Ken Borland

Reasons why Mark Boucher sleeps easy going into the T20 World Cup

The middle-order batting is sorted – Batting in the subcontinent is easiest up front against the harder ball, so a strong middle-order is vital. It is also where South Africa have lost the most experience recently, with Faf du Plessis, Rilee Rossouw, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien all missing from the last T20 World Cup squad. But Rassie van der Dussen scored a brilliant, matchwinning, unbeaten century against Pakistan this week, showing how effective he is at accelerating after a somnolent start, Aiden Markram’s talent in white-ball cricket is starting to come through, and David Miller is in form and has played some rousing innings this year.

The Proteas have excellent spinners – Spinners are the dominant bowlers in T20 cricket these days, especially on the subcontinent. And South Africa have an excellent trio of left-arm slow bowlers to turn to. The unorthodox Tabraiz Shamsi is having an exceptional year and is No.1 in the T20 rankings for good reason, controlling the middle overs superbly. Keshav Maharaj is pure class when it comes to control of pace and length and can bowl up front or in the middle overs. Bjorn Fortuin has made his mark in the powerplay and has a fine record of 14 wickets in 13 T20 internationals and an economy rate of just 6.58.

Proteas have an excellent pressure game – The favourites for this World Cup – England, India and the West Indies – have not been shy to advertise their intent to aim for complete dominance with the bat, smashing as many boundaries as possible. But on sluggish, increasingly tired pitches, this could also get them into trouble. The Proteas – a bit like the Springboks – have shown that they are very good at playing a pressure game. As the win in the West Indies showed, a team that just chases boundaries and does not look after the ones and twos, can implode against the strangling South African attack and their sharp fielding.

Why Mark Boucher is tossing & turning at night ahead of the T20 World Cup

Previous World Cup selection dramas – There has been choking and there has been some unfortunate tomfoolery when it comes to selection at these premier cricket events in the past and Boucher, as a veteran of several of these campaigns as a player, will be keenly aware of those. Given that South Africa are underdogs at this tournament, they will need to be at their best and there is little room for error if they are to contend for the title. There could well be crucial selections that need to be made, such as when it comes to the bowling attack: If the Proteas are to continue to play both Shamsi and Maharaj, then only two of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi will be able to play. Nortje was probably the best of those bowlers in the recently-completed IPL on the same grounds, but will he be selected?

Do Proteas have a false sense of their own ability? – The Proteas certainly seem to be peaking at the right time, beating Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Ireland and the West Indies on their way to the World Cup. The ease with which they dispatched Sri Lanka at home was particularly impressive, but the West Indies and Pakistan are both famously inconsistent. South Africa are yet to play one of the big guns during their winning run.

Is there too much pressure on Quinton de Kock? – It is almost certain that if the Proteas are to challenge for the title then Quinton de Kock, their leading batsman, is going to have to have a great tournament. De Kock only passed 50 once in the second leg of the IPL and, by the end of their campaign was being left out of the Mumbai Indians starting XI. But his pedigree is undoubted. The only thing maybe holding him back from his usual daring self is the sometimes fragile nature of the Proteas batting. Hopefully he can put those worries aside and be the dominator we know he can be.

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber on Monday preached caution when it came to reading too much into how the Bulls’ shock hammering in the Rainbow Cup final could translate into the fortunes of the national team against the British and Irish Lions.

The Bulls, the dominant force in South African domestic rugby, played against Benetton in Treviso at the weekend and were thrashed 35-8 by a team that is certainly not considered to be one of the powerhouses of Europe. But Nienaber preferred to focus on the positive of local players gaining experience of what playing against teams from the Northern Hemisphere is like.

“I can’t comment on the Bulls’ plans because I don’t have insight into those, but Rassie Erasmus and I have said in the past that the Rainbow Cup is a good competition, not watered down like some people think. There are no weak teams and you have to have your ducks in a row. It’s a bit different to what we are used to, it’s a lot more tactical with every country being different.

“But club rugby does not always show the strength of your national set-up, like in 2019 none of our Super Rugby franchises made the final. So there’s no direct link to the Springboks, either positive or negative. But why we were so keen from a national point of view to get our teams into that competition is because you have to adapt week-in, week-out to different teams, styles of play, coaches and weather. It’s like in the World Cup when we had to adapt from playing Japan to playing Wales,” Nienaber said from Bloemfontein on Monday.

As the alignment phase of the national camp neared completion with next week being a Test week ahead of the match against Georgia on July 2 at Loftus Versfeld, Nienaber said this week provides an opportunity for the squad to bank some conditioning work.

“We’ve been getting everyone aligned in terms of our lingo and strategy, and now it’s time to raise the intensity. It’s an important week, the last week before Test week, and we can put a nice load on the players with an additional focus on conditioning. We just have to get used to the international rugby game again – the pace and physicality.

“It’s going to be a tough ask though for Cheslin Kolbe and Rynhardt Elstadt to play against Georgia next week because they play in the French Top 14 final this weekend and then they have their second Covid vaccination on Sunday before flying here on Monday, arriving maybe Tuesday. I don’t think it’s enough time for them to prepare and get back into our way of playing,” Nienaber said of the star Toulouse duo.

Many male rugby fans will know the feeling of the wife complaining about their being too much rugby over the weekend, but Bulls coach Jake White certainly seems to have a legitimate complaint when he expressed his concern over all the different demands on his players that will happen next month.

The Bulls, starting with their match against the Lions on Saturday, have three rounds of Rainbow Cup SA games left and, with them sitting top of the log at the moment, they will have their eyes on the final against the winners of the Pro14 in Europe on June 19. But they could also have to play in the Currie Cup that weekend, and it is likely that the Springboks could be in camp as well.

“I know a request has been made for us to be allowed to make our squads bigger than the player cap of 45, and that’s from all four unions, not just the Bulls. If we play in the Rainbow Cup final on June 19, we could also have a Currie Cup game and the Boks could be out too. The U20s also have a competition starting. But we’re only allowed 45 players so I’m not sure what we can do, can we choose club players?

“We’re waiting to hear from SA Rugby, but we’re all in the same boat. In fact, the Sharks could have 10-12 plays in the Springbok camp, so I’m not sure how they would pick two full teams. But as a coach I want to produce Springboks, I want guys like Cornal Henricks, Stedman Gans and Elrigh Louw to play for the Boks and the list goes on,” White said on Friday.

The quandary requires some nifty selecting and player management, and the elevation of Chris Smith to the position of starting flyhalf against the Lions, with Morne Steyn being rested, is an obvious example of this. White has given Smith plenty of game time in the last year and the 26-year-old has shown he has the qualities and temperament of a top franchise player.

“Even with Morne playing so well, we realise we are not going to have him forever and part of the plan is to groom the next flyhalf. If we lose Morne to an extended Springbok squad then we have to play Chris. He has come on in some pressure games and played very well. He’s got the talent, he plays quickly and he has a great passing game. There’s no panic, he’s started enough times.

“It’s good for him to get some game-time now and he has grown in the last year. Every practice he plays against Morne, so he can see what makes him different. But Chris has got something different too and he’s the No.2 flyhalf that has played the most out of all the franchise 10s. So we have a lot of faith in him, we’re ready to get the best out of him,” White said.

Bulls team: David Kriel, Madosh Tambwe, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Cornal Hendricks, James Verity-Amm, Chris Smith, Embrose Papier, Duane Vermeulen (C), Elrigh Louw, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Trevor Nyakane, Johan Grobbelaar, Lizo Gqoboka. Bench – Schalk Erasmus, Gerhard Steenekamp, Mornay Smith, Janko Swanepoel, Nizaam Carr, Zak Burger, Clinton Swart, Stravino Jacobs.

The slow poison of the Bulls was too much for the Sharks in the second half as the Currie Cup champions romped to an impressive 43-9 win in their Rainbow Cup match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.

The Bulls led 12-9 after an attritional first half in which their flyhalf, Morne Steyn, kicked four penalties and opposite number Curwin Bosch replied with three for the Sharks.

But the pressure was mostly exerted from right-to-left at Loftus Versfeld in the second half as the Bulls simply squeezed the Sharks out of the game. Flyhalf Steyn’s kicking, both at poles (7/7) and tactically, was outstanding and, together with scrumhalf Embrose Papier, they convincingly won the kicking battle.

And thus the Bulls controlled territory and scored two second-half tries to undermine the title challenge of the Sharks, who were top of the log by two points when they came to Pretoria.

The Sharks defended bravely for much of the third quarter, but eventually replacement prop Lizo Gqoboka went over from close range for the opening try in the 53^rd minute.

Although the Bulls’ victory was based on their superb forward display, their backs also produced some fine rugby and wing Stravino Jacobs scored the second try in the 68^th minute. Even then, it came after replacement flank Elrigh Louw had produced a powerful break down the right, from where the Bulls quickly went left and Jacobs had plenty of time and space to score.

The tremendous effort of the pack was then rewarded with a massive rolling maul try dotted down by replacement hooker Schalk Erasmus and substitute flyhalf Chris Smith then strolled over for the bonus point try in the final minute as the Sharks’ defence eventually capitulated.

Steyn’s control of the game and superb kicking made him an obvious choice for man of the match, but the scrummaging, lineout work, breakdown effort and gain-line steel of the Bulls pack was simply outstanding.

The imperviousness of the Loftus Versfeld fortress under Jake White continues, stronger than ever.

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Lizo Gqoboka, Stravino Jacobs, Schalk Erasmus, Chris Smith. Conversions: Morne Steyn (2), Smith (2). Penalties: Steyn (5).

Sharks – Penalties: Curwin Bosch (3).