Ken Borland

Harlequins will be the first Champions Cup team to be hosted at Kings Park, bringing an entertaining brand of rugby, but Sharks prop Ox Nche said on Tuesday that it is important they do not offer their English opponents any freedom on the field on Saturday.

Harlequins have won their last four matches and are in the top three in the English Premiership.

“Harlequins are going to be a good challenge, they have been playing well,” Nche said on Tuesday. “They are dangerous and they score most of their tries within three phases of a set-piece.

“So that’s pretty similar to the URC, relying on the set-piece to attack from, but they can also run from anywhere, they have a more attacking mindset than the teams in the URC.

“Quins are more unpredictable, they want to play with ball-in-hand and they will even run from their own five-metre line. They are willing to take much more risks.

“But they have such a successful strike-rate from set-piece that it is very important for us to put that under pressure, to disrupt their set-pieces. We have to neutralise a guy like Andre Esterhuizen, who is a big ball-carrier on the gain-line,” Nche said.

While the musical chairs that has been going on in the Sharks coaching set-up has seen the players lose a good friend in Sean Everitt, Nche said their focus is on moving on and ensuring they make their mark in the Champions Cup.

“There’s always a certain level of relationship and respect with your coach – he has confidence in you and he backed your talent – so you feel for him and his family.

“But as professionals we understand these things happen. As a player, if things don’t go well then you might not get a contract. The team is always more important, and sometimes hard things have to be done to keep getting better.

“We need to move on as quickly as possible to our next challenge and we want to show we belong in the Champions Cup. We want to put Sharks rugby on a pedestal and make our names.

“We have all our experience back and we want to see if we belong with the best in the world, and we are very positive and full of energy, we’re pretty excited,” Nche said.

The Proteas are back in Australia, but this time they will be in white clothing as they prepare for their crucial three-Test series, their shock exit from the T20 World Cup a month ago in Adelaide put behind them, according to interim head coach Malibongwe Maketa.

Seven of the crestfallen T20 squad are also in the Test group, including players such as Temba Bavuma and Kagiso Rabada, who had poor World Cups, and a player like Marco Jansen who did not get to play a game.

“It’s a totally different format and we made sure the T20 players had a longer break both mentally and physically,” Maketa said in Brisbane on Tuesday.

“The players who were here during the World Cup have been able to contribute in terms of conditions and I have challenged them to bring energy to the team.

“In terms of their mental space, the turnaround has happened sooner than expected, so that is really positive. And some guys are coming off good performances at home.

“We have one warm-up game and it’s important for us, we will get all the batsmen to have a chance and monitor our bowlers. It’s crucial for us to get exposed to the pitches,” Maketa said.

The Proteas have already been tested with questions about the acrimonious previous Test series between the two teams – the Sandpapergate Tests of 2017/18 – with the Australian media hoping someone will put their foot in their mouth, but the South Africans have so far brushed off the controversy as something in the past.

“It’s most definitely not an issue for this group. There were only a handful of us involved and it changed people’s careers because it was an unfortunate incident. But that was way back then,” Maketa said.

The 42-year-old, seasoned coach also seems to have been wearing his drill sergeant cap since the Proteas arrived in Australia.

“It’s important as a coach to remember that the only way I can affect the game is through preparation. I know some of the guys are not liking me at the moment because I have put them through some really hard sessions.

“But when the Test starts, I hand over to Dean Elgar and the players. Then it’s about how we support them as coaching staff, constantly thinking how we can turn things around or stay ahead in the game.

“We give that info to the players and it’s down to them. We must never get in the way of the players, we have to trust the work we’ve done and ensure the environment is conducive for them to perform,” Maketa said.

David Miller knows that Pakistan will be at their most dangerous in South Africa’s crunch T20 World Cup game against them in Sydney on Thursday, but he feels he and the Proteas team have learned how to win in various pressure situations.

Pakistan have only won one of their three matches so far in the tournament, and if they lose on Thursday they are officially out of contention for semi-final qualification.

If South Africa win, they are guaranteed a semifinal place following Zimbabwe’s defeat on Wednesday. Either India or Bangladesh will join them in the last four.

“Pakistan are definitely more dangerous because it is a must-win game for them. They have some serious matchwinners and they are going to come in charging against us,” Miller said on Wednesday.

“So we’ll have to make sure we’re on our A-game, we stick to our processes and what has worked in the past. We are finding lots of different ways to win and have been doing that for the last year.

“In tricky situations we’ve managed to get over the line, thanks to the continuity of the squad. We’ve all found our roles and if one player doesn’t do well then others pick up the slack.

“For me personally it’s been a good ride over the last couple of years and being able to draw on past experience has been really valuable. I’ve been in a lot of different situations and I understand what’s required,” Miller, who averages 55.46 at a strike-rate of 158.81 since the start of 2021, said.

The Sydney Cricket Ground usually offers some purchase for the spinners and, as always when South Africa take on a subcontinental side, questions over their playing of spin have been asked. Miller feels it is an examination they have passed several times in recent history.

“We’ve played quite a lot in Indian conditions, we went to Pakistan not that long ago, and we have competed very well. Our focus in the last couple of years has been on playing spin.

“We have prepared well and we have lots of options against the turning ball now. We’ve definitely got the skills to perform against the Pakistan spin team.

“Then again, the conditions might not provide spin. Especially in Australian conditions, our pace attack has come into its own, they’ve brought a lot of energy and pace.

“We’re in a good space, we’re definitely in a good position in the tournament, but we know there is still lots to do. Playing as a team has allowed us to do well,” Miller said.

Lungi Ngidi was left out of the Proteas XI for their previous game at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but he is coming off a man-of-the-match performance against India in Perth, so South Africa’s selection team face something of a quandary for their crunch T20 World Cup meeting with Pakistan on Thursday.

The pitch for the comprehensive win over Bangladesh in Sydney was certainly slower than the one in Perth, where Ngidi absolutely revelled with figures of 4/29. But pace was still effective against Bangladesh, with Anrich Nortje taking 4/10. But spinner Tabraiz Shamsi also shone with 3/20, so conditions on the day could be the decider.

Ngidi admitted after his demolition job on India that he was by no means certain he would even be playing the match.

“I was a bit surprised, I’ve not played much in this World Cup, so to come in on the day and perform against India … I couldn’t have asked for a better day,” Ngidi said.

“I’m very happy and it is probably one of my best performances. You could see there was pace in the pitch. The plan was to not give any width and try to keep it as tight as possible. Dig it into the wicket.”

South Africa will also be very happy with the way all-rounder Wayne Parnell is performing, and he also enjoyed himself against India with 3/15 in his four overs.

“It was about hitting good areas. Sometimes you can get carried away with bowling short. Personally, it was just trying to hit the top of the stumps and keep things simple.

“We have a group of bowlers who are all capable of winning games. Each of us believes that and we know someone can step up on any given day,” Parnell said.

South Africa also know that if they beat Pakistan, then their semifinal place is almost certainly secure because they will have seven points and only one of India or Bangladesh, who play each other on Wednesday, can get to eight points if they win both their remaining matches. Zimbabwe would have to beat both the Netherlands and India, and substantially improve their nett run-rate, to finish on seven points and edge out the Proteas.