Ken Borland

When Herschel Jantjies said returning to the Springbok team that played against Wales on Saturday in Durban “felt like my debut”, it was not the throwaway line it often is when players want to express their gratitude for another chance at international level.

And Jantjies took advantage of the opportunity, coming off the bench in the 51st minute and scoring a try in the 63^rd minute as South Africa won 43-0 at Kings Park.

The 30-year-old scrumhalf last played for South Africa on August 5, 2023, coming off the bench against Argentina in Buenos Aires as the Springboks won 24-13 in their first warm-up match for the World Cup.

In what Jantjies admitted was a “heartbreaking” call, he did not, however, make the World Cup squad and has been in the wilderness up until this year’s Nations Championship. Little wonder then that he likened his absence to being deprived of life-giving food.

“It’s like I’ve been starved for three years and it feels like my debut all over again this weekend,” Jantjies said during the week. “It’s been an amazing up-and-down journey since that last game against Argentina, and I also moved clubs from the Stormers to Bayonne, which was a hard decision.

“So I’m very grateful to be back. I know my game is not perfect, I know what my work-ons are, sometimes that’s even things you are good at. And the work doesn’t stop now because I am back here with the Springboks. It means I do even more work, I need to work harder to stay here and make sure I’m in contention for the Greatest Rivalry Tour against the All Blacks.

“It was unbelievably heartbreaking to miss out on the 2023 World Cup and I still remember the squad announcement when coach Rassie put the names on a board in the team room. Obviously it wasn’t lekker to not be on the list, but the guys who were in the group were next level. The guys chosen as scrumhalves were all amazing players – Faf de Klerk, Grant Williams, who can cover wing as well, Cobus Reinach and Jaden Hendrikse.

“Rassie did come to me afterwards and said I mustn’t think it’s the end of the world. I allowed myself time to grieve – but not too long – and later I understood that he meant I must work harder to bring my game and myself to the pitch,” the 2019 World Cup winner said.

Fellow scrumhalf Embrose Papier has been out of the Springbok picture for even longer and Jantjies said the Bulls star, who returned to the Green and Gold in last weekend’s win over Scotland, has been an inspiration.

“Embrose last played for the Springboks eight years ago, so he has been an inspiration – he didn’t give up, so why should I? And then to play the way he did, he had a really good game. Imagine the nerves he had, it just makes me want it even more.

“It’s about making sure I make the right decisions. It’s up to myself to make it work and there are no guarantees. But being back in the Springbok squad has reignited the spark. I’m not personally competing with Embrose because I can’t just beat one guy. There’s still scrumhalves like Morne van den Berg and Jaden Hendrikse who aren’t even here. I can’t spend time worrying too much about the competition, I just need to focus on myself,” Jantjies said.

So how have the Springboks changed in Jantjies’ time out of the picture?

“From the outside, you can tell the Springboks have become an all-court team. In 2019, people would say South Africa just kicked and mauled and used their scrum. But now, if I had to play against the Springboks, I wouldn’t know where to focus to stop them. Coaches like Jerry Flannery, Tony Brown, Felix Jones, Rassie Erasmus and Mzwandile Stick are all megaminds.

“And the depth is incredible, and not just at scrumhalf, it’s in any position. I’ve been amazed to see the growth and evolution in the team since 2019. There’s tight competition for places, so you can’t take any single moment for granted,” Jantjies said.

Given New Zealand’s recent struggles and Ireland’s waning, unconvincing performances, France is shaping as the biggest threat in next year’s World Cup. Jantjies said part of the reason for that is the rude health of the French domestic game.

“It wasn’t an easy decision to leave the Stormers because that is home. I left on 98 caps as well, so hopefully one day I can come back and complete the one-hundred. But from a personal point of view, it has definitely helped my game, as well as allowing myself and my family to explore a different part of the world.

“It’s a different system of rugby over there and I’ve been able to pick the brains of international veterans at Bayonne like Manu Tuilagi and Maxime Machenaud. I’ve really learnt the French way of playing. The way they play speaks to me, it brings out the best in me, I’m able to display myself.

“You always play well off confidence and preparation creates that. After one or two good games in France I was able to remind myself of that. They’ve all been so welcoming at Bayonne and I can just play my game.

“French rugby is a different league and I really feel my game has improved. The season is so long and you are thrown in the deep end when you play away from home with the Academy boys. But it teaches you to adapt and learn on the fly. A scrumhalf like Maxime, adding to what is already in his arsenal at the age of 37, just shows amazing mindset,” Jantjies said.

Schalk Brits brought puppy dog enthusiasm, older brother guidance and wizardly decision-making to the Springbok team when coach Rassie Erasmus lured him out of retirement to play in the 2019 Rugby World Cup, and the former Saracens legend has great insight into the formative years of a South African team that has now won back-to-back World Cups and continues to set the pace in the global game.

Having retired from rugby in 2018 after more than 200 appearances and six major trophies for Saracens, Brits returned to the Springbok team later that year, three years after the last of his five previous Test caps. One of the most popular players produced by South Africa and with valuable wisdom gained from his many successful years in the northern hemisphere, Brits was tasked with leading the ‘dirt-trackers’ at the 2019 World Cup and ensuring the broader squad stayed unified.

It was a job he performed superbly, although Brits himself is humble about his role. But he is happy to pinpoint what the secret ingredient of the Springboks is, and why they continue to dominate international rugby six-and-a-half years after Erasmus took over the reins.

“I was only a very small speckle in the build-up to where the Springboks are now and it’s amazing the way Rassie has innovated and the number of players we now use,” Brits told SportsBoom.com in an exclusive interview at the Gary and Vivienne Player Invitational at Sun City, where the 43-year-old was playing golf to help raise funds for the Players’ pre-primary school for farmworkers’ children on their estate outside Johannesburg.

“There’ve been amazing Springbok sides before, but these players are playing for something much bigger than themselves, they’re playing for hope. There are many ills in South Africa, but the Springboks can transform the country through their diversity. If they can make it work, being made up of people from all walks of life, then we can make our country beautiful.

“Back in 2018, we had come off record losses against Ireland and the All Blacks and we were ranked seventh in the world. We would bitch and moan about a knock-on or a missed tackle, but Rassie said we had no right to moan because people in South Africa were being murdered or were starving. He told us we had to get off our arses and make the next tackle.

“Rassie said we could show South Africa that we could work together with our colour, religion or background being irrelevant, we could inspire the next Springbok from our community. We would probably lose a much higher percentage of those one-point games were it not for our ‘why’ being very well determined: It’s not about rugby for us, it’s about giving hope to 65 million people.

“Rassie said the best way to do that was not by posting stuff on social media but by going on the pitch and showing it there,” Brits said.

On the debate over whether the Springboks are currently the best team in the world, Brits said Erasmus’s focus has always been on the World Cup.

“Winning against Scotland, England and Wales on the recent tour is important, but for Rassie there’s a bigger plan. So he will keep rotating, which puts the players under pressure and gives the team depth.

“People don’t remember who the number one team is in the world every year, but everyone remembers who wins the World Cup. I would definitely rather win the World Cup. It must be terrible to be Ireland – they’ve been ranked number one but they could not even get a semi!” Brits said with his trademark broad grin.

The man who many discerning judges believe could have played in the backline thanks to his silky ball skills, was also impressed by the attacking verve shown by the Springboks in the United Kingdom last month.

“Against Scotland, it was a very open game and we were able to run the ball. England tried to match us with Marcus Smith and Wales have a new bunch of guys and they are rebuilding. So it was exciting to see the way we went unbeaten through an end-of-year tour for the first time since 2013,” Brits said.

When former Knights pace bowler Dillon du Preez took over as the interim coach of the Proteas women’s team, he felt like he had a mountain to climb. Now that he has scaled that peak by leading the side to the T20 World Cup final, the flats, much like the terrain around his Free State home, surely now lie ahead?

But Du Preez himself is not sure he wants to continue as the head coach. This is despite the obvious rapport he has built up with the team – starting in September 2020 as an assistant – and his fellow management team at the World Cup.

Replacing Hilton Moreeng, who stepped down as head coach in May after 11 years at the helm, has proven problematic for Cricket South Africa. Finding a suitable candidate with a Level IV coaching certificate (which Du Preez has) has been the stumbling block.

The 42-year-old Du Preez wonders whether he has enough experience for such a key role, having only been coaching for two tears when Moreeng hand-picked him as his bowling consultant in 2020. Firm friends off the field from their playing days, they led South Africa to the T20 World Cup final on home soil in 2023, losing to Australia.

“It’s been difficult for me,” Du Preez told Rapport when the team returned to a heroines’ welcome in Johannesburg this week. “Doing things like handling the media has been fairly new to me and I do wonder whether I’m the right person to continue. The cornerstones are there, you have to learn how to get past semi-finals and we have done that, and now we are one step away from winning finals.

“But we are on our way. The one thing I question though is do the team need more from their head coach? I will be taking a few days off now and then I will sit down with Enoch Nkwe [director of cricket] and we will discuss everything,” Du Preez said.

He also praised his two assistants, Paul Adams (bowling) and Baakier Abrahams (batting), for their valuable input that has certainly added value to the team.

“They have been very valuable, you can see that in the huddle, which Paul runs. He brings such focus and calmness, he’s been around so when he speaks, people listen.

“And Baakier has been a coach for a while. He has got buy-in from the players and they all know their scoring areas now,” Du Preez said.

Even though the Proteas fell at the final hurdle, losing to New Zealand by 32 runs in the T20 World Cup final in Dubai, they were highly impressive in the daring cricket they played, and their upset victory in the semi-finals over six-time champions Australia was one of the most complete all-round performances in South African cricket history.

“I’m very proud of the ladies. We had a discussion after the final and we told them all the positives that came out of the World Cup, but we also said nothing we say is going to make you feel better.

“But you have to take the positives out: making back-to-back finals in very different conditions and there were lots of individual accolades too. We were outplayed in the final and in hindsight there were things we could have done differently.

“I think our confidence started to grow after the India series, there were a few areas we identified, and some tools we gave the players in two skills camps we had, in which Paul and Baakier were heavily involved.

“Then we went to Pakistan and we could see from game one that things were starting to fall into place. Especially in terms of more aggressive batting, for which we got buy-in from the players.

“So real belief was there when we went to the World Cup, even though conditions were incredibly tough – the heart rates went up to 140-160 just standing still in the heat, so we had to have lots of water breaks.”

BALLITO (KwaZulu-Natal) – Normally this season when Danie van Tonder has put pressure on the leader in the final round, things have headed south for the frontrunner, but on Friday it was all different as Luke Jerling held his nerve superbly to claim his maiden Sunshine Tour title as he won the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya at Umhlali Country Club.

Jerling fired a fantastic three-under-par 68 on Friday to finish on 13-under-par, beating Van Tonder, who closed with a 70, by four strokes in the end. But their gripping duel was much more closely fought than the final winning margin suggests, with Van Tonder, who began the day two behind, drawing level on the 13^th hole.

The former SA Open champion is also in great form at the moment, having won twice in August.

“It feels unbelievable to have finally won. There were times when I never thought this day would come and you wonder if you can get over the line,” a delighted Jerling said. “I haven’t been in this position for a while and going toe-to-toe with Danie was something I really enjoyed for the whole day.

“And the contest was a lot closer than four strokes, there were momentum swings all through the day. From the get-go, Danie came out firing, driving through a narrow gap and over the bunkers on the first hole. But I stuck to my game-plan, putted nicely on the tough greens and my iron play was solid. I was not overly aggressive.

“I really enjoyed being in contention with Danie. The other times I’ve been in contention, I didn’t really enjoy the moment, it was more a feeling of not wanting to mess up. So that’s testament to the work I’ve been doing with my coach Neil Cheetham. My swing really held up under the gun today and it felt like my day, momentum just seemed to be on my side,” Jerling said.

It was a tricky day out on the sub-tropical south-east African coast, with a strong wind blowing. That wind helped Jerling on the hole which he believed was the most critical to his triumph – the par-four 14^th.

“I made a really good birdie on 12 to go two ahead. But then on 13 the wind took my ball left into the trees. I chipped out sideways and then I thought I hit a good third, but the wind didn’t hit it and I was left with a tricky chip. I made bogey and Danie made birdie so that was another two-shot swing.

“But in retrospect it was actually good that Danie teed off first on 14 because he hit a really good shot and I had no choice but to be aggressive. It was playing 259m to the front edge and it was straight downwind. But three-wood was too much and I was worried that two-iron wouldn’t cover the water or the bunkers. In the end I threaded a two-iron between the bunkers, it was probably my shot of the day, leaving me with a 12-foot eagle putt, which I made.”

Jerling was suddenly three shots ahead when Van Tonder, who missed some crucial shortish putts in the final round, bogeyed the par-four 15^th. The Royal Johannesburg and Kensington golfer then parred his way in while Van Tonder, still pushing hard, bogeyed the last two holes.

Pieter Moolman, who has done well on this stretch of coastline before, finished third on eight-under-par, five strokes behind Jerling, after a 70 on Friday, while Heinrich Bruiners (69) had to share fourth place on seven-under with amateur Astin Arthur, who completed his outstanding week with a 71.