Those who might fear that this time of relative experimentation will hurt the Springboks’ path to being ready for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia should relax and remember an important fact about the previous four year cycle.
There was no experimentation in the corresponding year in the previous cycle. In 2020 the Boks didn’t spread their depth, didn’t try anything new for the purposes of evolving their game. They stood completely still for the simple reason that they didn’t play at all. That was the year of Covid, when the South Africans were the only Tier 1 country not to play.
When they did return they went straight into a must win series against the British and Irish Lions. That was almost 20 months on from them winning the previous World Cup and because it required a win at all costs attitude, the Boks had to rely on what they had done to win in 2019.
So you can say it was effectively two years lost. And yet they still won the World Cup in France. When Rassie Erasmus speaks about the period he gives the impression he almost thinks it is bonus time. And why not?
CAN’T DAWDLE ON REFRESHMENT PROCESS
He’s not stupid though and he’s always spoken about the importance of having players boasting plenty of international experience forming the core of a World Cup challenge. Many of the players who won the World Cup will either be retired or in the autumn of their careers in 2027.
Before we know it we will be starting the year of the next World Cup and if there is an overload of players in the squad who have suddenly gone past the tipping point between being fresh and ambitious to aged and jaded, it will leave him in a situation it is too late to correct.
There is a vast reservoir of rugby talent in this country, the rather perplexing continued under-performance of the national under-20 team notwithstanding, so Erasmus knows it would be a crime for him to allow a situation develop where by 2027 he can only rely on the previous World Cup winners.
So you can expect experimentation in selection now that the Ireland series is over. Giving opportunities and spreading depth need not compromise winning. It was important for Erasmus to win in Durban to buy a bit of comfort. It is always easier to experiment when you are on the front foot and winning. That didn’t happen. But it was a close game, the series was drawn and not lost, and the Boks were playing a team on their level.
IRELAND PROVIDED A POINTER
The defeat wasn’t down to the drive to add a new attacking dynamic to the Bok game. They kicked a lot of ball away. They lost because they kicked and failed to hold onto the ball in the crucial last minutes when better game management was required.
Heartbreak in Durban as Ireland seal a one-point win with a last-gasp drop goal - well done with the win @IrishRugby and safe travels home 💔#ForeverGreenForeverGold #Springboks #RSAvIRE pic.twitter.com/UroUNGUnBt
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 13, 2024
If anything the Kings Park loss might even have been an invaluable lesson for it was a reminder that when Bok teams are fronted physically, and Ireland this time dominated in that first half rather than just fronted, it is necessary to have some extra arrows in the quiver.
Ireland also provided an important pointer in that they showed in their better periods of both games what can be achieved by structured attack. We’ve often spoken about the Boks and their ability to find a way to win, particularly at World Cups, but Erasmus was right to envy Ireland for the way they managed to turn a defensive scrum on their own 22 into an attacking opportunity. It took a big level of organisation to get that play right.
In the first half at Loftus the Boks played very differently to what we are used to seeing from them, but I don’t think that Erasmus, with the inclusion of attack guru Tony Brown on his coaching staff, is looking for complete reinvention of the wheel. That happened to an extent when Carel du Plessis was coaching in 1997 and again in Peter de Villiers’ first season in 2008, and both times there was player driven correction (and then in Du Plessis’ case a change in coach).
A LESSON FROM LONG AGO
Du Plessis was in charge of the Boks when they lost in the first professional era Lions series, and while the sport has changed massively since then, there was a costly mistake made then that Erasmus should be wary of repeating.
Du Plessis had his backs lining deep like they did in his playing days. And yet for some games he still selected Henry Honiball. The Bergville farmer was probably the most formidable Bok flyhalf of the past three decades , but you were taking him completely out of the game if you expected him to line up deep rather than on the gainline, which was where he thrived.
Handre Pollard was not an old fashioned flyhalf when he first started, but I agree with my colleague Brenden Nel that he looks uncomfortable with what is required of him now. It is likely the Boks will continue with Pollard at No 10, for Brown talks about him like he’s become a pet project. The plan is to get him right.
If however it becomes obvious that he’s not going to adapt, then the selection needs to be adapted. Going for Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu to start the big games might sound risky, but if Erasmus had him as his only flyhalf cover in both Ireland tests, then surely he must believe he can do the job. What if Pollard was injured in the first minute at Loftus?
The Stormers youngster is often likened to his franchise teammate Damian Willemse, and in terms of his willingness to be physical and actually look for physical contact, he is almost identical. Stormers coach John Dobson will tell you a story about an early opportunity Feinberg-Mngomezulu was given to play pivot in a friendly and he made more than 20 tackles.
There is no defensive template in the world that requires that many tackles from a flyhalf. And it may be why he has had a few injury problems in these embryonic seasons of his professional career.
If Feinberg-Mngomezulu is a bit raw, Manie Libbok is now a relatively experienced international flyhalf who was wearing the No 10 when the Boks beat New Zealand by a record score in a pre-World Cup game and also in the crucial first 50 minutes of the RWC quarterfinal against France. Whether he has slipped in the estimation of the coaches is difficult to tell, and he did have another horrible off-day from the tee for the Stormers in their recent URC quarterfinal. But he is expected to be at 10 against Portugal and my money says he will advance the confidence of the players around him.
MOODIE MUST PLAY
One of those players should be wing Canan Moodie and here I will say something that will make me unpopular with those who revere the two current wings Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cheslin Kolbe - Moodie must be on the wing if he is fit.
At the risk of coming across as someone with prejudices around size, having both wings on the small side can have limitations. Both Arendse and Kolbe are sublime when it comes to chasing kicks and operating in space that has been created for them, they are kings of the transition game, but if the Boks are going to employ a more structured attacking game, there will be times when they will need a wing who can bump opponents off and do more than step.
It is also helpful having someone who can engage two or three defenders at a time, thus taking them out of the game. The outsized Jonah Lomu never scored a try against South Africa, but the attention paid to him by the defenders may have played a role in allowing All Black fullback Christian Cullen to run riot.
What always comes to mind when referring to Moodie is that brilliant individualistic try that he scored in his debut test against Australia, where he plucked a kick out of the sky before finishing off in spectacular fashion.
The Boks used Pieter-Steph du Toit and Siya Kolisi in the wide channels at Loftus and as Brown pointed out that is hardly a new ploy at international level. Lots of other teams do it. Having the pacy but also tall and muscular Moodie also ranging up in that space could set up opposing defences for an almighty headache.