Ken Borland

by Michael Bisset

Five clubs have managed to maintain a 100% record as the English Premier League starts their third round of fixtures this weekend, and there have been no draws in 2020/21 – a fascinating statistic.

But with some clubs having flattered to deceive thus far, I foresee that record falling this weekend as clubs jostle for early success this season.

Brighton and Hove vs Manchester United

Manchester United have shown promise under Ole Gunnar Solskjær but they should be wary of Graham Potter’s possession-based Seagulls. The south coast side faced a tricky encounter against Chelsea to start their campaign and in fairness they were worth more than a 1-3 defeat. Manchester United fans should not expect an easy win here, but I think they will take a 2-1 away win at the Amex Stadium.

Crystal Palace vs Everton

An unbeaten side will fall in this clash. Crystal Palace are arguably the weaker out of the two and Everton’s exceptional start should not be a surprise. Carlo Ancelotti is a world-renowned manager for a reason and his shrewd signings of James Rodríguez, Abdoulaye Doucouré & Allan has added real steel to the Toffees’ midfield. I predict a win for the Merseyside club by 2 goals to nil.

West Brom vs Chelsea

The Baggies should expect another loss when Lampard’s men visit the Hawthorns. Any other result would be a shock. Chelsea to win by 3 goals.

Burnley vs Southampton

An awful fixture to predict as Southampton have been torrid so far and Sean Dyche’s men play a defensive form of football that is not easy on the eye. I am biased towards the Saints and I can feel it swaying my decision here. Heart says 1-1 draw, but I think it is better to give the win to the gritty home side. It will not be pretty, but a clean sheet and a 1-goal advantage will suit the Clarets right down to the ground.

Sheffield United vs Leeds United

Wilder’s men have been massively disappointing up until this point. One could say that losing Dean Henderson has hampered their progress, but the lack of a lethal finisher is a more pertinent point. Leeds play an expansive and adventurous style of football and I think they will surprise a few this season. Going with a win for the Yorkshire side seems the best choice but the Blades are stubborn, so a 1-1 draw.

Tottenham vs Newcastle United

Gareth Bale is back in North London although Spurs hardly needed a bigger boost following their demolition job of Southampton last week. Newcastle capitulated to Brighton in the opening 20 minutes at home, so I only see one side taking the three points here. Spurs to win it, 2-0.

Manchester City vs Leicester City

These two have thrown up incredible ties in recent campaigns. Leicester caused a massive upset on Boxing Day in 2018. That win showed that the Foxes are not intimidated by the money pumped into the blue half of Manchester in any way. De Bruyne and his compatriots should have enough to see off the 2015/16 champions, but Jamie Vardy will get on the scoresheet. City to win 3-1.

West Ham United vs Wolves

David Moyes has seen a major drop-off in his luck and success since moving from Everton to Manchester United in 2013. West Ham are an anomaly because on their day, they can blow sides away as seen in the latter stages of last season. However, Wolves will be desperate to right the wrongs of their previous loss to Manchester City and take the three points. The London Stadium may be a factor in this, so we are predicting an exciting 2-2 draw.

Fulham vs Aston Villa

Scott Parker’s lads are yet to taste victory in their return to England’s biggest league. I am a firm believer that Villa are there for the taking. Fulham need to get onto the scoreboard if they are going to give themselves a chance of survival. Do not be surprised if this ends in a draw but we are backing the Cottagers by the odd goal.

Liverpool vs Arsenal

The final game of the weekend – well worth the wait. Mikel Arteta’s men have won the previous two encounters with Liverpool but Jürgen Klopp’s champions will not be fazed by that fact at all. Captain Jordan Henderson sits this one out, meaning that Thiago Alcântara is likely to enjoy his first Liverpool start. It will be entertaining and make Monday easier to bear. Liverpool to edge it, however Arsenal will get on the scoresheet. Either 2-1 or 3-1, depending on whether the Liverpool front trio gel.

Let us know what you think of these predictions. All feedback is greatly appreciated, enjoy the football!

The Members Council ‘owned’ the Fundudzi Forensic Report auditing the affairs of Cricket South Africa in the wake of the suspension of then-CEO Thabang Moroe from the moment they commissioned it last December and they are hopeful that they will finally get to see it without onerous conditions this weekend.

CSA announced in the early hours of Friday morning that the CSA Board of Directors and the Members Council would hold “a joint workshop this weekend to discuss critical matters” and while their statement was in response to Sascoc’s intervention in their affairs revealed on Thursday evening, provincial presidents have confirmed to The Citizen that Saturday’s agenda includes a discussion of the forensic report, which was completed in June.

“We will all be under one roof and hopefully we will at least get a partial view of the report that we will dissect and analyse. I’m pretty sure the forensic report will be made available, or at least what can be made public knowledge will be. This weekend is really make-or-break time for Cricket South Africa, I believe. And then hopefully we will meet with Sascoc on Sunday,” a Members Council delegate told The Citizen on Friday.

According to a president of a major CSA affiliate, efforts to get the organisation, which has postponed the AGM they were meant to hold on September 5, back on track by allowing the Members Council to be informed of any other directors or staff implicated in the misgovernance which saw Moroe being formally dismissed last week, have been hampered by the seven Board members who also sit on the Members Council.

“I’m disappointed by the Members Council to be honest, we just seem unable to make a decision, some representatives are just going along with whatever the Board members say,” the president said.

“There are seven other members of the Members Council and three of them have been especially vocal, but there seems to be a very serious conflict of interest amongst the Board because some of them earn double what their normal income would be by being directors. It’s a flaw in the system but Sascoc are dealing with the Members Council as we look at our Memorandum of Incorporation as well.”

According to their constitution, CSA have to hold an AGM by November 5.

Cricket South Africa chief executive Jacques Faul admitted on Monday that the organisation were “a bit naïve and ambitious” to think the sport would be let out of its Covid-19 Lockdown cell as early as this weekend, following the postponement of the Solidarity Cup.

The new format of the game, devised by 3TCricket, and a return to onfield action were launched amid much fanfare last week, with SuperSport Park in Centurion set to stage the contest involving three teams playing a 36-over match on Saturday, June 27.

But by the weekend CSA were forced to backtrack as government said they had not yet approved the plans, despite director of cricket Graeme Smith saying SuperSport Park had been “cleared” and “permits were in place” for the event to take place.

“We were a bit naïve and ambitious with the date because it did not leave us with a lot of time to work through all the protocols. Because SuperSport Park is in a hotspot, we now need Department of Health approval too. But we will take it on the chin and plan better. We really want to seek the correct procedure and it’s not something we can just push through,” Faul told The Citizen on Monday in a phone call.

CSA expect to be able to announce a new date for the Solidarity Cup in a few weeks.

As part of their efforts to convince the Department of Sports and Arts and Culture that they have measures in place to ensure a safe return to cricket, CSA have conducted more than 100 Covid-19 tests on their staff and those of the franchises, including players. Sport24 revealed on Monday that seven of those tests had returned positive results.

But those safety processes now have to be approved by two government departments so the wait to get back out on to the cricket field will last a little longer.

But if thousands of golfers are out and about on hundreds of courses around the country, then it surely won’t be long before cricket, in what is going to be a tightly-controlled environment, returns too.

Everyone can see that the Springboks are not getting the results for the amount of effort they are putting in, but there is real pressure on them against France at the Stade de France. If they lose this weekend then that will be three defeats on the bounce which is not a good return.

Coach Rassie Erasmus will only have a 41% winning record if the Springboks lose to France, but we can see progress in their performances this year.

Last weekend against England was another Test that got away from Rassie and the Springboks though, who simply made too many mistakes.

In terms of Owen Farrell’s controversial last tackle, it was definitely, according to the laws, a clear penalty and yellow card. It was certainly a big shot, with the defender just trying to get his body in the way of the carrier, he made good shoulder contact but there were no arms involved. In fact, it is very hard to get the arms around when you are making that sort of tackle. The height as well was definitely penalisable.

The Springboks’ error-rate was particularly costly at lineout time and there were two main functions responsible for that – their alignment and the timing between the jumper and Malcolm Marx, who was having a technical issue with his throwing.

Having worked with Malcolm on his throwing between the ages of 18 and 21, plus being head-on with hookers throwing to the lollipop for 20 years, I can see exactly what went wrong. It’s like a golf swing and I can see if the shoulders, fingers or hips are wrong when he throws.

The Springboks used the middle pod a lot in their phase play, they play a 1-3-2-2, but after playing across the field you always eventually end up on the edge. Both teams tried to put the middle pod under pressure, but England did it better, making good reads with their defensive rush getting on top. The Springboks needed to play out the back more, while England did look to use their second line on attack and enjoyed a lot of success with that in the second half.

The Springboks were able to get tremendous field position in the first half through their scrum and maul, but the problem was, when you maul a lot, it means you get slow ball afterwards with forwards behind forwards latchers.

South Africa’s kicking game was good and with a few better bounces they would have had England under real pressure. They played two phases and kicked as they have done in their last six Tests, and found good space behind the England wingers. Scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl’s box-kicking was good, and it was a real war of the boot between him and Ben Youngs.

England regained the ball well though in the second half and they had the Springboks under pressure. In a gainline battle like last weekend’s Test, those aerial duels are crucial.

Damian de Allende found areas in which he was able to get outside the rush defence from behind the middle pod, he was able to find space, getting over the advantage line with good footwork, and he really gave the Springboks go-forward. Damian is now a regular in the team and he should consistently be putting in performances like that.

The Springboks used Warren Whiteley more in the wide channels, on the edge of the attack a lot, and Duane Vermeulen was under a lot of high balls, so they were a good loose-forward combination.

It was a very tactical game at Twickenham, with a lot of mauls, but England just had a bit more fluidity. The one real positive for the Springboks was the scrummaging, they absolutely destroyed England and got two tightheads, which is quite something at that level. The one crucial scrum penalty against them at the end was a 50/50 call though.

I’m really looking forward to this weekend’s game, I’ve gained a great respect for French rugby over the last four months. It’s going to be a big midfield battle against the two powerhouse French centres, Gael Fickou and Mathieu Basteraud. Flyhalf Camille Lopez is a great tactician and has a good kicking game, and plays flat on the gainline.

And the French forward pack is never poor.

Sbu Nkosi and Aphiwe Dyantyi were very good for the Springboks against England, but I’m looking forward to Willie le Roux and Faf de Klerk adding a bit more spark.

Stade Francais assistant coach John McFarland was the Springbok defence coach from 2012 through to the 2015 World Cup, where they conceded the least line-breaks in the tournament and an average of just one try per game. From 2001 to 2012 he won three SuperRugby titles (2007, 09, 10) with the Bulls and five Currie Cup crowns with the Blue Bulls. McFarland enjoyed three years with the Kubota Spears in Tokyo from 2016-18.