Ken Borland

So the biggest question to come out of last weekend’s SuperRugby action was where has that Sharks team that put in two massive consecutive performances in New Zealand been hiding all season?!

The Sharks really put in a huge display in Napier and the Hurricanes were very lucky to win; the referee made some poor decisions at the back end of the game and that didn’t help the Sharks either. But Robert du Preez’s team were really in a position to win their second massive game in a row.

To see a New Zealand side struggle to cope with the pace and power of Jean-Luc du Preez and Andre Esterhuizen, especially the ease with which he went straight through from the lineout, was incredible. The Sharks would have won but for a late hit and a missed lineout that led to seven points down the other end, so that was obviously disappointing for them.

The Sharks had shown glimpses of this sort of form before, but probably not early enough in the season, so they are still 11 points off the pace in their group. Questions have to be asked as to why only now have they started to really play?

Maybe they’re more match-fit now, halfway through the competition, but the big thing is that their set-pieces are starting to function better. They’re getting good, clean lineout ball and are disrupting the opposition’s ball too, while Thomas du Toit is starting to settle at tighthead prop and that experiment is starting to not look so crazy. He’s getting his shoulders and the scrum has been stable enough to launch Esterhuizen, and the platform it provided for the Louis Schreuder try would have been really pleasing.

There are a lot of positives for the Sharks at the moment, but some of their first-phase defence and the way the wings defend needs to be better. Lukhanyo Am made one really poor decision at a lineout, he needed to be moving in instead of going out, and that provided the hole for a try.

But it’s going to be a big game this weekend in Durban because whoever loses between the Sharks and the Bulls will have a hard way back to get into a playoff spot. It’s going to be a massive derby.

But as I said, there are a lot of positives for the Sharks to take into the game – their willingness to offload in the wide channels, their ball-carriers going hard and an astute kicking game by Schreuder at scrumhalf. But they still need to tighten their defence – they’ve conceded 10 tries in two games.

As for their performances over the last night fortnight providing a blueprint for how to beat New Zealand, one thing is certain and that is that historically it takes a miracle to score more than five tries against the All Blacks. So you can’t be conceding five tries per game. It is pleasing that the Sharks are scoring so many points, but they need to concede less.

The Bulls had a great win against the Stormers two weeks ago and should be refreshed after their bye round. Handre Pollard had a really good game with the boot and exposed the positional play of the back three of the Stormers and he will be hoping to do the same this weekend. What was also impressive was the two tries they scored with their driving maul but the main thing for them will be to defend well in Durban because the Sharks are definitely scoring tries. They will have to contain the power running of Esterhuizen, Jean-Luc du Preez and Am. I’ve also been impressed by Robert du Preez’s ability to keep the scoreboard ticking over with his excellent goalkicking.

So the Bulls will have to be at their best defensively and very good in terms of discipline. The penalty count will need to be less than 10 so they will have to make very good decisions at the breakdown and strive for set-piece excellence.

The Lions, after their setbacks of the last few weeks, came out full of intent against the Stormers and Madosh Tambwe was outstanding.

For his first try, from the chip, Damian Willemse’s kick was from too deep. With his footwork, he needs to be flat and bringing runners into the game, and that chip needed to be behind the centres. It was just in the wrong spot and he doesn’t yet have the tactical boot and appreciation for space.

So that try had the Stormers under pressure from practically the first minute and then the ability of Elton Jantjies to pick up Tambwe on the kick into space and the wing himself showing he can also go into the hard channels led to his other two tries for an astonishing hat-trick in 13 minutes.

The Lions certainly seem to have a pool of wings now, with Ruan Combrinck back and Aphiwe Dyantyi close to returning, plus Courtnall Skosan on the sidelines, they have four really quality players. Four years ago, our wing stocks were really low in South Africa, but now we have those four plus Sbu Nkosi of the Sharks and Travis Ismaiel of the Bulls.

However, a lot of the defensive decisions of South African wingers this year have been poor. Yes, you have to put pressure on but you also have to make the tackles! Springbok defence coach Jacques Nienaber will have a different approach to guys like John Mitchell and Paul Feeney, who are using a rush defence at the Bulls and Stormers respectively. They want their wings to get in amongst the opposition, but that leaves you open to the bridge-pass and the kick-pass because they get disconnected from their centres. Jacques in the past wanted his wings behind the centres, to shadow the opposition and force them towards the touchline.

We are seeing so much of the kick-pass to the wide channels these days and wings have so much on their plate defensively, not to mention the big guys with serious gas and stepping ability they have to contend with as well.

The Springbok alignment camps are on the go and obviously the guys don’t train at those, but it’s a good chance for the national coaching staff to impart their philosophies. They will reveal the calling system and defensive lingo to be used, basically it’s a chance for them to give the players their messages for the year. It involves a heck of a lot of study because it’s all about how the Springboks will play this year.

There’s certainly some exciting talent available for Rassie Erasmus, and how his predecessor, Alistair Coetzee, would have loved to have seen the 30-cap overseas player rule relaxed. Why was this policy in place for two years and now it’s suddenly lifted?

It’s probably been changed for the likes of Faf de Klerk and Vincent Koch, they are the two players affected who really spring to mind.

Faf has been playing quite well for Sale, and has also been goalkicking, plus he’s proven at Test level. With Ross Cronje not invited to the alignment camps, I also rate Schreuder very highly at scrumhalf, he definitely has the skill-set to play at that level – he has a good kicking game, he’s a good organiser and he has the ability to finish, he’s no slouch with ball in hand.

Koch is being looked at because obviously South Africa’s tighthead stocks are a bit low. The Springboks have Wilco Louw and Ruan Dreyer, but you always need three guys in the crucial positions and there will always be five props in the Springbok squad.

England have some big guys up front and I’m sure Koch has had many training sessions against Mako Vunipola at Saracens, so he would be a good pick for the Springboks in terms of inside knowledge.

John McFarland is the assistant coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan and 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. Before that, McFarland won three SuperRugby titles (2007, 09, 10) with the Bulls and five Currie Cup crowns with the Blue Bulls. In all, he won 28 trophies during his 12 years at Loftus Versfeld.

It was a very exciting weekend of rugby – although obviously the SuperRugby results weren’t very good for South Africa – and the importance of competing hard at the breakdowns was shown in two of the biggest games of the weekend.

One of the positives for South African rugby to take out of the weekend was France beating England in such passionate, collision-dominant fashion. They really blitzed England at the breakdowns and the tackle and have certainly given the Springboks a blueprint for success in their June series against England. The things which worked for France are certainly tactics we can do as well.

Defensively, France really competed at the breakdown and were able to disrupt England’s really flat attack. The decision needs to be made by the Springboks to replicate this, although it also depends on what loose forward combination they choose. But the Springboks tend to prefer having 14 players on their feet, all defending in a row. I can remember Chean Roux and Rassie Erasmus preaching to us that for the first 15 minutes the Springboks mustn’t compete at all at the breakdown! Fortunately we ignored that.

Obviously England have breakdown problems away from home and they were only able to get go-forward when their finishers came on, guys like James Haskell and Kyle Sinckler. When they came on it solved their problem in terms of power in the collisions and I’m sure Eddie Jones would have learnt some lessons about having more power up front. Especially with two of the Tests against South Africa being played at altitude, the power factor really comes into play in what should be high-scoring games.

The Lions versus Blues game was also a very exciting encounter. The Blues gave it their all, they played with an utter sense of purpose and passion, and they played with that intensity for the full 80 minutes. Normally against the Lions at altitude, the wheels come off at the back end of the match – think back to the game against the Hurricanes in the semi-final last year and even against the Crusaders in the final when the Lions only had 14 men. The Lions certainly finished the stronger team in both those games.

But the Blues were the stronger finishers last weekend and I’m not convinced the balance of the Lions back row is correct. Playing lock is very different to blindside flank and the Lions have been at their best when Kwagga Smith, Warren Whiteley and Jaco Kriel have been their loose trio, along with Malcolm Marx at hooker. That group is good on the floor, at the breakdown and in the tackle, which enables them to slow down the opposition’s ball and win turnovers.

And because the Lions generally play to a 1-3-3-1 system, it means they usually have two back-rowers on the edge of the field, which provides them with strike power, certainly Smith and Kriel have given them real impetus in the past.

It’s not quite the same when you look at Franco Mostert playing that role, and then you look at the ease with which the Blues scrumhalf was able to get around him at scrum time. The Lions need to look at whether he should be persevered with at number seven; the problem is they are well-stocked at lock and maybe they feel their other back-row players aren’t up to the level needed.

With the loss of Whiteley for the next four games we will see whether the experiment will continue or whether the Lions will go down another road.

To be fair to the Blues, they were very disciplined and they gave a blueprint as to how to beat the Lions. They denied them entry into their own 22, from where they strike with their strong lineout and drive, and they obviously didn’t give them many penalties.

The Blues were also able to keep the ball, through many phases, and the Lions were just not able to get over the ball and get steals. The Lions defence was good, but there were few turnovers, so they were on the back foot for long periods of the game.

Aphiwe Dyantyi made two key interventions in the match – his interception try was absolutely superb and then his charge down of a restart, if he had just been able to gather the ball then the game would have been won … those are the small margins in SuperRugby.

But the major thing is that the Lions spent too long defending and the Blues got the confidence to come back. And what a good effort it was to come back from 21-3 down. At altitude things change quickly, but normally for the home team.

The Blues generally kicked off shape – in other words they would keep the ball in order to bring the Lions wings up and isolate Andries Coetzee at the back, meaning they were able to find space in the corners quite easily, and a good chase then meant the Lions were under pressure.

Most importantly, your scrum has to stand up to the opposition front five, and the Blues did that all game.

You have to credit the Blues for never running out of steam, and credit to the Lions for their part in a fantastic game of rugby. It shows the high standards of Swys de Bruin that he was very upset and complaining about his team at halftime, even though they were 21-10 up. Swys favours all-out attack, he has a simple philosophy of beating your man, he wants his players to take on their opposite number.

It’s been a big month for the Lions with two local derbies, but there will always be a slight let-up in intensity somewhere in the competition and there are times when you have to win when you are not at your best.

It was also interesting to note Marx being kept on the field for the whole time, so he’s now played four straight 80 minutes, even though Robbie Coetzee is not a bad replacement. The Lions are going to have to look at Marx’s workload.

I was with the Sharks at the weekend and I was able to visit my old Springbok friend Ricardo Loubscher, who is now coaching their SuperSport Rugby Challenge side. It was nice to exchange ideas with him and meet up with a lot of old friends at Kings Park.

I was also able to meet and chat with Alan Zondagh, the former Western Province coach, who has a great passion for attack. He raised a very interesting point that all teams play a similar style of attack these days – the 1-3-3-1, you see the same style from all the teams.

It will be an interesting weekend of SuperRugby again and I think the Lions will bounce back, they’ll be expecting five points as they have the good fortune to play the Sunwolves, and remain in a good position before they go on tour. I don’t think their slip-up against the Blues will be too costly because the Aucklanders are not really seen as contenders, and a bonus point win this weekend will see them still in a good position.

The Sharks now have a difficult run of four games away on tour and it was interesting to see coach Robert du Preez being so positive as to target four wins. That would be a first for a touring side!

The Bulls are in Hamilton, John Mitchell’s old stamping ground, to face the Chiefs and it will be interesting to see how they go. The Chiefs have been competitive this season, they beat the Blues before their good win this last weekend. It’s been an interesting change to have Damian McKenzie at flyhalf and I didn’t expect them to be as good as they have been. But in New Zealand they just seem to be able to rustle up fresh 100kg centres and wings that are flippen quick.

The Stormers have a home game against the Blues and it is non-negotiable to win at home if you are going to try and get a home semi-final. Anything away from home is a bonus. Just look at the Hurricanes, who were not very convincing against the Bulls but then smashed the Crusaders quite convincingly in Wellington last weekend.

John McFarland is the assistant coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan and 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. Before that, McFarland won three SuperRugby titles (2007, 09, 10) with the Bulls and five Currie Cup crowns with the Blue Bulls. In all, he won 28 trophies during his 12 years at Loftus Versfeld.

The Springboks are back in camp and it will be interesting to see the team for the French Tests, two of which will be played at altitude, so it will definitely be an advantage to pick players that are full of confidence and successful on the Highveld.

There’s only one team that has been playing with real conviction and confidence, though, and that is the Lions, so I expect a few debutants from them over the course of the series. It will be a well-deserved honour and credit to their coaches, Johan Ackermann, Swys de Bruin and JP Ferreira.

The Lions’ 54-10 win over the Southern Kings showed that the difference in strength is vast between them and the other South African teams and they now have a great run-in towards the SuperRugby playoffs. They deserve it after winning three games overseas and they are reaping the rewards in confidence and the way they are playing.

It’s sad for SuperRugby that the playoff places are mostly already sorted out, especially in South Africa. It always used to go down to the last weekend and a very exciting final day of round-robin play. Anyway, it’s a huge advantage to finish first on the log and the Crusaders are three points clear of the Lions as our pacesetters go into the international break.

The Crusaders have some tough New Zealand derbies coming up though, including having to travel to the Hurricanes.

So I believe Rudolf Straeuli, the Lions CEO, can’t wait to pencil in 3pm playoff games on the Highveld. If you speak to the Highlanders players they will tell you that their legs felt like jelly during their semi-final at Ellis Park last year, they just could not get going, and that’s a side packed with All Blacks that lost 30-42.

The Lions will definitely have earned that advantage via their performances, especially their tremendous run of 15 unbeaten games against South African opposition.

Most of the Lions players have been let go by other franchises or picked up from other unions, so you have to credit their hard work and improvement. Guys like Andries Coetzee and Courtnall Skosan were playing for Tuks in 2012/13, while Franco Mostert was also part of that side and nobody has worked harder for their Springbok opportunity, so I’m sure he’ll take it with both hands.

A guy like Ross Cronje has worked really hard on his game, he’s been the second-choice at the Lions a lot of the time, but he kept his belief and keeps producing the goods, so his selection is also fully deserved.

It was really pleasing to see Warren Whiteley appointed as the new Springbok captain, he’s a really honest player and always totally committed on the field. You can never accuse Warren of shirking anything, whether that be in terms of workload or skill.

He was with the Sharks as a junior and was a very explosive, impact player who could really cause damage in the wide channels in the last 20 minutes. He has become a dominant captain who epitomises all that his Lions team stands for in terms of culture.

Warren is a superb lineout option and also has safe hands at the back, which is important because it’s vital these days for eighthmen to be able to counter-attack. He brings his Sevens skills to bear.

His journey to the Springbok captaincy has not been easy, he has worked so hard to get there and thoroughly deserves the honour.

The Springboks are heading into a phase of more inclusive leadership, Warren will take notice of the opinions around him and has great empathy. But he showed when he first came into the Springbok group in 2014 that he is strong enough to have his own ideas, he knows the path forward and will not just follow the party line, he will make sure he drives his own opinions. He’s also a great communicator, with the coaches and the playing group.

I wish him all the success he deserves and wouldn’t it be nice for him to have the Rugby Championship trophy in his hands in October?

And Duane Vermeulen playing at seven will definitely work, in terms of their defensive system, they want a blindside flank who can do a lot more when it comes to work-rate. I think the eighthman will stay at a lot of the set-pieces and save his energy for attack and ball-in-hand play.

Duane of course will be in France for the Top 14 final with Toulon and will only have a couple of days training with the Springboks after flying back to South Africa, which is why Jean-Luc du Preez has been called up.

The Sharks v Stormers game showed the difference in strength between the two conferences. The Stormers just could not get that final pass or offload away, which, given their style of play, is essential for them.

Under new coach Robbie Fleck, they’re always going to be involved in high-scoring games, but they need to convert their chances. One has to credit the Sharks for their defence holding firm, which bodes well for the Springboks.

I felt there was some improvement from the Bulls, they were far more physical at the gain-line. There’s obviously been a change in the coaching staff there, which possibly produced the improved display, but unfortunately it was not enough against a clever team like the Hurricanes.

The Bulls will regret those soft moments in defence when the Hurricanes were able to slice through them like a knife through butter.

The positives for the Bulls were Duncan Matthews, the young wing, who really took his opportunity well, and the way the forwards and inside backs competed on the gain-line against one of the most physical sides in SuperRugby (How we wish for the days when the Bulls were the most physical side in the competition!).

I was fortunate enough to be at the Cheetahs game against the Sunwolves and it’s always nice when the South African teams come to Tokyo – because of our relationships in the past, I get to catch up and spend some time with them. The smattering of survival Japanese I have helps them in the shops and with the very complicated subway system!

I thought the Cheetahs ran a very smart week in terms of preparation. Often when a team is coming off a massive losing run (nine games), the temptation is to go harder at the players in training. But the Cheetahs did not do much in Tokyo and Franco Smith ensured the players were very fresh, and they reaped the reward.

The match was quite tight until just before halftime when the Cheetahs scored a killer try to leave the Sunwolves 14-0 down.

I was impressed by the way the Cheetahs played, they kept their shape and Raymond Rhule and Sergeal Petersen were always a big danger on the wings.

It was a big event in Tokyo, because they only get to host a handful of games every season. It’s a huge thing for Japan to have a SuperRugby team.

We need a global game and we should get teams from the USA and Canada involved as well, it has to happen eventually. Look at the improvement in the Argentina team from having the Jaguares involved in SuperRugby – they have been exposed to a higher level of rugby and it has paid dividends.

The biggest drawback is the travel for the Sunwolves and Jaguares, they do nearly twice as much travel as anyone else. It’s always a great feeling going to a new country when you win, but the worst thing is then losing.

So I hope they change the conferences, but who knows because there has still been no clarity from Sanzaar.

John McFarland is the assistant coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan and 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. Before that, McFarland won three SuperRugby titles (2007, 09, 10) with the Bulls and five Currie Cup crowns with the Blue Bulls. In all, he won 28 trophies during his 12 years at Loftus Versfeld.

Two not entirely unconnected happenings in the world of cricket caught my eye this week: The first was an article (http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/1098043.html) on CricInfo about the looming player strike in Australia and how the relationship between their administration and their players has almost entirely broken down; the second was that Cricket Australia’s executive manager of broadcast, digital and commercial, Ben Amarfio, had come to South Africa and briefed local cricket stakeholders on their successes, in particular the Big Bash League.

The irony of the situation is that although the Big Bash League has been an enormous success in terms of crowds and television revenue, the damage it is doing to all other aspects of Australian cricket reminds one of the south Indian proverb that “nothing grows under the shade of the Banyan tree”.

The T20 competition might be going through the roof, but the rest of Australian cricket is not exactly excelling: results have been indifferent and the players are about to go on strike! The temptation to copy what they are doing should be resisted.

The dollar signs are already rolling in the eyes of Cricket South Africa when it comes to the new Global Destination T20 League that will debut on our shores next summer, but the actual economics of the event have been poorly communicated to many of the stakeholders who will hand over control of their stadia and players for the duration of the competition.

The state of the game in this country is currently strong, and CEO Haroon Lorgat was a well-deserved winner of the Leadership in Sport Business award at this week’s Sports Industry Awards, but the danger still exists that the lower levels of the sport, the foundation, will be ignored in favour of the riches that could suddenly become available.

We all know the immense damage done to the reputation of Cricket South Africa following the hosting of the IPL in 2009 and the money-grabbing associated with it, but our administrators seem to have short memories; how else can one explain the presence of disgraced former CEO Gerald Majola as an honoured guest, seated in the front row, at their own awards ceremony last week?

At the same awards dinner, it was noticeable that the prize for the best scorers association, previously included in the professional operations section along with the umpires, had been demoted to the amateur awards given out at the breakfast earlier on the same day. It may seem like a trivial matter – but it was certainly a slight felt by the scorers, who are an integral part of the game, just like umpires. It points to a lingering suspicion that CSA might just be undervaluing their foundations, the domestic base.

It is a fact that the best organisations look after the interests of all their people – their employees and stakeholders – and a prime example of this is the Northerns Cricket Union, who also held their awards luncheon this week.

Their Titans team is the best in the country, winning two trophies last season and narrowly missing out on the third, and that is partly because of the superb administrative structures that support the on-field performance. The Northerns team is also the dominant force in senior provincial competitions.

The administration is happy and productive because every person is treated well and with enormous respect; they are made to feel part of the success of the union and franchise. There is no greater measure of this than the fact that all the grounds staff, dressed in their Sunday best, were invited to the luncheon and the hug and kiss CEO Jacques Faul received from one of the housekeeping staff when she received her certificate.

Faul is an outstanding CEO who makes every one of his staff feel valued, and that is the secret to getting the best out of people, and the strong relationship between him and president John Wright, a true servant of sport, is also vital.

Cricket South Africa need to be warned that there is a danger of prioritising money over people and the overall well-being of the game of which they are trustees; when things are going well is probably the right time for this reminder.

*Altaaf Kazi, CSA’s head of media and communications, has pointed out, however, in response to this column that the scorers were never previously honoured during the live TV broadcast segment of the awards, whereas this year their award presentation from the breakfast was shown live on SuperSport. The reshuffling was due to the pleasing inclusion of three extra awards for women’s cricket.