Ken Borland

While the Springboks have rightly been lauded, both locally and overseas, as being a beacon of true nation-building hope in this troubled land, their game-plan has earned less respect from foreign critics.

But backline coach Mzwandile Stick made it clear on Friday, on the eve of the first Test against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town on Saturday, that they don’t care.

“We will never run away from our strengths. The All Blacks pass the ball a lot, that’s how they grew up as kids, but nobody says they must stop doing that. It’s the same with us, physicality is in our DNA, it’s in our genes. If we want to play lovely, free-flowing, running rugby then we have to earn that right. We’re very happy with the way we play.

“In 10 years time, people will only see the results and they won’t be worried about the style of rugby we played. Seventeen of our squad for the first Test were involved in the World Cup final and we have been more than three years with these guys. So we can’t be underdone,” Stick said on Friday.

While Lions coach Warren Gatland said South Africa’s ego had somehow been dented when SA A beat the tourists and some have painted the Springboks’ preparations as being chaotic due to Covid-19 cases and several injuries, Stick painted a picture of a squad that has been an island of focus, with even isolation being used to fine-tune their planning.

“We have made peace with the fact that these are very challenging times and the team that adapts best will have a better chance of winning. When you get guys like Siya Kolisi, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi and Handre Pollard back in the squad then you can feel the vibe and energy goes to a totally different level. These are guys who know what it takes.

“They know how to switch on and they have proper, proper heads on their shoulders. That’s what coaches enjoy and we are excited about the first Test. Hopefully everything goes according to our plan. We are happy as a team about the SA A game because we came out on top in the most important stat – the scoreboard; we won the game. So I’m not sure why our ego would be dented,” Stick said.

While the superb pace trio of Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi have quite rightly been lauded for the damages they inflicted on the West Indies batting as the Proteas swept to an innings victory in the first Test at St Lucia, South Africa captain Dean Elgar also pointed to the efforts of the batsmen as being worthy of praise.

Nortje, the enforcer bowling with nasty venom, enjoyed match figures of seven for 81, while Ngidi took five for 19 in the first innings and Rabada then finished off the home side with five for 34 in their second knock.

But on a spicy pitch on which the seam bowlers threatened throughout, the embattled Proteas batsmen did very well to post 322 in their only innings. Quinton de Kock’s magnificent 141 not out, with 12 fours and seven sixes, rightfully stole the limelight and earned him the man of the match award, but Aiden Markram (60) and Rassie van der Dussen (46) made sure he had something of a platform to build on.

Wiaan Mulder and Nortje then shared important partnerships with De Kock to bat the West Indies out of the game with a first-innings lead of 225. Even debutant Keegan Petersen may have only scored 19, but he came to the crease in the first over and batted positively for 40 minutes to keep the home side from making more early breakthroughs.

“The bowlers were assisted in quite a big way by the pitch, conditions were very favourable for seam bowling, and our batsmen managed to score more than 300 so credit must go to them as well. Quinny was just brilliant, showing what a world-class cricketer he is, and Aiden and Rassie applied themselves well too,” Elgar said.

But it was the bowlers who stole the show as they did not get carried away by the helpful conditions or ever stray from the simple disciplines the new full-time skipper wanted – like keeping to the channel just outside off-stump and forcing the batsmen to decide whether to play or leave a ball that cold move either way, which the pacemen did superbly.

“Lungi, Anrich and KG were brilliant with the ball and Kesha Maharaj chipped in really nicely on the third day. It was a proper, professional approach and the team were clinical and ruthless. It was a bit more of the old-school South African style, which I wanted. I know it’s in us, we just need to get it out. It was a collective effort and I know the effort it took, so we won’t take this win for granted.

“It’s nice when everything comes together, I asked for individuals to get accolades and we had a century and two five-fors. Our bowling attack put down their stamp of authority, which we’ve been struggling to do. The basics of bowling applied on that pitch, we had to execute our skills and utilise the facilities. We have a great balance in our attack at the moment,” Elgar said.

While the Springboks’ second-half comeback against Ireland last weekend was rightly lauded, no-one enjoys seeing them play as poorly as they did in the first half and it is imperative that they hit their straps from the outset on Saturday against Scotland to avoid the feel-good factor of Dublin being totally diminished.

While there is no question the team has enormous character and are growing mentally with every outing, there are still nagging doubts eating away at many analysts that the Springboks might not be on the right path.

While the fickle public throw their rotten tomatoes over the way the Springboks play, the lack of tries they’ve scored and who is selected, there are valid concerns about South Africa’s greatest rivals, New Zealand, disappearing over the horizon in terms of how far ahead they are in terms of quality.

Many comparisons with the All Blacks have not been between apples and apples, simply because they have a far more experienced, injury-free side at the moment, but the way they dismantled a brave Scottish team last weekend with a second-string side gives the Springboks a pointer as to what they should be aiming for.

Heyneke Meyer’s team may have risen to number two in the world rankings, but there has not been much to choose between them, Australia, France, England and even Argentina this year.

Ruthless and efficient is what most fans would want to see from them this weekend in Edinburgh.

Scotland is currently ranked ninth and in danger of slipping further into the third tier of nations ahead of the 2015 World Cup draw on 3 December. Running through their team list, only a handful of players are recognisable internationals. The Springboks really should dominate them and, for a change, make sure the scoreboard reflects that as well.

Even when the admirable young Springbok pack has dominated its opposition this year – even doing it against the All Blacks in Dunedin – the team has turned that advantage into points just once, beating Australia 31-8 at Loftus Versfeld at the end of September.

There is a bright young thing at flyhalf now in Pat Lambie, but one feels he still needs to sell himself to coach Meyer and there was more than a hint of him playing within himself last weekend against Ireland.

Lambie’s strength is not the aerial route and, given that Zane Kirchner and Ruan Pienaar are still in the team and kicking for territory is still a vital part of Test rugby, he would perhaps be well-advised to leave those duties to them, while focusing on his more magical skills while the Springboks are on attack.

The Springboks have come to Murrayfield before with expectations running high that they would emulate the All Blacks, but lost their last outing there 21-17 in 2010 and struggled to a 14-10 victory in the previous match in 2008.

The major advantage South Africans have over northern hemisphere teams is the pace at which they play the game in Sanzar events, and the Scots will surely not be able to match the intensity if the Springboks up the pace, as they did in the first half of the Test against England at Ellis Park in June.

The pack obviously has a key role to play in laying the foundation and securing quick ball, but the Springboks should learn from the mistakes of the past and not only rely on forward dominance for victory.

After choosing centres that provided a steady diet of crash ball in midfield for the whole year, it is pleasing that Meyer has given Juan de Jongh a chance in the number 13 jersey. One of the heroes of the Currie Cup final has the footwork to splinter the best of defences and the possibility exists of actually seeing a few linebreaks and offloads on Saturday.

The defence, which was outstanding against Ireland, may lose a bit in physicality, but De Jongh is a tenacious tackler and the Western Province and Stormers teams he starred in had the best defensive records in their competitions.

The Springboks are overdue a complete performance that proves they are indeed the nearest challengers to the All Blacks.

 http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-11-16-great-scots-the-boks-have-their-work-cut-out