pretoria Capitals for R6.9 million.

Two left-arm bowlers who are also threats with the bat were next in terms of popularity, with Marco Jansen going to Sunrisers Eastern Cape for R6.1 million and Wayne Parnell being bought by Pretoria Capitals for R5.6 million.

Sisanda Magala once again upstaged some of his more illustrious colleagues as he earned R5.4 million in another coup for Sunrisers Eastern Cape.