A year out from the Rugby World Cup, and with so much movement in squads across the globe, will teams in the inaugural Nations’ Championship actually look to score more tries and chase bonus points to give themselves an advantage?
This isn’t Super Rugby or the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, and international coaches aren’t inclined to look at tests for their value in terms of test match bonus points, but rather in the cauldron of pressure they operate in, wins mean more.
Considering the tournament structure, there is more of a chance that northern hemisphere sides will get bonus points against teams like Japan and Fiji but there is a sense that the law of unintended consequences may skew a competition’s first year in ways that were never planned.
Already Rassie Erasmus has said his side won’t be chasing those bonus points, and given the pressure on the All Blacks, Australia, England, and others, you can understand it won’t be the first thing on their minds.
Test rugby is a different beast. It brings out the best in opposition players and the margins are small, especially among the top six nations in the world. And while we may see tries being scored and bonus points racked up, it won’t be the primary thing on everyone’s mind.
Winning is the only thing that matters in test rugby and the top nations are only concerned about that.
The log points may determine who faces who in November for the title, but it is a fair assessment that the World Cup - and getting things in place for a crack at the Webb Ellis Trophy - matters much more than anything else. Few coaches would lose their jobs less than a year out of the World Cup if they don’t win the Nations Championship.
It is, in short, a nice talking point to add some jeopardy to the normal test season, but it is simply that. Wins matter and the momentum built towards the World Cup simply matters more.
“We just want to win every match,” Erasmus said on Tuesday. “I don’t think we really see this as a competition. We see it as the next test match, then the next test match, and then the next test match.
“We just want to try to win every match, and build squad depth and character. We want to have a playing style that everybody is used to when we get to the World Cup.
“So we’re doing things how we do it in Springbok rugby.”
The Boks face Steve Borthwick’s England next Saturday at Ellis Park and already there is a personal angle with Maro Itoje - who will ironically miss the fixture - proclaiming last year his side can’t wait to take on the Boks. This was before their disastrous Six Nations campaign.
That there is spice in the fixture is not in question - there always is - and while the Boks would want a positive start to the season, it will be because it sets the tone and not merely because of log points and the four try bonus that comes with it.
“We want to beat them and I think they’ll want to do the same to us,” said Erasmus. “Going for bonus points, I don’t know if that’s really test match rugby.”
Given the 2023 World Cup, the Boks have already seen their side win a trophy by one point, and that is why it wasn’t surprising to hear Erasmus say that he would be happy if the side “won by one point and we played the rugby we want to try and play, which makes our fans and ourselves proud”.
Because as every Springbok fan knows, there is already a lot of pressure that comes with the Green and Gold jersey. The main thing remains the main thing. Winning is what matters.