The Springbok performance across the two Castle Lager Rugby Championship matches against the Wallabies was overall underwhelming and fell short of expectations but visiting coach Joe Schmidt issued a reminder before departure that it wasn’t all bad for the hosts.
Schmidt took on a tone of awe when he spoke about how good the South Africans were in the first 20 minutes in Johannesburg, when they ran up a 22-0 lead.
Unfortunately for the Boks they overplayed after that and ended up running out of steam, with the 38-22 defeat, and in particular those 38 unanswered points the Australians scored in the last hour, delivering a telling blow to the confidence of the world champion team.
That much was evident when the Boks produced a nervy performance in the so-called bounce-back win over the Wallabies in Cape Town a week later, with head coach Rassie Erasmus saying afterwards that it was all just about “getting back on the horse” and getting the ‘W’ to regain some self-belief.
The Boks went back to the safety net of their kicking game at the DHL Stadium, with an adjustment from their approach in Johannesburg always likely regardless of the Emirates Airlines Park result because of the change of conditions. The Western Cape is a winter rainfall region whereas the highveld is dry, hence a marked difference in underfoot feel as well this past weekend on the feel of the ball because of the wet ground.
HORSES FOR COURSES APPROACH
While it did not rain during the game, it did rain beforehand, and that rendered the field slippery.
However it was a case of adopting a horses for courses approach, and Erasmus said in the buildup that his team would not be abandoning what had worked so well for them in that first quarter in Johannesburg, the memory of which, and their surprise at slipping the noose, possibly being the reason the Australians were so magnanimous in victory.
“They didn’t allow us to breathe in that first 20 minutes,” said Schmidt in what can be seen as an acknowledgement that what the world champions threw at his team in that period was a step up from what his players had experienced before that against the British and Irish Lions.
In those minutes the Boks showed that while right now there are growing pains, proper global domination could be on the cards if they execute what their New Zealand defence coach Tony Brown has been working with them on in the right balance.
In other words, play with the mix we saw from them in the first part of the Ellis Park game and retain the aerial attack element mixed with forward driving and the skills of the passing game that has been developed and which did wow the crowd early doors in that first game,
When you employ the kicking game of old and stick only with that, the Boks advance in smaller points increments. The games tend to be closer, the wins by narrower margins, and the South Africans are more vulnerable to momentum shifts caused by refereeing error or other bits of bad luck or instances where fate conspires against them.
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He was speaking before the first game against Australia, and much of what he said might have been portentous given what happened. Last week we ran with Brown’s pledge not to turn the Boks into a New Zealand style team in the ‘Bok Thursday Feature’ on supersport.com, but in a wide ranging interview before the Ellis Park test he also left no doubt about the attacking potential that is inspired by the plethora of playmaking options at the back.
FULLBACKS FILL IMPORTANT ROLE AS SECOND PLAYMAKER
Whereas there is a massive preoccupation with the flyhalves that the Boks have available to them now, with Handre Pollard, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Manie Libbok all either already world class or potentially world class, and match winners on their day, Brown is enthused by the second and even third playmaking options that can make the Boks great.
“At the Boks we rely a lot on our fullback to be the second playmaker, which is becoming the modern way, and we have really good options there just like we do at flyhalf,” said Brown.
“Aphelele Fassi is very good around his communication, he sees space very well and is the same as Willie (le Roux) in that having a left foot as your second playmaker is a massive advantage at test level. He is super fit and he has extra speed that other guys don’t so we always use our fullback as our second playmaker.
"It is part of Fassi’s job, it is part of Willie’s job when he plays, and it is part of Gazza’s (Damian Willemse) when he plays.”
Although Le Roux, who like both Fassi and Willemse played flyhalf when young, has played 100 tests now and there is a perception that he might be phased out during the course of the years building up to the next World Cup in 2027, Brown doesn’t see the necessity to put him out to pasture just yet.
“Willie is a little bit older than the others but Willie is one of the fittest in the team and he covers the most amount of ground in the training week and he sees space so well that it would be silly to say to him ‘you too old now’.
"He’s definitely good enough to play at international level and if he keeps fighting for opportunities and keeps training well and remains super fit and doesn’t get injured why would you tell him to move on.”
SECOND FIVE-EIGHT APPROACH COULD MAKE IT THREE
There’s more than just the fullbacks adding to the Bok playmaking potential. There could be a third playmaker in the backline set up at the back if the Boks were prepared to take a step back and select a playmaker at inside centre. Both Willemse and Feinberg-Mngomezulu have worn the No 12, and indeed Willemse does it regularly for the Stormers, and so of course has Pollard.
Having inside centres with flyhalf experience has worked in the past, most notably for New Zealand when they had Aaron Mauger in their midfield. There is a reason why the Kiwis have historically referred to their flyhalf as a first five-eight and an inside centre as second five-eight - because they are seen to be a partnership.
Not that it is limited to New Zealand - Michael Catt wore the No 12 when England won the 2003 World Cup final, and ditto the Boks with Hennie le Roux there in 1995.
“Obviously both Handre and Damian can play 12 and it is nice to have another set of eyes for the No 10,” says Brown.
“If you have a first five (fly who is still young then it is nice to have a second five who can help with the communication and the control of the game. That’s why Mauger used to do it and even Dan Carter originally was a No 12, outside Andrew Mehrtens.
“Even though the inside centre position is changing a little bit nowadays, where it is a bit more of a physical guy, and the fullback is becoming a bit more of a second playmaker, with guys like Willie and Fassi doing the job, it would be quite exciting if you had the 10, 15 and the 12 all as playmakers on the field and be able to see space and move the ball to space and also control the game.”
FLYHALVES NEED TO STICK TO PLAN
When it comes to the flyhalf options, Brown believes in the talent of all three of the players who have been used there by the Boks this season, but when he was speaking he touched on something that did become an issue in the Johannesburg loss - the need for the players to stick to the script of what the team needs. Libbok, who wore the No 10 in that first game against the Wallabies, and was instrumental in creating the big lead, later left the script when he shelved his field kicking boot and focused only on his admittedly gifted passing game.
“Everyone thinks they are all different but ultimately we need them to do the same job around being able to run our game, control our field position, be massively important around controlling our forwards and then being able to move the ball when opportunities arise, and then being able to create space themselves,” said the former All Black and Highlanders flyhalf.
“I don’t coach Handre differently to the way I coach Manie or Sacha. I coach them all the same and they have to be able to do the same job and in the same way.
"Yes, Manie might be a little bit quicker than Handre, but Handre might be a bit more physical than Manie, so they do have little differences, but I would never ever coach them a different way to the way that the team needs them to play.
“They need to fit into the way we play the game versus letting them do their own thing. So the better they fit into the team and execute whatever is required of them around the plans and the way we want to play then ultimately the better guy at that tends to get the more opportunities.”
Feinberg-Mngomezulu is just 23 and has natural gifts that could arguably develop him into one of the great international flyalves in the history of the game. However, at this embryonic stage of his career there is a perception he may be too individualistic at times.
While he is encouraged to bring bling to the Stormers, who set their DNA around an all-out attacking game, there are adjustments he may have to make when he switches to test level.
“Naturally everyone who gets the opportunity to play for the Springboks needs to play the way that they play, use the skills that made them Boks. But that is only 50 per cent of the job. The other part of the job is to play the way that the team needs them to play.
"Are we going to win a game of rugby against Australia at Ellis Park if there isn’t the control that is needed and there aren’t plans in place?
“Then there’s the little individual things that make you a good player. We want to see all of that, but no rugby player can ever go out onto the field and play the game by themselves. That is why rugby is such an amazing game.”