Ken Borland

Batting hero Rassie van der Dussen says the Proteas know from their own batting collapse that their bowlers will still have enough assistance from the St Lucia pitch to win the second Test against the West Indies, but if wickets do become hard to get then they know they can extort them through the age-old disciplines of line and length.

Van der Dussen scored a fine 75 not out, fighting his way to his sixth Test half-century and lifting South Africa from a deep hole at 73 for seven to 174 all out, with the tremendous assistance of Kagiso Rabada, who stroked a bright, career-best 40. That left the West Indies with a far more daunting target of 324 to share the series.

“We knew that the West Indies would already have to make their biggest score of the series and we would have been happy with a lead of 250 to 280, but then KG came in and played brilliantly. It’s the sort of pitch where you know you have to move positively and show intent. If you just hang around then you will get good balls that can get you out.

“As a batsman, you have to get into good, strong positions, even though the pitch is getting a little more placid. And if they do manage to put together a partnership then we will have to be really disciplined with our lines and lengths because there is a bit of assistance for the bowlers. We’ve grafted hard and played some really good cricket over the first two days, now we just need to back it up,” Van der Dussen said.

The 32-year-old went through another gripping contest with West Indian bowling spearhead Kemar Roach, who finished with four for 52. Van der Dussen was bowled without playing a shot by a beauty from Roach in the first innings and said he did some important analysis between innings.

“Kemar is a world-class performer and he made it tough for me in the first innings, doing a lot with the ball. So I did some analysis this morning, just working on some different options and game-plans, trying to take lbw out of the picture and just covering the outside edge.

“I don’t mind changing things in the middle of a Test, I’ve played a lot of first-class cricket and I know my game. Sometimes it’s just a matter of changing a couple of small things,” Van der Dussen said in a television interview.

Temba Bavuma already missed the T20 series against Pakistan this year through injury and now the middle-order batsman might be forced to take a short sabbatical from Test cricket as well, with Proteas captain Dean Elgar confirming on Wednesday that his vice-captain is in doubt for the first Test against the West Indies which starts at St Lucia on Thursday.

Bavuma strained his hamstring in the last ODI against Pakistan in early April and had to miss the four T20s that followed, but his current injury is a problem with his left hip.

“Temba is a bit of a concern, yesterday was a big day when he pushed his body and today he’ll have to go and prove his fitness,” Elgar said on Wednesday morning in the Caribbean. “We’re obviously banking on him being fit, but Kyle Verreynne is definitely in position to take his place, he’s best suited to No.5, which is where Temba would slot in, he’s accustomed to that.

“That means we’ll possibly have two guys making their debut [Keegan Petersen is set to replace the retired Faf du Plessis], but we don’t have other options really. All our back-up batsmen haven’t played Test cricket yet. But it’s not bad to have young guys coming in, they’re very hungry. I’m sure Kyle will be champing at the bit if Temba is not fit,” Elgar added.

Conditions at St Lucia at this time of year would seem to be very different to what South African teams have previously encountered in the West Indies, but Elgar said they had garnered plenty of info from a two-day practice game they played that turned into a pretty intense contest.

“We’ve been thrown into the deep end a lot recently, but we played a two-day game and it was two tough days of cricket. The first day was very tough batting conditions, playing on a side-pitch with a slope, it was overcast and we’re using the Dukes ball we’re not so used to. And then the second day was an extremely competitive battle between bat and ball.

“Historically this is a very seam-friendly pitch, but if you apply yourself as a batsman you can get in and score runs. We are aware of our limitations and failures, but preparation is one thing we can control, although it is no guarantee of success. We’ve lost a lot of experience in the batting, but it’s time for guys to put their hands up, there are opportunities there now,” Elgar said.

Ahead of such major events as a British and Irish Lions tour, it is obligatory for all South African rugby fans to choose their Springbok squad to take on the tourists and, for me, just running through the list of players available makes me confident the hosts can turn the Lions’ roar into a meow.

Not that I am predicting a 3-0 whitewash by any means, I am sure all three Tests will be epic contests and a 2-1 margin is most likely. But the Springboks, providing they can reach Test match intensity quickly having not played at that level in over 18 months, can really hurt the Lions.

The superb Springbok pack that won the World Cup final, barring a couple of retirees, is still intact. And Jacques Nienaber is able to add players who have dominated their European opposition at club level, like Marcell Coetzee, Jasper Wiese, Rynhardt Elstadt and probably one of the Du Preez brothers (Dan or Jean-Luc), to that mix.

Set-piece prowess is going to be a big factor in the series and South Africa have wonderful back-up props and locks in Lizo Gqoboka, Trevor Nyakane, Ox Nche, Marvin Orie, Jason Jenkins and either JD Schickerling or Ruan Nortje. Imagine if Lood de Jager and RG Snyman were fit as well!

While South African rugby’s strength has traditionally been up front, it’s not as if the backline is going to concede tries like the Melbourne Rebels do. Plus they have some of the best attacking players in world rugby in their midst like Cheslin Kolbe, Makazole Mapimpi and Handre Pollard. In midfield, Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am are like the mailman, they always deliver, and Faf de Klerk is still a pain in the opposition’s butt.

And I am looking forward to some dazzling new international careers being born for the likes of Aphelele Fassi and Wandisile Simelane.

Apart from speed merchants Mapimpi and Kolbe, there is ‘toe’ aplenty in back-up wings Sbu Nkosi, Yaw Penxe, Raymond Rhule and utility back Damian Willemse.

I feel desperately sorry for the likes of De Jager, Snyman, Warrick Gelant and Sikhumbuzo Notshe, who did his knee three weeks ago, who will miss the series due to injury. It makes me even sadder that Cornal Hendricks, such an inspiring revelation at inside centre for the Bulls, is likely to miss out purely for off-field reasons relating to his legal action against SA Rugby over the handling of his heart condition.

I have sympathy for Nienaber and director of rugby Rassie Erasmus as they undertook the hellish task of choosing 45 players and breaking the hearts of several others. Who do you choose between Penxe and Madosh Tambwe? Even without Hendricks, does Andre Esterhuizen, so close to the 2019 World Cup squad, make it or do they recall Jan Serfontein?

What about Curwin Bosch? Does the squad need four flyhalves when you have the utility ability of Francois Steyn and Willemse?

Quality scrumhalves like Ivan van Zyl and Embrose Papier look set to miss out, while Jacques Vermeulen deserves a place for sheer tenacity, but is probably going to join one of the Du Preezs on the sidelines.

Even without De Jager and Snyman, there is probably only space for one of Schickerling and Nortje, and there are quality, in-form props like Carlu Sadie, Sti Sithole and Wilco Louw who will not get the nod.

Many of these players will just get to play in the one game against the Lions, for the SA A team in Cape Town on July 14, but they will forever have the experience of being in the Springbok camp, involved in the greatest series of them all, even if it is in a bio-bubble.

The squad will then be cut to 35-37 players depending on injuries, but in a hectic year for South African rugby, I’m sure many of those will be used in the team at some stage. There are going to be big squads chosen to sit in the bubbles in Australia and New Zealand for the Rugby Championship as well.

It is the nature of selection in a sport with such passionate provincial loyalties as rugby that everyone will have an individual player that they are adamant should have been in the squad. But these are the 45 men I would have in the Springbok squad (knowing full well that some of them are not going to be included):

Willie le Roux, Aphelele Fassi, Damian Willemse; Cheslin Kolbe, Raymond Rhule, Jan Serfontein; Lukhanyo Am, Jesse Kriel, Wandisile Simelane; Damian de Allende, Cornal Hendricks, Francois Steyn; Makazole Mapimpi, Sbu Nkosi, Yaw Penxe; Handre Pollard, Elton Jantjies, Morne Steyn; Faf de Klerk, Cobus Reinach, Ivan van Zyl; Duane Vermeulen, Marcell Coetzee, Jean-Luc du Preez; Pieter-Steph du Toit, Rynhardt Elstadt, Jasper Wiese; Siya Kolisi, Kwagga Smith, Marco van Staden; Franco Mostert, Marvin Orie, Ruan Nortje; Eben Etzebeth, Jason Jenkins; Frans Malherbe, Vincent Koch, Trevor Nyakane; Bongi Mbonambi, Malcolm Marx, Scarra Ntubeni; Steven Kitshoff, Lizo Gqoboka, Ox Nche, Thomas du Toit.

Turnovers spread through the Sharks’ performance like the bubonic plague last weekend, and if there was one area where the Lions excelled in their opening Rainbow Cup fixture, it was the breakdowns. So not turning over possession is going to be the key focus of the KwaZulu-Natal side as they host the Gautengers at Kings Park on Saturday.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt produced the astounding figure of 29 turnovers that his team conceded against the Stormers in Cape Town, and given that they enjoy playing a fluent game based on momentum, that extent of profligacy is clearly untenable for them.

And the Lions made life very difficult for the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld, throwing everything at the rucks and cleaning up in that department.

“The biggest factor is going to be the number of turnovers conceded so we’ve looked to tighten up there. We’ve worked hard at our breakdown, because what we did last weekend is not going to be good enough against the Lions, who have two guys going very hard on the ball. The Lions contended at Loftus until the 70^th minute and they are tough to play against.

“They come hard at the breakdown so it’s difficult to get continuity. Keeping possession is going to be really important so we don’t allow them any free shots at us. We have to look after the ball at the breakdown because we don’t want a stop-start game. It’s going to be hard because MJ Pelser was massive there against the Bulls and we know the Lions score the majority of their tries from turnovers,” Everitt said this week.

While the Lions loose trio of Pelser, Vincent Tshituka and Franck Horne combined well to obstruct much of what the Bulls were trying to do, the Sharks arguably play with more flair and, if they sort out their breakdown work, they cold be harder to stop. They scored a couple of fantastic tries against the Stormers, with hat-trick scoring lock Reniel Hugo showing the sort of mobility and handling skills that Everitt is looking for from the forwards.

“We want to speed the game up, so Reniel scoring one of his tries from a quick tap was good game-awareness. But the Lions also have young backs full of energy and Wandisile Simelane is a great player who was a thorn in our side in the preparation series match. So we need to be on top of our game and keep our foot on the pedal,” Everitt said.