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Bok attitude puts them on course for Championship title

football11 August 2024 09:05
By:Gavin Rich
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Siya Kolisi © Gallo Images

The attitude of the Springbok camp after their comprehensive 33-7 win over Australia in Brisbane is as influential in installing them as overwhelming favourites for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship title as the strong statement they made during the 80 minutes of play.

The World Cup champions could not have asked for a better start to their quest to add the Championship crown to the global title they retained in France last October.

Take away the disciplinary infractions that led to three yellow cards and saw them finish with 13 men, some inaccurate lineouts in the second half and the decision making errors that otherwise would have seen them top the 50 mark, and it is hard to find any fault in their game.

The cutting edge brought to their attacking game by the introduction of Tony Brown to the coaching staff has made the Boks so much more difficult than they already were for opposing teams to handle.

And they haven’t in any way eschewed the strengths that some refer to as traditional strengths that are responsible for their world champion status.

The scrum remains a dominant and crucial factor, the maul that didn’t fire against an Irish team that is expert at defending that avenue of attack rediscovered its potency.

And then there are the skill levels that are starting to become increasingly more apparent in a team that can both go around the outside and through the middle.

The greater strike power brought about by the attacking adaptations have done something else - they’ve also made try-scoring bonus points more likely.

In the past dominance hasn’t always led to a full house of log points like it did in Brisbane, and it adds to the tally of factors that make it unlikely the Boks will come marginally short like they did in this competition in 2022.

THEY AREN’T GETTING AHEAD OF THEMSELVES

Recalling 2022 introduces the inevitable caveat. What made the opening weekend so perfect for the Boks was that the All Blacks started by losing unexpectedly to Argentina.

But they also lost to the Pumas at home in the Championship two years ago and ended up winning the title.

Indeed, they got smashed in Mbombela on the opening weekend in that edition of the competition, and still ended up continuing as southern hemisphere champions.

So there is good reason to avoid making the mistake that was made then by getting ahead of ourselves.

There are five games still to come in the Championship, and you just have to go back four weeks to the Ireland series to the last time the Boks won an opening game and then lost the following week.

As they did when they transferred their battle with the All Blacks from Nelspruit to Johannesburg in 2022.

But here's why the smart money should be overwhelmingly on the Boks repeating the southern hemisphere dominance they enjoyed in the 2009 Tri-Nations under Peter de Villiers and John Smit - they aren’t getting ahead of themselves.

Coach Rassie Erasmus and captain Siya Kolisi acknowledged that winning in Brisbane, so long a graveyard for Bok teams, was special, but their excitement levels were in keeping with where they were when the final whistle blew.

JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE

There was no visible elation in the demeanour of the Bok players when the game ended.

Instead they gave the impression it was just another day in the office for them, that they had bought into the theory that history is irrelevant when the No 1 team is playing the No 9 team. And ditto the Bok leaders afterwards.

“Next week is a new test and we want to give other players a chance, but that said we know Joe Schmidt (Australian head coach) and how he can turn things around,” said Erasmus.

“He’s only had four games with Australia, and next week is a new game and a new venue, and we are expecting a big challenge.”

Erasmus is right. When games are played so close together it is invariably the team that loses the first one that is the improved side the following week.

It is hard to foresee the Wallabies suddenly making an impression, for even when they had the ball in the second half they were well wrapped up by the Bok defence and only scored when it was 15 against 13 towards the end.

But still, some of the Olympic events have shown us how sport can make an ass of those who are too confident, which should make the following words from Kolisi welcome to South African ears: “Next week is going to be a completely different challenge and we know it will be tougher, so we need to remain focused and keep working hard.”

NET WILL BE SPREAD FURTHER IN PERTH

With relative newcomers Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Ben-Jason Dixon playing so well in the first game, it is likely that Erasmus will spread his selection net further when the Boks get to Perth, which has long been considered a home away from home by the South Africans (although that also appeared to be the case In Brisbane).

That used to be a risky policy, and it his cost South Africa in Australia before, but a combination of accumulated past experience of these situations and the depth that has been created makes it much less so now.

The Boks have crossed many frontiers in the past few years, and this was another one.

While there is a wide chasm in both the rankings and the abilities of the two teams now, it is still a fact that the Boks had lost their last four games in Brisbane.

So, as Kolisi pointed out, the win was a significant moment in the development of his team.

“This was an important away win for us, and a special one too,” said Kolisi. “In the last few years, we didn’t start well away from home, so to get this win was special and we are really happy about earning the bonus point.

“We haven’t done well in Australia especially, so we were very focused to turn that around going into this game, even though this ground is a fortress for them, because as I said earlier in the week, we knew we couldn’t win the Championship here, but we could lose it here.”

For Erasmus the big concern on an otherwise positive night for the Boks was the mounting tally of yellow cards against his team, something that plagued them during the Incoming Tours phase of the international season.

“We are happy with the performance, but not the three yellow cards,” said the head coach.

He also felt the players could have been better at protecting their possession, a point probably made with reference to the points left on the table by poor finishing.

“We also didn’t cherish the ball and look after it like a piece of gold, but at times we played with good structure and intent. So, we certainly don’t want to throw points away like that.”

That the Boks are concerned that they weren’t as clinical with their finishing as they should have been should be an ominous warning to Australia as the two teams on Sunday undertake the four hour flight to Western Australia for Saturday’s return game.

So should the Bok attitude, for at this point it is surely only complacency that can trip them up.

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