In the modern era, the Springboks have never beaten the All Blacks 4 times in a row.
Before looking at that and the team for this weekend, the aftermath of the Ellis Park win gives us the perfect opportunity to take stock of the evolved Bok game plan that we saw for the first time in the Ireland series.
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21:00
As a rugby spectacle, the Ellis Park test match between the Springboks and All Blacks was another all time great. It had all the drama you would expect, plus a Bok comeback which showed terrific heart and composure from the team.
Should this (objectively stronger) Bok team have been in that second half position though in the first place? The games between these two teams are generally tight, but Rassie Erasmus himself said that it was frustrating that the All Blacks managed to score as easily as they did.
Ahead of the Cape Town clash, let’s get a little critical on this then to see what we can learn.
The inclusion of Tony Brown to the coaching staff was always going to bring some clear positives to this team, but with it some uncertainty too. In that first half the Boks didn’t have many chances (credit to how well the All Blacks played), and the ones they did they didn’t do much with as passes didn’t go to hand, or the All Blacks were able to enforce errors.
Something that backfired further at the start of the second half with the Jordie Barrett intercept try. Then as the half progressed, the Bomb Squad did what they did best. The Boks played more direct, retained possession, forced the All Blacks into giving away penalties, and even drew out a yellow card from the ref for sustained pressure on the All Blacks defence.
So you could say that traditional ‘Bok rugby’ won that game then. And that perhaps this suggests the team should go back to this way of play? Well, yes and no…
If you have the time to get into this, there is a lot happening with the Boks right now. Starting with the selections.
In the last three games Rassie has named 26 different players in the starting XV. Sure, some of these selections were because of injury, but most are made purely as he tries to evolve the squad. He seems to believe that the best time to test emerging players is in the biggest games, and so far this has worked out results wise.
He also believes that the best time to try new things game plan wise is also in the biggest games. And because it perhaps hasn’t clicked yet doesn’t mean it’s wrong, it just needs more work. As the saying goes, you don’t throw the Bok out with the bathwater, and the evolving mixture of traditional Bok strengths with some ‘Tonyball’ will be phenomenal when it settles in.
Naturally you can’t be all things at all times, but the plan is looking pretty good and the Boks are still ultimately a bloody hard team to beat.
They will absolutely become more so over the next three years too. Which will make their focused team efforts on a match to match basis at the next World Cup somewhat formidable.
Test matches at Ellis Park are interesting affairs. Everything about that match is always somewhat different to a usual test match week, and the sense of occasion perhaps plays a little too much into it. As the All Blacks again proved, if nothing else it also helped the old foe find a few extra gears as they were really impressive for large parts of that match.
Now in Cape Town for the return clash as it were, you get a sense that the more ‘conventional’ of test match settings this week will allow the Boks to put in a more polished performance. To take it a step further, it’s not unreasonable that in the ‘slower’ conditions you will get a more measured Bok team who will find a better rhythm too.
Something that should make the All Blacks a little more apprehensive going into Saturday.
Springbok team:
15: Willie Le Roux
14: Canan Moodie
13: Jesse Kriel
12: Damian De Allende
11: Cheslin Kolbe
10: Handre Pollard
9: Grant Williams
8: Jasper Wiese
7: Pieter-Steph Du Toit
6: Siya Kolisi
5: Ruan Nortje
4: Eben Etzebeth
3: Frans Malherbe
2: Bongi Mbonambi
1: Ox Nche
Replacements:
16: Malcolm Marx
17: Gerhard Steenekamp
18: Vincent Koch
19: Kwagga Smith
20: Elrigh Louw
21: Jaden Hendrikse
22: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
23: Lukhanyo Am
