Ken Borland

Ruan Nortje is far too polite to ever be accused of frustration, but there is no doubt being passed over for Craven Week created a great hunger in the lock which can still be seen today in his rip-roaring displays for the Bulls.

The Wonderboom High School product only made the Bulls team for the U18 Academy Week in 2016, but he did secure a place in the provincial academy at Tuks. He caught the eye of current Bulls assistant coach Nollis Marais and, from then on he has been destined for greater things, representing the SA U20s and making his Bulls debut in 2018.

Nortje’s rampaging form over the last year saw him win the SuperRugby Unlocked Forward of the Year award at the Bulls’ weekend awards ceremony, but the 22-year-old could just as easily have won the Unsung Hero title if there had been such a category.

“Every time I go on the field it’s just important for me to give my best for the team and play my heart out. It’s a big opportunity for me to play for the Bulls, it was always a big dream of mine and I never gave up on that dream. I was over the moon in matric when I got the opportunity to come here and express what I love doing. I’m here for a reason and I believe the Lord has put me here.

“So I just try to give my all, it’s just my instinct to be as hard and physical as possible. I’ve always looked up to Francois Mostert, I’ve based my game on him and I love the way he plays. He’s not the biggest lock but he always plays hard with a lot of heart and passion. It’s a massive dream of mine now to follow him and play at international level,” Nortje said at the Bulls celebration at Loftus Versfeld.

And there is certainly no affectation – he is just one of the most likeable young players around – when Nortje expresses his gratitude for the mentors who have helped him on his journey.

“I had two awesome coaches at high school in coach Braam Pretorius and Mnr Van Wyk, they had all the confidence in me that I would be good enough at the top level. Also Lood de Jager and RG Snyman, I’ve learnt a lot from them. Lood coached us in the Currie Cup and he had a big impact on me, being one of the best locks in the world. And it’s been a privilege to play with Duane Vermeulen, who has so much rugby wisdom.

“And it’s been easy to play under Jake White because there’s a system in place and it means a lot to me that he had confidence in me and the other younger players, which you don’t often see. And Russell Winter has been the most under-the-radar coach but he deserves the most credit, he means so much to me in terms of lineout play. Russell is very underrated but he’s one of the best forwards coaches,” Nortje said.

The Imperial Lions, having already taken occupancy of a playoff place, rested some key players and still cruised to a seven-wicket victory over the Cape Cobras in their T20 Challenge match at Kingsmead on Friday.

Although the Lions left out Kagiso Rabada, Sisanda Magala and Dwaine Pretorius, another typically disciplined bowling performance restricted the Cobras to 144 for six after the Cape side elected to bat first.

Opener Reeza Hendricks then took charge of the run-chase, stroking a commanding 75 off 59 balls to lead the Lions home with three balls to spare.

Hendricks and Temba Bavuma (29 off 21) looked after the bulk of the runs with a second-wicket stand of 84 off just 56 balls, but Wiaan Mulder added the finishing touches with 25 not out off just 10 deliveries. It was the all-rounder’s first match in the tournament and, having also bowled decently (2-0-16-1), he might just have earned himself a spot in the playoff on Saturday.

Spinner Imraan Manack was tight for the Cobras, conceding just 20 runs in his four overs.

Left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin (4-0-29-2), opening the bowling as usual, struck immediately for the Lions as he had Cobras captain Tony de Zorzi caught off the first ball of the innings, skying a most unnecessary swipe across the line.

Zubayr Hamza, who has just rediscovered his best form, was most unfortunate to have to retire hurt with a groin strain and the pressure continued to pile on the Cobras as Kyle Verreynne, who had brought some urgency in his 21 off 16 balls, was outfoxed by fast bowler Lutho Sipamla as they slipped to 32 for three.

George Linde (22) added 37 with Christiaan Jonker as the momentum started to turn and the Cobras were able to post a competitive total after Jonker and Corbin Bosch added 59 off 48 balls for the fifth wicket.

Jonker fought hard, showed his experience and played some fine strokes in his 44 off 39 deliveries, while Bosch showed some sweet stroke-playing ability in his 32 not out off 26 balls.

Sipamla was an exciting addition to the Lions attack with two for 27 in his four overs, while left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso stopped the scoring rate most effectively, conceding just 19 runs in his four overs.

The Titans still need to address their batting but their bowling and fielding were outstanding enough for them to beat the Cape Cobras by 16 runs for their second successive victory in the T20 Challenge at Kingsmead on Sunday.

Defending just 149, the Titans bowlers were impressively accurate and adapted especially well to a pitch which did make it hard for the batsmen to score freely, bowling the Cobras out for 132.

Part-time off-spinner Aiden Markram opened the bowling and conceded just three runs and the seamers were then all bang on the money as the Cobras struggled to just 24 for two in the powerplay.

The Cobras just could not break the shackles and they were 87 for five after 16 overs, needing 62 runs from the last 24 balls when George Linde did put the Titans under some pressure by hitting spinner Tabraiz Shamsi for three consecutive sixes in the 17^th over.

It gave the Cobras a glimmer of hope as they then needed 39 off the last three overs to win, but the impressive Lizaad Williams then bowled Linde (37 off 21) with a superb yorker.

Lungi Ngidi and Chris Morris also bowled outstanding overs at the death as the Titans conceded just 22 runs and claimed five wickets in the last three overs.

Ngidi, using slower balls as his preferred weapon of attack, led the way with brilliant figures of three for 18, while Morris finished with two for 21 and Williams two for 25.

The Titans had chosen to bat first, but for all the talents of Proteas Markram (10), Dean Elgar (31), Theunis de Bruyn (12) and Heinrich Klaasen (7) they needed a wee gem of an innings by Sibonelo Makhanya to get to 148 for six.

Busy from the outset, Makhanya lifted the run-rate with his energetic intent and used the slog-sweep to great effect to score 47 off 33 balls.

The three Cobras spinners – George Linde, Imraan Manack and Siyabonga Mahima – were impressive, with Linde leading the way with two for 23 in his four overs.

Paceman Corbin Bosch also bowled extremely well for his one for 24.

Watching South African rugby on television at the moment may be a bit like being in a canoe stuck in a stagnant backwater – the still water means not much is happening – but there is a deadly waterfall up ahead if the Independent Communications Authority (Icasa) get their way.

Icasa, which regulates broadcasting in this country, are concerned that subscription TV, i.e. Multichoice, have a monopoly on showing live sport in this country and they want to make the market more competitive. To do this, they propose that broadcast rights can only be bought for a maximum three-year period, there are to be no exclusive deals and rugby’s properties must be split and dispersed between as many broadcasters as possible.

But as SA Rugby so ably illustrated in their presentation to Icasa during public hearings this week, these so-called remedies will have the exact opposite effect. Because they will have such a drastic economic impact on the sport, for whom the sale of television rights makes up 58% of their income (sponsorship, which largely depends on TV exposure, makes up another 26%), the market won’t be competitive at all because professional rugby, already brought to its knees by the Covid-19 pandemic, will all but cease to exist.

Spreading the rights around may sound like a lovely socialist plan in an ideal world, but in the real world of free market economies, and the absence of any other broadcaster remotely capable of doing and paying what SuperSport does, rugby is in the canoe going over the Victoria Falls if they can no longer sell their rights as a single package, in long-term, exclusive contracts.

Given the abysmal record of almost all parastatals in this country, I have a healthy scepticism when it comes to them poking their noses around wherever they sniff money or gravy. But I was squirming with discomfort when, following SA Rugby’s presentation, one of the Icasa councillors asked if the federation would consider producing movies, documentaries or news if they could no longer do rugby.

I was so shocked by the sheer idiocy of the question, coming from someone who is no doubt earning a healthy slab of taxpayers’ money and is in a position to draft laws for the people of this country, that I fired off a derogatory tweet. Shortly thereafter, after a rant by the Chairperson about people disrespecting authority on social media, I was removed from the virtual meeting.

It’s a bit like asking a company that specialises in making hand sanitizers if they wouldn’t mind switching to car manufacturing because the government wants to fiddle with the market.

As SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux pointed out, it costs millions of rand to build a competitive rugby system that will find a player with talent in the grassroots pipeline, take them through the youth age-levels, through provincial and franchise rugby and hopefully then to the Springboks. That money largely comes from the sale of television broadcast rights and sponsors who are willing to pay for the exposure they get on TV.

Apart from their clearly undemocratic and anti freedom of speech tendencies, Icasa also failed to do a Regulatory Impact Assessment before drafting their findings, according to SA Rugby’s legal counsel, Ngwako Maenetje SC. He also accused Icasa of paying scant regard to a written submission SA Rugby had previously made, which gave a thorough indication of the dire financial impact the proposed regulations would have on rugby.

A court date undoubtedly beckons for Icasa if they continue with this idiocy.

Roux also mentioned SA Rugby’s mandate is to produce compelling content and the current standard of the Currie Cup has been a subject of much discussion recently. It certainly has not been a top-class spectacle, but there have been mitigating factors for that such as the heat, humidity and rain at this time of year and the disruptions caused by Covid outbreaks.

But a look at the laws of the game could help. I like a suggestion made by coaching gurus Nick Mallett and Swys de Bruin that being able to mark a kick anywhere in the field should be considered, scrum infringements should initially just be free kicks and the attacking side should not be held to the same offsides lines as the defence.