Ken Borland

As a father of two and someone who rose to the top of the rugby world despite coming from an under-resourced background in Zimbabwe, it is no surprise that looking after the welfare of children would feature strongly in the post-Springboks life of Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira.

The 36-year-old Mtawarira, the most-capped prop in Springbok history, was announced this week as the Regional Ambassador for Eastern and Southern Africa for Unicef, the United Nations Children’s Fund.

His role will be to bring much needed attention to Unicef’s humanitarian and development priorities in the region and he has already travelled to the Mukuru informal settlement in Nairobi, where he spoke with the young children about the significant challenges they face.

Mtawarira is passionate about improving the education and sporting opportunities of vulnerable children. As someone who arrived in Durban in 2003 with just a bicycle and one bag as he tried to follow his rugby dream, The Beast knows first-hand what it means to fulfil one’s potential against the odds.

“I’ve always wanted to work with children and I am blessed to have two of my own, my pigeon pair Talumba and Wangu,” Mtawarira told Saturday Citizen. “I want to inspire children to reach their wildest dreams.

“In my playing days I saw myself as a role-model, as a symbol of hope. I was that kid once upon a time, who needed support to fulfil his talent, and now I want to pass it on.

“So it’s a massive honour for me to be Unicef’s regional ambassador, humanitarian issues have always meant a lot for me and to impact lives is the most meaningful thing I can do.

“I was in Nairobi last week, at an informal settlement, and it was humbling to see families in very tough circumstances. But Unicef allows those children to access quality education, sanitation and water,” Mtawarira said.

But the third most capped Springbok of all time is also an inspiration to adults, and his busy schedule also sees him playing a mentorship role at the Sharks. He is hopeful that Kings Park will become a factory for great tight forwards, picking up the baton he left in 2019.

“I spend a lot of my time involved with the Sharks, in a mentorship role with the players and I also represent MVM Holdings [the Sharks’ equity partners] as a strategic advisor on the board.

“So I am quite hands-on. It’s been impressive to see how the pack has done lately. The arrival of Bongi Mbonambi [hooker] has made a significant difference and Ox Nche [Beast’s successor in the No.1 jersey] is coming up in leaps and bounds.

“So there are a lot of positives around the Sharks at the moment, which is what I wanted to see when I retired, so I’m happy.

“They have a core group of senior players, guys like Siya Kolisi, Bongi and Thomas du Toit, who are World Cup winners and understand what it takes to be a top-performing pack in such a tough competition as the United Rugby Championship.

“The youngsters will learn from them and Globis, the Georgian scrum coach [Akvsenti Giorgadze], has set really high standards. He’s great on technique and his attention to detail in training has seen significant progress in the scrum,” Mtawarira said.

The man who made 159 appearances for the Sharks in SuperRugby also says the move to the URC in Europe has been very good for South African rugby.

“I was blessed to play so many SuperRugby games, but the URC has been a great shift for the South African teams. The players relish the opportunity of playing in Europe.

“There are a lot of positives for South African rugby – especially that it’s the same time zone and you’re not necessarily going to be playing with jetlag.

“It’s not so similar conditions for the players, but no South African is going to shy away from a bit of cold weather. There is a lot more in our favour than there was in SuperRugby,” Mtawarira said.

While Beast was a vital part of the South African team that won the 2019 World Cup and he is confident they can defend that title in France next year, he says he hopes to see the births of some legendary new Springbok careers in the build-up to that tournament.

“I think the Springboks are in a great position to defend the World Cup, we have a lot of depth and talent, but the big thing is to not peak too early.

“I hope we give the youngsters a chance before the World Cup, especially during the Wales tour here in July. Guys like Aphelele Fassi, Damian Willemse and Wandisile Simelane have been shining in the URC and we must blood them.

“It’s also important to perform well in the Rugby Championship, we must win that, and you also want to get through this season without any serious injuries.

“A lot of other teams will have studied our game-plan and will see how they can break us down. We know our strength lies in our pack and so our method will not change, but hopefully there are a few tricks or variations we can bring in,” Mtawarira said.

Thirty-two year old opener Sarel Erwee has worked very hard to get to the top of the cricket pile and the left-hander made sure he enjoyed the view on Friday as he notched his maiden Test century to give South Africa the advantage after the first day of the second Test against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

Erwee, playing in just his second Test, showed great maturity and shot-selection as he scored 108 to lead the Proteas to a rock-solid 238/3 at stumps.

South Africa were batting first having made a surprise decision at the toss, but captain Dean Elgar’s hunch that the pitch did not look as green as the one for the first Test, proved spot-on.

Elgar and Erwee were impressively watchful but positive in their intent whether defending or attacking as they backed up the brave decision at the toss with a wonderful opening stand that took the Proteas to 80/0 at lunch.

New Zealand eventually made their first breakthrough half-an-hour after lunch when Elgar, having scored a tenacious 41, was beaten and bowled all-ends-up by a superb Tim Southee delivery that was angled into the left-hander before nipping away to hit the top of off-stump.

Erwee batted on, however, going to his century in the over before tea, having stroked 13 fours in 188 balls. His driving through the covers and straight, and his clips off his pads, were particularly pleasing on the eye.

Aiden Markram, his Test career in flux, dug himself in carefully, building a vital second-wicket stand of 88 with Erwee. The Test rookie showed great composure through the ebbs and flows of his innings, as did Markram as they rode out a particularly testing period before tea when the Black Caps bowled five consecutive maiden overs.

Markram was just starting to shift gears and had played a number of fine attacking strokes to boost his score to 42 when he suffered a lapse in concentration, driving at a full, wide delivery from left-armer Neil Wagner and edging into the slips.

It ended a highly promising innings, plus New Zealand managed to add the wicket of Erwee in the next over, being caught behind off Matt Henry.

The two quick strikes led to a lift in intensity from the bowlers and Temba Bavuma survived a couple of edges through the slips and Rassie van der Dussen was dropped on 7 at midwicket by Will Young off Henry.

But they were both there at the end, ready to resume on the second day with Van der Dussen on 13 and Bavuma having added 22.

Given what transpired in the first Test, the opening day of the second Test was a massive positive for South Africa.

The Northerns Titans continued their assault for top spot on the CSA T20 Challenge log when they chased down a target of 149 against the Central Gauteng Lions with ease, winning by seven wickets with 11 balls to spare at St George’s Park on Thursday.

Quinton de Kock set about the bowling from the outset, racing to 22 off 11 balls, before Bjorn Fortuin (4-0-23-1) had him caught.

The chase was then brilliantly managed by captain Theunis de Bruyn, who stroked a fluent 63 not out off 51 balls, and Heinrich Klaasen, who sped to 44 off 33 deliveries as they broke the back of the chase with a third-wicket stand of 106 off just 71 balls.

Malusi Siboto took 2/21 in 3.1 overs as he and Fortuin were the only Lions bowlers not to fetch.

Having elected to bat first, the Lions made a fine start with Reeza Hendricks (41 off 37) and Kagiso Rapulana (31 off 25) added 58 for the first wicket in 8.3 overs.

Tabraiz Shamsi (4-0-25-2) then set in motion a collapse with the wickets of Hendricks and the dangerous Shane Dadswell (0) with successive deliveries, as the Lions slumped to 101/6 in the 16^th over.

Sisanda Magala gave them some hope, however, as he blasted a quickfire 33 not out off just 18 deliveries.

Shamsi was backed up by excellent spin bowling by Aaron Phangiso (4-0-18-1) and Dewald Brevis (3-0-18-1).

Northerns are now just one point behind the log-leading Western Province side.

In the afternoon game, another sensational innings by Tristan Stubbs took Eastern Province to 156/6 after they elected to bat first, but the Warriors would pay for poor fielding and untidy bowling as the Boland Rocks passed that score with three wickets and two balls to spare.

Stubbs continued to push for higher honours as he belted 47 off 30 balls, with Wihan Lubbe (35 off 25) and Diego Rosier (31 off 22) providing valuable help.

Boland’s spinners, led by leggie Shaun von Berg (4-0-26-3), were outstanding – Imran Manack taking 1/21 and Siyabonga Mahima conceding just 22 runs in their quota of overs.

The Warriors dismissed both Malan brothers in the first two overs, but Boland were then let off the hook as catches were dropped, allowing Clyde Fortuin and Ferisco Adams, who both scored 27 off 17 balls, to provide some impetus.

Young Michael Copeland played an impressively mature innings of 40 and Christiaan Jonker hit 30 off 25, before Hardus Viljoen saw the Rocks home with 18 not out off 8 balls.

Jon-Jon Smuts (4-0-16-1) led a good bowling display by the spinners, with Tsepo Ndwandwa taking 2/33 and Lizo Makhosi 1/16 in three overs.

South African captain Keenan Horne is looking forward to his team putting aside the mixed fortunes they have had against top opposition and performing with more consistency against them in the FIH Hockey Pro League that gets underway in Potchefstroom from Tuesday.

The home side are missing a couple of key players as they take on the Netherlands, India, France and Germany in the South African leg of the league this month. The Dutch, the Indians and the Germans are all powerhouses of the game, although they have come to Potchefstroom with some new players as they begin preparations for the World Cup in a year’s time.

South Africa were 3-0 up against the Netherlands in last year’s Olympic Games, before losing 5-3, but they did pull off a famous 4-3 win over Germany, who were winners by the same scoreline in their previous meeting, which followed 6-2 and 6-1 wins in the two Tests before that.

India have beaten South Africa 5-1 and 5-0 in their last two engagements.

“Even if our primary aim is to grow the team, as a competitive player you always want to win,” Horne said on Monday. “We don’t always get the chance to play against teams in the top-eight and it’s usually in tough tournament conditions.

“So it is always great to get one of their scalps and we know we are able to do it. But we really need to build our consistency, what we really want is to be able to compete in every single game,” Horne said.

While South Africa will have home-ground advantage – Potchefstroom bringing heat and high-altitude into the equation – Horne said their opponents have shown the ability to adapt to different conditions.

“We’re coming up against really top teams who tour all around the world. So they play in all sorts of conditions and they are used to adjusting.

“But the altitude and heat will not be as difficult for us, so if it is an advantage we will take whatever we can get,” Horne said.

South Africa have certainly shown the ability to score goals – notching 11 in their three matches against Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands at the Olympics – but coach Garreth Ewing said they have to shore up their defence in the Pro League. Especially since they have a tough opening fixture against the Dutch at 8pm on Tuesday.

“The Netherlands are very skilful and gifted all around the field and it’s going to be a challenge for our defence. That’s our first focus, trying to get that right,” Ewing said.