Usually Barbarians games are played at the end of a season or a tour and it enables the festival spirit and running rugby that such clashes are famous for, but the timing of the invitation’s game against the Springboks in Cape Town on Saturday will mitigate against that being the case this time.
No-one would like to see the ball thrown around more than Bok attack coach Tony Brown, who both played the game with flair and, as part of the coaching staff of both Japan and the Highlanders in the past, has promoted that kind of play in his life after rugby.
However, Saturday’s clash isn’t the end of the season for the Boks, and there is a strong priority on the foundations being put in place for a successful season at this midway point between Rugby World Cups for the reigning world champions. That means that the No 1 aim of the Boks is to win the game first and foremost as a stepping stone to the tests that will follow against Italy and then Georgia.
“We see it as a test match. Playing against the BaaBaas is a great opportunity for us but we need to perform and we need to get our plans in place and our coaching right,” said Brown in looking ahead to Saturday’s game.
“If the players perform well in this game they will then get another go against Italy, that is what they are playing for. We see this start to the season (which includes two games against Italy before the one against Georgia) as four test matches, rather than three test matches and a warmup game.”
Asked at a press conference at the team hotel on the Cape Town foreshore if playing the Barbarians was the ideal start to the year for the Boks, Brown stopped short of giving a completely straight answer.
“It is definitely a different challenge to what we normally have at the start of an international season,” he said.
“The Barbarians have knocked over many good teams over the years. It is massive for the first test of the year. We are preparing the players like it is a test match. This is not Barbarians against the Barbarians (in terms of playing style). We are going about our preparations how we would normally prepare for a test match.”
Of course that isn’t completely true because a normal test match would see the Boks up against another national team that has played together before and can therefore be analysed. There is a greater level of knowing what to expect in such a game, whereas right now there is only clarity on the Barbarians team around the five players, headed by former All Black skipper Sam Cane, his erstwhile international teammate Shannon Frizell, former Ireland captain Peter O’Mahoney and front row forward Cian Healey.
What Brown does appear to be expecting though is for the Barbarians to go into the match with the intention of playing Barbarians rugby.
“The Barbarians are famous worldwide for how they play and everyone knows how they play and the style they have to uphold,” says the former All Black flyhalf.
“We are pretty aware of what is coming. They will be out to play rugby that is hard for us to prepare for. They will be playing unpredictable rugby. But what we will have is a strong awareness around what we are trying to do.”
Brown didn’t seem to be more informed on what team the Barbarians will present beyond the five known names than the rest of the people in the conference room. But when it was suggested to him that the Boks might be playing against another former All Black flyhalf in the form of Richie Mo’unga, who is currently playing his rugby in Japan, Brown had an answer.
“As far as I know Richie has a broken hand. But whoever plays flyhalf for them will be an exciting attacking player and a good player as much of the Barbarians game will revolve around innovative play from whoever is in that position,” he said. The Bok team for Saturday’s game will be announced on Tuesday.