Ken Borland

Australia is enough of a nanny state to make even your most law-abiding South African granny to want to rebel and there was a graphic illustration during Tuesday’s press conference of just how strict a quarantine the Springboks are under in Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast, especially after they suffered a false positive Covid scare that forced them to miss training on Monday.

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber was interrupted by a stern voice over the tannoy saying all guests must now remain in the main building because the laundry service has now arrived. Nienaber laughed as he explained what the squad have been through since arriving in one of Queensland’s most luxurious resorts.

“We’re under a testing regime here and unfortunately the Saturday results only came back late on Sunday and there was a possible positive test so we all had to isolate on Monday and not leave our rooms. The guy was re-tested and it was a false positive because he has had Covid before. Normally we can walk around outside but there are no luxuries and we can’t use the swimming pool.

“We are in a red zone, which no-one is allowed to enter, not even the staff so we clean our own rooms. We have meals in an orange zone, we have to dish up ourselves in the two dining rooms and we eat at the same time as the Argentinians, who we are quarantining with. There is a gym on the premises though and one rugby field, so we share those too with Argentina,” Nienaber said on Tuesday.

The good news is that after quarantine, which ends on Friday, September 10, two days before their first Test against Australia, the Springboks will be able to live life normally, moving around outside, enjoying restaurants and coffee shops. They will obviously be delighted with that and Nienaber said the squad is also really looking forward to taking on the best of the Southern Hemisphere again, which they have not done since 2019.

“It’s always nice to test yourself against Australia, New Zealand and Argentina. We missed out last year, which was hard for us. Playing against these guys in Super Rugby, we are so accustomed and used to it. Without it you kind of wonder where you are currently. It’s nice to measure ourselves against Southern Hemisphere teams again.

“Not playing against them means we have not been exposed to individual players, we haven’t seen their skill sets, even though Super Rugby is different to Test rugby. The Rugby Championship is a different tournament, we know how tough a competition it is, against the best of the Southern Hemisphere, three sides in the top seven of the world rankings,” Nienaber said.

The move to Cape Town Stadium from one of the most famous homes of rugby in Newlands has come under fresh scrutiny after the turf broke up often during scrum time, not helping the Springboks according to prop Steven Kitshoff, in the first Test against the British and Irish Lions.

Cape Town Stadium was originally built for soccer and the turf did not stand up to the rigours of international scrummaging at the weekend. The Springboks, using two quality front rows, were expecting to gain some dominance in the scrums, providing them with an important attacking platform, but they struggled to get the purchase required.

The second and third Tests are both being played at the same venue, having been moved from Johannesburg due to Covid, and it seems highly unlikely that any more changes to the schedule will be made.

“The field cut up a lot and it was difficult to plant and use your feet. The grass just gives way and it becomes very slippery. There are things we can work on to prevent that – everyone having all eight studs in the ground helps a lot. The referee also called ‘Use it!’ at the scrums quite quickly, probably because he doesn’t want re-sets.

“Our scrum was rock-solid and we were starting to feel the cracks coming in the opposition, so we have to try and get our momentum a bit quicker. We have to find solutions to these problems quickly so we can take control as a group of forwards. In the second half we struggled to get our scrum going and that allowed the Lions to use their kicking game to put us under pressure,” loosehead prop Kitshoff said on Monday.

While there have been some bombastic predictions that the Springboks are now heading for a series whitewash, Kitshoff spoke of the quiet determination within the team to repeat what they did at the World Cup: Having been beaten by the All Blacks in the opening game, South Africa did not lose again as they went on to win the title.

“It’s a similar feeling to after that World Cup loss. We only lost by five points, some things just did not go our way and we struggled very badly in certain areas. But there is still a good vibe in the camp and we are very positive, although very disappointed in the result. We know how to fight back and get off the ground for the second game. We’re excited for a big game of rugby.

“The Lions did really well to take away some of our strong points, but as country we always fight back and come back stronger. We are putting a lot of work into our set-piece, we want to get that go-forward and our team on the front foot. Everybody put their bodies on the line, we all tried really hard to get over the gainline and give the team momentum. But there are some tactical and technical things for us to master,” Kitshoff said.

There is no denying that the death overs of an ODI, with set batsmen at the crease, are a daunting time to be bowling, but as the old saying goes, diamonds are created under pressure and the Proteas could do with unearthing a gem soon.

The death bowling has been a perpetual problem for the Proteas and it was once again their achilles heel in the second ODI against Ireland in Dublin, with the home side lashing 95 runs in the last eight overs on their way to a shock 43-run victory, their first ever against South Africa.

The third and final ODI will be played at the same Malahide venue on Friday and the Proteas have to win to avoid arguably their most embarrassing series defeat ever. And, judging by his comments after the second game, captain Temba Bavuma has lost patience with the bowlers who have failed to execute the plan.

Changes in personnel are likely on Friday and Lizaad Williams, the Titans seamer who has been in fine form in domestic white-ball cricket, looks likely to be included for the decider. The 27-year-old has shown in the Momentum One-Day Cup that he has good accuracy and, in the four T20 Internationals he has played, he stayed aggressive and looked up for the intensity of the game at the highest level.

“Temba probably has reason to be upset because the team did not perform well. The last 10 overs went for more than a hundred runs and the death bowling was something we spoke long and hard about in the West Indies. But now we find ourselves in the same situation again. So we’re looking at making a few changes. Lizaad is definitely in the picture.

“He’s been doing well, he’s a skiddy bowler and he brings different skills. In the middle overs we want to be bowling wicket-to-wicket, but at the death I just think the game-plans have not been executed. Maybe the guys are trying too many things, perhaps they have too many different balls in their arsenal and maybe we should be telling them to just limit themselves to a couple,” bowling coach Charl Langeveldt said on Thursday.

Langeveldt also agreed that the Proteas needed to take more wickets up front, with Ireland’s openers batting through the 10-over powerplay in both matches so far. He hinted that the policy of playing the best team for every game might also be under review.

“Our plan is to take wickets up front, squeeze in the middle and then hopefully you’re bowling to all-rounders and bowlers at the end of the innings. We’ve spoken long and hard about taking wickets up front, applying pressure and then it becomes much easier to bowl in the middle when the opposition don’t have set batsmen and new guys can’t just come in and play.

“A lot of other teams use different players for the different formats and maybe we can do that a bit better. It can be hard changing from hard Test lengths to T20 cricket, that’s not an excuse, but maybe we can use fresh players, with fresh minds, more. But then again our bowlers won the T20 series for us in the West Indies, they bowled well there,” Langeveldt mused.

A young Bulls side has this week gone from sleeping under their eiderdown duvets in midwinter on the Highveld to a summer cruise around some Mediterranean islands as they prepare for the unknown – a Rainbow Cup final against Benetton in Treviso on Saturday evening.

What they do know is that they are expected to win the final, which is why coach Jake White tried to ease the pressure on them this week by giving them a day off to explore the area around nearby Venice and the worthy history of Italy. The Bulls have a proud record of winning all three Super Rugby finals they played in, and they have also won every decisive game in the time White has been at Loftus Versfeld. If that were not a lot to live up to, they also have the responsibility of being the trailblazers for South African franchises in Europe. They will want to show the new boys in Europe are going to bring a high quality of rugby.

“There’s massive pressure with all these must-win games and these are young guys, we forget how young they are sometimes. Which is why we went on a boat cruise and just chilled at an island off Venice. There’s also a lot of excitement in the squad and hopefully we can translate that energy into a great performance.

“These are extraordinary times and hopefully all the hype in Treviso – meeting the mayor, the functions in the city square – leads to the final being a great catalyst, both for us starting to play our rugby in Europe, the British and Irish Lions coming to South Africa and the new United Rugby Championship. People want to see how good we are and it’s going to be good to measure ourselves,” White said on Friday.

Like the wine-makers farming grapes 30km north-west of Treviso who anxiously watch the weather for climate-change induced hot spells that give their precious berries sunburn, Benetton coach Kieran Crowley has been watching the sky and knows what’s coming.

“We know what’s coming – a massive scrum, strong lineout and they love to maul. They’ll bring physicality, which we’ll look to nullify so we can concentrate on our own game. Hopefully we can combat it,” Crowley said.