Ken Borland

The Springboks’ maverick approach to both game-plan and selection has certainly served them well since their third match in the 2019 World Cup, but this morning’s Rugby Championship Test against Australia was only the second time that it has been used against one of the Australasian sides.

South Africa lost 13-23 to New Zealand in their World Cup opener, using a traditional 5-3 split between forwards and backs on the bench and struggling to get much momentum in the game. An easy 57-3 win over Namibia followed, but their next match, against Italy, was a potential knockout blow.

That was when the 6-2 bench was first used and the Springboks really started to use a kicking game in order to gain momentum.

Their execution of the plan was poor last weekend against Australia and it is still early days when it comes to deciding whether the Bomb Squad replacements tactic will work against teams like the Wallabies and especially the All Blacks next weekend, sides that are used to playing at high intensity.

“We believe in the 6-2 split, it has worked for us and there’s no need to panic when it comes to selection,” assistant coach Mzwandile Stick said this week after the Gold Coast defeat.

For some though, the risks in the strategy are too great when it comes to well-matched opposition who are likely to keep the result to within a single score. There was heartbreak last weekend for the Springboks when flyhalf Handre Pollard had an off-day with the boot and his replacement, Damian Willemse, who is not a frontline kicker for the Stormers, missed the Springboks’ last kick at goal, a 73^rd-minute conversion.

There is little respite for Pollard, such a key performer for the Springboks and very seldom rested. But a 6-2 bench makes it hard for Jacques Nienaber to choose a specialist goal-kicking flyhalf amongst the replacements because both Morne Steyn and Elton Jantjies are not going to be able to provide real cover for any other backline position.

“Week in and week out, there is always massive debate about our selection and not just this week. It’s nothing new. Handre did not have his best game last week, but we did not lose because of that, it was mostly down to our discipline. He has been brilliant for us since 2018, but sometimes a star will have an off-day, he’s only human. Damian is a brilliant player and is still getting better. We did not lose because of kicks at poles,” Stick said.

Bulls coach Jake White said on Friday that he is hopeful that the Captain’s Challenge will be used to reverse obvious mistakes in referee’s decisions and not as a “tactical weapon” in this weekend’s Rainbow Cup matches that see the Sharks travel to Pretoria to take on the Currie Cup champions.

The new law trial gives teams one review each to look at either an incident in the build-up to a try or suspected foul play. A successful challenge means the review is retained, but last weekend the Bulls’ match against the Stormers was regularly interrupted by referrals, which almost seemed to have become tit-for-tat between the two teams after Steven Kitshoff used it against his Bulls counterpart Duane Vermeulen in the opening minutes.

“I think the reviews have not been properly thought out and they probably could be used as a tactical weapon. But the feedback I’ve received from Mark Lawrence [SA Rugby referees head] and SA Rugby is that from now on unless the officials are 100% sure watching the replay in real time then they won’t go back on their decision. We can’t go back and look at every single breakdown because you’ll always find something on slow-mo.

“So I think common sense is coming out now. It took two hours, six minutes for our match against the Stormers to finish and apparently 63 minutes were lost across all the Rainbow Cup matches in the northern and southern hemisphere last weekend because of all the stoppages. That’s one hour of non-activity. We still need to make sure we stamp out head injuries, but some balance is important,” White said on Friday.

The Bulls coach said he was particularly looking forward to the Sharks as adversaries this weekend because they are rated so highly as a team to beat.

“The Sharks are obviously a good side and they have not made many changes, consistency is what they’re going for. They have 10 points from two games and it’s just like when I arrived at Loftus last year – the Sharks were top of the pops from Super Rugby and everyone said they were the team to beat. It’s exactly the same now, they’re a good side and I look forward to playing them again.

“It will be like the Currie Cup final again in the sense that we must win because they have a two-point headstart on us with those two bonus points. Our penalty count is a concern, but then I see that the Sharks have also given away an extraordinary amount of penalties, so it’s obviously just the way the game is being refereed at the moment. But we have the best referee [Jaco Peyper] in South Africa this weekend,” White said.

The Bulls used the brute force of their powerful forward drives in the Nelspruit heat to beat the Pumas 48-31 in their training match at the Mbombela Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Bulls outscored the Pumas by seven tries to four and four of the visitors’ tries came from the rolling maul, including one in the first minute of the match through hooker Joe van Zyl just to set the tone.

A heated first quarter saw the Pumas stand their ground, however, as the scores were locked at 14-14 after 20 minutes. But the ill-discipline of the Pumas and the silly mistakes they made, often in their own territory, allowed the Bulls to seize a foothold in the game as they led 27-17 at halftime.

Pumas coach Jimmy Stonehouse did complain about what he felt was some rough justice from referee Rasta Rasivhenge and the Pumas had conceded 19 penalties to just the six of the Bulls on the hour mark. That helped the Bulls storm into a 41-17 lead.

The penalty count did become more even in the final quarter as the Pumas fought back with two tries, but the Bulls had the final say with yet another try from the lineout drive.

Pumas captain Pieter Jansen van Vuren listed ill-discipline and basic mistakes as being among the major reasons they lost the game in his post-match interview.

Apart from the Bulls pack producing an impressively cohesive display and the visitors being generally sharp and accurate, the accomplished play of flyhalf Chis Smith, the explosive form of Stravino Jacobs on the wing, the tidy efforts of scrumhalves Embrose Papier and Bernard van der Linde, the powerful carries of the forwards, a strong performance at centre by Marnus Potgieter and an impressive showing at eighthman by WJ Steenkamp will be among the positives for coach Jake White.

South Africa have played 14 T20 Internationals in the last two years and have used 26 players in that time.

Of the squad that will start a three-match series in Pakistan on Thursday afternoon (3pm SA time), Tabraiz Shamsi (13/14), David Miller (11/14), Dwaine Pretorius (9/14) and Andile Phehlukwayo (8/14) have been pretty constant selections in the Proteas T20 squad.

But with the T20 World Cup scheduled to be played in India in October/November this year, who are the other players who will be looking to book their places in the first-choice squad over the next week? What are the roles for which there are still selection question marks?

Back-up spinner

With Imran Tahir only appearing once in the last two years, it would appear wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi is now the first-choice spinner. But the effectiveness of spin bowlers in T20 has been a constant through the years, especially in India, and South Africa would love to be able to field two tweakers. Ideally, to balance the side, the second one should be a batsman as well.

The players who fit that description are Bjorn Fortuin, George Linde and Jon-Jon Smuts, all accurate left-arm orthodox bowlers.

Linde is the one who has had most to cheer lately, taking five wickets the last time he bowled, in the second Test. With an average of 17.78 and a strike-rate of 136 in franchise T20s, the left-hander can certainly bring some power-hitting to the No.6 position.

Fortuin is probably the best bowler of the three, but is the weaker batsman, while the 32-year-old Smuts is Mr Consistent and he has already excelled with both bat and ball in the five ODIs he has played.

Fast bowling back-up

Kagiso Rabada, now back resting in Bryanston, and Lungi Ngidi, the pride of Kloof, are the twin pace bowling spearheads of South Africa’s first-choice T20 side. There is quite a divide in terms of success between them and the other pacemen who are striving to be in the World Cup squad.

While Anrich Nortje is also back resting in South Africa, Junior Dala and Lutho Sipamla have the opportunity to make themselves regulars in the squad, while the uncapped trio of Glenton Stuurman, Nandre Burger and Okuhle Cele will want to show their abilities as well.

The No.3 link-man

Temba Bavuma is busy establishing himself as Quinton de Kock’s opening partner and Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller have cemented their places in the middle-order. But will veteran Faf du Plessis make it to another World Cup? The 36-year-old had a little dip in form last year, his strike-rate dropping from 145 to 125, but he does still churn out the runs in the shortest format.

If Du Plessis is not going to be at that No.3 node, who could possibly replace him?

Heinrich Klaasen and Pite van Biljon are more finishers who bat five or six, while Reeza Hendricks has plenty of experience in the top three but needs to regain his best form. If Janneman Malan blossoms then he could force his way into the reckoning and cause the batting order to shuffle with Bavuma maybe moving to No.3.

Ryan Rickelton and Jacques Snyman are the up-and-coming young stars who have excelled at franchise level batting in the top three as well.