Clinton van der Berg
everyone. Chopping it down from 46 to 30 will prove more challenging and yield more bleats from the public.
Easily the best thing he’s done so far is appoint Siya Kolisi as captain. Coetzee missed the trick last year, which damns his legacy.
Erasmus could have gone for Duane Vermeulen, but Kolisi represents the future, as does Warren Whiteley, who will jockey with Kolisi for the permanent captaincy once he returns from injury. Then again, if Kolisi leads the Boks to a series triumph, he’d have offered a compelling case to retain the job on a full-time basis.
Not only is Kolisi a hard-as-nails loose forward, he’s respected among the players themselves and is a powerful totem of local rugby’s efforts to transform. Don’t underestimate how massively symbolic his appointment is: he demonstrably proves that black players can break through at elite level.
England are in a bit of a mess. They’ve been rocked by injury upon injury and took a hiding against the Barbarians at Twickenham last weekend. Pat Lam’s fun XV trained on beers and enjoyed a fancy-dress party in the build-up, which worked wonders as they put more points on England than anyone ever has at HQ.
Similar preparation probably won’t do for the Boks, but you imagine that if an exciting back three can be put away, it would give England kittens. Last week their defence was all over the place and they leaked nine tries against the free-wheeling Baabaas.
The team, the mood and the occasion will be massively different for the first Test at Ellis Park, but self-doubt must surely creep into the England package, especially as they have now lost four on the bounce.
The one thing England won’t be is soft. Their players are big, fit and strong and won’t be cowed by South Africa’s reputation for getting stuck in. England’s set piece is seldom less than concrete, although their ground game at the breakdown has been contrary and there is uncertainty about their best midfield.
We shall see.
Settle in for fun and games, especially with Eddie Jones in town. He’s a past master of mind games and is guaranteed to fire several bullets Erasmus’ way. Listen carefully and you’ll catch the subtle cutting remark or the throwaway line intended to send a message. Jones does smack talk better than most.
He’ll talk up the Boks as favourites in the hope that they believe it, but it’s not a message he’ll send to his own team. Jones desperately wants to make history by coaching the first England team to a series win in SA and he’ll do everything to achieve it.
The picture for the Boks is far rosier than last year. Scrumhalf may be iffy, but there are options in every other position, with pace to burn and several exciting new faces who could stake a claim for a long-term role. There are just 17 Tests between now and the World Cup. LONDON: Morné Morkel, who quit international cricket at the end of the Test series against Australia in April and subsequently signed a deal with Surrey for two years, said that shifting base to England was his best career choice.
“I could have still played international cricket for another three or four years if I wanted to,” he told BBC Radio London interview.
On the switch to the county circuit, Morkel said, “For me, first-class cricket in England is of the highest quality. You have very strong local players, international guys and overseas players and it is very competitive. Just perfect.
“For me, it’s important to play to a high standard. I still feel mentally in an and physically fit to play white and red-ball cricket.”
At the time of making public his decision to stop playing for South Africa, 33-year-old Morkel said it was a call made keeping in mind the needs of his young family, which he feels will be most settled in England which culturally has so much to offer outside of cricket. – ANA