The Springboks are currently busy with a training camp in Jersey ahead of their move to the United Kingdom next week but they will feel the buildup to the real business of their tour starts in earnest this weekend as both their initial opponents go into action.
England, who undeniably present the world champions with their biggest challenge of their three-match November tour, will give a good indication of what changes and potential growth areas are in the offing since last season’s Six Nations and their July tour of New Zealand when they play their third match of the year against the All Blacks on Saturday at the Allianz Stadium (Twickenham).
The departure of former Bok assistant coach Felix Jones from his former role of defence coach since England narrowly lost the second test against the Kiwis four months ago should be one big area of focus for England and of course an area of interest for Rassie Erasmus and his coaches.
Under Jones they employed an aggressive blitz defence. Will that change under a new defence coach?
It’s unlikely to, but it will be interesting to see how England have adapted to a different voice as they face the supreme test posed by the All Blacks’ renowned attacking game.
Then there’s the scrum. The All Blacks got the better of the England eight in New Zealand and are arguably alongside the Springboks the strongest scrum in the world.
England, by contrast, have seen that aspect of their game as an Achilles heel in recent times, possibly dating back to their World Cup final defeat to South Africa in Yokohama in 2019.
It was the swing in the Bok favour in the scrumming battle towards the end of last year’s semifinal in Paris that prevented England from making a second successive RWC final, so it is understandable there’s been plenty of media focus towards the scrum in the buildup to Saturday’s game, which kicks off at 5:10pm SA time.
SCOTS LOOKING TO BUILD ON GLASGOW’S MOMENTUM
But the more immediate concern for the Boks and their brains trust is Scotland, who they play next Sunday at Murrayfield and who lost to the eventual tournament winners in the opening game of last year’s World Cup in Marseille.
The Scots are understood to be under pressure due to a perception that they are under-achieving under the coaching of Gregor Townsend and not pressing on to grow and challenge for trophies as per the expectation.
What has changed though since the Boks last played against Scotland is the impact of the increase in the South African influence in the coaching of the two Scottish URC teams from which all but one of the players who will face Fiji at Murrayfield on Saturday (kick-off 7:40pm) come.
The exception is the Hollywoodbets Sharks hooker Dylan Richardson.
The barriers that Glasgow Warriors, coached by former Springbok centre and SA assistant coach Franco Smith, have gone through in the past calendar year should be particularly helpful to Townsend when it comes to preparing his troops to play the Boks.
Not many teams can say they went to Pretoria to beat the Vodacom Bulls in a major final, but Glasgow can after their epic win at Loftus in last season’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship decider.
They also fought back well in the final minutes and produced a highly competitive performance against a Bok laden Sharks team in Durban two weeks ago before going on to outplay the DHL Stormers in the heat of Stellenbosch a week later.
Smith, because he works closely with Townsend, was reluctant to say what his own team’s successes in SA would do for the Scotland national team, but he did appear to give an indication that it would help put the Scotland team in the right headspace.
GREGOR WILL WORK OUT A PLAN
Huw Jones was in excellent form in the Scotland midfield against his former Stormers teammates and said the Scotland coaches would know what to expect against the Boks and have a plan.
“I never played the Sharks game so I wasn’t out there (at Kings Park) and didn’t experience the Bok players but I know many of them quite well after playing against them a couple of times,” said Jones.
“So we know what to expect and we do have a bit of preparation against Fiji coming up first and that will be our first focus. I am sure Gregor and the Scotland coaches will have been trawling through footage and working out a plan that we will just have to look to execute on the day.”
The other Scottish URC team, Edinburgh, also has a strong SA influence in the coaching staff, with former Sharks head coach Sean Everitt as the chief honcho and former Griquas and DHL coach Scott Mathie as his right hand man.
Edinburgh did well against the Bulls before losing in Pretoria and were then thumped by the Emirates Lions in Johannesburg, but made a strong statement at home against the Stormers.
The Bok game on Sunday, 10 November will not be played on Edinburgh’s home ground at the Beehive, which means no astroturf, but of course the Edinburgh headquarters are adjacent to Murrayfield so the Edinburgh players always do feel right at home when Scotland hosts international games.
The reason there are only URC players playing for Scotland against Fiji is because like the game at Twickenham, this one falls outside of the international window.
So what the Boks won’t get to see is the impact of Scotland’s first choice flyhalf Finn Russell, who is unavailable because he plays for English club Bath, on their game.
Toulouse fullback Blair Kinghorn and Toulon scrumhalf Ben White are other Scotland players who weren’t considered for this game.
The match marks the return after a long lay-off of right wing Darcy Graham, who last played for Scotland at last year’s World Cup but has featured in five of Edinburgh’s six matches so far in the URC season.
Kyle Rowe will be at fullback in Kinghorn’s absence and Adam Hastings will be at flyhalf and both were good against the Stormers last week.
The Scotland side will be captained by Glasgow centre Sione Tuipulotu, who was very influential in the Scottish team’s win in Stellenbosch and is going to be someone the Boks will have to work out a plan for ahead of the Murrayfield clash.
Scotland will play a Fiji team that includes only six players from the team that lost last year’s World Cup quarterfinal against England.
With the Murrayfield match falling outside of the international test window, European-based players such as former captain Waisea Nayacalevu (Sale Sharks) and fellow midfielders Josua Tuisova (Racing 92) and Semi Radradra (Lyon) are not available. F
iji will be going in search of their first ever win over the Scots at Murrayfield.
MARLER FURORE SO MUCH HUFF ABOUT NOTHING
As anticipated, Beauden Barrett is back at flyhalf for the All Blacks in the London game, and the selectors have returned largely to the group that played for New Zealand in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.
Some extra noise was added to the buildup when England prop Joe Marler put out a social media post questioning the reverence given to the New Zealand Haka and that noise was intensified when the All Black coaches and some of the players produced their predictable precious response to it.
Marler isn’t even playing in the game, and is unlikely to play in the autumn internationals after withdrawing from the squad due to “personal reasons” (allowing freedom of speech is not something rugby is known for as a sport), so all the hype about the controversy giving an extra motivation is a bit over the top.
Sure, be motivated, but the guy who said it isn’t even in the opposition team.
The reality is that All Black coach Scott Robertson probably welcomed Marler’s words, although he says he won’t be pinning Marler’s comments on the change-room wall at Twickenham because “this is the age of social media and the guys would have seen it”.
Searching for that kind of motivation is very old school and seems a bit bizarre in the professional era of elite performance, where there should be enough drive to just pull on the nation’s jersey and satisfy the requirements of being an international player, but coaches still do it.
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TEAMS FOR THIS WEEKEND’S INTERNATIONALS
England v New Zealand (London, Saturday 17.10)
England: George Furbank, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman, Marcus Smith, Ben Spencer, Ben Earl, Tom Curry, Chandler Cunningham-South, George Martin, Maro Itoje, Will Stuart, Jamie George (captain), Ellis Genge.
Replacements: Theo Dan, Fin Baxter, Dan Cole, Nick Isiekwe, Ben Curry, Alex Dombrandt, Harry Randall, George Ford.
New Zealand: Will Jordan, Mark Tele’a, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Caleb Clarke, Beauden Barrett, Cortez Ratima, Ardie Savea, Sam Cane, Wallace Sititi, Tupou Vaa’i, Scott Barrett (captain), Tyrel Lomax, Codie Taylor, Tamaiti Williams.
Replacements: Asafo Aumua, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Pasilio Tosi, Patrick Tuipulotu, Samipeni Finau, Cam Roigard, Anton Lienert-Brown, Damian McKenzie.
Scotland v Fiji (Edinburgh, Saturday 19.40)
Scotland: Kyle Rowe, Darcy Graham, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipoluto (captain), Duhan van der Merwe, Adam Hastings, Ali Price, Jack Dempsey, Rory Darge, Matt Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Grant Gilchrist, Zander Fagerson, Awan Ashman, Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: Dylan Richardson, Rory Sutherland, D’Arcy Rae, Max Williamson, Gregor Brown, Jamie Dobie, Tom Jordan, Stafford McDowall.
Fiji: Isaiah Ravula; Vuate Karawalevu, Apisalome Vota, Inia Tabuavou, Ponipate Loganimasi; Caleb Muntz, Frank Lomani; Elia Canakaivata, Kitione Salawa, Ratu Meli Derenalagi, Ratu Leone Rotuisolia, Isoa Nasilasila, Samuela Tawake, Tevita Ikanivere (captain), Haereiti Hetet.
Replacements: Mesulame Dolokoto, Livai Natave, Jone Koroiduadua, Mesake Vocevoce, Vilive Miramira, Simi Kuruvoli, Kemueli Valetini, Waqa Nalaga.