It would be easy to dismiss the Springboks’ Johannesburg nightmare as an aberration and maybe it will turn out to be a blip they learn from, but there should be some concern that the world champions are going into a repeat scenario from what they faced after Loftus six weeks ago.
The Boks have a chance to repeat what they did in Gqeberha in the second test against Italy by rebounding from their poor performance against Australia when they front the Wallabies again at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday.
When they traveled from the highveld to the Eastern Cape during the Italy series they of course had a win under their belt.
They’d beaten Italy 42-14, whereas this time they are starting out their preparation for the return game, which will be their second in this season’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship, stunned after a crushing defeat at a stadium Australia hadn’t won at since 1963.
But there are similarities in terms of the mood, for it was agreed Italy gave the Boks a second half wake-up call in that first test. For once again, the questions about the Bomb Squad, meaning the impact of the bench, something that has been so central to South Africa’s success since 2019, are being repeated.
In fairness, coach Rassie Erasmus never really selected a Bomb Squad for the Emirates Airlines Park game. It was a five/three split between forwards and backs. RG Snyman, who you’d imagine should be the first name written down when you are looking for the powerful impact the Boks have profited from off the bench in the last few years, was not there.
NOT THE SAME IMPACT FROM BENCH FORWARDS
The two props, while promising, are also inexperienced at international level. What the Boks weren’t getting against the Aussies later in the game was the impact that the currently injured Gerhard Steenekamp or for that matter the now retired Steven Kitshoff, or Ox Nche when Kitshoff started, would bring.
Remembering too that the player initially chosen to back up Nche for this most recent game, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, had to pull out in the buildup week due to injury.
Hooker Bongi Mbonambi is also now arguably the double World Cup winner who is most under threat for his place in the Bok plans, and Franco Mostert, who admittedly played in Johannesburg without much game time behind him, could be a close second.
In short, there wasn’t much impact, and matters weren’t helped by Damian Willemse making a string of errors in quick succession when he came on.
The Boks undeniably overplayed and paid for it. To put it simply, they ran themselves off their own feet, something that overseas teams have often done on the highveld (with the exception of New Zealand until maybe last year’s Johannesburg game) but this time it was the hosts who did it.
Rewind to a Super Rugby quarterfinal between the Hurricanes and the Emirates Lions in 2016, when the New Zealand team went into a commanding lead in the first half playing quick tempo rugby but were then out on their feet and swamped by their opponents, for reference.
There was also the second game of the Allister Coetzee era against Ireland. The Irish took a big lead in the first half, when they played all the rugby. There was only the Boks on the field in the second half.
It may be significant that the coach of Ireland that day was Joe Schmidt, who was the winning coach, this time for the Wallabies, at the weekend. Perhaps a case of learning from past mistakes?
Of course, being 22-5 down would never have been part of any plan, and those who so glibly claim he out-thought the Bok coaching staff are maybe ignoring that reality, but he might well have had his previous experience at that particular stadium in his mind when he spoke to his players at halftime.
POST HALF TIME STATS MAKE ALARMING READING
Whatever the reasons for it, however, and this is quite apart from the other repeat from the Loftus game that started the test match season, which was the wonky lineout, the biggest concern should be the similarity between what happened after halftime in both games, and the scoring stats from the two games in Pretoria and Joburg make alarming reading.
The Boks led 28-3 against Italy at Loftus and had done most of the playing. They then conceded 21 points against just seven before a late try for the Boks made it 21-14. At Emirates Airlines Park, where the Boks did even more playing and at times appeared to be the only team carrying the ball, there were 38 unanswered points after Siya Kolisi’s try in the 17th minute.
But after halftime it was 33-0 to the Wallabies, easily the Boks’ worst half of rugby under Erasmus’ coaching. Put the two second half scores in the games the Boks have played on the highveld this season and it is 54-14. Just what that signifies is hard to say, although game management probably does have a lot to do with it.
Just as it is also hard to say why the games played away from altitude have delivered a different scenario, with the Boks delivering across 80 minutes in Cape Town against the Barbarians, Italy in Gqeberha and Georgia in Nelspruit.
Erasmus is aware of the trend as he did mention it at the post-match press conference. He is widely regarded as a rugby genius, and rightly so, so hopefully he will have the answers.
South Africans can but hope as their team starts out on Saturday on the mission of reclaiming the No 1 position on the World Rugby rankings that they lost when New Zealand opened their Championship campaign with an away win against Argentina.
Castle Lager Rugby Championship first round results
South Africa 22 Australia 38
Argentina 24 New Zealand 41