Ken Borland

The Sharks showed great patience and discipline as they kept banging on the Ospreys doors until they opened in the second half and the Currie Cup runners-up ran out impressive 27-13 winners in their United Rugby Championship match in Swansea on Friday night.

The Sharks were not particularly impressive early on and they went 6-0 down to two Gareth Anscombe penalties, but they clawed their way back to 6-6 by halftime.

There were two promising portents in their comeback: The first was that their set-pieces were making headway, despite the presence of two British and Irish Lions locks in the Ospreys pack in Adam Beard and the legendary Alun-Wyn Jones; the second were the two delightful drop goals kicked by Boeta Chamberlain. The first came after scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar took a quick-tap from a penalty and then passed back to the flyhalf, the second took advantage of the new trial law that forces a team that dots the ball down in their own in-goal area from an opposition kick to then drop-out from under their poles. The Ospreys kicked deep, but straight to Chamberlain, and he would bite them again in the second half.

The Sharks played excellent pressure rugby in the second half, which they were able to do firstly because of a watertight defence whch forced Ospreys into numerous handling errors when on attack. Secondly, they stayed in the kicking battle and eventually prevailed.

Coach Sean Everitt pinpointed the defence as a key reason for the morale-boosting win.

“The guys enjoy defending and it was a terrific defensive effort, with the forwards laying the platform. Getting turnovers gives this team energy and they did that through their aggressive defence.

“We’re very happy with the performance and obviously the result. I was especially happy with the way we adjusted to the tempo and our game-management, our kicking game worked superbly.

“Boeta Chamberlain did a sterling job, I was delighted he got man of the match, and I was very pleased that the team stuck with the plan tonight,” Everitt said.

The Sharks struck the first blow in the second half, just two minutes in when Chamberlain’s deft grubber behind the defensive line was brilliantly gathered by lock Hyron Andrews, who was not only first to the ball but also produced a wonderful offload off the floor to centre Jeremy Ward, who dashed over for the opening try.

The win started to come into view on the hour when a good carry by eighthman Henco Venter was followed by Pienaar cannily making a half-break to keep the defence interested before passing out to centre Marius Louw, whose quick hands opened up space for Marnus Potgieter out wide. The wing had won all his many aerial battles and now he was rewarded with a try.

Another long-range drop goal by Chamberlain after Ospreys were forced to drop out followed three minutes later and Pienaar knocked over a couple of penalties to seal the win, despite Ospreys eventually crossing for a try in the 74^th minute.

The beaming face of coach Everitt after the game said just how important this win over the previously unbeaten Ospreys was for the Sharks, and indeed for all the South African teams in the URC.

“It helps a lot when you are a long way and a long time from home like we are,” Everitt said.

The daunting All Blacks are South Africa’s next opponents in the Rugby Championship and they need to get down to business this week and fix the many aspects of their game that have not been functioning over the last two weekends and the back-to-back losses to Australia.

The only problem is coach Jacques Nienaber said at the weekend that he doesn’t really know where to start, which is as much of an admission of the numerous problems the Springboks have as anything else.

Captain Siya Kolisi did put his hand up and say the players are to blame because they have been given a plan – which we know has worked in the past – by the coaching staff. But any plan is only as good as its implementation … and the Springboks’ execution has been terrible.

Over the last two weeks they have produced sloppy rugby that is not worthy of either the world champions tag or the number one ranking.

What is certain is that the senior players, the World Cup winners, need to step up now and be willing to get their hands dirty on the gainline and at the breakdown, and make their tackles. The Wallabies have thoroughly dominated those crucial departments of the game, where the usually famously physical Springboks have been strangely timid. Their ball-carries have been faltering and tactically they seem to have ignored the enormous pressure the Wallabies put on the breakdown.

In terms of personnel changes, including Cheslin Kolbe on the wing will provide some x-factor, but South Africa’s many efforts to get the ball wide at the weekend were fruitless because a lack of direct running in the build-up meant Sbu Nkosi and Makazole Mapimpi received the ball with not enough space to work with. Centres Lukhanyo Am and Damian de Allende quickly need to regain the form they showed in the British and Irish Lions series.

Likewise Duane Vermeulen has been a pale shadow of his usual self at eighthman, but more game time will hopefully work, while Eben Etzebeth’s lack of dominance is perhaps due to too much rugby.

Franco Mostert was one of the more industrious forwards on the field at the weekend, but would he not be better employed at lock, especially if Lood de Jager is still not over his concussion? That would allow a powerful ball-carrier like Dan or Jean-Luc du Preez to be included on the blindside flank.

The much-vaunted Stormers front row of Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi and Steven Kitshoff have also not had their usual impact, although South Africa’s set-pieces have been solid.

One of the things that makes the Springboks such a tight-knit unit is the acknowledgement that they have all been on their own individual journeys to get there, and Retshegofaditswe ‘Ox’ Nche has found his way back into the camp, saying he only had “hope and hard work” to rely on in the last couple of years.

Loosehead prop Nche made his Springbok debut back in June 2018 as Rassie Erasmus, in his first Test as coach, bravely sent a new-look team to the United States to play Wales. South Africa succumbed to a late try in losing 22-20, but the process of sifting the players and building depth that bore fruit in the 2019 World Cup had begun.

Except that for Nche, who had started that Test ahead of Steven Kitshoff, he did not play again for the Springboks. But the 25-year-old will get the chance to put on the Green and Gold again on Friday against Georgia in Pretoria as he once again takes the No.1 jersey, with Kitshoff wearing No.17, thanks to Tendai Mtawarira moving on and Bulls star Lizo Gqoboka not being favoured by the Springbok management.

“It’s the dream of every rugby player to represent their country and be the best player you can be, and playing in 2018 was a real honour. And since then I’ve been doing everything I can just to get back there. In terms of staying patient, I only really had hope and hard work to rely on.

“But I’ve learnt whether playing Craven Week, SA Schools, Varsity Cup, Currie Cup or Super Rugby, that the great challenge is every week you have a different team posing a different challenge. You just have to be willing to give it your all, whether it’s Georgia or the British and Irish Lions. I can’t wait to show what I’m capable of at the highest level,” Nche said.

He follows in the footsteps of some marvellous loosehead props like the miraculous Os du Randt, ‘Beast’ and Kitshoff, but while he takes inspiration from them, he is not worried about emulating their stirring deeds just yet.

“It’s a privilege to have this opportinity and I don’t compare myself to Os or Beast because I am still at the beginning of my journey. I try not to think about emulating them because those guys are legends and I don’t want to put extra pressure on myself. I’m just going to focus on how I can contribute to the team as much as I can.

“I’m excited for the Georgia challenge, they are a very good physical team and taking them on up front will be the major challenge. They scrum low, but I am 1.75m tall so I can go down there too. It’s going to be an exciting battle up front, but we are aiming for the same intensity and standards as at the World Cup in 2019, that’s what we thrive on,” Nche said.

Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers showed they might just be the tonic for the struggling Proteas T20 team with their brilliant batting in the second week of the Indian Premier League.

The cricketing gifts of AB de Villiers are considered in India to be as sacred as myrrh and the 37-year-old was at his plundering best this week when he slammed 76 not out off just 34 balls for the Bangalore Royal Challengers against the Kolkata Knight Riders, winning the man of the match award. And then nah, the Royal Challengers did not need him to bat in their next match as they thrashed the Rajasthan Royals by 10 wickets.

Faf du Plessis is opening the batting for the Chennai Super Kings and has been building up over the two weeks of the tournament and is now in full flow. After his duck in the opening match, Du Plessis sauntered to 36 not out off 33 balls as Chennai chased just 107 against the Punjab Kings with ease, was then more explosive with his 33 off 17 deliveries versus Rajasthan and then he struck a ferocious 95 not out off just 60 balls to set up victory over Kolkata.

Kagiso Rabada has not been the same wicket-taking force he was last year when he was the IPL’s leading wicket-taker and he has not been particularly economical either. The fast bowler took one for 43 in four overs against Punjab and one for 25 in three overs versus the Mumbai Indians, and now has overall figures of four wickets for 98 runs in 11 overs.

Lungi Ngidi returned to being one of the Chennai Super Kings’ family’s favourite sons when he returned to IPL action this week with outstanding figures of three for 28 in four overs against Kolkata. Two of those wickets, including the scalp of the dangerous Dinesh Karthik for 40 off 24 balls, came in successive overs, the 15^th and 17^th, as KKR fell 18 runs short in their chase.

Chris Morris, the most expensive player in the IPL auction, bowled well to take two for 33 in four overs against Chennai, but then conceded 38 runs in three overs as Bangalore hammered Rajasthan by 10 wickets. Morris was not able to repeat his heroics with the bat in the first week, scoring a two-ball duck against CSK and 10 off 7 deliveries versus RCB.

Troubles still seem to weigh heavily on Quinton de Kock as he scored a sluggish 40 off 39 balls for Mumbai against Hyderabad Sunrisers and then two off four deliveries versus Delhi Capitals, following his 2 (6) in the first week.

David Miller’s showings in the IPL so far accurately reflect the ins and outs of the middle-order batsman’s lot in T2 cricket: Lauded in the first week for his 62 off 43 balls that set up an unlikely victory for Rajasthan against Delhi, this week he has been out for 2 (5) and 0 (2).

Marco Jansen has not played since appearing and impressing in the Mumbai Indians’ first two games, but the 20-year-old is adding a ton of experience to his resume just being in the defending champions’ camp.

Anrich Nortje and the experienced Imran Tahir are yet to play for the Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings respectively.