Ken Borland

The Springboks have not beaten the Wallabies in Australia since 2013 – a five-game streak – and captain Siya Kolisi said on Saturday that his team are fully focused on rectifying that anomaly when they meet the two-time world champions in a Rugby Championship Test on the Gold Coast on Sunday.

South Africa have beaten Australia in all seven matches back on home turf dating back to 2011, so it is just getting the better of them overseas that is the problem. Kolisi could not put his finger on why that is the case, but he left no doubt as to the current world champions’ desire to claim victory on Sunday.

“You have to give credit to the Wallabies, they don’t lose a lot in Australia, against most teams, especially in Queensland. I don’t know what they do to have that record, but we are 100% focused on what we have to do. Hopefully we will do better than we did in our last game here [the Springboks lost 18-23 in Brisbane in 2018]. This is an important match for us because our record is not good when it comes to winning in Australia.

“The most important thing is for us to stick to our process, we haven’t played in three weeks so we have to make sure we are focused. We take it game-by-game, make sure we pitch up every day and we have to give Australia the respect they deserve. It’s going to be our plan against their plan, bringing that intensity, who tackles the most and who carries the ball the most,” Kolisi said.

As much as the Wallabies will be trying to speed the game up and use their dangerous backline to crack open the Springbok defence, South Africa will also be wanting good, quick ball to make sure their hefty carriers are serviced well.

“Quick ball is important for any team and if we don’t get it then it’s going to be a long day for us,” attack coach Mzwandile Stick said on Saturday. “We want to make sure that we give our big forwards front-foot ball. It’s not only Michael Hooper who slows the ball down, the Wallabies have a lot of players who apply pressure at the breakdown and we know it’s going to be a massive battle, we need to be clinical there so our No.9 is able to give quick service.

“Australia rely on quick ball too, but they are world-class and on a good day they can really punish you. Samu Kerevi is back, they have wings like Marika Koriobete who have lots of pace, and we have to make sure we don’t give Quade Cooper lots of time and space to make decisions. So we have to respect them, make sure we pitch up and play according to our strengths,” Stick said.

The Springboks face a hectic 2021 schedule in which their world champion status will undoubtedly be closely scrutinised, while our four franchises will need to prove they are top-class teams when they make a first foray into Europe.

Unsurprisingly (given how often it has happened through the years), there has already been plenty of dissing of the Springboks, even though they have not been able to play a game since that heady triumph in Yokahama. They will get their chance to prove their mettle soon, with nine Tests to be played between July 3 and October 2.

That includes an epic series against the British and Irish Lions and four Tests in Australasia, where South Africa have just three wins against their hosts in the last decade.

With the relationship with Sanzaar starting to get a bit old and tired, accompanied by not unexpected bickering, there has been a great deal of excitement over SA Rugby’s moves into Europe. That relationship is still new and there is still some wooing to be done before we can say we’ve scored a try, so to speak, but it did come as a shock when the Director General of European Professional Club Rugby, Vincent Gaillard, was rather dismissive of South Africa this week.

For South African rugby’s move to the northern hemisphere to be successful in the long run, they have to be playing at the highest level of European club rugby, which is the Champions Cup. SA Rugby have been negotiating on the basis that their teams can qualify for the Champions Cup through their performances in the Pro16, just like the leading teams of Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy.

But this week, Gaillard was quoted by international news agency AFP as saying: “There will be no South African clubs in the European Cup next season, that’s for sure. In the Challenge Cup, theoretically, it is possible. We are looking at the possibility, but it is quite unlikely. There are details to settle, especially at the Pro16 level.”

In the same breath, Gaillard announced that EPCR had signed a new deal with the countries involved that would run through until at least 2030 and would see the competition include 24 teams in two pools of 12. How can they make such long-term plans without even considering the involvement of their new partners, who just happen to be world champions?

Fortunately, Martyn Hindley, the EPCR communications director, confirmed on Friday that their competition formats “remain under discussion”.

But these days all professional rugby revolves around the financial bottom line and the only way for our franchises to assure themselves of a place in the elite European competitions is by proving that their involvement would be of great service to their game.

If our franchises, fielding global drawcards such as Lukhanyo Am and Siya Kolisi, Duane Vermeulen and Marcell Coetzee, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Steven Kitshoff, and some really exciting young Lions players like Wandisile Simelane, can produce rugby of sufficient quality then they can make themselves indispensable. If their market value is high enough, then the Champions Cup will be clamouring to get them involved.

So when the winners of our local Rainbow Cup competition travel to Europe to play their champions of the same Pro-14 based league on June 19, it is going to be vital for them to put up a great showing. If our best are not going to be dominating the Pro16, then there is not going to be much incentive to get them involved in the proper European tournaments.

But I am going to go out on a limb and say I expect our teams to do very well in Europe. There have been critics of our domestic standard over the last year, but there have also been definite mitigating factors, due to Covid, for some of the uninspired rugby.

But having watched matches from both sides of the equator over the last few weeks, I think the physicality, intensity and tempo of our teams is going to really trouble their European opponents.

They were the qualities that took the Springboks to World Cup glory and hopefully they are going to take our franchises to the top table in Europe as well.

There has been much talk lately as regards the prospects of the world champion Springboks as they return to action in July, but we should probably ignore the extreme views of certain bitter New Zealanders who have denigrated South African rugby and also those of local journalists who have arrogantly predicted a 3-0 whitewash of the British and Irish Lions.

The familiar Bok-bashing from the Antipodes made many people in South Africa very angry, especially the suggestion that the Springboks won the World Cup due to a “helpful schedule”. I don’t remember too many people from New Zealand thinking anyone but England were going to win the final, especially after they battered the All Blacks in the semis, so it’s difficult to understand how that was an “easy” path to the trophy for Siya Kolisi’s team.

The article also churlishly wrote off South Africa’s 2019 Rugby Championship win and, perhaps most disgustingly, accused South African rugby of cowardice for not playing in the tournament last year. Author Ben Smith is normally someone whose articles I enjoy, but to just ignore the horrors of the Covid-19 pandemic and the many thousands who lost their lives, never mind the effect on the economy, was just plain ugly. Our country suffered through one of the hardest lockdowns on the planet and playing rugby would have been thoroughly irresponsible at that time. It would have been idiotic for our players to try and take on Aussies and Kiwis who had enjoyed a few months of rugby already.

The good thing about the tripe that was published though was that it provided one of the most classic take-downs on social media because director of rugby Rassie Erasmus actually replied to Smith. His response was “This always made sense to me: A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinion of a sheep.”

That was so good that it really deserved a mic drop or a “Regards, Rassie” at the end.

One can understand the bitterness of some All Blacks supporters because they play with such elan and confidence but that does not make them the best team in the world. The Springboks have chosen substance over style and they have the World Cup and the No.1 ranking to show that they are currently the team to beat.

Smith is correct though when he says talk of a Springbok whitewash should be quelled and we should be happy with just winning the series. England and semifinalists Wales showed at the World Cup that they are powerhouses of the game, while New Zealand and Australia have certainly declined, and now the British and Irish teams are sending their best of the best.

While I have no doubt that the crafty Erasmus and head coach Jacques Nienaber will have honed the Springbok team in the training camps and two Tests against Georgia in the build-up, they will still have to adapt to that step-up in intensity that Test rugby provides, especially when it’s a bunch of manic British and Irish Lions who are the opposition.

I have no doubt it’s going to be a hotly contested series, both teams are going to have to work very hard for any advantage and a 3-0 result either way is extremely unlikely. Which is the way it should be.

There is a certain mythology that grows around Lions tours and the strategic battle between Warren Gatland and Erasmus/Nienaber is going to be fascinating. Reports from the UK suggest Gatland has identified a brutal physical battle as the most important factor, but I fancy the Springboks will be a bit sneakier than to just rely on their brawn.

South Africa’s ODI series against world champions England was officially called off on Monday afternoon, a victim of a sudden rash of Covid-19 cases at the supposedly bio-secure hotel the two teams have been staying at – The Vineyard in Cape Town.

The cancellation of the three-match series will result in a shortfall of around $2 million [R30.3 million] in broadcast revenue for a cash-strapped Cricket South Africa. The series is a part of the ICC Super League, a new qualification system for the 2023 World Cup, so both boards termed Monday’s decisions a “postponement” rather than a total cancellation.

But with England much in demand – they are due to tour Bangladesh, Pakistan, Australia and the West Indies next year, on top of the T20 World Cup in India – it is difficult to see where the series can be fitted into the schedule.

And a dearth of top-class cricket action could possibly get worse. Sri Lanka, who have had relatively few Covid cases on their island, are due to play the Boxing Day and New Years Tests in South Africa. They are due to be accommodated in a bio-bubble in Gauteng, but the failure of the same system in Cape Town will certainly give them a pause for thought.

Pakistan and Australia are scheduled to tour early next year, and they will also be casting a worried eye towards the southern tip of Africa.

The Western Cape has seen a recent spike in Covid-19 cases and areas of the province have been declared hotspots.

While the three-match T20 series between South Africa and England went off smoothly, the problems started on the morning of the first ODI last Friday when a Proteas player tested positive for Covid, despite having been in the bio-secure bubble.

After the rest of the South African squad were re-tested and were all negative for the virus, the match was rescheduled for Sunday morning.

But on Saturday night two members of The Vineyard staff tested positive, causing great alarm in the England squad. The tourists were all tested again on Saturday night and then Sunday’s game was called off less than an hour before the start when two members of the England squad returned positive tests.

Allegations from Newlands management that England had broken protocol by using the practice nets next to the construction site at the ground were countered on Monday by an England Cricket statement that the practice facilities provided on the main field were sub-standard and unacceptable, forcing them to use the other nets. But not before they had advised CSA of the problem and had set up a security cordon to ensure the safety of their players and coaching staff.