If there is a wasted question it is the one asked of anyone involved with the Springboks about how the tracking at this stage of the Rugby World Cup cycle compares with the comparative stage of the last one.
The second year of Jacques Nienaber’s stint as Bok coach was 2021. That was the year the Boks played and won the series against the British and Irish Lions, but it was also their first year of rugby after their triumph in Japan in the 2019 World Cup. Covid intervened in 2020, with the pandemic effectively ensuring that the Boks did not play at all that year.
South Africa was the only top nation (second tier Japan being the only other) not to play any international rugby in 2020 and of course that put the Boks behind the eight-ball. Which made their win over the Lions all the more meritorious. The first test of that series was in effect only their second game after the World Cup final 20 months earlier, the other being the warmup test against Georgia.
So the fact the Boks defended their No 1 status on the World Rugby rankings last year and won the Castle Lager Rugby Championship automatically means they are ahead of where they were in 2020, when they didn’t play at all.
Nienaber lamented what the loss of that year meant to the Bok buildup to 2023, the chief drawback being the loss of any opportunity to experiment or build on what had worked in 2019. The Boks were a year behind the other nations and were forced to rely on the same squad and game-plan that won them the Webb Ellis trophy in Japan.
INTRODUCED NEW PLAYERS WHILE WINNING
That’s not the case this time around. Rassie Erasmus was able to introduce new players in 2024 while still satisfying the bottom line requirement, which is winning. He also managed to introduce a new dynamic to the Bok game through the introduction of new assistant coaches recruited from overseas because they had different philosophies and would keep the Boks ahead of the evolution curve.
Which amounts to a double whammy if you are looking for reasons to feel positive about South Africa’s buildup to what will be an attempt at a hat-trick of successive RWC titles - not only are they ahead of the 2019 to 2023 curve, the Boks have also experienced a significant growth spurt since this time last year.
The big win over Argentina in the Rugby Championship decider in Nelspruit, where Siya Kolisi’s team produced a spellbinding mix of the traditional Bok broadsword physicality and the rapier promoted by Brown’s introduction, providing an object example of what they are working towards.
The Boks went back to a more conservative template to suit the conditions expected on the end of year tour of the United Kingdom, but there were still elements of Brown’s input that proved the point of difference in particular in the closely fought big match of the tour against England.
EXPECT BOKS TO HIT THEIR ATTACKING STRAPS
Brown acknowledges that Saturday’s first game of the new international season might require a wet weather game, which he says will bother the Barbarians more than the team he is now aligned with as the No 1 priority for the hosts is to win whereas the whole Barbarians ethos revolves around entertainment.
The #Springboks touched down in Cape Town and got straight to the grind 💥🏋️#ForeverGrerenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/tebHf4mtOg
— Springboks (@Springboks) June 23, 2025
“You have to be adaptable and adapt to whatever conditions confront you on the day of the game,” said Brown, who also stressed that the Boks won’t be getting into the Barbarians spirit as they are treating this first engagement of the 2025 campaign as a test match.
However, when the conditions allow it, we shouldn’t be surprised to see the Boks execute the Brown attacking template much better than this time last year, when arguably being between games might have cost them an outright win in the series against Ireland and nearly cost them in the first Rugby Championship clash with the All Blacks in Johannesburg.
Of course, it just makes logical sense, but it bears repeating - one year on the Boks should be a lot more familiar with what is needed than they were when Brown was still a relative stranger to them.
“We are much further ahead than we were last year, both on attack and defence,” said Brown.
“The players now understand and are comfortable with the way we coach and what is expected of them. We are really excited to get the season started, we feel we are in a much better place now and hopefully the games and the results will show us where we are at.”
IT’S “AS YOU WERE” WHEN IT COMES TO INTENT
Listening to Brown talk, it is clear that there hasn’t been too much adjustment to the mission statement he started out with 12 months ago when a warmup test against Wales was followed by the drawn two match series against Ireland.
“From the attacking side we are aiming to build on what we started last year. My aim is to make the players better in all attacking situations. Rugby moves fast (from an evolutionary perspective) so we want to stay ahead of everything that is needed to succeed on attack. We want to play good winning rugby. Hopefully we will score tries and everyone will love the way we play.”
One thing the evolution of the Boks into a better allround attacking unit has as its aim is to as far as possible remove the small margins that make a team more vulnerable to disputable refereeing calls. Both Bok losses last year - against Ireland in Durban and Argentina away - were by the narrowest of margins in games where had they taken their chances and been more ruthless when they did have momentum they could have won by more than a score.
Had Manie Libbok succeeded with a late kick and had Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu not made a few mistakes as a fullback, a role he was pressed into because of an early injury to Willie le Roux, the Boks would have won both those games and ended the season unbeaten.
Those two players will be playing key roles as game drivers this year, as will the experienced Handre Pollard, which cues another reason the Boks should be better - not only do the players know Brown better, he also knows them. And he’s more than happy with the quality that the Boks have available to them in what used to be his specialist position.
“All the flyhalves are great players and they fit the style we want to play. They all have an attacking mindset and don’t lack ability. If we get our plans right and our coaching right they will be great players going forward.”
This time last year Brown was talking about Pollard’s capabilities but with the caveat that there were aspects of his game that needed working on if he was to fulfil his full potential and really be what the Boks needed him to be. If there’s a slightly adjusted narrative to that subject now it may be indicative of the growth that has taken place and another reason this may be the time when we really get to see the Bok attacking game take off.