By Gavin Rich.
The best advice for the Springboks as they head into a crunch test against the formidable French at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille is that they need to stop treating these November internationals as a time to embrace the Christmas spirit.
What should have been most frustrating for South African fans when their team lost to Ireland in Dublin last week was how it continued a trend of the team at this time of the year behaving like they are Santa Claus dishing out presents. The Irish rugby public is cock-a-hoop right now because their team has completed a series win in New Zealand and a victory over the world champions in the same year, but it should not have been.
All the complaining from within South Africa last week and, later on and more subtly from the national director of rugby, cannot hide the fact that the Aviva Stadium game was once again one of those where the Boks conspired against themselves. And dished up gifts to their opponents with errors that stymied scoring opportunities and disciplinary infractions that gave away penalties.
TEAM SELECTION A GIFT TOO
Some might argue that the team selection was a gift too, for while there is support in some quarters for Damian Willemse as a place-kicker, the fact of the matter is he is only third choice at his franchise. Unfortunately what happened last week was entirely predictable.
If Willemse kicks well at the Stade Velodrome there will doubtless be some who’d use it as evidence that the critics are wrong. That won’t be the case though for the problem that is had with Willemse isn’t his talent and ability, but the fact he is inconsistent when it comes to kicking at posts. And the very definition of the word inconsistent does imply that you will be good on some days. Just not often enough. If that wasn’t the case, and he didn’t have good days, he’d just be poor, not inconsistent.
Quibbling over the order of the kickers, or which should be given preference, isn’t really relevant either. None of them are frontline kickers for their clubs or provinces. They’re all in the same boat, and whichever way you look at it, that was a weakness last week and is a weakness again in Marseille, although debutant Manie Libbok’s inclusion on the bench may provide a safety net.
MORE PATIENCE IS KEY FOR SA
It wasn’t though just the kicking that let the Boks down last week, and there are many who have asked what the Bok coach’s answer will be to the perennial problem that was lamented straight after the final whistle by skipper Siya Kolisi in the post-match television interview: the failure to be clinical by converting try-scoring chances.
It may come down to something quite simple – patience. If you watch the Aviva game again on video, it becomes evident that there were many occasions where the Boks may have had their go too early. They didn’t hold onto the ball long enough, and could have benefited from drawing defenders in one or two more times before going for the line.
Then there is the age old Bok error of wanting to completely obliterate their opponent physically by running over the man rather than passing the ball into space. Towards the end of the game, when Eben Etzebeth produced that sublime offload to put Kurt-Lee Arendse in for his try, the Boks may have stumbled upon the way to go about things and the key to overcoming their white-line fever.
They did score two good tries in the last quarter in Dublin and created a few other opportunities. Whether or not it was because faced with a deficit they were less inhibited and threw caution to the wind, or whether it was because of the introduction of the direction and energy brought by Willie le Roux’s arrival on the field, they did show then glimpses of what is possible.
MUSTN’T DIE WONDERING
It is important though for the Boks to get it right at the start this time and not to die wondering, like they did a week ago and like they have so often on November tours in recent times, with the last two games at Twickenham springing readily to mind. It should not have come down to the Boks needing the penalty they were denied by referee Angus Gardner – remember Owen Farrell’s shoulder charge on Andre Esterhuizen – to win in 2018, and they gave away too many points with a passive start before coming back and dominating the second half, all too little too late, in London last year.
Yes, these games are being used by the coaches as preparation for the World Cup, and the Dublin defeat was close enough for the Boks to feel they didn’t suffer any dent to their confidence ahead of a World Cup pool match against the same opponents on neutral (French) soil 10 months from now.
But winning and losing can also become a habit, and inconsistency can become a habit, with the latter unfortunately starting to ring true for the Boks. They showed in 2019, when they won the World Cup after only breaking even with a 50 per cent success rate in 2018, that the World Cup can render what happens 12 months earlier pretty irrelevant.
Yet that point doesn’t subvert the view that this Bok team is capable of far more, in terms of result, than it is producing. While there is still the mitigating factor of the year lost to Covid, which only Japan of the other World Cup nations also experienced, it is still disappointing that they aren’t ruling the world as champions like perhaps they should be.
PLENTY OF INTRIGUE IN MARSEILLE CLASH
Saturday though could go a long way towards providing the needed shot in the arm, and the clash with the French offers up intriguing possibilities given both the uniqueness of the French approach and, though this might sound contradictory, their similarity to the Boks.
It was interesting to hear Bok players talking about running the ball at the French. That should be treated with suspicion, for how can there be an element of surprise if you tell the media about it. That’s a bit like telling someone you are going to surprise them by pitching up at their front door wearing a gorilla suit. Where’s the surprise then?
But still, watching the French labour to a narrow win over the Wallabies last week it did become evident that they may be susceptible to a team that runs at them wide, and they do present their opponents with opportunities with their kicking game.
Most, including it appears the Boks, will be expecting the forward battle to be a stalemate, which may be a good thing if it takes away the usual assumption of physical dominance that the South Africans appear to take onto the field with them.
What is coming through is that the Boks appear to have a plan. And against a French team that wasn’t that flush last week, that plan could just work.
There are problems, the place-kicking uncertainty being one of those, and also it would appear to be the height of folly to bet against the French in Marseille. It is their favourite venue. My hunch though is that this will be a day the Boks stop playing Father Christmas, and when they do that they are good enough to beat anyone anywhere.
TEAMS
FRANCE: Thomas Ramos, Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, Jonathan Danty, Yoram Moefana, Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont, Gregory Alldritt, Charles Ollivon, Anthony Jelonch, Thibaud Flament, Cameron Woki, Uini Atonio, Julien Marchand, Cyril Baille. Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Reda Wardi, Sipili Falatea, Romain Taofifenua, Bastien Chalureau, Sekou Macalou, Maxime Lucu, Matthieu Jalibert.
SOUTH AFRICA: Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Damian Willemse, Faf de Klerk, Jasper Wiese, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi, Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche. Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Marvin Orie, Kwagga Smith, Cobus Reinach, Manie Libbok, Makazole Mapimpi.