By Kevin Rademeyer, Sports Journalist.
Photo Credit: SA Rugby.
Live from JHB: The scoreboard says one apiece. The feeling is that there is considerably more at stake than that.
When the Springboks walk into FNB Stadium on Saturday, they won’t just be defending a series. They’ll be defending home ground, their identity and the expectation that comes with being the world champions.
New Zealand, meanwhile, arrive with rather different intentions.
They want to leave Soweto having put the Boks under pressure in their own backyard.
This is not the 2021 Lions. It is not the 2023 England side that couldn’t find a way through South Africa’s defence. These All Blacks have already scored nine tries in two Tests and, under Dave Rennie, they have rediscovered an attacking edge that has made this four match series compelling from the outset.
They briefly climbed to No 1 in the world rankings last week. They enter this third Test at No 2, but that distinction matters less than the rugby they are producing.
The evidence is stark. New Zealand have outscored South Africa 33 6 in the final 20 minutes of the opening two Tests.
If the Springboks start slowly again, there may be no rescue act this time.
The All Blacks are going back to altitude, but they’re also returning to a ground where they have won both of their previous Tests. Their record at Highveld venues is formidable, with eight wins from their last 10 matches. They haven’t lost a Test at Loftus Versfeld since 1976 and have won four of their last six at Ellis Park.
The question hanging over the Boks is therefore an obvious one.
How much did Cape Town take out of them?
Rassie Erasmus has resisted wholesale change. Kurt Lee Arendse returns as the only alteration to the 23, while Ox Nche and Malcolm Marx, who were called upon to finish last week’s contest, are now starting.
There are no great reserves of fresh legs being introduced. That makes this Test as much a question of energy as tactics.
South Africa know what New Zealand are coming to do. Mzwandile Stick was unequivocal about it.
“They don’t play hide and seek,” the Springbok assistant coach said. “They talk about how they want to play and, when they get to the field, they play exactly that way.”
The All Blacks want the ball. They want to keep it moving. Peter Lakai starts, Wallace Sititi is on the bench and Asafo Aumua brings another powerful ball carrying option. Stick sees the selection for what it is. “They will still try to enforce their DNA on us,” he said. “We’ll also try to do the same thing.”
That creates the central contest of the evening.
New Zealand want to stretch South Africa through tempo and possession. The Boks want to drag them into the collision, the scrum and the lineout, where their own strengths can be imposed.
And then there is the scrum.
A week of pointed comments has made the first engagement one of the most anticipated moments of the match. Rennie accused South Africa of walking around the scrum. Erasmus defended his players. George Bower, rather than backing away from the confrontation, appears almost eager for it.
“Oh, I love to scrum. I want to scrum, “the All Blacks loosehead said. “We know they’re coming, but we’re coming too.”
Rennie has changed the man beside him, with Codie Taylor making way for Aumua. Sam Darry starts at lock and Lakai takes the No 6 jersey.
Rennie, though, insists he isn’t interested in turning the week’s verbal exchanges into something bigger. “We certainly aren’t going out of our way to create narratives,” he said. “I don’t see this as a war of words between myself and Rassie Erasmus.”
The rugby itself should provide enough theatre.
Ardie Savea and Siya Kolisi will be another headline act, although their friendship will disappear for 80 minutes.
Savea still remembers the tackle Kolisi landed on him in Cape Town. He also remembers lying on the ground hearing his father’s voice telling him to get up. “I told him, next time, tackle me frontwards, take me home,” Savea said with a laugh.
Then the smile disappeared into the seriousness of the occasion. “Siya’s the same guy off the field, we get on well, but once you’re on the field you’re locked in, he’s the enemy out there. That’s footy. We’re going to try and smash each other tomorrow, then jump on the plane again afterwards.”
That is the mood of the third Test. One all. No hiding place.
Savea likened it to State of Origin, the rugby league series between New South Wales and Queensland. One apiece. Game three. Africa. “It’s a big one,” he said.
He is right.
For Kolisi, there is also the prospect of becoming the most successful captain in Springbok history in terms of Test victories. A win would give him 55, moving him beyond John Smit.
Yet the Springbok captain was more interested in what the occasion means to the people watching from the stands.
FNB Stadium is not simply another venue.
Kolisi spoke of the sacrifices made by the people of Soweto and the generations who fought for the freedoms enjoyed by South Africans today. “Giving our best tomorrow, and using every opportunity we get, is part of us saying thank you.”
That matters when the bus rolls through Soweto and people come out to watch it pass. It matters when supporters give up what little they have to be inside the stadium. It matters when a rugby match is played in a place whose sporting history stretches far beyond rugby.
The Springboks have not always won in Soweto. They lost their first match there. Kolisi knows what Saturday represents. “We hope we can give them a good memory, not just with words but with our efforts tomorrow.”
The weather may bring rain. The Boks aren’t concerned. “It won’t affect our game plan at all, “Kolisi said. “The way we play is built for any weather.”
Neither side has much reason to retreat from what it does best.
South Africa want to dominate the set piece and attack from forward momentum. New Zealand want to keep the ball alive and make the Boks defend for long periods. Somewhere between those competing philosophies will be the match.
Stick believes the breakdown could decide it. “We still want to get better at the breakdown, because we know they’ll target it with the players they’ve selected. If we want to create opportunities, we have to be clinical there.”
That word keeps returning. Clinical. The All Blacks have shown they can punish lapses late in matches. The Springboks have shown they can absorb pressure and turn games around. But doing that against this New Zealand side for a third consecutive week is another proposition entirely.
Whoever wins in Soweto takes a 2 -1 lead into the fourth Test in Baltimore. Whoever loses can still only draw the series. As Stick put it: “Both teams will be desperate for a result.”
There is no need to manufacture the drama. One all already says enough.
At FNB Stadium, in front of a crowd that expects something worthy of the occasion, the Boks will have to start faster, defend cleaner and survive New Zealand’s late charge.
The All Blacks will have to do what they haven’t quite managed in Cape Town and finish the job.Soweto is waiting. And this time, there really is everything to play for.