Comment by Ashfak Mohamed
I QUITE enjoy the mixing and matching of the Springbok team this year.
Outside of World Cups and dead-rubber games, you seldom see Bok coaches changing their teams around for the ‘big Tests’ during an international season.
Perhaps Rassie Erasmus learnt a valuable lesson from the second Test against Ireland in Durban, where the world champions went down 25-24 after winning the first encounter 27-20 in Pretoria.
The South Africans lost the physical battle in the first half of the second Irish Test, having kept the exact match-23 from the first match.
They rallied to lead in the second half, only for Ciaran Frawley to break their hearts with two late drop goals.
A similar thing happened at last year’s World Cup, where the Boks saw off France in dramatic fashion in the quarter-final, only to nearly coming up short against an inspired England in the 16-15 semi-final win.
When Independent Newspapers asked Erasmus about this growing trend after he made 10 changes to the side for the second Wallaby Test in Perth, the Bok boss batted the question away, insisting that the Rugby Championship tournament can’t be equated with a two-Test series against Ireland, as it’s not ‘do-or-die’ matches.
Fair enough, but the former loose forward did add that “Hopefully the change-up – although there are still 14 World Cup winners in the match-day 23 – the young guys can learn from the older guys. They bring exuberance and excitement, hopefully”.
So, don’t choke on your cucumber sandwich – or garage pie – and hear me out... That mindset is exactly why I want to see Manie Libbok start at flyhalf and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at fullback in next weekend’s massive showdown with the All Blacks at Ellis Park.
The Boks have made pleasing strides forward in trying to add a few extra bows to their attacking game and building depth this year, which Erasmus has pointed out wasn’t possible after the 2019 World Cup triumph due to the Covid disruptions.
With former Kiwi flyhalf Tony Brown cooking up something new every week, the Boks are a far cry from past predictable South African teams.
The challenge to the opposition previously was a case of ‘You know what’s coming, but can you stop us?’. Now, that has almost gone out of the window, but without losing the essential ingredients of a world-champion Springbok team: strong set-pieces, dominating physically and landing your goal-kicks.
Suddenly, the Boks’ opponents don’t know exactly what they are going to get from the South Africans, considering what we’ve seen against Portugal and now the two Wallaby encounters. Is Cheslin Kolbe going to feed the lineout, or scrum? Or even get stuck into a maul, as he did in Perth?
Is Pieter-Steph du Toit going to be at No 5 lock, or blindside flank? What’s the best loose trio to start and come off the bench?
Is Makazole Mapimpi going to pin his ears back for the corner, or deliver a pinpoint grubber for Aphelele Fassi? Is Lukhanyo Am a better inside or outside centre, and what about the established Damian de Allende-Jesse Kriel midfield combo?
Is Feinberg-Mngomezulu a flyhalf, centre or fullback? What about Handré Pollard, and for that matter Libbok?
And so we can go on. All of this shows clearly that the Boks are taking their game to another level, and that needs to continue against the All Blacks in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
While consecutive wins Down Under should always be celebrated as it’s such a rare occurrence, Bok fans should not get carried away by the success in Australia over the last fortnight, as the Wallabies are no great shakes at the moment.
This group of players need to continue on their path of growth and development on the road to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, and being successful with playing a varied style against the All Blacks will show Erasmus exactly where his team are at right now.
Almost everybody and their dog is expecting Pollard to be reinstated at flyhalf against the All Blacks, but Erasmus needs to continue exploring his options at this stage of the build-up to 2027.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu has been a revelation this year, and while he learnt some harsh lessons in the rain in Perth, exposing him to as much Test rugby as possible can only do him good.
He is a special talent, and having had two flyhalf starts, he can display his vast array of skills at fullback against New Zealand, which would allow Libbok to get another shot at the No 10 jersey as well.
Despite some goal-kicking issues, Libbok is still a wonderful playmaker, and his bag of tricks can certainly unlock the All Black defence.
In the same breath, Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s excellent goal-kicking can take some of the heat off Libbok from the tee, while the youngster is a thrilling counter-attacking threat as well.
Perhaps Pollard can get some game-time at inside centre as well, which Erasmus has mentioned recently.
Meanwhile, Steven Kitshoff, Jaden Hendrikse and Canan Moodie were yesterday recalled to the Bok squad for the two New Zealand Tests after lengthy injury layoffs.
Erasmus also added Montpellier lock Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg due to the continued injury-enforced absences of Lood de Jager and Jean Kleyn – and RG Snyman should be fit to play again after recovering from a foot issue – while No 8 Jasper Wiese and centre André Esterhuizen return following their suspensions.
Scrumhalf Morné van den Berg and hooker Johan Grobbelaar miss out from the Australian touring party, with Jan-Hendrik Wessels the back-up to Bongi Mbonambi and Malcolm Marx at No 2.
Springbok squad for New Zealand Tests
Props: Thomas du Toit, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Frans Malherbe, Ox Nche, Gerhard Steenekamp, Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Hookers: Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi
Locks: Eben Etzebeth, Salmaan Moerat, Ruan Nortje, RG Snyman, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg
Loose forwards: Ben-Jason Dixon, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi, Elrigh Louw, Kwagga Smith, Marco van Staden, Jasper Wiese
Scrumhalves: Jaden Hendrikse, Cobus Reinach, Grant Williams
Flyhalves: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Manie Libbok, Handré Pollard
Centres: Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, André Esterhuizen, Jesse Kriel
Outside backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Aphelele Fassi, Cheslin Kolbe, Willie le Roux, Makazole Mapimpi, Canan Moodie