If anyone wants to argue against the point that the trip that starts with Saturday’s clash with Ireland in Dublin is the toughest November tour yet to have been undertaken by the Springboks, there is one particular point that needs to be considered.
In the past the big game of such a tour has always been England at Twickenham, with that game often ending the trip and thus being seen as the culmination of everything that goes before. This time it is hard to argue that the London game is the focal point, for there are challenges that are arguably much bigger that precede it if you look at the current world rankings.
Whereas in the past the Boks have travelled with either the All Blacks or themselves ensconced at No 1, this time it is Ireland that head the World Rugby rankings. And France, who are second and many see as the favourites for the Rugby World Cup that they will host next year, are next up after that.
Not only are the Boks playing France on their own soil, they're playing them at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille, which is arguably France’s favourite venue and one where many a touring team has come unstuck in front of a fiercely partisan, aggressive and vociferous crowd. The last time the Boks played France in Marseille was when Rudolf Straeuli was the coach in 2002, and the South Africans were just never at the races in a game where they were thumped 30-10.
However, although that was a game that marked the debuts of two future legends of Bok rugby, Jean de Villiers (injured in the match) and Bakkies Botha, that was not a period in South African rugby history where the national coach had a great cycle of players to draw on. The tourists went from there to Scotland, where they lost 21-6, before the humiliation of Twickenham (53-3 to England) the week after that.
The team captained by Siya Kolisi and coached by Jacques Nienaber is fed by a far healthier cycle of players, and it is a damn good thing too for there is a key area where the Boks are down to fourth choice.
BIG FOCUS ON WILLEMSE
Johan Goosen would be third choice flyhalf if he’d been given more game time by the Bulls as he continues his comeback from a long-term injury lay-off in the early phases of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. And Elton Jantjies is still second choice to the injured Handre Pollard, he just needs to get his head right after the series of off-field controversies that have plagued the former Emirates Lions captain.
It is to Damian Willemse that the responsibility of being the Bok game driver has been entrusted to and how he goes on this tour will go a long way towards determining the confidence of the squad as the date with destiny in France this time next year draws nearer.
Willemse was an undoubted Bok flyhalf of the future when he played there for Western Province Schools at the 2016 Craven Week in Kearsney. But he wasn’t an immediate success there at senior provincial and franchise level and made his Bok debut as a fullback and has been used mostly there and at centre both at national and franchise level in recent times.
His performances when pressed into playing at 10 as an emergency measure during the away leg of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship were encouraging, but there was a caveat - he isn’t the frontline place-kicker at his franchise and is considered a bit wobbly temperamentally when he is entrusted with the responsibilities off the tee and it doesn’t go well.
Of course, he can kick pressure kicks, as he did in his first foray as a flyhalf, a position he filled as a replacement in the second half against Wales in Pretoria in the first test that South Africa played this year. Willemse kicked the last gasp penalty that won the Boks the match. However, he isn’t in the league of Pollard or Jantjies when it comes to consistency, and the idea that the kicking will be done by committee only really stands up if you ignore the fact that none of the other options (Faf de Klerk, who needs to displace Jaden Hendrikse in the first place) and Cheslin Kolbe (back from injury), are really consistent frontline kickers either.
With only the third game on tour against Italy in Genoa presenting itself as one that is not against a top five team in world rugby, the games are likely to all be tightly contested and a place kick is likely to be the difference between victory and defeat in at least one of them.
WINNING ALWAYS MATTERS
It might be argued that it shouldn’t matter so much as process and performance is more important than outcome on this tour, but that is not how the South African rugby psyche works. There is an expectation that the Boks should win every game regardless of the opponent, and probably just need to ask the aforementioned former Bok coach Straeuli about the impact his three losses on the 2002 tour had on the annus horribilus that was the 2003 World Cup year.
And that in a nutshell is why this is going to be such a tough tour and why it is arguably the toughest ever undertaken by the Boks, at least in the post-isolation era - they’ve been on tours where there have been more games, they’ve played the same teams on tours before and even in relatively similar sequence. But they’ve never undertaken a tour to the north where their opponents have been ranked No 1, No 2 and No 5, with the last-mentioned being England in a game that is normally seen as the defining fixture of the tour but not this time.
The Boks are straight into the fire from the start, with the Aviva Stadium being a venue where they lost 38-3 on their last visit in 2017. That game was probably the death-knell to Allister Coetzee’s stint as Bok coach, and the Bok is regarded as a different animal now, but there are survivors from that game who will remember how the pressure was ratcheted up after that defeat.
A loss to Ireland is certainly not a good build-up to playing France in Marseille - just ask the All Blacks, who faced that sequence and came unstuck last year.
Not that the Boks, with Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus in charge, will be looking at the negatives. For them the positive is that a winning tour now, given that they are playing the World Cup in France, will be a massive boost to their confidence ahead of the global event. And it is in that context of it being a crucial steppingstone to the main event that kicks off under 11 months from now that this tour should be viewed.
Springbok November Tour schedule
Saturday, 5 November - Ireland v South Africa (Dublin)
Saturday, 12 November - France v South Africa (Marseille)
Saturday, 19 November - Italy v South Africa (Genoa)
Saturday, 26 November - England v South Africa (London)
SPRINGBOK SQUAD:
Props: Thomas du Toit (Cell C Sharks), Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers), Vincent Koch (unattached), Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers), Ox Nche (Cell C Sharks), Trevor Nyakane (Racing 92)
Hookers: Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Cell C Sharks)
Locks: Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Eben Etzebeth (Cell C Sharks), Jason Jenkins (Leinster), Salmaan Moerat, Marvin Orie (both DHL Stormers)
Loose forwards: Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Siya Kolisi (Cell C Sharks), Evan Roos (DHL Stormers), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers)
Utility forwards: Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat)
Scrumhalves: Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles), Jaden Hendrikse (Cell C Sharks), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier)
Flyhalves: Manie Libbok, Damian Willemse (both DHL Stormers)
Centres: Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Andre Esterhuizen (Harlequins), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles)
Outside backs: Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz), Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks), Sbu Nkosi (Vodacom Bulls)
Utility backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Cheslin Kolbe (Toulon), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers)