Ken Borland

Being 1-0 down in a three-Test series, the Springboks know what they have to do in the coming week: they simply have to find a way to win the second Test against the British and Irish Lions next Saturday and coach Jacques Nienaber believes they are still capable of doing this.

“The series is definitely salvageable next weekend, we have to, there’s no other choice. The things that have been highlighted are definitely things we can sort out – our mauls, our kicking game and the aerial contest. We also need to step up at the breakdown and we had a big discussion about our discipline, it was sad that that was highlighted at halftime and then it wasn’t great in the second half,” Nienaber said.

Scrumhalf Faf de Klerk echoed his coach’s determination that the Springboks have the capacity to win the second Test, also in Cape Town, and level the series.

“It’s not ideal losing the first Test but there are still two to go and I’m sure we can pull it back. There are a lot of things to get right, but a few of the guys had not played rugby for a bit. In the first half we played really well, we got a lot of balls back from our kicking game, we were getting good outcomes. But in the second half the Lions got the loose balls in the aerial contest.

“The Lions are a quality side and the other challenge was that the guys that came off the bench for them are as good if not better that the players they replaced. Our discipline just slipped in the second half and if we could replay the first five minutes after halftime then the match would probably have had a different outcome. But we are a proud team and we will definitely make sure we rectify our mistakes,” De Klerk said.

Another area South Africa need to look at is their bench, which had surprisingly little impact, even though Nienaber denied they had adulterated the Springbok effort, saying he was “not disappointed in them”.

The starting front row of Ox Nche, Trevor Nyakane and Bongi Mbonambi had had an excellent first half, but they were replaced en masse at the start of the second half, which turned out to be a big mistake. Nche did express some surprise that he had been taken off, particularly since he had been standing up very well to highly-rated tighthead Tadhg Furlong in the scrums.

“I didn’t think the Bomb Squad would come on that early. We practise for a full game, that’s our fitness levels. But whatever the coaches feel is right is what we go with. I did my homework on Furlong because I knew how highly-rated he is. So I knew how he scrummed, I was prepared,” Nche said.

The Springboks were so structured and controlled in the first half of the first Test against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town, but their coach Jacques Nienaber admitted that they lost all their shapes in the second half as they succumbed to a 22-17 defeat.

South Africa looked in control in the first half as they racked up a 12-3 lead, but then ironically, the Lions turned the tables and overwhelmed the Springboks by using the same tactics they are famous for against them. With the Lions going back to the basics and using the rolling maul and a precise kicking game, they transformed the match.

Hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie opened the second half with a try from a maul and although the Springboks managed to scramble their way over the tryline twice thereafter, only one of them was legitimate.

From then on the Lions dictated the terms as they dominated the kicking battle and mauled with great effectiveness.

“It was the kicking game and they dominated there and that gave them territory and broken play. Our cohesion was good in the first half but we just did not have parity in the air in the second half. If Damian de Allende had scored then the result is in the balance, but we know any team coached by Warren Gatland has a massive kicking game, we just weren’t as good in the second half.

“We tried to keep on doing what we had been doing, being on the right side of the field, doing what you do to create penalties. But then we started giving stupid penalties away in the mauls. It was not a great second half and we have to be sharper and make sure we work on our communication.  We need to work on what was not good in the second half,” Nienaber said.

The aerial battle and the discipline of the Springboks are the two major areas they need to improve on, Nienaber and captain Siya Kolisi both said.

“We know teams coached by Warren Gatland always have a massive kicking game, but our execution was not as good in the second half. The two big areas we need to sort out for the second Test are our discipline, which was not good in the second half and gave them opportunities to get into our half.

“We were also not so good in the air and they got a big advantage from those loose balls. We will have to have a look at why that happened,” Nienaber said.

The British media have been gleefully pointing out how little rugby the Springboks have had against top-tier opposition since winning the World Cup in November 2019, but coach Jacques Nienaber has found haven in being able to select so many of the players who won that final for the first Test against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town on Saturday.

Nienaber announced a Springbok team on Tuesday in which only six of the 23 players were not on the field on that heady evening in Yokohama. Starting loosehead Ox Nche and replacement flank Rynhardt Elstadt are the only players who were not part of the triumphant World Cup squad.

“Without any Test rugby in 2020 and limited preparation games now, obviously selecting players who have been in the system is quite important. That experience, to have over 500 Test caps in the starting team and more than 700 in the squad of 23, is what we’re looking for. These are guys who have been here before, they understand the pressure they will be under.

“And there will be immense pressure, so it’s great to have players who have experienced it before. This is the real thing and we are going to need calm, steady heads. I think we are going to have new pictures thrown our way by the Lions and will be forced to make solutions on the field. One of the big challenges is that the Lions have a very versatile squad that can play in multiple styles,” Nienaber said on Tuesday.

Amongst the backs, there have been fitness question marks over Handre Pollard, Makazole Mapimpi and Damian de Allende, so Nieneaber has decided not to field the Bomb Squad 6-2 split on the bench. He understandably has confidence the forward replacements – Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx, Frans Malherbe, Lood de Jager and Elstadt – will be able to man up to whatever the Lions pack throws at them.

“Handre has not played a lot of rugby and he’s just come back from Covid, Makazole is the same. If we were fully confident about them then we could have gone with a 6-2 split. It’s probably just not the right time to only have two backs on the bench. We are comfortable with a 6-2 split, we will go with it again, but there just wasn’t the opportunity for this specific game.

“We’re not 100% sure everyone will last the whole 80 minutes because, due to Covid, some of them have not been exposed to much rugby for quite some time. The bench might only come on for 20 minutes, but it will happen the moment a player on the field is not producing his required role due to tiredness. We look to the subs when the performance starts to drop off,” Nienaber explained.

As selections go, it is a vote of confidence in the tried and tested, even if that means a gamble on recent returnees like captain Siya Kolisi, De Jager and Mapimpi. Given the opposition and the question marks over their preparation, it would be silly for the Springboks not to look at their World Cup winners.

Springbok team: Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handré Pollard (vice-captain), Faf de Klerk, Kwagga Smith, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Trevor Nyakane, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nché. Replacements – Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Lood de Jager, Rynhardt Elstadt, Herschel Jantjies, Elton Jantjies, Damian Willemse.

Bulls coach Jake White says the Lions team they will meet at Ellis Park on Saturday are a dangerous try-scoring force because of a mix of returning to their old way of playing and the open nature of the Currie Cup this year.

The Lions have climbed to fourth on the log and have scored four tries in four of their seven matches, including 12 tries in their last two games. It has been reminiscent of the triumphant era under former coach Johan Ackermann between 2013 and 2017, when they dominated South African rugby with their expansive style and fluent attacking play.

“Looking at where the Lions are on the log, I have no doubt that they will try and score as many tries as they can. They are the one team who has really troubled us before our last game at Loftus three weeks ago and we struggled in our last match at Ellis Park in May. But as long as we are aware of the challenge, we should be okay.

“I think having guys like Warren Whiteley and Julian Redelinghuys involved in the coaching, the Lions will play like they used to. I am sure they are pushing that style of play because they had massive success with that as players. But the competition itself is also going like that with referees being very strict on certain aspects that create more space.

“That allows teams to have more of a go and the conditions we’re playing in – in the afternoon – it’s like school rugby, at the best time of day. So it’s not only the Lions scoring a lot of tries, ball-in-play time is up to 36-38 minutes and that shows the tempo of the games, the pace and the skill levels. It’s nice for everyone,” White said on Friday.

Nevertheless, White has decided to make nine changes to his starting line-up for the match and is confident he can get full value out of swapping his bench players and his starters from the weekend win over Griquas.

“You always want the best players on the park, but I’m comfortable these guys will bring energy. Hopefully we can use the bench wisely, they are there if we need them, or we can even spare them if the starters have played well enough. We have a nice fresh team which is important because we could have 12 consecutive weeks of play later on.

“We don’t want to get caught short in two months time with injuries and having to select players who have not played enough. I rate all the guys coming in very highly, they are very good rugby players, and you don’t only want to give them a chance when the game is already won. The end of the game is different because there’s more fatigue. We want to grow our depth and confidence,” White said.

Bulls team – 15-David Kriel, 14-Madosh Tambwe, 13-Lionel Mapoe, 12-Harold Vorster, 11-Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10-Chris Smith, 9-Keagan Johannes, 8-WJ Steenkamp, 7-Muller Uys, 6-Arno Botha, 5-Janko Swanepoel, 4-Walt Steenkamp, 3-Jacques van Rooyen, 2-Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 1-Simphiwe Matanzima. Replacements: 16-Schalk Erasmus, 17-Gerhard Steenekamp, 18-Mornay Smith, 19-Ruan Nortje, 20-Elrigh Louw, 21-Zak Burger, 22-Johan Goosen, 23-Stedman Gans.