TALKING POINT: Boks are flying, now the rest must follow

The Springboks’ win in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship has served the rest of the world notice. Not only have the Boks successfully negotiated the post Rugby World Cup hangover, but they are soaring - and the best is yet to come.

This season the Boks used 49 players - 35 in the Rugby Championship - and blooded a number of newcomers that have risen to prominence in the Bok camp. While a number of double World Cup winners took a backseat to allow more depth to be built, a handful have already made their mark impressively in the national team and will continue to grow as the season rolls into the November internationals.

The likes of Elrigh Louw, Ruan Nortje (who wasn’t in the original Bok squad), Gerhard Steenekamp, Aphelele Fassi and even the injured Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu have played prominent parts in this year’s international season, so much so that they have surpassed some more experienced players in this time.

There is ample evidence to show that this Springbok team is growing, they are getting better and better while expanding their depth and can almost field two separate teams for any international and not be underdogs in these games.

NO SIDE MORE DANGEROUS

All round, the growing-while-winning phase has been impressive, and even though it did bite in Santiago del Estero when they lost by a single point, and a missed penalty by Manie Libbok at the end, the Boks may not be No. 1 on the rankings, but few around the world will say there is a more dangerous side than them right now.

But while the Boks have been getting all the glory, beneath the surface there are still cracks showing.

The recent poor show by the Junior Boks at the Junior Rugby World Championship is a concern, as is the fall from grace that the Blitzboks have had. While South African teams continue to shine in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, and a team has made every final in the three years it has been in existence, there is a need for a more concerted campaign across the board.

Luckily this is starting to happen. There is no doubt that the Springboks are still, and should be, the main focus of SA Rugby. The national side is iconic and is in the middle of a golden generation that needs hard work and focus, adaptability and renewal to continue to be at the top of their game.

RESULTS HAVE BEEN IMPRESSIVE

That is happening, and so far the results have been extremely good - with the only two losses coming off last-minute kicks - one against Ireland and one against Argentina.

But below that the talent pool has issues. South African teams are still navigating the cross-hemisphere games with difficulty. The Stormers and Sharks both ran out of steam this past weekend in games they could and should have won.

It is all good and well to win your home games and rely on that to win the competition, but the key to growth is to win on the road. And depth is an even bigger key to winning in the EPCR competitions where the big boys thrive.

South African coaches are learning, but so are the rest of the northern hemisphere. Wins by Benetton, Ospreys, Glasgow and Munster for instance dented local URC sides’ chances at crucial times last year.

TREND OF PICKING OVERSEAS PLAYERS ALTERED

The positive is that almost every new Springbok this year has come from the competition, and this has reversed the trend of picking overseas Springboks - who are now fast becoming the minority, rather than the majority of the squad.

That will give SA Rugby more control, and allow performances to be more aligned to the talent pool that teams have.

Kevin Foot’s appointment as the SA under-20s coach will bring a different dynamic, as will Dave Wessels’ role as the new High Performance manager at SA Rugby. The duo were instrumental in UCT’s epic win years ago in the Varsity Cup and coached together at the Western Force and Melbourne Rebels.

Foot knows what it takes in the cauldron of international rugby and his focus will be to get the Junior Boks to be at the top of their game.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS GOOD FOR THE GAME

Swys de Bruin’s appointment as the Bok Women’s coach shows the seriousness of growing this part of the game for SA Rugby as well.

Too often the Boks have been seen as the only performance measure for the health of SA Rugby and while this is mostly true, the sum of the parts needs to be healthy as the front-facing Green and Gold.

A winning Springbok team is always something to celebrate, but to be truly successful, SA Rugby needs to be a leader in all parts of the game.

And here there is some work to be done.