Ken Borland

Dean Elgar had not had much time to think about his greatest triumph as Proteas captain when he was asked what were the positives, in terms of leadership, that he had taken out of the remarkable series win over India, but he did correctly point out that all 11 players had to be on the same page for them to stage such a dramatic and composed comeback.

Elgar had captained South Africa to a defeat against England at Lord’s in 2017 and victory over Pakistan at the Wanderers in 2019 before being appointed full-time Test captain ahead of the two-match series in the West Indies last June. He has now led the Proteas to five wins and two defeats in his total of seven matches as skipper.

“I still need to reflect on all the good things that happened,” Elgar said. “But my skin is pretty thick when it comes to on-field matters and this team never lied down, they always fought.

“They stayed in the game-plan, never veered off it and that’s a good strength to have. You need to have all 11 guys on the same page and I think I’ve gained some people skills that I lacked before.

“I’m a lot more experienced now, but it’s still something I will work on so that I can use it to the best of my ability as captain. It’s tough sometimes not being able to control anything out there.

“But I’ve had to learn quickly not to show my emotions on camera. I think I’m more calm now and I don’t panic too soon,” Elgar said.

The gutsy left-handed opener said building momentum after the poor display in the first Test at Centurion had been a tough task.

“Momentum is important, you really need it in a tough series and it’s difficult to gain against quality opposition,” Elgar said. “So you need to capitalise when the sniff is there.

“And you also have to make sure you don’t let it slip when you’ve got the momentum. But I thought we played the big moments brilliantly, especially considering we did not have a lot of confidence.

“But we showed India are also humans and they are beatable. There were a few turning points and building up to the second Test we had a tough chat for maybe an hour.

“It helped to get the appreciation for the badge back and chasing 240 at the Wanderers was a massive confidence boost for us,” Elgar said.

The Currie Cup has now reached the stage when the strength of the gizzards of the six remaining teams in contention will be tested and there are crunch games being staged in Nelspruit on Saturday and Kimberley on Sunday.
The Free State Cheetahs visit the Pumas on Saturday for a midday game that they know they have to win if they are to keep their faltering challenge for a semifinal spot alive. On Sunday afternoon Griquas host Western Province and the winners of that clash will have a good chance of finishing third on the log.
Meanwhile, at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon, it is the Lions, who have bowed out of the running, who will want to show their intestinal fortitude by winning their last game and giving themselves a chance of not finishing last on the log when they take on the Sharks.
The visitors have much to play for themselves as they still need to nail down home-ground advantage for the semifinals, never mind the final, and coach Sean Everitt is expecting the Lions to make it very tough for them.
“It’s a very important game as far as the log is concerned, we have the opportuity to catch the Bulls at the top if they slip up against the Cheetahs next weekend, and the next thing for us is a home semifinal. But even then, with Western Prvince getting five points in their last game, it’s vital we get a full house of points against the Lions.
“But the Lions are going to be really desperate because they want to rise from the bottom of the log. No-one can fault their effort this season, just a few things have gone wrong for them and they’ve been punished for it. They will give it their all and they are a dangerous team who score a lot of points,” Everitt said.
The one improvement Everitt knows the Sharks have to show is in their discipline and he was cross about how many penalties they conceded in struggling to beat a 14-man Cheetahs side last weekend.
“We have to get right what we got wrong against the Cheetahs, which was giving away far too many penalties. It meant we weren’t able to get into our game. It’s an old Rainbow Cup problem that has resurfaced. Against a team like the Lions who use their opportunities, we need to keep them out and we can’t be giving them penalties otherwise they will score,” Everitt said.

The fact that South Africa are currently enjoying a surfeit of top-class depth is a particular boon in these times of Covid restrictions because for a player to join the Springbok squad in Australia at a later stage for the Rugby Championship requires them to jump through a series of almost impenetrable hoops.

Which is why the Springboks will be leaving for Australia on Sunday, the day after their second Test against Argentina at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, with a squad of 42 players and 10 others on standby who are also following strict Covid protocols.

“We are all in a very specific testing regime, so it is tough to get people from outside into the squad. All the players need to pass blood tests, PCRs and antigen tests on specific days, even our standby players, if they are to be allowed to get on the plane to Australia. A player coming in to the squad once we are there has got to follow a well-prescribed testing regime in South Africa and then isolate for 14 days in Australia.

“It’s why the whole squad of 42 will travel on Sunday because it’s almost impossible to add players later on. Argentina and us will be travelling together from Port Elizabeth on Sunday in a plane to Cape Town that will be our own bubble and then we fly together to Australia. If we lose a player to injury in the first Test then his replacement would probably only be available to play on the Tuesday before the last Test against New Zealand on October 2,” Nienaber explained on Tuesday.

The Springbok coach was forced to call into service many of his back-up players in last weekend’s first Test against Argentina and they did a superb job, notching a 32-12 bonus point win. For this Saturday’s repeat fixture, the first-choice, World Cup winning, backline, save for Cobus Reinach coming in for the injured Faf de Klerk at scrumhalf, is back in tow.

The pack is more mix-and-match with regulars Trevor Nyakane, Malcolm Marx, Lood de Jager, Siya Kolisi and Franco Mostert all starting, while tighthead Thomas du Toit will play his first Test since coming on against Namibia in the 2019 World Cup, lock Marvin Orie is in the run-on XV for the first time and fellow second-rower Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg is in line for his debut off the bench.

“It’s a punishing Test schedule we have with the Lions series on three successive weekends and then six matches in eight weeks in the Rugby Championship, so we are forced to make changes to look after the players’ welfare. I said last week how good Argentina are and we are not taking them lightly at all. But our selection speaks volumes for the depth we have,” Nienaber said.

The Bulls will fly to Italy on Monday night for the Rainbow Cup final with a powerful squad missing just three Springboks as they look to transfer their dominance of South African rugby to the European stage.

The Bulls will be taking on Benetton Treviso, the surprise winners of the European leg of the competition, and it looks like coach Jake White is only going to have to make two changes to the starting line-up that led them to an impressive win over the Sharks last weekend and a place in the final.

To think that only Morne Steyn, Marco van Staden and Trevor Nyakane are in the Springboks’ plans for the series against the British and Irish Lions is quite astonishing when one considers that the Bulls have won every trophy on offer in South Africa in the last year.

And White is in the fortunate position of being able to replace Van Staden and Nyakane with fellow Springboks in Nizaam Carr and Lizo Gqoboka.

Carr has mostly played eighthman for the Bulls when Duane Vermeulen has been resting, but Marcell Coetzee has shifted seamlessly into the injured talisman’s position at the back of the scrum, and Carr is certainly not going to feel out of place at openside flank, having played there many times before for the Stormers and the Springboks.

Gqoboka is fit to play after a foot injury that was blamed for keeping him out of the Springbok squad, with Jacques van Rooyen able to cover tighthead prop in the absence of Nyakane.

Steyn is likely to be replaced by Chris Smith, who has shown on numerous occasions already that he is going to be a very handy performer for the Bulls going forward.

Exciting lock prospect Ruan Nortje did very well in Durban in his first outing as the Bulls’ blindside flank, and if the conditions in Treviso suit running rugby then he could well continue in that position, with Janko Swanepoel and Walt Steenkamp once again teaming up in the second row.

The unrelated Muller and Jan Uys could both be on the bench, with the exciting young Zak Burger suiting up as the replacement scrumhalf.

Bulls squad

Forwards: Lizo Gqoboka, Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar, Schalk Erasmus, Sydney Tobias, Jacques Van Rooyen, Mornay Smith, Robert Hunt, Ruan Nortje, Janko Swanepoel, Jan Uys, Walt Steenkamp, WJ Steenkamp, Muller Uys, Marcell Coetzee, Nizaam Carr.

Backs: Ivan Van Zyl, Zak Burger, Keagan Johannes, Chris Smith, Clinton Swart, Cornal Hendricks, Marco Janse van Vuren, Stravino Jacobs, Madosh Tambwe, Dawid Kellerman, Gio Aplon, David Kriel.