Under-23 squad aim to go to Rio as cup winners
IN football, coaches always talk about pressure-filled games being like a “cup final”. This afternoon, in the cauldron that is the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, the Springboks and Ireland will face off in their own “cup final” in the third Test of this roller-coaster ride of a series.
It has been a lot tighter and more competitive than expected.
Ireland arrived without a plethora of big-name players after a long season had taken its toll on their bodies. But they shocked the Springboks in Cape Town by showing the character to hold on with 14 men to record their first victory on South African soil.
In the second Test at Ellis Park, Ireland were 20 minutes away from recording a series victory. But the Springboks turned up the heat for the first time, and four second-half tries helped them keep the series alive.
Today is going to be another battle of attrition at a venue where the Springboks are still unbeaten. The South Africans have recorded wins against the All Blacks and Scotland at this venue, but they drew with England in 2012.
Ireland were dealt another couple of injury blows this week, but the Boks have lost lock Lood de Jager and loose forward Duane Vermeulen to injury. Those are senior players that the side would have relied on to help calm the nerves in the dressing room.
So far in the series it has been the Irish players who have really put their hands up and led from the front.
Their South African counterparts in the leadership group have produced a bit of a mixed bag.
But this week, when players like captain Adriaan Struass and veteran loosehead prop Tendai Mtawarira were quizzed about the form of the Boks’ elder statesmen, it seemed like they wanted to shut up the doubters with a top performance and clinch the series in style.
“It’s important for the senior guys to step up and lead by example,” Strauss said yesterday.
“I also think the senior guys have done that, working hard and doing the dirty work. If there’s a set-up where a lot of senior guys are doing the grafting, sometimes other players
Caster Semenya celebrates her victory in the women’s 1 500m final on day three of the African Athletics Championships at Kings Park Athletics Track in Durban last night. The Olympic silver medallist smashed her previous best over the distance by seven seconds, with a time of 4:01.99. It was the second-fastest time ever by a South African woman. get the chance to stand out more.
“When you’re a young team, or a new team, the senior guys need to fulfil some other roles as well. I can just thank the senior guys for really helping me in the first two weeks, and they have led on the field as well.”
Strauss, in particular, has come under scrutiny about his play. But coach Allister Coetzee came out to bat for him on Thursday, saying that “Adriaan has played a huge role” in the side over the past month.
Strauss knows he will have another big role to play in the pressure-cooker environment of the match this afternoon. Although he would probably like to focus more on his play, the Bok captain said he was looking forward to displaying his leadership qualities.
“I enjoy the big moments and the pressure moments. It’s necessary for everyone to understand when there is a big moment and you need to know the situation, but you also need to remain calm and focus on your next job,” he said.
“That was my main focus, just keeping the guys in the moment and taking it play by play and phase by phase, and to still have that belief that we can win the game.”
It is a big moment for Strauss and Coetzee’s Springboks this afternoon. It’s going to be very much like a cup final.
Njabulo Ngidi
THEY might be Bafana Bafana by default, after Safa chose to send the Olympics-bound national Under-23 team to the Cosafa Cup instead of the senior national team, but they could sleep tonight as authentic champions.
It would be a massive turnaround, after coach Shakes Mashaba begrudgingly agreed to take the Under-23s because the bigger picture of preparing for the Olympics was more important than his desire to see Bafana Bafana conquer southern Africa, then the continent and eventually the world.
But this team has managed to do both, march to the final after going past Lesotho and Swaziland while they prepare for the Olympics in the process, picking up valuable lessons.
One of those is the desperate need to solidify the defence, which has been opened up with ease in their first two games where they trailed before bouncing back to win.
Botswana will look to take advantage of that tonight at 6.30pm in the Cosafa Cup final at Sam Nujoma Stadium. Mashaba spent the two days after they qualified for the final weighing the pros and cons of starting with Reyaad Pieterse in goals.
The SuperSport United goalkeeper is the closest this team has to a solid and vocal leader at the back, but he has struggled with injuries. He was uncomfortable in some moments against Lesotho while he only played the first half against Swaziland with Jody February coming in his place.
“One worrying factor was that even though Swaziland were a man down towards the latter stages of the match, they were still able to combine well to get into our box with ease,” Mashaba said.
“That’s an area that we need to deal with before this team goes to Rio. But the good thing is how well we recover. Everybody showed grit and fight in the second half to rectify the mistakes we made in the first half. It was pleasing to see the team score five goals because it’s been a long time since we have seen any of our national teams score five goals in a single match.”
Mashaba will welcome the return of Gift Motupa up front after he served a one-match ban. He wasn’t missed, with Thabiso Kutumela doing a decent job playing behind centre forward Judas Moseamedi, who brings an aerial dimension to the attack. Motupa’s advantage is his power, quick turn inside the box and powerful shot.
“One of the best things about this team is the support we give one another,” Motupa said. “I have a special bond with this team because they took my game to another level.
“I remember when we qualified for the Olympics in Senegal, I came there having seen little action at club level. But after I came back from there, I played a number of games which helped raise my confidence. The coach here knows how to get the best out of me.”
This tournament confirmed this team’s strength upfront, which is still without their inspirational captain Keagan Dolly, Lebo Mothiba of Lille and Brazil-based Tyroane Sandows who is likely to travel with them to Japan next week. That trip will see their preparations taken up a notch, against a Japanese side that will also be playing in the Olympics.
That match is likely to see the 18-man squad that coach Owen da Gama will take to Brazil, start to take shape. That’s why those who are on the fringes will be looking to raise their hands by returning from Namibia as champions.