Ken Borland

Sharks hooker Bongi Mbonambi said not allowing outside influences to affect the inside of the team, and pulling together to make sure there were consistent energy levels between the forwards and backs, were the main things they needed to improve on from their loss to the Stormers if they are to beat the Bulls in their United Rugby Championship match in Pretoria on Saturday.

But are there any other things the Sharks need to do to make sure they do the business against the Bulls?

1. They need to start much better.

Especially playing away from home, as they were last weekend and will be at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, they cannot afford to allow the home team to settle and dictate the run of play. But the Sharks seemed somehow distracted and not fully focused on the task at hand against a fired-up Stormers side. The Sharks lacked energy and intensity in the opening exchanges, which perhaps contributed to several handling errors. It meant they struggled to gain any momentum.

2. They need secure, more consistent set-pieces.

Solid set-piece displays were a feature of the Sharks’ impressive win in Johannesburg a fortnight ago and their scrummaging was outstanding against the Stormers in Durban, although they still allowed their opponents to sneak the draw. But in Cape Town, they gave away crucial scrum penalties and were untidy at key moments in the lineouts. Their woes in Pretoria recently have started up front and they cannot afford to give the Bulls an advantage in the set-pieces.

3. They need to fix their breakdown work.

You can tell the opposition have enjoyed a field day at the rucks when their openside flank gets man of the match as Deon Fourie did in Cape Town. The Sharks conceded turnovers and penalties at the breakdown at vital moments, which needs to be rectified. Their lack of organisation and/or accuracy at the breakdown is also having a telling effect on their attacking efforts because they are not securing enough quick ball.

4. They need to sort out their personnel at flyhalf and inside centre.

Although he is a quality player, moving Lukhanyo Am to inside centre seems to have adulterated their backline, with his defensive organisation sorely missed at outside centre. Bringing Marius Louw back into the No.12 jersey would allow Am to have his usual impact at No.13, but flyhalf is also a troubling position for the Sharks. What Tito Bonilla brought on attack was undone by his defensive lapses.

Two things that are obvious in this current Proteas team, highlighted by their tremendous series win over India, is the amount of fight and potential that resides in this squad.

By triumphing over the challenge of an Indian team featuring two of the best fast bowlers in the world in Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, as well as a side featuring the batting talents of a top six that are all inside the top-35 of the ICC rankings, the Proteas have done their reputation a world of good. For a team in transition to claim the scalp of the No.1 side in Test cricket must rank as one of the best achievements since isolation.

The series win was marked by the arrival of two exciting players for the future in batsman Keegan Petersen and left-arm quick Marco Jansen, whose potential with the bat has already seen him claim the No.7 spot of the typical all-rounder.

The 21-year-old Jansen only made his Test debut in the first Test at Centurion because Duanne Olivier was not yet fully fit for five days of cricket after a bout of Covid. But Jansen has cashed in on friendly bowling conditions in quite remarkable fashion, taking 19 wickets at an average of just 16.47. Only Kagiso Rabada (20 at 19.05) took more wickets in the series.

Jansen’s bounce, pace and priceless ability to move the ball both ways means he has looked right at home in Test cricket and he has also shown the tough temperament you want from your fast bowlers.

Petersen scored just 15 and 17 at SuperSport Park but then found his groove with three crucial half-centuries in his last four innings. And he did all of that in the tough No.3 position, with Aiden Markram’s continued failures meaning he came to the wicket early in every innings.

It led to suggestions that perhaps Petersen’s path into Test cricket should be eased by dropping down the order a bit, but the 28-year-old has emphatically made the No.3 position his own for at least the rest of the summer. The leading run-scorer in the series with 276 at an average of 46, Petersen’s temperament and mental toughness, excelling in tough situations when the pressure was on, has been even more impressive than his slick strokeplay.

With Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma also having good series and Rassie van der Dussen playing important roles in the two daunting run-chases at the Wanderers and Newlands, it would be silly to contemplate too many changes to the batting order.

One player who might have played his last Test as an opening batsman though is Markram. As talented as he is and as well as he has done previously in the position, a return of 80 runs in his last eight innings is not good enough. Sarel Erwee, who has acted as his understudy for the better part of a year now, was the leading run-scorer for SA A against India A last month and deserves to get a chance in New Zealand next month.

As for Markram, there has been talk of him playing as a middle-order batsman, which would be interesting, but he needs to go back to domestic cricket and force his way back into the team in that position through weight of runs.

Coach Mark Boucher also deserves to have a deeper well of public support for his role in inspiring the team to such a memorable, unexpected triumph.

After a poor performance in the first Test, well done to the Proteas, who were without a key fast bowler in Anrich Nortje, for fighting back and then lasting the distance in what has been a fascinating series. The action has been gripping and the twists in fortune quite riveting.

Long live Test cricket!

SUN CITY, North-West (14 October) – Ruan Korb is learning to stay patient and composed when things are not going his way in his third season on the Sunshine Tour, and he needed those qualities in the remorseless heat at the Gary Player Country Club on Thursday.

Korb kept his cool on a much tougher second day of the Blue Label Challenge, collecting six points in the modified Stableford scoring system and going to the top of the leaderboard on a total of 20.

The left-hander is one point ahead of first-round leader Ockie Strydom, who lost the lead thanks to a massive setback on the par-four 12^th, where he lost three points. Strydom finished his round with four points to end the halfway stage of the tournament on 19 points overall.

“I didn’t look like getting to 20 points at the turn,” Korb said after his round that featured four birdies and two bogeys. “It was hot and the wind was pretty tough, swirling the whole time – it never seemed to come from the same place for longer than 10 minutes.

“I just had to keep concentrating for the whole 18 holes and, after getting going with birdies on five and six, I knew the most difficult tee-shots were coming around the turn. Unfortunately I made bogey at nine, but kept my cool and had a nice sand-save for birdie on 11.

“I feel solid about my game, I have beautiful new irons – Titleist T100s – and that has given me more confidence. I like the format too because I am an aggressive player,” Korb added.

While many of the golfers were forced to kneel before the stringent test that is the Gary Player Country Club with the wind up, it was a good day for Keagan Thomas, who picked up nine points to go to third on 17 points.

The experienced Lyle Rowe produced the second-best round of the day with his 10-point tally, including four birdies and an eagle on the 11^th, lifting him to 16 points and a tie for fourth with Jaco Ahlers and Rhys Enoch.

Scores – https://sunshinetour.com/tournament-information/?tourn=BLCH&season=221S&report=tmentry~season=221S~alphaorder~#/home

The way things are going in South African cricket, CSA are soon going to have to appoint a lawyer to sit on the national selection panel just to make sure nobody’s rights have been unfairly prejudiced by not being chosen.

In the good old days, all that mattered was runs and wickets and the balance of the team – referring to having gritty batsmen capable of looking after the new ball, some strokeplayers in the middle-order, an all-rounder or two, and a bowling attack suited to the conditions.

But nowadays, being deserving of a place seems to mean you are entitled to be chosen. Never mind that the selectors can only field 11 players at a time and there are, of course, no substitutions in cricket, unless someone gets concussed.

Selection is a thankless task because you can never please everybody. And even 15 years after the fact, your selections can still be dissected and slammed, as we have seen in the SJN Hearings.

The squad selected to play in next month’s T20 World Cup caused uproar over two main areas – the sudden dropping of George Linde and the continued absence of Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir and Chris Morris.

I do believe Linde’s omission was the wrong call, but Victor Mpitsang and his panel are spot-on when it comes to Du Plessis, Tahir and Morris.

Morris is the easiest to deal with because the selectors have been told by the all-rounder’s people that he is not available for international cricket. Despite his tendency to tell the media all about the lack of contact he has had from Cricket South Africa. And, in case you were wondering, AB de Villiers has also officially made his retirement from the Proteas final.

Du Plessis and Tahir are trickier because they are still very much available for the Proteas, provided the finances around a short-term deal for free agents are to their liking. And both have been performing well, Du Plessis playing a couple of standout innings in the recently-completed Caribbean Premier League and Tahir had a successful campaign in the same competition.

The former Proteas captain struggled at the start of that tournament though after a long layoff caused by a serious concussion and then missed the last few games with a groin injury.

It is true that the current South African batting line-up is lacking experience, but they have been together now for this year and are ever-improving. Having Du Plessis in the XI would almost certainly mean leaving out Rassie van der Dussen, who averages 36 in T20 Internationals at a strike-rate of 134, figures which are remarkably similar to Faf’s – average 35, strike-rate 134.

Both he and Tahir have been true heroes for the Proteas, but we need to accept that the time to move on has come. The 42-year-old Tahir has a ready-made replacement in fellow wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, who for some time now has been the number one ranked bowler in T20 Internationals. And playing them both is not a realistic option because it would make an already long tail even longer.

I also find it infuriating when people rave about performances in T20 leagues and give them the same status as international cricket. These ‘mercenary’ leagues are domestic competitions and are not of international standard, simply because all of them have rules forcing the selection of a majority of local players. Even the IPL, which comes closest to bridging the gap, is still a franchise tournament.

But there is so much anger aimed at the Proteas these days that I have no doubt that if the trio of veterans had been selected, then there would have been an outcry over choosing old cricketers who have not been part of the team for the whole year.

Of course, the controversy has also been used by those whose rage is always directed at Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher to rant about their supposed shortcomings and unfair treatment of players.

At some stage we have to move on from the past and the Proteas are heading into this T20 World Cup in far better shape than I think most people expected.