Cape Town – With Duane Vermeulen not available for the Rugby Championship, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus will have to field a new-look loose trio for next Saturday’s tournament opener against Argentina in Durban. 

On the surface, the fit-again Warren Whiteley seems the most natural replacement at the back of the scrum. But, listening to Erasmus speak in Stellenbosch on Monday, things could be a little more complicated than that. 

Siya Kolisi, confirmed as captain for the Rugby Championship, is the only one guaranteed a start in the loose trio, though it is looking increasingly likely that he will make the move from openside to blindside flank. 

The addition of two new squad members – the uncapped Marco van Staden and Bok veteran Francois Louw – means that Erasmus now has two new options at No 6. 

While a Whiteley/Kolisi/Louw starting loose trio would move Pieter-Steph du Toit back to the second row, it seems the most natural fit. 

Van Staden, however, is the possible bolter. 

It has become abundantly clear how highly Erasmus rates the 22-year-old; so much so that he was the coach’s first-choice to wear the No 6 jersey in the June Tests against England. 

As fate would have it, Van Staden went down with a knee injury while on Super Rugby duty for the Bulls against the Brumbies in the final match before the international break. 

Now, he is fit and firing, and Erasmus is keen to get him involved. 

“Marco probably would have started in the England Test matches as the first-choice and then the match before that series, the last one that the Bulls played, his knee went,” Erasmus said.

“Since then he’s been playing as an out-and-out opensider like Francois Louw and Heinrich Brussow and those guys. It’s nice to have somebody like that in the fold.”

Louw himself will be the favourite to start at openside in Durban, though Erasmus hinted strongly at the 33-year-old’s ability to play at No 8 too.

The coach pointed to the role that Louw played in last year’s 25-24 loss to the All Blacks at Newlands, adding that it might open the door for him to start alongside Van Staden.

“Having guys being able to contest on the ground like Malcolm (Marx), Flo and Marco … we might play them together at some stage,” Erasmus said.

“Flo played a wonderful game at No 8 when we lost to New Zealand at Newlands. He’s pretty versatile, so they might be in the same starting line-up, depending who the opposition is.”

On Kolisi’s likely move to No 7, Erasmus had no concerns. 

“When Siya started out playing he was this lanky flanker who almost played like Warren (Whiteley). He was bigger than the other boys, but he ran on those outside channels,” Erasmus explained.

“He’s taught himself the role of a genuine open-sider. He’s brilliant over the ball and is a great counter-rucker, but probably not of the best poachers or at slowing the opposition ball.

“With his lineout ability, he is probably a good option as a blindside flanker.

“He will always be in the team. It’s nice to have a guy like that and then build other guys around him. He’ll probably play a few games at blindside.”

The likeliest loose forward combination for Durban remains Whiteley/Kolisi/Louw, but don’t be surprised at all if Erasmus takes the bold step to include another uncapped youngster in Van Staden.

Cape Town – South Africa produced another dominant performance on Day 3 of the 21st CAA African Senior Championships, raking in another 9 medals as they extended their lead at the top of the overall table in Asaba, Nigeria at the end of Friday.

Caster Semenya again showed her class by smashing the South African record in the 400m final, storming across the line in 49.96 to become the first SA woman to dip under 50 seconds in the one-lap dash.

She broke the previous mark held by Heide Seyerling, which had stood for nearly 18 years.

“It’s always been my dream to run under 50, and I think it was the right time. The conditions suited me,” said Semenya, who was nearly a full second ahead of her nearest opponent.

“For me, it’s always about having fun and waiting for the right time to execute.”

Semenya is set to compete again in the 800m and 4x400m relay events on Saturday and Sunday.

The national squad relay took no prisoners in the 4x100m Relay, charging home in 38.25 seconds, with Akani Simbine, Simon Magakwe, Emile Erasmus and Henricho Bruintjies missing the SA record by just 0.01.

“The more we believe in each other the better we become,” Bruintjies said.

“This is an individual sport but by coming together as a team there are more medals up for grabs, and I think we’re all understanding that now and showing up for the relays.”

Delivering a medal double, high jumper Chris Moleya bagged silver after clearing 2.26m to equal his personal best, and Mpho Links also stepped on the podium, with his best attempt of 2.15m earning him the bronze.

In other disciplines, Thapelo Phora set aPersonal Best of 45.14 to grab the silver medal in the 400m Men final and Fredriech Pretorius finished second in the Decathlon with 7 733 points.

“I had a slow start so I had to push hard to catch up, but my aim was to make the top two to be in the team for theIAAF Continental Cup, so I’m very happy,” Phora said.

Cornel Fredericks also took silver in the 400m Men Hurdles final, capping a superb comeback from injury troubles after a lengthy absence from the national team.

“Today was satisfying because it’s the first time I’ve represented South Africa since 2016 and it’s always an honour to run for the national team,” Fredericks said.

“The time wasn’t as fast as I expected but I’m happy with second place.”

Ischke Senekal earned bronze in theDiscus Throw Women with a best heave of 53.82m, with compatriots Riette Heyns (52.41m) and Yolandi Stander (48.35) ending fourth and sixth, respectively.

Long Jump star Lynique Beneke also took bronze in her specialist discipline with a 6.38m leap, while Zinzi Chabangu took fourth position (6.14m).

The SA 4x100m Relay team Women narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in 49.63, just 0.05 outside a podium place.

Siboniso Soldaka struggled in humid conditions in the 3 000m Men Steeplechase, settling for 11th place in 9:00.87.

With two days of competition left, South Africa had a total of 17 medals in the bag (five gold, seven silver and five bronze).

Cape Town – All-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo was due for a better bowl … and duly delivered it.

Top-order batsman Aiden Markram badly required a decent vigil at the crease … but sadly only deepened his present hole.

Those were among the salient features of South Africa’s second successive, convincing victory over Sri Lanka in their five-match one-day international series at Dambulla on Wednesday.

The Proteas now travel to Pallekele for the third clash on Sunday (06:15 SA time) targeting an early series kill-off, which would also then give them greater liberty to use some currently idle members of their squad in a pair of dead-rubber contests.

As in game one, Faf du Plessis’s side chased down their target – steeper this time — with plenty of overs in hand, a reflection of their increasing general confidence and levels of aggression at the crease, especially against the wily home spinners.

If you wanted to be hyper-critical, you could argue that they would have been run a lot closer, or possibly even beaten, had Sri Lanka’s catching and ground-fielding not been beyond abject much of the time – and especially within the first 10 overs of the tourists’ innings.

Both of South Africa’s so often productive opening alliance, Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla, had early lives courtesy of relative dollies being dropped in the mid-wicket area, and instead amassed a partnership of 91 in 14 overs that was a nerve-settling foundation for a requirement of 245.

De Kock was particularly ruthless at cashing in on his “gift”, making his way to an increasingly elegant and authoritative 87 off 78 deliveries for the player-of-the-match award.

The left-hander may have had a rough old time of it at the crease in the prior Test series – which Proteas player didn’t? – but at ODI level he has been in excellent form across the planet for well over a year and this was simply a continuation.

Immediately below him in the order, however, Markram’s broad Sri Lankan tour misery only lingers.

You could see him making a conscious effort to use his feet more and adopt a positive approach against the slow fare, but it was also a fleeting observation to make because he fell for an 11-ball innings of three, edging a leg-break from multi-faceted Akile Dananjaya when seemingly playing for his stock “offie”.

Markram has now managed a mere 44 runs across all six tour matches, and eight knocks, meaning an average of 5.5 and it has probably reached a point where giving him a break is a sounder formula than just prolonging his troubles and aggravating any self-doubt – he remains an outstanding long-term prospect for the country.

The Proteas have not yet deployed either of Heinrich Klaasen (he has been nursing a groin injury) or the ODI-uncapped Reeza Hendricks, so Pallekele might be the apt place for a minor tweak to the batting.

If necessary, skipper Du Plessis, who is unlikely to be too mortified by regularly getting out in the high forties against the ‘Lankans of late, could shift up one spot to No 3 where he has operated with success for most of his career in the format.

But if Markram is presently experiencing one of those marked trough periods that afflict all cricketers at some juncture, another young gun in Phehlukwayo produced a timely surge in bowling form on Wednesday after a mini-slump of his own.

The 22-year-old has a pleasing array of skills with the ball, but can sometimes try to be just a tad too “clever” and surrender his composure and core disciplines to a degree.

Here he was still resourceful – Sri Lankan commentators lauding his “knuckle ball”, for example – but also struck a better balance in keeping some deliveries simply in the right areas.

Aided by the other fresh-faced seamer in the middle period of the innings, Wiaan Mulder, also tightening his act appreciably in game two, Phehlukwayo thoroughly atoned for going wicketless and sometimes leaking runs excessively in four previous ODIs (three against India, plus the first meeting with the ‘Lankans).

He grabbed three for 45 in nine overs, including a demonstration of pleasing cool-headedness – ditto pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada at the other end – in the last five “death” overs of the home knock.

Statistically, this meant his third-best analysis in his 27 ODI appearances, following four-fors against Australia at Centurion and Bangladesh at Paarl.

It would be premature to start trumpeting the Proteas too loudly based on the first two contests with a Sri Lankan team that has a dreadful current record in bilateral ODI series.

Right now, Angelo Mathews’ outfit barely look a top-tier nation when it comes to team cohesion and lamentable basics – the captain did confess that “we were a bunch of schoolkids” in fielding terms.

But these Proteas are also dancing about as fast they can, and largely exuding healthy professionalism and vigour …

*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing

Cape Town – Proteas fast bowler Dale Steyn expects India to push England hard in their upcoming five Test match series, but feels the hosts have the edge in familiar conditions.

READ: Steyn in favour of doing away with toss

Steyn, who played only a role in the first Test when India toured South Africa earlier this year and lost 2-1, agreed with the point of view, saying that Virat Kohli’s India are “capable of anything”.

“Led by Virat, this Indian team is capable of anything. I know Virat pretty well. He’s quite a determined character. Five Test matches is going to be good for one team and if one team gets on a roll the other team will be blown away,” said Steyn, as quoted by the ICC’s website.

“It’s going to be a hard-fought Test series. The England bowlers are a little bit more skilled and that’s where the difference will be … that will be the tipping point.

“India do rely heavily on their spinners and they do a great job in one-day cricket. At the moment, the wickets are pretty flat (in England) and there hasn’t been a lot of turn, especially in the four-dayers in county cricket. So they’re going to rely on their fast bowlers. And if they don’t have them, then they’re in trouble,” said the Proteas fast bowler.

The last time England and India played Test cricket, India won 4-0, but that was in India in late 2016.

India, who are the No 1 Test team, have won a Test series in England only thrice – 1971, 1986 and 2007.

“The advantage probably lies with England, obviously being at home and with such a long tour, it tends to become very long. India have been there for ODIs and are a very good touring team now. If I put my money, I will probably put it on England. But it is going to be tight,” Steyn said.

“These are conditions that England are used to. Home series generally goes away with home sides.”

The first England v India Test will start at Edgbaston on Wednesday.