Ken Borland

Professional golf returns to action this month with two events in the Rise Up Series sponsored by Betway and African Bank, and the Sunshine Tour is also confident they will complete negotiations with three other investors for a further trio of tournaments next month.

The country’s top golfers will return to competition on August 19 with the Betway Championship at Killarney Country Club, followed by the African Bank Championship at Glendower Golf Club from August 26-28. Three other events are lined up for Pretoria Country Club (September 2-4), ERPM Golf Club (September 23-25) and Huddle Park (September 30-October 2). Each tournament has a purse of R600 000.

“These are exciting times with the Rise Up Series. We would love to be playing for much more money, but these are tough times. But we are going to do some clever things with our wonderful sponsors. For the Betway Championship there will be a birdie challenge with a R50 000 pot, the golfer with the most birdies wins R25 000, second-most gets R15 000 and third is R10 000.

“African Bank also jumped at the opportunity to get involved and they will be bringing their portfolios in and around the golf clubs. SuperSport are tour partners as well and we have other hooks in the water. We are just waiting for confirmation but we are hopeful of having title sponsors for all five events. Plus there will be live streaming of the action for the last three-and-a-half hours every Friday, so that’s further reach,” Sunshine Tour deputy commissioner Thomas Abt said in a virtual press conference on Tuesday.

Sunshine Tour stalwart Jake Roos said the players are just delighted for the opportunity to both play some competitive golf again and earn a living.

“The last time we played was the Tour Championship back in February, so everybody is very grateful to the Sunshine Tour staff who have shown a lot of dedication to get us playing again. It’s important for us pro golfers to compete again, you lose your edge if you don’t play, and it will be nice to earn some money too. We are all super-excited.

“It will be unchartered waters because we’ve had six months off and a lot of guys have never had more than a few weeks without competing. Luckily we have been playing and practising for a couple of months now, but until the pressure of a tournament you never know how your game really is. But we are all refreshed and have had time to work on some technical things,” Roos said.

Pote Human admitted that the time is coming when he has to start rotating players, but for now the Bulls coach is able to just freshen up his squad in one or two areas, as he did on Wednesday when he announced a team with three changes in it to face the Chiefs in their SuperRugby game at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Centre Burger Odendaal and flank Ruan Steenkamp, both probable first-choice players, return to the starting line-up after prolonged injury absences, while a shoulder niggle for regular fullback Warrick Gelant has convinced Human to rest the Springbok for this weekend and bring in Divan Rossouw as the last line of defence.

Dylan Sage and Tim Agaba, the players displaced by Odendaal and Steenkamp, are both on the bench, along with returning lock Eli Snyman.

When one considers that available players such as Roelof Smit, Marco van Staden, Jaco Visagie, Aston Fortuin, Travis Ismaiel and Johnny Kotze are all unable to get into the match-day 23 right now, then one can see that Human suddenly has the depth to start rotating players and ensure his squad stays fresh in the toughest competition in world rugby.

“It’s getting more and more difficult to select the team but it’s a good place to be. Some Springboks do need game-time off as well, but we have Marco, Manie Libbok, Johnny and Travis all back and available and it was close between Jaco Visagie and Corniel Els for the substitute hooker position this weekend. So it’s a nice position to be in,” Human said at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday.

The Chiefs, despite their mediocre start to the campaign, remain extremely dangerous opposition and the Bulls will need to shut them down at source on Saturday. The Bulls pack have certainly rolled up their sleeves in the first month of SuperRugby and Jason Jenkins and Hanro Liebenberg did well enough as the starting lock pairing against the Sharks in their last game for Human to persist with them as they tackle Brodie Retallick and his forwards.

“We kept the same locks because they did very well against the Sharks and they will be very physical, which is what will be needed against the Chiefs. We will try and force our game on their’s and if we can win the battle up front then we’re halfway there. We have the pack to do it so I think we’ll be okay.

“The scrums have been a big plus point for us, with Daan Human [scrummaging coach] coming in and he has done unbelievable work. I’m old school: If we can do well in the scrums and get go-forward then we’ll be okay,” Human said.

Squad: 15-Divan Rossouw, 14-Cornal Hendricks, 13-Jesse Kriel, 12-Burger Odendaal, 11-Rosko Specman, 10-Handre Pollard, 9-Ivan van Zyl, 8-Duane Vermeulen, 7-Jannes Kirsten, 6-Ruan Steenkamp, 5-Jason Jenkins, 4-Hanro Liebenberg, 3-Trevor Nyakane, 2-Schalk Brits, 1-Lizo Gqoboka. Replacements – 16-Corniel Els, 17-Simphiwe Matanzima, 18-Dayan van der Westhuyzen, 19-Eli Snyman, 20-Tim Agaba, 21-Embrose Papier, 22-Manie Libbok, 23-Dylan Sage.

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.

Women’s Proteas coach Hilton Moreeng on Wednesday described their upcoming tour of the West Indies, in which they will play three ODIs and five T20 internationals from September 16 to October 6, as being vital on two fronts.

The ODIs form part of the ICC Women’s Championship, in which South Africa are currently languishing in seventh place, but if they win the series then they will overtake the fifth-placed West Indies, with the top four teams automatically qualifying for the 2021 World Cup.

But while that is South Africa’s priority, they would be stupid not to take advantage of being in the Caribbean just a couple of months before the next T20 World Cup, and the Proteas will get in some invaluable reconnaissance during that five-match series against the defending champions.

“The importance of the tour is two-fold, firstly the three ODIs are key because of the ICC Women’s Championship and they give us the opportunity for some points because we have some home series after that. Our priority is the ODIs, but we are very fortunate to play the T20s against the defending champions on their home soil as well.

“We will be able to see the conditions over there, we know the West Indies play very aggressive cricket and they obviously know the conditions very well, so we can see how we go against them, having beaten them here in the T20 series in 2016. So we will take as much as we can from being exposed to the conditions over there,” Moreeng said at the Tuks Cricket Oval, where the team is preparing at the High Performance Centre.

The Women’s Proteas disappointed in their tour of England in June, making silly mistakes, and the drive for consistency is the major focus of their preparations.

“Our consistency is the biggest thing we need to improve, we were extremely inconsistent in England. The skills were not where they should be, both in terms of the batting and the bowling. The fitness and fielding have been very good on the first two days of our camp and I’m very happy with how the youngsters are keeping up.

“We will now be going into the different scenarios we want to train for and the three practice games we’ll play will make sure the players all understand what is required. The experience around the young players will help them grow, we’ve been keeping tabs on how the new faces go about their business at the High Performance Centre and they have graduated very well,” Moreeng said.

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-citizen-kzn/20180823/282063392820794