Ken Borland

Bulls coach Jake White said on Friday that new flyhalf Johan Goosen has been in such good nick in training over the last couple of weeks that he wouldn’t be surprised if the Springboks snatch him from Pretoria soon after the match against the SA A team in Cape Town on Saturday.

Goosen returned to South Africa in 2018 in rather bizarre and unseemly fashion as he ‘retired’ in order to take up a lucrative new contract with Montpellier, who then had to let him go as his former club, Racing 92, understandably took legal action.

His first match back on South African soil on Saturday will be watched with great interest and White said he has no doubts the 28-year-old will be adding to his 13 Test caps soon.

“Johan has the opportunity to show that he can play at that level again. There is nothing he can’t do – he has pace, skill, he can play flat to the line, he can pass and kick and be very physical. I’d be incredibly surprised if he does not play for the Springboks again, in fact I’m surprised he hasn’t played more than 50 Tests already. He’s helluva keen and he’s experienced.

“I have no doubt he is the real deal. Having never coached him on the field before, I’ve seen he can play from No.10 to No.15 as well as anyone. I’ve been blown away by how good he is and he has changed the way we can coach the team. We can use the skills he executes better than anyone else to do different things with the team now. He’s a phenomenal rugby player,” White enthused.

Unfortunately, another returning Springbok with a big reputation, Marcell Coetzee, will miss the tie because he is still working his way through the Covid Return-to-Play protocols.

White said he had decided to stick with the usual process for Covid-positive players to return and not try to speed things up with the loose forward because he knows he is going to have to rely on Coetzee as the Bulls look to defend their Currie Cup title.

Instead, another Springbok, Nizaam Carr, will captain the team on the openside flank.

In terms of other potential Springboks for later in the season, all eyes will be on Cornal Hendricks at inside centre as he goes up against South Africa’s best No.12 – Damian de Allende.

Bulls team – FC du Plessis, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Harold Vorster, Cornal Hendricks, Stravino Jacobs, Johan Goosen, Zak Burger, WJ Steenkamp, Muller Uys, Nizaam Carr (Capt), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Jacques van Rooyen, Schalk Erasmus, Simphiwe Matanzima. Bench: Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp, Mornay Smith, Janko Swanepoel, Arno Botha, Keagan Johannes, Chris Smith, David Kriel, Jan-Hendrik Wessels.

Saturday’s hastily arranged match for the SA A team against the Bulls in Cape Town is the last available cab for those members of the Springbok squad who are looking to get a ride into the squad for the first Test next weekend against the British and Irish Lions, which is why coach Jacques Nienaber is expecting plenty of intensity and even desperation from his team.

Realistically, most of this SA A side have a chance of featuring in the Test 23, especially with the Springboks still waiting on several players to clear their Covid Return-to-Play protocols. Tighthead prop Vincent Koch, flank Marco van Staden and flyhalf Elton Jantjies are probably the players with the most to gain as strong performances by them could see them into the starting XV because Frans Malherbe, Siya Kolisi and Handre Pollard have Covid question marks over their names.

“The main purpose of this match is to get more game time and to get good intensity, as well as allowing the players to stake a claim, we want to give everyone fair chance. We wanted three games for all that and we’ve been lucky enough to get that thanks to the Bulls. On Wednesday the team had a different goal, but Saturday will be a big chance for guys to stake a claim for a possible Test start.

“That’s the desperation that drives this group and playing against the top franchise in South Africa should be a phenomenal test. The Bulls have an unbelievable coaching structure and we know they will leave no stone unturned to give us a proper hit out. The fact that it is a unique game – I can’t remember in my time SA A playing against a franchise – adds to how huge it will be,” Nienaber said on Friday.

The Springbok squad just keeps getting bigger as it becomes a vessel for more and more back-up players due to the number of Covid infections, and tighthead prop Wilco Louw, who last played for South Africa before the World Cup in 2019, has made his way back into the picture and will play off the bench against the Bulls.

“Wilco has joined us because of the Covid infections. When a player tests positive, they have to spend 10 days in isolation, but then there’s the Return-to-Play Protocol which has markers the player has to pass like with concussion. So it’s basically 16-17 days before they’re back in the mix, so we still have some players unavailable.

“We only had four props so if we had one more injury then we would not be able to field a front row and would have to forfeit the match. Then there are guys like Dan du Preez for example, who still have Covid and have not been able to play in any of the warm-up games. For a player like that to now make the Test side, they would have to have had extensive time in our system,” Nienaber explained.

SA A team – Aphelele Fassi, Yaw Penxe, Wandisile Simelane, Damian de Allende, Rosko Specman, Elton Jantjies, Cobus Reinach, Kwagga Smith, Rynhardt Elstadt, Marco van Staden, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Jean-Luc du Preez, Vincent Koch, Joseph Dweba, Coenie Oosthuizen. Bench: Thomas du Toit, Fez Mbatha, Wilco Louw, Jasper Wiese, Sanele Nohamba, Sbu Nkosi, Jesse Kriel, Damian Willemse, Lizo Gqoboka.

The Springbok team culture is so good at the moment that no-one would ever question the hunger or desire of the team but, as they now head straight into a gruelling Rugby Championship starting with Saturday’s Test against Argentina at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, the management will be asking in private whether certain players will be needing a break over the next couple of matches.

Three ferocious clashes with the British and Irish Lions would have not only taken a massive physical toll on the players, but mentally as well, the players have been through an emotional rollercoaster. The outpouring of emotion after the gripping series-clincher last weekend in Cape Town was a graphic description of how much it meant to the squad to win.

It would be entirely understandable for that incredible high to be followed by something of a downer, perhaps just a flatter week in terms of intensity. But Argentina are no longer the sort of side one can afford to slacken off against and the Pumas will be fancying their chances of upsetting the world champions on their home turf, just as they did in Durban in 2015.

But Springboks forwards coach Deon Davids said on Monday that dealing with any potential mental or physical fatigue has been part of their plan from the beginning of the season.

“Obviously we celebrated our achievement on Saturday night, but because of the professionalism of the squad and the preparation we have done before, the focus was quickly shifted on to the next task. It was important as coaches that we brought that reality as soon as possible, and we have done that. We had earlier given the players an idea of our planning going into this week.

“So we trained full-out today, it will be a normal Test week. The players understand the importance of the Rugby Championship, we are the defending champions and we obviously want to be successful. We have a bigger squad because we’ve just come from a very tough series and there are a couple of niggles and injuries. We want to assess our depth in the Test matches going forward,” Davids said.

The interesting conundrum is how many of the players who started all three Tests against the Lions will the Springboks dare to rest against an Argentina team that beat the All Blacks once and drew twice with Australia last year, playing all their matches away from home.

There are some players waiting in the wings who can obviously step in and do the job though against the Pumas.

Willie le Roux, as solid as ever at the back, could take a break to give Aphelele Fassi another chance to shine, while Jesse Kriel could get a start and break up the brilliant midfield combination of Lukhanyo Am and Damian de Allende. Elton Jantjies might get a well-deserved run at flyhalf.

It is the forwards, as ever, who have shouldered the greatest burden and players like Franco Mostert, Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth made immense contributions. No-one could begrudge them a break and it will be exciting to see Duane Vermeulen make his return. Kwagga Smith and Marco van Staden have largely played off the bench and Lood de Jager is probably still building to peak match fitness.

Ox Nche is set to make his return from injury after his impressive first Test against the Lions, and between himself and the superb Trevor Nyakane, who one fancies still has a bit left in his tank, they can cover loosehed prop more than adequately, allowing Steven Kitshoff a break. Frans Malherbe, who battled hard through all three Tests, could perhaps do with a week off as well.

At hooker, Malcolm Marx said on Monday that he is eager to keep going.

“There are a few sore bodies and mentally it has been a bit draining, but we did not play together for over a year and I know I am still hungry to keep going, regardless of the body being sore or how mentally tired I am,” Marx said.

When the going gets tough, this Springbok team says they don’t make excuses, they find solutions. And that attitude was much in evidence in the third Test against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town at the weekend when, despite not producing anything close to their best rugby, they simply refused to lose, doing what had to be done to secure a nailbiting 19-16 win and clinch the series.

With Rassie Erasmus still facing a misconduct charge from WorldRugby over his video analysis of officiating mistakes in the first Test loss, the churlish will say the director of rugby makes the Springboks’ excuses for them, but only the most biased would not have at least some grudging respect for the sheer determination and heroism this Springbok team has shown.

And speaking of heroes, the feats of wing Cheslin Kolbe and replacement flyhalf Morne Steyn were pulled straight from the pages of superhero comic books.

Kolbe scored the crucial try to overturn a 10-6 deficit, once again unveiling his superpower ability to simply vanish from the grasp of tacklers thanks to those incredibly feet of his.

And then Steyn, who had won the 2009 series with his long-range penalty, came on after 64 minutes, a 37-year-old playing his first Test since 2016. It was certainly a gamble, replacing the Springboks’ general, Handre Pollard, who has enjoyed an outstanding series but things were not going that well with his boot.

Incredibly, history repeated itself 12 years later as Steyn kicked two penalties, including the match-winning one in the 78^th minute, leaving one to wonder who exactly writes his scripts?!

“I had my head between my legs when Morne kicked, I just listened, I did not see it,” Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber admitted. “I’m really happy for him, it’s a fairytale.

“In the last five weeks, everybody had challenges, a lot of us got Covid and we lost a whole week of training. But the positive thing about this team is that they have no time for excuses, we knew we had to move on and make another plan. Those were the cards we were dealt with, they said ‘unfortunately that’s where we are, we have to move on and find a solution’,” Nienaber added.

For captain Siya Kolisi, the overriding emption was great pride in the team he has led magnificently.

“I honestly can’t explain in words what it means to us as a group to win the series. Coming from isolation, we all agreed that we would never make excuses, that’s not what South Africans are made of. When you step out on to the field, you agree that you are ready to play. That’s what I love about this team, we don’t make excuses, we find solutions,” Kolisi said.

Lock Eben Etzebeth and Steyn were the star players put up by the Springboks for media duties after the gripping match, and it turned out a friendly chat between the two at the start of the day had almost been prophetic.

“We expected it to be a close contest and we always knew that the Lions would come with a massive effort. I had breakfast with Morne and I said that it might come down to him winning the series again with a kick. He said he hoped we were a bit further ahead if he came on.

“It doesn’t matter how we won, just to get the victory is massive for us. We were able to get over the final hurdle. Apart from Morne, the rest of us knew we only have one chance to win a Lions series and we knew it was our last 80 minutes to do it. What happened is absolutely unbelievable and all credit to him,” Etzebeth, a talismanic figure in the Springbok pack all series, said.

“Just to be part of this series 12 years later was amazing and then to get on the field and then to have that kick. It was in a similar position to 2009, just a bit closer for these old legs, 54 metres then and this one was about 35 metres. For a kicker, these special occasions are why you put in all the hard work. You always dream of making a kick to win a series or a championship. All glory to God for giving me the chance to do it again.

“But credit to the whole team for building up to that moment on the field, their work softened them up. It was not our best performance but it doesn’t matter how you win. And thanks to Eben for that pep talk at breakfast!” Steyn said.