Ken Borland

In-form spin-bowling all-rounder George Linde could be welcomed into the Proteas T20 starting XI for the first time on Friday night as South Africa look to play a sixth bowler against a typically high-scoring England team in the first match of the series at Newlands.

South Africa’s last T20 outing was also in Cape Town back in February when they were thumped by 97 runs by Australia to lose the series 2-1. Australia managed to rack up a sizeable 193 for five batting first, and then skittled the Proteas for just 96, with spinners Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa sharing five of the wickets.

One of South Africa’s chief problems that day was that they only had five bowlers – spinner Tabraiz Shamsi was the pick of the attack, but three of the four seamers went for more than 10-runs-per-over. Linde, whose left-arm orthodox complements Shamsi’s wrist-spin, has been in great form this season with the bat, so he could comfortably slot in at number six in the order. On what is expected to be another slow Newlands pitch, a second spinner is probably going to be more useful than another paceman.

With Dwaine Pretorius ruled out of the matches against England due to a hamstring strain, Andile Phehlukwayo is likely to return to the side as the lead all-rounder.

Given the importance of making a good start to the season against the powerful English side and the eight months of inactivity for the Proteas team, coach Mark Boucher is likely to defy those calling for a new-look team and IPL stars like Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje and Faf du Plessis will surely feature because they have form and match-fitness on their side.

Lungi Ngidi was outstanding in the T20s South Africa played at the end of last summer and should play on that basis, while Temba Bavuma was also excellent as De Kock’s opening partner and should get the nod, having missed the previous Newlands game because of injury. He would replace Pite van Biljon, while David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen are probably fighting it out for one place in the middle-order.

Probable Proteas XI – Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller/Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi.

Springbok great Victor Matfield knows better than most that Jake White is a coach who demands a lot from his players, but South Africa’s most-capped player says the fruits of his approach can be seen in the Bulls’ triumph in lifting the Super Rugby Unlocked trophy at the weekend.

Matfield ended with a record 127 Test caps to his name, but it was during White’s tenure as coach from 2004 to 2007 that the Polokwane-born player became a kingpin for the Springboks and the best lineout forward in the world, culminating in him being the player of the final in the 2007 World Cup win.

“Jake White has never been happy with average and you can see that he is demanding a lot from the Bulls players, but it’s getting the best from them, the standards are lifting at Loftus. A lot of us former players thought that the Bulls needed change and then Jake came in and brought quite a bit of change. It’s a pity that there was no real Super Rugby this year because that’s the real test, but they did very well,” Matfield told The Citizen.

While brute physical strength once again seems hip in South African rugby and the Bulls’ pack was certainly the most physical in the competition, Matfield said the team’s success went well beyond simple forward-based rugby. When the ball did get to the backs, it pinged around in impressively incisive fashion.

“When the Bulls were physically up for it, like in the games against the Sharks and Stormers, then they were just ruthless. They had a very strong tight five and their loose forwards were great at the breakdown – in fact nobody in South Africa could compete with them at the breakdown. And then they had a No.9 [Ivan van Zyl] and No.10 [Morne Steyn] who controlled the game very well.

“I must admit before the season I was worried about their centre combination and I was very surprised by Cornal Hendricks at inside centre, he was outstanding, especially against the Stormers. David Kriel also did really well at fullback and the wings played well too,” Matfield said.

Louis Oosthuizen will once again hog the Major limelight amongst South African golfers as he tees off at the Masters on Thursday in one of the feature three-balls, but there are also five other local stars gunning for glory at Augusta.

It will be a Masters unlike any other because not only have spectators been banned due to the Covid-19 pandemic but it is also taking place in winter, far removed from it’s usual slot at the height of spring in April.

Oosthuizen, South Africa’s highest-ranked golfer at No.19 in the world and third in the U.S. Open in September, has been drawn with new sensation Bryson de Chambeau, who won the previous Major, and Spain’s Jon Rahm, who is also one of the favourites to win the famous green jacket.

The 38-year-old Oosthuizen is considered one of the top draws in world golf due to his stellar record in the Majors. He may have won just one – the 2010 Open Championship – but apart from finishing as the runner-up in all four, he has also claimed three other top-10 finishes.

Erik van Rooyen, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Dylan Frittelli are the other South African golfers within the top-100 in the world rankings who will be playing at Augusta, with Van Rooyen and Bezuidenhout making their Masters debuts.

Van Rooyen told his Twitter followers that he had goosebumps watching videos of Augusta and “cannot wait for the first tee shot”, while Bezuidenhout described it as “a dream come true”.

Justin Harding, on his debut at Augusta, was South Africa’s best finisher in last year’s tournament, his tie for 12^th earning him a place in the 2020 field.

Charl Schwartzel has dropped out of the world top 200 after struggling since his return from a wrist injury, but is in the field thanks to his 2011 Masters triumph.

Trevor Immelman, the 2008 Masters champion, also had an exemption to play, but the South African has decided to be in the television commentary box instead.

Victor Matfield, South Africa’s most-capped international ever with 127 appearances, has supported SA Rugby’s decision to withdraw the Springboks from the Rugby Championship, explaining why it would amount to gross negligence to throw the players into battle in Australia with so little game-time under their belts.

The maximum amount of game-time any locally-based Springbok has enjoyed for the last six months is 240 minutes, way off the 400-500 minutes the medical specialists have said is safe before playing Test rugby. And the lack of match fitness is exacerbated by the fact that the players are coming off a six-month hard Lockdown, which for much of the time meant being restricted to being at home.

“It’s a difficult one because we all would have loved to see the defending champions take part, but it’s all about player welfare and there are so many unanswered questions about that and what will happen when they get to Australia. Plus it’s not as if they’re just going over there for one game. Our guys have never been in the situation before where they’re out of action for six months.

“It’s normal for players to get injured and maybe miss a few games, and even at the end of the season you probably only have one month out and then you go into pre-season. But six months without playing rugby is massive, especially when a team like New Zealand has been playing for practically the whole time. It would be really unfair on our players to throw them into that,” Matfield told Saturday Citizen on Friday.

While there has been speculation over whether SA Rugby will be able to organise some Test action for the Springboks before the British and Irish Lions arrive in June 2021, Matfield said playing in Europe and having plenty of time for training camps will let new national coach Jacques Nienaber prepare the team properly.

“It’s going to be interesting to see if they do organise some warm-up Tests, but if our local players are all involved in a proper Pro16 then they should be ready. The Springbok team for the Lions tour will be mostly made up of the World Cup squad – probably 80% of that. So they all know how they want to play and what Jacques wants them to do.

“I’m sure Jacques will also hold a few warm-up camps, so I’m sure the Springboks will be ready. They’ll have lots of rugby under their belts and they understand what the coach wants,” Matfield said.