Ken Borland

Former South African captain Graeme Smith said on Wednesday that he believed Jacques Kallis announced his retirement from all international cricket because he could not face the possibility of letting down the Proteas.

Kallis retired from Test cricket in December, but decided to continue playing ODI cricket in a bid to make the World Cup squad early next year. But a poor tour of Sri Lanka this month, in which he scored just five runs in three innings and could not bowl due to niggling injuries, led to him re-evaluating his future.

“I’ve been calling him an ‘old man’ and asking him what he’s doing out there, but I had a hint that he might decide to retire after he came back from Sri Lanka and realised that it would take a lot of hard work for him to get through to the World Cup. When you’re playing full-time it’s easier, but focus is very crucial at international level and I think he was wondering if his mind is really on it.

“He really wanted to win the World Cup, but I’ve always appreciated his honesty and I think he realised that he might let the team down. He was honest enough to realise he might not be strong enough to make it through to next year, especially in terms of bowling and mentally,” Smith said on Wednesday.

Smith said the timing of the decision was perfect because it gave the team enough time to adapt their tactics to his absence ahead of the World Cup.

“He’s given the team enough space tactically to fill his gap with other guys but it’s obviously always sad when players of his calibre move on. But he’s had an incredible career which we can all celebrate and look back fondly on. He brought so much happiness and South African cricket got a lot out of Jacques in so many different eras,” Smith said.

“It’s always difficult to compare players from different eras, but if you consider the amount of cricket Jacques played, the length of consistency at the top of the game and all the different conditions and challenges he performed in, then he’s got to be up there with the best who’ve ever played the game. In time, I’m sure his reputation will only go from strength to strength.”

Cricket South Africa CEO Haroon Lorgat said the timing of the decision was typical of the 38-year-old’s professionalism.

“He’s been a consummate professional who always knew exactly what his responsibilities were and although he was very keen to get through to the World Cup, and had committed himself to that, it dawned upon him in Sri Lanka that his mind and body were not fit enough to get him there. He said he had some thinking to do when he left Sri Lanka two weeks ago, so he prepared us for his retirement and in the last 12 hours there have been lots of conversations with him,” Lorgat said.

“In my book, he was one of the best cricketers ever. I’ve seen him play great innings and make wonderful contributions with the ball, but above all it was his presence that I will remember. In the last 10 years, the team has drawn an enormous amount of confidence from his sheer presence,” the former Eastern Province and Transvaal all-rounder said.

http://mobi.supersport.com/cricket/sa-team/news/140730/Kallis_didnt_want_to_let_the_team_down

Jean de Villiers knows he does not have many appearances left in the Springbok jersey, so the 33-year-old captain is absolutely determined to enjoy every moment remaining in the South African squad.

That same passion has been driving his rehab from a knee injury that kept him out of the Incoming Tours in June and, although he has not played a match since May 3, De Villiers is confident that he won’t have to miss any more Tests as the Springboks head into the Rugby Championship.

“The knee is good, it’s coming on nicely and I’ve been running for the last couple of weeks. It’s improved a lot and I had a full session yesterday [Tuesday], and it’s looking better than I thought it would, there’s no swelling.

“I’ve taken contact and my fitness is good because I’ve been doing lots of cardio. It’s now just a question of getting confidence back in my knee and then I’ll be 100%,” De Villiers said in midweek.

“But it’s never nice sitting on the side. I’m at the end of my career, I realise that’s pretty close, and I want to make whatever’s left of my rugby career as good as possible. You want to make sure you’ve given it your best shot when you hang up your boots.

“If this is my last 12 months with the Springboks then I want to make it great. It’s fantastic to be a part of such a great squad with such great talent and I’m very proud to be a leader in it.

“I’m going to make sure I enjoy the journey and the cherry on top will be the World Cup next year. Your injuries just make you appreciate your time in this game even more,” the father of two daughters said.

While the presence of so many veterans – Bakkies Botha, De Villiers, Bismarck and Jannie du Plessis, Bryan Habana, Victor Matfield, Ruan Pienaar, Gurthro Steenkamp and Juan Smith were all involved in the 2007 World Cup triumph – curdles the breakfast milk of some Springbok fans, the captain insists that the presence of such seasoned internationals is a great strength.

“It’s very exciting to have such good experience and young guys with exceptional talent putting pressure on them for their places. It’s a good balance for us and you see how guys like Handre Pollard and Jan Serfontein played unbelievably well when they started in the incoming Tests.

“We’re in the ideal position to bring youngsters in … look at Lood de Jager playing with Victor Matfield. He knows that he has that experience next to him and that’s why guys like Juan Smith also add value. They’ve been through it all, they can tell the youngsters to ‘do it like this’.

“It speeds up the process of making inexperienced players experienced,” De Villiers pointed out.

South Africa’s most capped centre said the return of Toulon-based loose forward Smith, who has not played a Test since the end of 2010 due to what many felt was a career-ending achilles tendon injury, was particularly inspiring.

“Juan Smith – what a story! His career was ended prematurely and I remember him handing out our jerseys in Nelspruit last year. You could see the determination still in him, that he felt he still had a lot to give.

“He’s kept that hunger and he had a lot to prove even though many people had written him off. But he’s played wonderful rugby for Toulon and he’s a great player and person, with a great story to tell.

“He’s going to bring a lot of energy and put some of the youngsters in their place too!”

According to Springboks breakdown coach Richie Gray, South Africa had the best statistics in that crucial phase of play in last year’s Rugby Championship, but he fully expects the opposition this year to have made serious plans to dethrone them.

“At the end of the Rugby Championship last year, we came out with the best stats, in terms of retention and turnovers, but the breakdown is becoming more of a war every year.

“Every country we go to, the newspapers are always talking about the ‘battle of the breakdown’ and this year it will be even more so. Australia have really taken a step forward there judging by SuperRugby, but every team emphasises the breakdown. If something happens 140 times in a game then it’s got to be important and we have to dominate and be accurate there,” Gray said on Wednesday.

While Francois Louw will obviously figure extensively when it comes to the Springboks’ efforts to steal ball, protecting one’s own possession on attack is just as important. Because an openside flank can only hit every second or third ruck, the breakdown does become truly a team effort.

“Every player has to be equipped to do breakdown work and I work with both the individual and collectively to make sure we get it spot on every time in training.

“Just like the greatest defensive system won’t work if your players can’t tackle, so your attack will always be running against a brick wall if you’re taking four or five seconds to get the ball out of the breakdown.”

The Springboks, with their tall, bulky physiques, have had a reputation for being one-dimensional at the rucks – just running up and ramming a shoulder in to try and bully opposition off the ball. But Gray has certainly up-skilled them in this department.

“I can remember being told by leading Northern Hemisphere coaches like Jim Telfer that you never take on the Springboks at waist-height because they’ll smash you, but at knee-height because they’re big men who can’t bend down. But that’s an absolute myth, if they’re properly coached then South Africa have some phenomenal players at the breakdown. They have a great mentality and physicality, and we just need to add accuracy,” the Scotsman said.

One of Gray’s challenges at the moment is to sort out the mash of different breakdown strategies his players have returned with from all around the world – never mind the five SuperRugby franchises employing different methods, there are also the tactics of three different French clubs, two English and one from Northern Ireland to contend with.

“The players disappear all over the world and their clubs all have different philosophies when it comes to the breakdown. So we have to get to what is best for the Springboks; quick ball is best, but how do we get that?

“So I’ll implement a plan that is correct for this group and their different strengths and weaknesses. I’ll tweak it week-by-week and month-by-month and we don’t want to follow other teams, we want to lead, so we do a lot of analysis  to spot weaknesses in both ourselves and others,” Gray explained.

At least in the Rugby Championship, the breakdown is a far cleaner, better-policed phase of play; in the Northern Hemisphere, there are people clogging the aisles far too often.

“I was delighted with the way we changed our approach on the Northern Hemisphere tour last year. The breakdown is an absolute war over there, there are bodies all over the place, players rolling out on our side. There are just so many things going on and it was a huge step-up to cope with that.”

The Springboks’ first task will be to tame the Pumas and their tactics of tackling low to mow down the ball-carrier and then flooding the breakdown.

Michael Hooper and Richie McCaw will then be lying in wait.

Former South African captain Graeme Smith yesterday described Jacques Kallis as “a really stubborn man” but praised his honesty in realising he had come to the end of his career and announcing his retirement from all international cricket.

The 38-year-old Kallis, statistically the greatest all-round cricketer the game has seen, retired from Test cricket in December but had indicated his desire to continue playing one-day internationals for South Africa, with an eye on having one more crack at the World Cup in February/March 2015.

But a poor tour of Sri Lanka, where Kallis scored just five runs in three innings and did not bowl due to niggling injuries, has convinced South Africa’s leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs to end his international career.

Smith, who himself retired at the end of the summer, has been close to Kallis for more than a decade and only 11 of his 117 Tests were played without his friend beside him at slip.

“Jacques is a really stubborn man but I think that stubbornness must have run out! But one can only appreciate his honesty because he really wanted to win the World Cup, but he knew he would struggle to maintain the levels required, especially in terms of bowling and mentally, and he didn’t want to let the side down. He’s also given the team enough space tactically to fill his gap with other guys,” Smith said yesterday.

A relaxed-looking Smith, fresh off a family holiday, said retirement would take some getting used to for Kallis, who has spent the last 19 years excelling on cricket fields all over the world.

“I’ve just been through it and it’s a bit daunting really,” Smith said. “You’re no longer earning a salary – my electricity got cut off! – and you’ve just known one way of living for the last 19 years. Until the next stage of his life falls into place, he deserves the time and space to find his feet.”

In 166 Tests, Kallis scored 13 289 runs  (the third most) at an average of 55.37 and claimed 292 wickets. He also took 200 catches and no other player has scored over 10 000 runs and taken more than 200 wickets.

In 328 ODIs, Kallis made 11 579 runs at an average of 44.36 and took 273 wickets.

“It’s always difficult to compare players from different eras, but if you consider the amount of cricket Jacques played, the length of consistency at the top of the game and all the different conditions and challenges he performed in, then he’s got to be up there with the best who’ve ever played the game. In time, I’m sure his reputation will only go from strength to strength,” Smith said.

“It used to irritate me when we started a season and Jacques had hardly picked up a bat in months, and he’d get into the nets and every ball would come out of the middle of the bat, while the rest of us were scratching around. I remember him hitting five centuries in a row [v West Indies & NZ in 2003/4] which was incredible, his two hundreds in a game against India and his century at Newlands on a tough pitch when he had a side strain. Jacques had a great ability under pressure to get stuck in and he was so reliable.”

Kallis remains committed to playing T20 cricket for the Sydney Thunder and Kolkata Knight Riders, but Smith agreed that once he had retired from Test cricket, a quick end to his international career was inevitable.

“Focus is very crucial at international level and I guess Jacques had to ask himself if his mind is really on it anymore. It’s hard to maintain intensity without playing regularly and it takes a lot of hard work to get to the required levels. When you’re playing full-time, it’s definitely easier.

“I hope there’s going to still be real respect for what he achieved, we can celebrate and look back fondly on an incredible career. He brought so much happiness and South African cricket got so much value out of him through so many eras,” Smith said.

Cricket South Africa CEO Haroon Lorgat said Kallis had decided to retire after returning from Sri Lanka and spending the last two weeks mulling his future.

“It dawned upon him in Sri Lanka that his mind and body might no longer be fit enough to get him to the World Cup, and he said he had some thinking to do, so he prepared us for his retirement.

“In my book, he is one of the best cricketers ever and he has left as a legend. He was the consummate professional and naturally we are going to miss him because I don’t see any other three-in-one cricketers of his calibre,” Lorgat said.