Ken Borland

According to Springboks breakdown coach Richie Gray, South Africa had the best statistics in that crucial phase of play in last year’s Rugby Championship, but he fully expects the opposition this year to have made serious plans to dethrone them.

“At the end of the Rugby Championship last year, we came out with the best stats, in terms of retention and turnovers, but the breakdown is becoming more of a war every year.

“Every country we go to, the newspapers are always talking about the ‘battle of the breakdown’ and this year it will be even more so. Australia have really taken a step forward there judging by SuperRugby, but every team emphasises the breakdown. If something happens 140 times in a game then it’s got to be important and we have to dominate and be accurate there,” Gray said on Wednesday.

While Francois Louw will obviously figure extensively when it comes to the Springboks’ efforts to steal ball, protecting one’s own possession on attack is just as important. Because an openside flank can only hit every second or third ruck, the breakdown does become truly a team effort.

“Every player has to be equipped to do breakdown work and I work with both the individual and collectively to make sure we get it spot on every time in training.

“Just like the greatest defensive system won’t work if your players can’t tackle, so your attack will always be running against a brick wall if you’re taking four or five seconds to get the ball out of the breakdown.”

The Springboks, with their tall, bulky physiques, have had a reputation for being one-dimensional at the rucks – just running up and ramming a shoulder in to try and bully opposition off the ball. But Gray has certainly up-skilled them in this department.

“I can remember being told by leading Northern Hemisphere coaches like Jim Telfer that you never take on the Springboks at waist-height because they’ll smash you, but at knee-height because they’re big men who can’t bend down. But that’s an absolute myth, if they’re properly coached then South Africa have some phenomenal players at the breakdown. They have a great mentality and physicality, and we just need to add accuracy,” the Scotsman said.

One of Gray’s challenges at the moment is to sort out the mash of different breakdown strategies his players have returned with from all around the world – never mind the five SuperRugby franchises employing different methods, there are also the tactics of three different French clubs, two English and one from Northern Ireland to contend with.

“The players disappear all over the world and their clubs all have different philosophies when it comes to the breakdown. So we have to get to what is best for the Springboks; quick ball is best, but how do we get that?

“So I’ll implement a plan that is correct for this group and their different strengths and weaknesses. I’ll tweak it week-by-week and month-by-month and we don’t want to follow other teams, we want to lead, so we do a lot of analysis  to spot weaknesses in both ourselves and others,” Gray explained.

At least in the Rugby Championship, the breakdown is a far cleaner, better-policed phase of play; in the Northern Hemisphere, there are people clogging the aisles far too often.

“I was delighted with the way we changed our approach on the Northern Hemisphere tour last year. The breakdown is an absolute war over there, there are bodies all over the place, players rolling out on our side. There are just so many things going on and it was a huge step-up to cope with that.”

The Springboks’ first task will be to tame the Pumas and their tactics of tackling low to mow down the ball-carrier and then flooding the breakdown.

Michael Hooper and Richie McCaw will then be lying in wait.

The charismatic leadership of Jean de Villiers makes him a certainty for South Africa’s starting line-up whenever he is fit, but Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer’s toughest selection decision for the Rugby Championship revolves around his captain’s position.

While the return of Victor Matfield and his stepping into the captaincy while De Villiers was injured during the incoming tours certainly did not curdle the Springboks’ play nor team cohesion, Meyer made it clear on Monday that the Stormers man would return for the Rugby Championship.

But factors beyond Meyer’s control have dished up a selection quandary for the Springbok coach.

In the absence of the unavailable JP Pietersen and Frans Steyn, the injured Jaque Fourie and the out-of-form JJ Engelbrecht, there is a dearth of outside centres in the squad.

But the specialist centres who have been named – De Villiers, Jan Serfontein and new cap Damian de Allende – are all more comfortable in the number 12 jersey.

So who should play in the number 13 top? Serfontein was outstanding at inside centre during the incoming tours, while De Villiers has played outside centre several times for the Springboks. De Allende has all the attributes of a top international midfielder, but no experience at that level.

“We’ll certainly look at Jean at number 13, although I believe 12 is his best position,” Meyer said on Monday.

“Jan Serfontein was superb at inside centre during the incoming tours, while Damian de Allende has only played 13 at school. Damian can be a brilliant centre at international level, but we need to find the right position for him.

“I just know that when Jean played 13 outside Frans Steyn, although there were a few factors involved, we didn’t score many tries. I love Jean at 12 because of the way he organises play, he was probably the best inside centre in the world last year. He can crash the ball up, but he’s also got unbelievable hands and I prefer a number 12 who can move the ball and create space on the outside.

“We can’t just crash the ball up now in midfield because all the sides have big centres and I always want to get that width and get around teams on the outside. Jean is big and strong and he has unbelievable hands, but those three haven’t played much together,” Meyer explained.

But there are no guarantees yet that either De Villiers or De Allende are actually ready for Test rugby, having spent several weeks on the sidelines with injuries.

The Springboks began their camp in Johannesburg on Monday with medical examinations and, while the results of these are only likely to be known on Tuesday, Meyer admitted that there was some concern over the pair of Stormers centres.

“The players are busy with their medicals and a lot of them haven’t played for some time. Obviously Jean is a concern because although he has been training with Western Province, he hasn’t had any contact yet.

“The feedback we’ve had from Cape Town is that Damian has done well in training, but usually the problems only come out once we begin training.

“There are also guys like Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Beast and Pat Lambie who we just want to manage properly,” Meyer said.

The match readiness of Etzebeth will also decide the other main selection issue, which is the second row.

While Matfield has no real challengers for the number five jersey, who will play alongside him? Does Meyer opt for the experience of Bakkies Botha or the in-form Lood de Jager? Who then to put on the bench – Botha, Etzebeth or De Jager?

Meyer said the focus of this year’s Rugby Championship campaign will be the acquisition of the bonus points that were the major factor in 2013’s competition.

The fact that the Springboks had to chase the bonus point win in their last match against New Zealand – thereby ensuring the sort of open game the All Blacks love – was absolutely crucial in the final outcome.

“I think this year’s Rugby Championship will be the most difficult of the lot, historically the third year has been the most difficult for the Springbok coach.

“I think it’s going to come down to bonus points and if we don’t get bonus points against Argentina, like Australia and New Zealand did last year, and away from home if you don’t win, then we’re going to be under pressure to win both our games at home again. You must get bonus points to win this competition!

“We scored the most tries in world rugby last year, so we need to catch up to that momentum very quickly. I want to play total rugby, I want to play 15-man rugby, but our tactical kicking also really needs to improve. That was one of our downfalls last year, while New Zealand and Australia both had nines and 10s using tactical kicks,” Meyer said.

The absence of the injured Fourie du Preez is the major stumbling block to Meyer’s plans.

“Losing Fourie is an unbelievable setback, his tactical kicking is the biggest thing we’ll miss, but he is also the master on attack. He always picks up the right runners and last year we had a huge evolution in our attack in that we did it out of our own 22. Fourie is just an amazing tactical general,” the coach said.

“I want our scrumhalf to play more to the ball, to give the backline quick ball. We have a lot of scrumhalves in South Africa who are snipers and can score great individual tries, which is what the public sees, but we need a nine who can clean out quickly and give quality ball because we’re interested in team tries.”

The experienced Ruan Pienaar is probably the closest to Du Preez’s all-round skill set, with the utility talents of Francois Hougaard probably earning him a place on the bench.

The Sharks’ dismal SuperRugby semi-final performance – and the inaccuracy of the kicking by halfbacks Cobus Reinach and Lambie – is probably going to count against their chances of playing in the tournament opener against Argentina at Loftus Versfeld on August 16.

The man behind the favourites to become SuperRugby’s 18th franchise is French-born, studied in Paris and has citizenship in Mauritius.

Eric Series is the brains and financial muscle behind Singapore’s bid to host one of SuperRugby’s expansion franchises from 2016 and will be in South Africa this week to have discussions with SARU chief executive Jurie Roux.

The 18th franchise – debuting in 2016 alongside the Southern Kings and an Argentinian team – will be playing in the South African Conference and Singapore’s bid is the favourite because the Republic is firmly in their corner.

Sanzar have confirmed that Singapore and Japan are the two bidders remaining in contention, having rejected proposals from South Africa’s Mpumalanga Pumas, Namibia, Kenya, three interested parties from the United Kingdom and two from North America.

The main reason for South Africa to favour Singapore ahead of Japan is that the city-state is only a 10-and-a-half hour flight away, while the 2019 Rugby World Cup hosts are a further eight hours north-east. Flying to Australia and New Zealand from Singapore is also much easier than from Japan.

Series, a businessman who studied law and economics, has been heavily involved in rugby for the last three years through his ownership of the Asia Pacific Dragons, a Barbarians-style invitational team that showcases the talent outside of Australasia. Getting strong Pacific Islanders representation into SuperRugby would be another big attraction for Sanzar.

The 37-year-old also has major business interests in New Zealand – Sealegs, the makers of amphibious vehicles, are the “Marine” sponsors of the All Blacks and last year Series became an investor in the Chiefs. He is also the chairman of Samoa Water.

Counting against Singapore is the fact that Japan has much more of a rugby culture, the IRB (who have no say in the Sanzar decision) would obviously favour the 2019 World Cup hosts and they have much better local players and a thriving league.

But Singapore’s team would be built around Pacific Islanders, who have the physicality to survive in the most gruelling competition on earth (largely because of the travel), and Series has pointed out that there is already a precedent for getting other players in Asia involved through the Asia Pacific Dragons.

“We firmly believe that the Pacific Islands players must be strongly represented in the expanded format in 2016 and the composition of our Asia Pacific Dragons side is the ideal platform to include these players and also to capitalise on the growth in Asia,” Series told The Sunday Samoan.

“The issue has always been where the Pacific Islands team could play and how it could work commercially. This is where the Asia Pacific Dragons provides the perfect platform. Pacific Islands players are the heart of our squads, with other players being selected from the whole region.

“Sanzar have already publically stated that any new team must be competitive. That would be a given with Islanders being at the core of our squad, but we would also see the option for more Japanese players having opportunities to gain SuperRugby experience as well and create a meaningful pathway for Asian players in the future.”

Cherry Blossoms coach Eddie Jones has revealed himself as the president of the Japanese bid’s fan club and Australia are also favouring them.

The former Wallabies coach has been an eager basher of Singapore’s bid, describing it as “a joke”.

“Sanzar will lose all credibility if Singapore is selected to serve South African interests with a less demanding travel load. If travel is the deciding factor, then Dubai should be selected and rugby ethos and history ignored altogether,” Jones said.

But Sanzar have shown they are not asses when it comes to spotting the best financial deal and the deep pockets of Series, and the answer he provides to the Islander “problem”, could well see Australia isolated.

The strong support of the Singapore government, who are driving large sums of money into sports development, adds further lustre to the Series bid.

Ultimately, however, the three founding nations – South Africa, New Zealand and Australia – have to agree or else the decision will have to go to mediation, as was the case in 2009 when the Melbourne Rebels won a franchise ahead of the Southern Kings.

Bryan, back in South Africa and giving back to the Nyanga community for Mandela Day, have you had time to reflect on the successes of the last few months?

It’s not ideal being outside of South Africa and I’m unbelievably proud to call myself South African. Until you leave these shores, you never know what you’re missing, but I’m very happy where I am in France. The language is tough and sometimes if they talk too fast then you lose it, but luckily there are a lot of internationals at Toulon. It’s taught me to become a lot more independent. Driving on the right-hand side of the road takes some getting used to and I’ve stalled a couple of times! But staying on the French Riviera is pretty positive and a happy player is an in-form player.

It was a pretty special end to the season in France after I was a bit frustrated at the beginning. I was injured after the Rugby Championship, four months out, and then I was injured again on the end-of-year tour for another two weeks. So to come back and play a part in the finals was very special.

It was fantastic playing alongside Jonny Wilkinson and seeing the way he bowed out, there was no better way to end his career.

Those successes must fill you with a lot of confidence for the season ahead?

We have a lot to build on but there’s been a change in format in the Heineken Cup plus the Top 14 is 28 games against tough opposition every week. I went over to France to win trophies and I didn’t think it would happen as quickly as it did. So the foundation has been laid, I have a couple of years left with Toulon and I hope to contribute to even more trophies.

Was it a tough challenge coming to France and playing in those finals in your first season over there?

Experience plays a big part. I’ve played 90-odd Tests, so you learn how to bring something else out on the big occasions. Plus I had 11 amazing seasons in South Africa, good and bad times, and winning trophies from the Vodacom Cup to Currie Cup, SuperRugby and the Tri-Nations.

So I was happy to experience something different in France, I didn’t want to get stuck in a rut, you want to learn how to deal with new environments and challenges.

What are your future ambitions in terms of South Africa?

I hope to play more than a hundred Tests for the Springboks, play international rugby for another year or two. There are those elusive couple of tries for the world record and I’d love to achieve 100 caps. To be part of the 2015 World Cup is the short-term goal. It has without a doubt been the proudest moments of my career to pull that jersey over my head, but a lot still has to happen for me to reach those landmarks. But I’m going to push myself harder and further.

What’s the mood like in the Springbok camp at the moment?

Heyneke Meyer and his team are working towards something special. There are very exciting youngsters in the team and old heads who know the ropes. I hope to contribute to that journey, there were those two losses to New Zealand last year and we hope to rectify that in the Rugby Championship.

This Springbok side is heading towards one of the best I’ve been involved with, the foundation has been laid and a great atmosphere has been created. This is one of the happiest teams I’ve been involved with, thanks to Heyneke Meyer, who has put the onus on the individual.

2009 was a phenomenal year and we’re growing ever closer to that with a mix of the older guys and the newer combinations. We’re definitely heading the right way, we can only get better because the competition for places is high. You’re not sure of getting your place back these days if you sit out.

Willie le Roux was sensational in the June Tests, what’s it like playing next to him?

Willie is very exciting. Three years ago we played against him at Western Province when he was playing for Boland and it’s fantastic how he has embraced his opportunity with the Cheetahs. Cornal Hendricks too, came from Sevens and has had a huge impact with the Cheetahs.

Willie is a fantastic playmaker, probably up there with the best one or two fullbacks in the world. Hopefully I can be at the end of a few more of his final passes!

What are your future goals with Toulon?

After 11 seasons in South Africa which were the best times of my life, I want to leave the Toulon jersey in a better shape than I found it. I want to give my most for Toulon and South Africa.

How is your relationship with Mourad Boudjellal?

Mourad must take a lot of the credit for our success. He has put a lot of money into Toulon, he’s a staunch Toulon rugby man and he backed players even though people thought they were at the end of their careers. He took Toulon up from the second division with players like Tana Umaga, Victor Matfield, George Gregan and Andrew Mehrtens and now he’s developed a side of world-beaters.

To be double champions is pretty special and he must take credit for that, without him it would not have happened.

Mourad does not speak that much English so we haven’t had many conversations, but he’s as passionate as you can get about rugby. He does the Pilou Pilou for us when things go well.

There was talk about you representing South Africa at the Commonwealth Games Sevens, what happened there?

I’m very disappointed I won’t be going to the Commonwealth Games, but I understand that I am contracted to Toulon and the Commonwealth Games are not in the Test window. But it would have been fantastic to be part of that.

I went to a couple of training sessions with the Springbok Sevens and I could see their passion and enthusiasm. I’m firmly behind them and they have more than enough talent to do very well.