Boks signal attacking intent with Manie starting

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has signalled an intent to revert his team to attack mode against England in Saturday’s test at Twickenham by returning Manie Libbok to the No 10 jersey and moving to a five/three split between forwards and backs on the bench.

In an additional significant move, the Vodacom Bulls strongman Wilco Louw will play his first game for the Boks in three years by being a member of the starting team. He replaces Thomas du Toit at tighthead prop, with Vincent Koch continuing as a bench back-up.

Koch has of course been a long time member of the so-called bomb squad, which the impact squad was named when Erasmus first started to make a habit of going for six forwards and just two backs during the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

You could argue that, because Pieter-Steph du Toit can play lock, and Malcolm Marx is such an influential player, the bomb squad effect will still be there, as the Boks do still have a lot of forward depth with the selected configuration.

However the mind boggles at how, with the six/two split no longer there, those sections of the English media who make a living out of whingeing about the Boks, with the bomb squad being a predictable and perennial target when imagination runs dry and column inches deriding the Boks are needed or excuses are required when they win, are going to justify their keep this week.

Handre Pollard is on the bench as the safety net if Libbok misfires with his place-kicking, if it is indeed Libbok who fulfils that role given that Cheslin Kolbe has fulfilled that role occasionally in the past. Scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse, who took over the place-kicking duties when Libbok produced his man of the match performance against Argentina in Nelspruit at the end of September, has been left out of the match day squad.

In a further indication that the Boks will be looking to play the kind of tempo game that the ambidextrous Libbok thrives on and makes him so dangerous with his running and distribution game, Hendrikse has been replaced by Grant Williams.

The equally pacy Cobus Reinach is the scrumhalf back-up, while when it comes to outside back cover, Pollard has been joined on the bench by Lukhanyo Am. The 2019 World Cup final hero appears to have his stepping ability back and was a slippery customer with his numerous half breaks against Scotland last weekend and it could be argued that the Boks have as much depth at the back for this game as they have at forward.


REVERTING MOSTLY TO MBOMBELA SET-UP

There were 11 changes made for the Scotland game from the one that won 48-7 to clinch the Castle Lager Rugby Championship crown in Nelspruit just under seven weeks, with Saturday’s team reverting pretty much to the one that did duty at Mbombela Stadium.

The differences are tighthead prop, where Louw replaces the injured Frans Malherbe, the aforementioned scrumhalf change, and RG Snyman coming back into the No 5 jersey for Ruan Nortje, who is also injured.

The England players may know Louw quite well after he spent a few seasons playing for Harlequins, but if they have watched videos of the product of Ceres’ destructive scrumming for the Bulls since his return to South Africa they will be warned that the change is unlikely to hurt the Boks and diminish their scrumming power.

Siya Kolisi returns to the starting team after he played off the bench last week, so he replaces Eben Etzebeth as captain. The Bok back row of Kolisi, Du Toit and Jasper Wiese playing off the back of the scrum has a more cohesive look to it compared to the one that played last week, and Kwagga Smith and Elrigh Louw provide strong loose-forward back-up.

ELEMENT OF RISK

There is of course an element of risk if Libbok is starting as the frontline place-kicker, because it was generally accepted that it was because he had been released from that responsibility that he was so brilliant with his allround game against the Pumas.

At the same time though, his place-kicking inconsistencies have never been regarded as terminal, and it should not be forgotten that he’s often had periods where he has been a goalkicking metronome for the Stormers, and kicked clutch kicks to win a URC semifinal in 2022 and an Investec Champions Cup game against La Rochelle last season. He was on target for them in a URC game a few weeks ago.

Talking about the URC, the fact several players who haven’t played since the Nelspruit game have played URC in the interim should minimise the risk of rust. The Japanese based midfield of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel and wing Kolbe are the only players who have not seen some game time in the seven weeks since the win over Argentina.

And Erasmus’ loaded bench last week, where he went with a seven/one split, should pay off in the sense that Du Toit, Kolisi, Wiese and Marx all got a chance to warm up for this game by playing the second half off the bench in Edinburgh. Marx, as he usually does, will be poised to bring impact in the second half.

Aphelele Fassi will be wearing the Bok No 15 for the first time since Nelspruit as he comes back for veteran Willie le Roux, who will be watching from the stands this week, but the Sharks fullback did play two games for his franchise between the end of the Rugby Championship and the start of this tour.

This has been a breakthrough season for Fassi and there was never any question that Erasmus would trust him to front at Twickenham.

The only question was whether the coach might opt for Le Roux because of the more experienced players' playmaking skills and abilities when popping up as first receiver, but with Libbok starting those attributes are arguably less necessary.

A welcome return for Wilco Louw as the #Springboks made 12 changes to their starting team to face England in London on Saturday 💚💛#ForeverGreenForeverGold

— Springboks (@Springboks) November 14, 2024

Springbok team: Aphelele Fassi, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Manie Libbok, Grant Williams, Jasper Wiese, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), RG Snyman, Eben Etzebeth, Wilco Louw, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche. Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Elrigh Louw, Kwagga Smith, Cobus Reinach, Handre Pollard, Lukhanyo Am.