Friday, November 14, 1997

PARIS -- South African coach Nick Mallett took a major gamble yesterday in naming the defensively suspect Percy Montgomery at fullback for tomorrow's first rugby Test against France in Lyon.

Montgomery replaces Justin Swart, who pulled a hamstring during kicking practice on Wednesday evening.

Swart's injury, however, is not as serious as that sustained by flanker Phillip Smit against the French Barbarians which ended his tour.

The Western Province player has been advised to rest for two weeks.

He should be fit for the match against England at Twickenham on November 29.

With Montgomery's promotion, Jannie de Beer has been called up to fill the gap on the reserves' bench.

Springbok team manager Arthob Petersen admitted that "serious consideration" had been given to moving James Small from wing to fullback where he has served his country well in the past.

"It was eventually decided to keep James as right wing, which is his best position.

"It was felt that Percy should be given another chance after Tuesday's game against the Barbarians.

"This is an opportunity for him to prove his mettle as an international full- back.

"Justin will definitely be available for Twickenham.

"We hope he will have recovered in time for Paris," he added.

Montgomery, who made his debut against the British Lions this year, has played all his Test rugby to date at centre. While he possesses exceptional speed and agility in attack, his poor tackling and defensive positioning have been exposed frequently on the international stage, most recently in the calamitous defeat at Biarritz.

Mallett has picked him at centre for the game against France A at Toulon Tuesday.

The Springboks travel by train from their Paris base to Lyon this morning. Linking up with them on the banks of the Rhone will be Ollie le Roux, the Natal loosehead prop called up to replace the suspended Toks van der Linde.

SOUTH AFRICA Percy Montgomery; James Small, Andre Snyman, Dick Muir, Pieter Rossouw; Henry Honiball, Joost van der Westhuizen (vice-capt); Gary Teichmann (capt), Andre Venter, Johan Erasmus, Mark Andrews, Krynauw Otto, Adrian Garvey, James Dalton, Os du Randt.

Reserves: Werner Swanepoel, Jannie de Beer, Andrew Aitken, Braam Els, Dawie Theron, Naka Drotske.

Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov watches the ball during his match against Jonas Bjorkman from Sweden at the ATP World Championships in Hanover this week. Kafelnikov won the match 6-3, 7-6. (AP)

Klinsmann out of clash with Bafana

DUSSELDORF -- Top Sampdoria striker Juergen Klinsmann yesterday pulled out of the German squad for the international encounter against South Africa at the Rhein Stadium here tomorrow.

Klinsmann, one of Germany's most potent strikers, told a packed press conference after the German training session at the Rhein Stadium yesterday he had not fully recovered from an ankle injury and would not play against the Bafana Bafana.

"I broke an ankle two months ago and only started training last week in Italy," the German "Blond Bomber" said.

"I was looking forward to the match."

Klinsmann said after South Africa won the African Nations Cup, they had earned the respect of other soccer-playing nations.

"South Africa is a different team to the one we met in 1995. They have shown they belong to the top level in world football.

"No one should underestimate the South Africans and they will, I am sure, give a good account of themselves today," Klinsmann said.

Klinsmann conceded though he had not seen many of SA's players in action, but he had heard of Mark Fish and Phil Masinga, both of whom played in Italy.

"It is difficult to follow the players in Africa, but there is lots of talent in those countries. It is a good sign that football is growing both in Africa and here in Germany."

Klinsmann admitted Germany did not have a good World Cup qualifying series, but such was the strength of German soccer that they always had something in reserve.

"We struggled against Albania, conceding too many goals, and we also did not have a good game against Ukraine."

He said German coach Berti Vogts was working on rectifying any mistakes.

"He will focus on the game against South Africa and will work on the mistakes which have worried him."

On the clash against Bafana Bafana Klinsmann said experience tells him never to make predictions about a match.

"Germany will go all out to beat South Africa, but it will not be an easy game. It will be a tight match," Klinsmann said. -- Sapa

Border face searching test today

By Telford Vice

EAST LONDON -- Another day, another game -- in fact, a completely different game of cricket awaits Border in their Supersport Series match against Boland starting in Paarl today. And that can't be a bad thing.

Following the ravages of the Standard Bank League, in which Border have won two of their six matches, the Supersport Series almost seems a haven for them. It was in this competition, after all, that they earned respect from all opponents last season.

"No one likes to lose but there's honour in defeat if you keep fighting the way we did, " Border coach Stephen Jones said yesterday with reference to the disappointing three-wicket loss to Easterns in a day-night game at Buffalo Park on Wednesday. "It was a game we were banking on to win, but we've got to put it behind us and make the mental changes to the four-day game."

Doing so successfully would seem to include a leap of faith for Border, whose confidence must have been knocked by their one-day fortunes. Also, the tale of last season's success began a year ago and they will have to prove their point -- that Border are among the better first-class teams -- all over again.

It is at times like this, however, that the men separate themselves from the boys. Indeed, this time last year Border found themselves in a similarly wobbly limited overs situation and rose up to beat Natal over four days at Kingsmead.

Boland present rather less of a challenge than Natal, although their gains of Chad Grainger and Steven Palframan should serve them well this season. In addition, Border already know too well the sound of Evert Ferreira's bat while Kenny Jackson and the newly elevated Roger Telemachus are fiery competitors.

But Border are not going to Paarl as underdogs. There is depth and balance in all departments and it is difficult to identify an obvious weakness.

Philip Amm's form might be considered a chink in Border's armour down Boland way, but he made significant strides in last weekend's Bowl match and seems on the verge of regaining the languid touch he showed early this season.

"We asked him to go and get some runs in the B side," Jones said of the player Border hope will off-set the loss of Peter Kirsten's experience. "He's now got a couple of four-day games to find his feet again. He knows what it's like to go through rough patches and he knows how to get his form back."

Brad White's fine century on Wednesday has no doubt rung around Paarl almost as loudly as it did here, while Border's last look at Mark Boucher until early February should be worth more than a few runs.

Vasbert Drakes and Makhaya Ntini will by now be itching to let fly without the shackles placed on them by limited overs rules, and it is a pity one of Dion Taljard or Peter Emslie will sit out the match as both are bowling well. Reports from Paarl indicate the pitch has speeded up, which would favour Taljard's inclusion.

Into all this optimism, however, must seep some gloom: the weather forecast is damp, to say the least, and if accurate would make a result difficult to reach.

TEAMS

Border: (from): Brad White, Philip Amm, Wayne Wiblin, Piet Botha, Mark Boucher, Pieter Strydom (capt), Steven Pope, Ian Howell, Vasbert Drakes, Makhaya Ntini, Dion Taljard, Peter Emslie.

Boland: Evert Ferreira, Philip Hearle, Kenny Jackson, Chad Grainger, Adrian Kuiper, Kevin Curran, Steven Palframan, Roger Telemachus, Claude Henderson, Henry Williams, Charl Willoughby. 12th-man: Andrew Wylie.

Umpires: Rudi Koertzen, Robbie Brooks and Brian Jerling.

Expected weather: today: partly cloudy with evening rain; tomorrow: rain; Sunday: morning rain clearing in afternoon; Monday: fine.

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