Ken Borland

There was nothing logical about the Springboks’ epic victory over the All Blacks in Wellington last weekend: their recent form and that of their opponents certainly didn’t suggest it and neither did South Africa’s miserable record at The Cake Tin, where they had lost all six previous matches against New Zealand. The match statistics were thoroughly dominated by the home side, who outscored the Boks by six tries to five.

And, unusually when I get to watch the Springboks in a non-working capacity, there wasn’t a beer or a braai in sight when I settled down to watch the TV broadcast. That’s because I was watching in a shopping mall (not maul) of all places.

The occasion was one of those “events” that marketing people are so fond of, but this one was memorable, not just because the long nine-year wait for a Springbok win in New Zealand came to an end. I remember thinking, shortly before those excruciating final minutes when the world’s best referee, Nigel Owens, lost his composure as much as anyone, that this had been one of my most enjoyable Springboks-on-TV viewing experiences ever.

I know this next bit will be met with as much disbelief in some quarters as the revelation that I did not have a beer the entire match, but I was also the only White person at the gathering.

In terms of the demographics of the country, it is logical that last weekend’s Fine Leg Productions event with the Gwijo Squad and Touch Rugby Sundays shows what the future of rugby in this country will be like. And what a bright future it is judging by the sheer passion on display, the knowledgeable comments and the tremendous spirit that led to a wonderful atmosphere, even when many of us were cursing Owens under our breath.

I have watched rugby in many establishments in the supposed rugby heartland and felt way less comfortable in a testosterone-fuelled atmosphere and way less impressed by the knowledge of the game that was on display. Several women attended the Fine Leg Productions event and seemed totally at home.

And imagine how much harder it is for these rugby-loving Black fans to feel comfortable in some of our stadiums? This was one of the issues raised after the match in the discussion that was held and it is also central to the creation of the Gwijo Squad.

They are a group of rugby-mad Springbok followers who are transforming the stadium vibe by singing and chanting vernacular war cries and their efforts to inculcate a more inclusive culture have been mirrored at Springbok level. It has been hard for Black Springboks to feel totally comfortable in that environment, to feel that they can bring their own culture into the team, but that has all changed with the appointment of Siya Kolisi as captain. Now we see the team singing traditional songs before and after the game and it is wonderful to behold this new, all-South African culture taking hold.

With so much focus now on the economics of our rugby – the viability of our professional structures and how we are struggling to compete with overseas teams because of the weakness of the rand – it is definitely necessary for the sport to be open to as many communities as possible. In order for that to really take off, those communities have to feel wanted and truly part of South African rugby.

A term like “rugby development” is perhaps not the best word to use because it implies creating an interest that is not already there. Contrary to what All Blacks coach Steve Hansen may believe, judging by the extracts of his book published this week, rugby has also been a Black sport for more than a century.

Perhaps the Gwijo Squad can arrange to take Hansen, when he is here in the first week of October, on a little tour of the Eastern Cape, where Black clubs are more than a hundred years old and rugby poles are seen in the rural areas far more often than soccer goals.

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-citizen-gauteng/20180922/282720522881060

The Cell C Sharks were controversially denied a famous victory in Wellington on Saturday as a clear try was disallowed and several marginal calls went against them in the final quarter, as the Hurricanes registered a flattering 32-24 victory in their Vodacom SuperRugby match.

The fitness of Willem Alberts, Franco Marais and Conrad Hoffmann are the new concerns facing Sharks coach Gary Gold ahead of his team announcement on Thursday for their SuperRugby match against the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday.

The absence of the inspirational physical presence of Alberts would obviously be a massive blow for the Sharks as they take on the runaway leaders of the competition and, although Renaldo Bothma is fit to play, the only other specialist loose forward on tour is Etienne Oosthuizen, who did not have the best of games last weekend against the Highlanders.

The arrival of the experienced Kyle Cooper from South Africa this week means the reserve hooker berth is taken care of should Marais not pass a late fitness test, but the player Cooper replaced, Cobus Reinach, has left a massive gap at scrumhalf.

Reinach has fractured his hand, according to Gold, and his substitute against the Highlanders, Hoffmann, now also has a niggle. The inexperienced Stefan Ungerer could therefore be in for a baptism of fire at The Cake Tin.

After four successive defeats – two of them in ignominious fashion – Gold said he does not believe he needs to light a fire under his squad just yet.

“For me the big stick comes out when you have a look at your play and get a sense of a group of players who are lethargic, non-committed and are not trying hard enough. I do not believe that this is the case at the moment.

“Over the course of my coaching career I have had to use the big stick. Don’t get me wrong, I am by no means satisfied with our performances, but at this moment in time I see a group of players who are hurting a lot and whose pride is at stake.

“As a coach and a leader, one needs to assess the situation. Everybody goes through tough times. I do not believe for a minute that this group lacks commitment, in fact, the players are committed to fixing the problem.

“Difficult times require calm heads and mature leadership. We have a great group of senior guys who are committed to seeing out this campaign.  A lot of lessons have been learnt and a huge amount of lessons can be taken out of this campaign, which will only benefit us down the line,” Gold said.

The Lions will want to just keep on doing exactly what they have been doing as they build up to the SuperRugby final against the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday.

We want to see the Lions play with the same verve, confidence and execution because that’s what’s in their DNA, it’s what they’ve been training all season.

The biggest thing when preparing for a final is to use up all the emotional energy. The size of the occasion is constantly on the players’ minds, the consequences of winning or losing. At the Bulls when we won our three titles we would have very short sessions in finals week and not introduce anything new. The guys must just release steam at training.

You might not use anything new anyway in the final and the first 20 minutes of the game are always very frenetic and you want to be doing the things you do well, you want to be confident that you can execute them.

It’s also important this week for the Lions guys to get away from rugby, go play tenpin bowling or something, you don’t want them sitting in their rooms thinking about the game.

Then, the night before the match we would have our jersey presentation but the players would do it themselves. Each one would give a short presentation of what the final means to them and make a pledge to the team. They were the guys who worked so hard to get there and those evenings always meant a lot to the players.

We’d then play a video summary of the season we’d gone through, with music and the tries of the season – Johan van Graan was always an expert at putting those together, they were magnificent!

And then you want just a normal game day before the final.

As far as the match itself is concerned, the Lions certainly have the game plan to give the Hurricanes problems, mainly because Elton Jantjies is executing those pinpoint attacking kicks so well. He set up two tries against the Highlanders in the semifinal through a chip and a crosskick, and that sort of kicking is one way to beat the Hurricanes’ rush defence.

But Hurricanes scrumhalf TJ Perenara is also a superb sweeper and the Lions will have to make sure their kicks bounce and back into their hands!

The Lions set-piece is also very strong and their scrum and lineout maul will both be huge factors and I think they’ll want to impose themselves on the game that way. The Hurricanes could be under big pressure in those departments.

The Lions played with a complete sense of freedom and no fear against the Highlanders. Most teams don’t have the guts to run the ball from behind their own goal-line but the Lions did it twice in the semifinal and made superb exits. But that was on a dry Highveld day and to reproduce that at a wet and windy Cake Tin will be challenging.

The challenge in finals is how to release pressure and the Lions have done that in their two playoff games by attacking from deep. They get the ball in the outer channels and then kick for space. But it might be a different kettle of fish in the Cake Tin.

Neither Elton nor Faf have particularly long kicks, but the Lions like to play before kicking so they’ll carry the ball for a phase or two and then kick for space and get the chase going.

But the Hurricanes’ defence really rushed the Lions from first phase in their match at Ellis Park, which caught them off-guard. They conceded a couple of intercepts because of that man-on-man pressure, but Swys de Bruin will definitely have come up with a plan for that.

The Lions defence is also very different to all the other South African teams. From a middle ruck, the second-last man – be it Faf de Klerk or Elton Jantjies – is almost in front of the line, closing down the space, he brings the whole line forward. It’s that line speed that caught the Highlanders unawares and they couldn’t get the ball to their wings. It’s a high-risk/high-reward tactic because most teams just shadow and move across in those situations, but the Lions put the opposition under pressure at those wide rucks.

If there’s one guy who brings inspiration to the Hurricanes, it’s loose forward Ardie Savea. He has special skills and a great work-rate, and he has the ability to crack a game wide open because he has such pace. I bet the Lions wish he had gone to the Olympics to play Sevens instead!

But the Lions have to make sure that they are very physical on him and fellow flank Brad Shields to set the tone. They need to keep them quiet and make sure they have to work hard on defence rather than on attack.

The Hurricanes are a bit like the Lions were up front in that they don’t have many Test forwards in their tight five, but they are all hard-working and carry well. Dane Coles will obviously be crucial if he plays because he provides them with physical aggression and obviously his throwing is at a different level.

The Tongan Bear, Loni Uhila, always takes quick taps as well, but sometimes it’s under the poles and it can take points away from the Hurricanes!

For the Lions, a guy like Franco Mostert has a very high work-rate and it would be great if Warren Whiteley can play in the final as well. He’s been a wonderful captain, he’s been through thick and thin with the Lions and it would be fitting for him to be there. He has such a high work-rate as well and between him, Jaco Kriel and Warwick Tecklenburg, they can make the tackles if the Hurricanes carry the ball at them.

The Lions A team haven’t played at sea level since April 23 against the Kings in Port Elizabeth, but I think the final will be very close and it will come down to a moment of brilliance, like Rohan Janse van Rensburg’s try in the semifinal after that turnover tackle by Elton Jantjies.

John McFarland is the assistant coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan and was the Springbok defence coach from 2012-15, having 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.