Ken Borland

Scrumhalf Edwin Achayo feeds flyhalf Kenny Andola as Kenya get their backline going again during their Vodacom Cup victory over the EP Kings. Pic: Carl Fourie/Gallo Images

The Vodacom Cup – South Africa’s developmental competition for the provincial teams not involved in SuperRugby – has entered the semi-final stage with overseas visitors Kenya no longer in contention but the tournament did offer the African country the chance to further grow their 15-a-side team.

The Kenyans played as the Tusker Simba XV and although they only won a single match – their opening encounter against the Eastern Province Kings – the fact that they did not finish last in their section provided some comfort.

Kenya were invited by the South African Rugby Union, as part of their mandate to help improve and develop the game in Africa, to take the place of Argentinian side Pampas XV and the east Africans were only too happy to take part, giving a crucial boost to their preparations for the final African World Cup qualifier to be played in Madagascar from June 26.

Namibia have been the African qualifiers for all seven Rugby World Cups and so the rest of the continent are trying to close the gap with them. Zimbabwe and Madagascar are the other countries still in the running for 2015 in England.

Encouragingly for Kenya, the Tusker Simba XV performed no worse than Namibia’s Welwitschias did when they played in the Vodacom Cup in 2010/11 and lost 13 of their 15 matches, winning once and drawing the other game.

And the Tusker Simba XV also suffered some misfortune, losing two of their matches – against Border and Boland – in the final minute.

“It was a great experience and, as we try and qualify for the World Cup, the best thing is to play more games. Last year we won the Africa Cup in Madagascar, but that was only with some games before that. The only way to change that was playing in the Vodacom Cup, and it has been a huge success,” Kenya coach Jerome Paarwater said.

A lack of conditioning was one of the concessions the Tusker Simba XV had to make against almost entirely professional opposition, but the size and attacking promise the Kenyans showed was enough to suggest the 15-a-side team could follow their sevens counterparts up the world rankings.

“Size is certainly not a problem with the Kenyan players, but there is a lack of facilities in Kenya for them to work on their conditioning, which you need to be competitive against professional players for a full 80 minutes.

“But we’re getting them a bit stronger and bigger and the skills levels are improving, so those are positives,” Paarwater, the former Western Province loose forward, said.

“The sevens background of the players means they’re not afraid to attack, it comes naturally to them. It helps that our two wings [Leonard Mugaisi and Dennis Osinde] are both pacy and strong, both around 108/109kg.”

The scrummaging – built around huge identical twins Joseph and James Kang’ethe – was also solid, although they did attract some yellow cards, Paarwater explaining that “The twin props are very aggressive and I think that scared the referees a bit”.

While Kenya’s urban areas are relatively wealthy and modern, 75% of the population work in the agricultural sector and food security is an issue – 38% of the population live in poverty. So there are socio-economic issues that hold rugby back too.

While the International Rugby Board insist that the Kenya Rugby Union find their own sponsors, they are involved in growing the game amongst the youth. Programs like Get Into Rugby ensure that kids that would normally just be herding cows get a chance to experience the beautiful oval-ball game.

“The IRB are heavily involved with development and the U19 team, which is great because Kenya rugby has to step up their junior structures, that is the future. The IRB fund development programs and they’ve given our Sevens team lots of help too.

“It’s good that the Kenya Rugby Union have had to find their own sponsors, it means they don’t just ask for handouts,” Paarwater said.

The Western Province Rugby Union in South Africa, from whom Paarwater has been seconded, have also been a great help, also providing medical supplies.

There’s nothing ham-fisted about the way rugby is being grown in Kenya, as the remarkable success of their Sevens side shows, and they are becoming a growing force in African 15s as well.

“They’re quite jacked up and really serious about rugby in Kenya, including women’s rugby. They’re always trying to improve,” Paarwater said.

And it certainly looks like they are succeeding.

http://www.irb.com/newsmedia/regional/newsid=2071330.html#kenya+more+than+just+sevens+nation

South Africa's women's hockey World Cup squad

Investec South Africa women’s hockey coach Giles Bonnet said on Tuesday that he had chosen the World Cup squad based on the need for continuity and pace.

And so the same 18-strong squad that bowed out in the semi-finals of the Champions Challenge – their only defeat of the tournament – last week will do duty at the World Cup in Holland from May 31 to June 15.

“We’re staying with continuity, although we’ve brought players in through the years, introducing eight U21 players since 2010. We’ve been exposing players for the last four years, bringing in future stars all the time, and we’ve played 150 games since the last World Cup, which was only possible because of the support and sponsorship of Investec.

“So the squad includes one triple Olympian [captain Marsha Cox (nee Marescia)], five double Olympians [goalkeeper Sanani Mangisa, Shelley Russell, Kathleen Taylor, Tarryn Bright, Lenise Marais] and seven who went to the last Olympics,” Bonnet said at the announcement of the squad at the sponsor’s headquarters in Sandton on Tuesday.

The squad includes 13 players with more than a hundred caps, while only goalkeeper Anelle van Deventer (10) has less than 50 appearances for South Africa.

Pietie Coetzee, arguably South Africa’s greatest women’s hockey player, is the glaring omission from the squad, but Bonnet said she had made herself unavailable, along with the injured Jade Mayne, because she did not feel physically up to the tournament.

“Pietie doesn’t feel in shape to play in the World Cup, which basically involves running 10km every game and that has a major impact on the body. Hockey these days is about speed and endurance. We have very quick players in this squad,” Bonnet said.

Endurance is epitomised by captain Cox, for whom international hockey must be like a drug as she looks to add to her 332 caps in Holland.

“The Champions Challenge was successful, getting bronze and laying a good platform for the World Cup. We were extremely disappointed after losing in a semi-final to Ireland that we dominated, but stats don’t win you games.

“But sometimes you need to fail before you succeed and we’ve gained confidence from all the chances we created in that tournament [a tournament-leading 60 in six games]. Realistically we’re aiming to finish in the top eight in the World Cup and, with the style of hockey we’re currently playing and all the experience in the squad, that’s in reach,” Cox said.

Waiting for South Africa, however, are three of the tournament favourites in their first three games – Argentina, Germany and England – and Bonnet is hoping to get a draw from one of those powerhouses before taking full points off China and the USA.

“It will be difficult. You want to go into a World Cup with confidence and build your way into the tournament, but hopefully we can make that middle pool,” the vastly experienced Bonnet said.

Mangisa said she was confident the team would make a good start to the tournament, whatever the opposition.

“We know all the games will be tough because, along with the Olympics, this is the pinnacle of hockey. We’ve learnt from the London Olympics and we won’t repeat that bad start. We have to start well and we’ve grown a lot in the last two years. With all these caps, we can’t have a repeat … we’ll think ‘hang on there, we’ve been here before’ and tighten up. Unlike Liverpool last night,” Mangisa said.

Squad (caps in brackets): Sanani Mangisa (92), Ilse Davids (122), Marsha Cox (332), Shelley Russell (212), Dirkie Chamberlain (168), Lisa Deetleefs (187), Nicolene Terblanche (145), Kathleen Taylor (214), Tarryn Bright (263), Sulette Damons (149), Lenise Marais (228), Bernie Coston (94), Anelle van Deventer (10), Marcelle Manson (nee Keet, 133), Kelly Madsen (113), Celia Evans (89), Lillian du Plessis (58), Quanita Bobbs (56).

Sixes are a relatively old concept in cricket, with the famous Hong Kong Sixes being held since 1992, but they have never really caught on in South Africa. That could be about to change thanks to Titans cricket introducing the Global Softech Sixes, to be hosted by SuperSport Park from September 4-7.

Sixes are certainly part of mainstream cricket elsewhere in the world, with Glenn Maxwell, currently Australia’s most destructive batsman, the player of the tournament in the 2010 Hong Kong Sixes, while Pakistan star Umar Akmal has won the same award in the last two editions at Kowloon.

The Titans see the Global Softech Sixes as an ideal starter for the 2014/15 season and as a chance to develop the game elsewhere in Africa as Tanzania, Uganda, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Kenya have all been invited to take part.

The first two days of the competition will be played as an inter-franchise event, with the Titans, Cape Cobras, Dolphins, Knights, Highveld Lions and Warriors all taking part, before a South African side joins the five other countries in a two-day international competition.

Titans CEO Jacques Faul, whose brainchild the event is, promised plenty of fun and games over the four days in Centurion.

“It’s a unique opportunity to pioneer our sport to a younger generation and bring in a fun element, as well as embracing our neighbours from the broader African continent. We’re planning some new and fresh ideas, so the tournament will evolve and hopefully develop into a full circuit one day,” Faul said at the unveiling of the tournament at SuperSport Park yesterday.

Each match will be completed quickly in 40 minutes and smaller boundaries will add to the frenetic action.

Faul said he envisaged ticket prices being the same as for domestic cricket and there will be full coverage of all four days on SuperSport “so we can reach as far as we can with this new concept”.

The Titans CEO is hopeful that a posse of Proteas will take part in the pre-season event, even though South Africa’s ODI squad will be completing their triangular series in Zimbabwe that weekend.

The Global Softech Sixes do, however, have the full backing of Cricket South Africa, according to their CEO, Haroon Lorgat.

“Jacques has been working on this for a long time and it’s an opportunity to develop the sport as well as provide some fun and entertainment. We wish the Titans well with their initiative, we are very pleased to be associated with it and we will provide whatever support is needed. It’s probably the right time for Cricket South Africa to become more involved with Africa cricket,” Lorgat said.