Sideshows seem to be a perennial feature of Springbok Rugby World Cup campaigns and at the start of the 2023 edition in France it is no different.
Sometimes they are of the South African team and management’s own making. The 2003 event in Australia was an example of the Boks shooting themselves in the foot by taking a series of controversies, such as the infamous Staaldraad training camp, into the tournament with them.
You could argue the same about 1999 and the dropping of stalwart captain Gary Teichmann, and even in 2007, when the Boks won their second global title, the speculation of the future of coach Jake White often dominated the headlines more than the rugby did.
But on other occasions it is not of the Boks' making and you don’t always have to be one of those who is inclined too easily to align with conspiracy theories to detect a drive, be it conscious or sub-conscious, to undermine or de-power the three time world champions.
In the early days of the 2019 campaign in Japan it was the topic of drugs in South African rugby that became a regular feature of Bok press conferences. Aphiwe Dyanti had just been slapped with his long ban, and some sections of the overseas media, but most notably Ireland, who were the mooted Bok quarterfinal opponents at that time, drove a baseless narrative that deflected attention from the real task at hand.
Later in the tournament it felt like the Boks were unpopular because of what seemed like a global opposition to their so-called “anti-rugby”, meaning the perceived one-dimensional game that won the close semifinal against Wales. And of course there was the Bomb Squad: it was being too effective for the Boks in their drive towards the final, so shouldn’t the laws be changed so the six/two split between forwards and backs could be outlawed.
FAMILIAR TYPE AS KICK-OFF NEARS
Here we are at the start of a buildup week that for the Boks culminates with Sunday’s opening RWC Pool clash with dangerous Scotland in Marseille, and once again everything is reverting to familiar type: The seven/one split employed by the Boks last weekend against New Zealand is suddenly being perceived as the only reason they hammered the All Blacks in the final warmup game.
Forget the fact that the Boks were already 21-0 up when the reserves came on in the second half, and the score after that was just 14-7 as the Kiwis stopped the South Africans from running up what at one point looked likely to be a score of more than 50. If the Boks won so well there had to be a reason, something nefarious was surely going on. The bench split described by some rugby brains such as Eddie Jones as innovative, had to be the reason. On the eve of the World Cup, suddenly there’s a clamour for the Boks to be de-powered by having what some call their “unfair advantage” removed.
How is it an unfair advantage when every other team can do it too if they wish? There was massive risk in the Boks going 7:1 at Twickenham and it was driven around the injury to Willie le Roux that forced a late reshuffle. The warmup games are supposed to be about experimentation, so coach Jacques Nienaber used the opportunity to see what would happen if later in the tournament injuries and player availability make it necessary to go without outside back back-up.
When the Boks came out of their training camp in Corsica at the end of last week and were told about the furore that had blown up around their selection for the London game, SA’s national director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said he was unaware it, but it is unlikely he could really claim to be surprised. In recent years there’s been much focus on the Boks, such as the water boy saga during the British and Irish Lions series, that can be viewed as an attempt to distract or undermine.
RASSIE IS RIGHT
Whatever the motivation behind the outcry overseas, there is one thing that is certain - Erasmus is right when he says this time there’s no question of him or the Boks transgressing any rugby law.
“We have been in a bit of a bubble, because we are focusing on what we are trying to do and how we can be successful at the World Cup,” said Erasmus.
We can’t really care about how other teams are doing it and what their opinions are. We are just staying within the regulations and the laws of the game.
“So for us, it’s about what’s best for our team, what works for us and that certainly won’t be the same from one weekend to the next. We don’t really care about what other teams say about it. It’s about what’s best for South Africa and the Springboks.”
He added that he hadn’t paid much attention to the reaction to the 7:1 split.
“If it was something that we did wrong, that would have been something that bothered me. We follow all the laws and protocols,” he said.
“When I was playing, we only had two reserves. Then it became 22 and then 23 with a full front row [on the bench]. I know the laws, protocols and regulations really well. If you coach at this level, and work with coaches at this level, you know the laws of the game.
“I guess what I am trying to say, not being arrogant, is that it wouldn’t help us taking note of all of the hoo-ha, because we didn’t do anything wrong. I am not surprised, it’s new and people like to chat about that, but I’m not really bothered.”
He’s right too about being unsurprised that there’d be push-back against something that is “new”. The charges that the 7:1 split is against the spirit of the game only stands up in the sense that it hasn’t been done before, just as a few decades ago no cricketer had tried a reverse sweep when batting.
Now it is all the rage, but those who argue that it gives the batsman an unfair advantage because the bowler doesn’t know if he is batting left or right is undermined by the number of times batters get out when playing that shot. And make no mistake, teams that go with a 7:1 split, or even a 6:2, always run a massive risk.
THEY THRIVE ON ADVERSITY
Yet while Erasmus says he’s a bit perplexed by the reaction though not surprised, he might be secretly pleased about the negative focus on his team from the world’s media. It sets up a scenario of “It’s us against them” or “It’s us against the world” and “Let’s go out and show them and rub their noses in it” that the 2019 World Cup winning coach loves.
The Boks won so well against the All Blacks that many are now making them favourites, so the old South African motivation of feeling that the world is against the team might be a good way to add extra intensity to their approach.
There’s no question of a Bok team ever going into a World Cup with anything less than complete commitment. The players know what a massive thing a World Cup is in the minds and hearts of the people they represent back home. Yet when adversity is thrown at them that is often the cue for response. As we saw in the second test of the 2021 series, and when they had to fight back to win in 2019 after losing their opening game.
Even the 2015 narrative, which was dominated by the opening game loss to Japan in Brighton, should probably have been different post-tournament - when Fourie du Preez took over as captain they fought back to come third and were only denied in their semifinal against New Zealand by two points.
Mental strength is a huge player when it comes to determining the destination of the Webb Ellis trophy, and the current Bok team has it in spades. The buildup is over, the games are about to start, and with the World Cup now clearly in focus the sideshows should elicit the clarion call of “Once more into the breach we go.”
The Bok team for the game against Scotland next Sunday is will be announced in mid-week.