The Proteas assemble in a huddle before their training session (Screengrab/Cricket South Africa)

• Heinrich Klaasen, the Proteas’ stand-in T20 skipper, has dismissed suggestions that the squad for the three-match series against Pakistan is a second-string one.
• The Titans star noted that the team boasts various veterans at franchise level, whose nous compensate for a lack of overall international experience.
• Klaasen said there was no temptation to enlist some of the Test squad stars for the series once Australia withdrew from next month’s series at home.

Heinrich Klaasen might come across as mild-mannered, but don’t ask him whether the T20 squad the Proteas have assembled for a three-match series against Pakistan is a bunch of B-graders.

South Africa’s stand-in leader in the shortest form of the game was pretty emphatic in believing that the national side has enough ammunition to make a decent fist of the white-ball section of the tour.

“We are definitely not a second-string T20 side,” Klaasen said on Tuesday, ahead of the opening clash in Lahore on Thursday.

“Yes, we do have a few guys that are usually in the squad that aren’t here, but this is an opportunity to answer the call and showcase their skills. 

“We have players here who’ve been consistently good at domestic level over the past few seasons and even come into this series in good form. We’re definitely here to win this series. “

READ | Proteas stand-in T20 skipper Heinrich Klaasen reveals ‘tough’ battle with Covid-19: ‘I was very sick’

Klaasen definitely has a point with regard to the resources at the Proteas’ disposal.

While threadbare in terms of international caps – David Miller, Reeza Hendricks, Andile Phehlukwayo and Tabraiz Shamsi are the only members to have played 25 or more T20 internationals – South Africa have a handy core of veterans at franchise level present.

The likes of Pite van Biljon, Junior Dala, Jon-Jon Smuts, Dwaine Pretorius and new Test hero George Linde all know their own games inside out, not a bad dynamic to boast when you’re lacking in actual experience at the highest level.

“It’s going to be massive for those guys to step up,” said Klaasen, who himself boasts two fifties in T20 internationals.

“That’s why I insist that we’re not a second-string team. This isn’t the first time that we’ve done this, there have been previous occasions where we’ve rested some front-line players for a series like this one. 

“The ‘new’ seniors have been stepping up in helping the youngsters where we can. It’s actually been really nice to see how we’ve been interacting with each other.

“To have David Miller, who has played here before, helping the guys out is great because he has knowledge on the ground. We have a very strong squad and we are here to win the series, we don’t expect anything less.”

Australia’s withdrawal from a planned Test series next month means that, unlike the initial planning, the Proteas have their full contingent of coaches present.

Yet that didn’t extend to the national selectors opting to assemble a few stars from the Test squad too.

“Australia’s change of plans didn’t really prompt us to perhaps select some of the absent first-choice players,” said Klaasen.

“We’ve done this quite a bit where we rest some of our guys. A lot of the guys that are here deserve to play for their country, it’s exciting times for them. 

“We’re not expecting anything less from these younger guys.”

Proteas T20 squad to Pakistan:

Heinrich Klaasen (captain, Titans), Nandre Burger (Cape Cobras), Okuhle Cele (Titans), Junior Dala (Titans), Bjorn Fortuin (Lions), Reeza Hendricks (Lions), George Linde (Cape Cobras), Janneman Malan (Cape Cobras), David Miller (Dolphins), Andile Phehlukwayo (Dolphins), Dwaine Pretorius (Lions), Ryan Rickleton (Lions), Tabraiz Shamsi (Titans), Lutho Sipamla (Lions), Jon-Jon Smuts (Warriors), Pite van Biljon (Knights), Glenton Stuurman (Warriors), Jacques Snyman (Knights).

Pakistan v Proteas T20 series:

11 February – 1st T20 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (12:30 SA time)

13 February – 2nd T20 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (12:30 SA time)

14 February – 3rd T20 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (12:30 SA time)

French Rugby Federation Bernard Laporte. (Photo by Pierre Suu/Getty Images)

World Rugby vice-chairman Bernard Laporte said on Thursday a decision on July’s Test window, including the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa, will be made by the end of next month.

France are scheduled to head to Australia and Italy to New Zealand but the coronavirus pandemic has put the fixtures in doubt.

“We decided at World Rugby to firstly take a decision if the tours will take place, or not, at the end of March,” Laporte, who is also the French Rugby Federation’s president, told radio station RMC Sport.

“Because we need time to turn things around but I sincerely think France will go to Australia, Italy will go to New Zealand seeing they are the two trips posing questions. The Lions, too, of course,” he added.

Earlier this week, Rugby Australia offered to host the Lions tour as South Africa’s Covid-19 cases ballooned to more than 1.4 million, with almost 45,000 deaths.

Laporte opened the door to holding the eight-match tour set to run from July 3 to August 7 in the northern hemisphere.

“They might play in Europe and it would be a good thing,” he said.

Australia’s borders are currently closed due to the virus outbreak but those able to arrive are subject to a two-week quarantine.

Former France coach Laporte said it would be an issue with the Top 14 final scheduled on June 25, eight days before the first Test against the Wallabies.

“But if we’re told that we have to quarantine for 14 days in a room, it’s not possible,” he said.

“Because, we arrive the day after the Top 14 final to (prepare to) play the first game,” he added.

If France’s three-Test programme is cancelled, Laporte said a repeat of last year’s Autumn Nations Cup could be organised.

“Like we did last season. If they tell us ‘you can’t go to the southern hemisphere and they can’t come here… We can talk and say ‘why not play friendlies again between us’?

“Friendlies would be there to make money and because a coach need games two years out from a Rugby World Cup,” he added.

Sharks hooker Fezokuhle Mbatha.

• The Sharks’ preferred patient approach with youth could pay dividends down the line but they can forget challenging for the Rainbow Cup without an international No 2.
• The Sharks haven’t had a dominant No 2 of Bismarck du Plessis’ ilk since, well, Bismarck du Plessis left for Montpellier in 2015.
• Fezokuhle Mbatha and Daniel Jooste have shown promise but Bulls locks exposed their glaring lineout weaknesses in the Currie Cup final.

The Currie Cup final defeat will still be ringing painfully in the Sharks’ ears after they got agonisingly close to upsetting the Bulls on their own turf last Saturday.

But one of the main areas that needs urgent attention – not that there is suddenly a slew of weakness because of one defeat – is experience at hooker.

In all honesty, it’s been this way for a fair few seasons now.

READ | Curwin Bosch game management might impress Bok selectors

The Sharks haven’t had a dominant No 2 of Bismarck du Plessis’ ilk since, well, Bismarck du Plessis left for Montpellier, in France, in 2015.

It might be an unfair statement considering the promise former SA Under-20 hooker Fezokuhle Mbatha has shown and the faith his coach Sean Everitt has in him as well as fellow youth products at the Shark Tank.

But last weekend was the perfect example of how experience trumps youthful exuberance in pressure situations.

Bulls lock Sintu Manjezi, a disruptor of growing repute, read Mbatha’s throw-ins like a novel from the first jump at Loftus last weekend.

It was a dagger through Mbatha’s lineout confidence, which dipped for the rest of the game. The Sharks lost at least four of their 15 throw-ins, while Mbatha was replaced early in the second half.

Manjezi always felt like he could steal Sharks throws or force the visitors into skew put-ins or overthrows – anything to gain a marginal advantage towards Jake White’s team.

The Bulls employed the same tactic when the Sharks succumbed to a 41-14 loss in Pretoria during Super Rugby Unlocked, the last time they were there.

That day, in October, Everitt went with Dylan Richardson, an openside flanker, at No 2 and the results were disastrous.

Bulls second rowers Ruan Nortje and Jason Jenkins had a field day picking the Sharks lineout like newlyweds at a strawberry farm.

That was the last of the Richardson experiment.

READ | Bok lock Marvin Orie opts to leave Lions

Daniel Jooste, 22, who joined from University of Stellenbosch Maties late last year came in and made a nominal impact, which he could because of the ease of playing in his natural position.

But he didn’t solve the ailments.

Coaches will tell you that a lineout is a synchronised dance and if everyone is not in position the whole thing will fall flat.

Experienced hookers, however, recognise a tough lineout situation when they see it and vary up their throws, take fewer middle or deep throws when under intense pressure.

They also try the intentional overthrow, which can often catch defences unaware. The trouble with that, though, is the catcher can be an isolated runner and is at risk of conceding a turnover anyway.

It’s a dicey situation that all No 2’s have had to learn while they develop.

Malcolm Marx and Bongi Mbonambi, the two Springbok World Cup-winning front-line hookers, grew into being the dependable throwers they were once the 2019 tournament rolled around.

Both had been castigated in the past for poor lineout showings, until it all clicked, after years of failing to hit their mark regularly, in Japan that year.

By the final at Yokohama Stadium, the Boks hadn’t lost a single lineout all tournament. It was quite astonishing.

Back to the Sharks … if they are to become a title-contending team going into the Rainbow Cup (PRO16), they cannot afford to be found wanting in such a crucial set-piece area of the contest.

Missing out on signing former Cheetahs hooker Joseph Dweba when they nabbed his front-row partner Ox Nche from the Cheetahs last year was a lost opportunity.

Dweba had the perfect dose of experience and hunger to make the transition to a bigger union, which is how he attracted French scouts and joined Bordeaux.

Manjezi, who worked well with Dweba in their time at the Cheetahs, is a wily customer who learned loads while playing in the rough and tumble of the PRO14.

That’s where the likes of Mbatha and Jooste will face an even stiffer test, and should they fail to accelerate their growth between now and the start of the competition, the ruthless Northern Hemisphere teams will squish them like bugs.

The safe bet is going into the market for an experienced, preferably Springbok hooker. Someone like Mbonambi, with whom they have been linked inside the rumour mill.

Mbonambi’s Western Province teammate Scarra Ntubeni is also an accomplished lineout operator and would feed Mbatha and Jooste with a wealth of his knowledge.

The Sharks’ preferred patient approach could pay dividends down the line but they can forget challenging for the Rainbow Cup without an international No 2.

Jake White during the Currie Cup final between Bulls and Sharks.

• Bulls director of rugby Jake White savoured his inaugural Currie Cup title as a coach, after his team won a thrilling final 26-19 over the Sharks at Loftus on Saturday.
• But even he was taken a little aback at how quickly his team found success after he joined the Bulls during the pandemic.
• White ended the Bulls’ 11-year wait for a Currie Cup title and a decade without silverware.

Bulls director of rugby Jake White savoured his inaugural Currie Cup title as a coach, after his team won a thrilling final 26-19 over the Sharks at Loftus on Saturday.

White, who guided the Springboks to Rugby World Cup success in France in 2007, added the Currie Cup to his glowing trophy cabinet that also includes last year’s Super Rugby Unlocked title.

READ | Jake White hails Bulls comeback spirit

With this domestic double in the Covid-affected 2020/21 rugby season, the 57-year-old did exactly what he came to Pretoria to do – win trophies.

But even he was a little taken aback at how quickly his team found success, especially considering he started with the Bulls after the pandemic hit.

“Would I have thought about it? Obviously, I would have liked to achieve it but I’m also a realist,” he said.

“Tonight I told the players when we came off the field: ‘Now you know why it’s so tough to win the Currie Cup. We’ve waited 11 years for it and we nearly didn’t win it’.

“I have respect for everybody who’s won it before.

“It’s a tough competition. It’s a really great honour. Schalk Burger and Jean de Villiers, some of the best players I’ve ever coached, never won the Currie Cup.

“I would never have thought we would do but I had always planned on the basis that we could get it right.

“I have massive respect for Sean [Everitt]. He’s won the Currie Cup and he knows how tough it is.

“But, as he said, someone’s got to win and someone’s got to lose.”

His team was 19-9 behind with less than 20 minutes to go before two Arno Botha tries, one in the 63rd minute and another in the 98th, sealed an incredible Bulls fightback.

AS IT HAPPENED | Bulls 26-19 Sharks

White, though, took exception to the tag that he was at Loftus for a short ride and could move on quickly.

The transient nature of his jobs at the Sharks (less than one year) and Brumbies prior to returning to South Africa made some Bulls fans fairly incredulous about how long the affair would last.

White said the labels were unfair.

“I think it’s unfair but people can write and say whatever they like,” said White.

“I’ve got a contract with the Bulls and I work for an incredible organisation.

“The shareholders want to win, I’ve got a great CEO (Edgar Rathbone), and unbelievable young players.

“Take it or leave it. If people are going to surmise and make statements like that, they must do it.”