Ken Borland

It is going to be a nervous week for Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber ahead of the first Test against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town because, as the disappointing performance of the SA A pack against the Bulls showed, if anything more goes amiss with his first-choice line-up then the home side are going to be seriously vulnerable.

Nienaber has claimed that not even he knows when the likes of captain Siya Kolisi, ace flyhalf Handre Pollard and wing Makazole Mapimpi will clear their Covid protocols. The availability of those three players will be his foremost concern this week, but there are other departments that are looking a bit thin at the moment too.

While Kolisi’s absence, alongside that of Duane Vermeulen, leaves Pieter-Steph du Toit to marshal an inexperienced loose trio, the situation at lock is even more concerning. Franco Mostert and Eben Etzebeth are the first-choice pairing and both have been outstanding in the warm-ups. But, with Lood de Jager and RG Snyman not yet fit, their back-ups – Marvin Orie, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg and Jean-Luc du Preez – have been underwhelming.

Frans Malherbe being Covid-positive has raised questions about the depth at tighthead prop and, while Steven Kitshoff is consistently excellent in the No.1 jersey, who the loosehead prop replacement is going to be is an interesting question with Ox Nche reportedly also being infected with the virus.

There is good news at hooker though with the reported returns to training of Bongi Mbonambi and Scarra Ntubeni meaning Nienaber will not have to field the uncapped Joseph Dweba or Fez Mbatha off the bench.

Elton Jantjies looked in solid form against the Bulls and is an experienced campaigner who can step in for Pollard, while Sbu Nkosi or Aphelele Fassi are both capable stand-ins for Mapimpi. Scrumhalf Cobus Reinach and eighthman Kwagga Smith were the other players who were blameless in the weekend loss, but both were not overly impressed with the quality of performance put up by SA A.

“We had a lot of opportunities that were not taken, instead of being simple we tried something that was not on too often. It’s important to not go out of alignment as a squad, we all have to do our job and we need to put our game-plan on them. There were small individual things that were good, but we did not collectively stamp ourselves on the Bulls,” Reinach said.

“It was an opportunity to get some game-time, which we have not had a lot of, and we knew the Bulls would be desperate, but I think we underestimated how much they wanted to prove a point. We didn’t dominate up front and that’s where the trouble started. We lacked that bit of x-factor and there were a lot of mistakes. We need to sharpen up and get the basics right,” Smith said.

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber admitted that a lack of dominance by the SA A pack in the set-pieces and the gainline battle concerned him after their shock 17-14 defeat at the hands of the Bulls in Cape Town on Saturday.

The Bulls fielded a young pack with only three experienced players in captain and flank Nizaam Carr, prop Jacques van Rooyen and replacement loose forward Arno Botha. But they matched the SA A team blow-for-blow and their lineout dominance was especially damaging to the opposition’s cause.

The Bulls played with great passion and physicality, and Nienaber admitted that they simply wanted to win the match more than his charges. And that is a damning assessment a week away from the first Test.

“Yes, I definitely expected a better performance from the pack, especially better ball from the set-pieces. We didn’t get a proper platform to launch our attacks from. The Bulls are the best franchise in South Africa and hats off to them. Obviously their desperation levels were through the roof. The first fingers point at myself and management because we obviously did things wrong in the build-up.

“Sad to say, but the Bulls were more desperate than us. And that’s even though there are places up for grabs in the Test team, but you can’t take a lot of positives from a performance like that, except that we got game time into a lot of guys who needed it. I’m quite emotional after a performance like that, as a team the performance was just not there,” Nienaber admitted after the game.

The Springbok coach did not want to discuss individual performances, but suffice to say he probably thinks his gran could have played with more intensity and fire than some of the SA A team.

“Any comments I make about individuals will be emotional. Maybe some individuals did well, but it did not come out as a team. But we got a lot of answers over certain players, we needed questions asked of them under pressure. Which is exactly what we wanted, but not the loss, that’s not what we hoped for,” Nienaber said.

Scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, eighthman Kwagga Smith, fullack Aphelele Fassi and solid flyhalf Elton Jantjies were probably the only players to have advanced their Springbok cause.

A young Bulls side upstaged the SA A team by beating them 17-14 in Cape Town on Saturday in the Springbok squad’s final preparation for the British and Irish Lions series, with the national squad putting in a performance that would have rapidly aged coach Jacques Nienaber as they showed a worrying lack of forward dominance and the backline was also not particularly clinical.

SA A led 14-0 at halftime through two tries against the run of play, but the second half was a tedious affair until the 66^th minute when flyhalf Johan Goosen sparked a sensational Bulls comeback.

The first try came after a superb break from a midfield ruck by Goosen, who then passed inside for impressive replacement scrumhalf Keegan Johannes to score. Just a minute later, Goosen, who last played for the Springboks five years ago, took on the defensive line on his own 22m line and his neat offload to Muller Uys saw the flank burst clear. Uys then went wide to fullback FC du Plessis, whose excellent kick infield found hooker Johan Grobbelaar up in support and he gathered and scored.

Goosen converted both tries before leaving the field, replaced by Chris Smith. With five minutes remaining, it was Smith who kicked a brilliant penalty from the halfway line to seal a win for the ages for the Bulls.

SA A bashed away at the Bulls line in the closing stages, but Smith and Nizaam Carr held up prop Vincent Koch over the line.

The SA A side spent most of the first half defending in their own half, but they did manage to break the chains twice, leading to tries in the 12^th and 38^th minutes.

First scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, probably the best player in the SA A team on the day, ran from a ruck, slipped through the defensive line, and then found fullback Aphelele Fassi running a good supporting line to score the try.

The second try came after a lovely kick into the corner by Fassi put SA A on attack. Prop Thomas du Toit was stopped just short of the line, but Wandisile Simelane was able to dive over an open tryline to score.

Simelane had earlier been yellow-carded for being miles offsides five metres from his line as SA A conceded a strong of penalties. But the Bulls were unable to capitalise on several first-half opportunities due to a lack of composure with the ball. They also conceded several turnovers.

But the SA A side just never had a decent platform as the young Bulls pack stepped up superbly. Their lineouts were especially poor.

The only players to have advanced their Springbok cause were Reinach, eighthman Kwagga Smith and Fassi, while Elton Jantjies had a solid game at flyhalf.

But it is now clear that a couple of injuries to the Springboks to key personnel and they will be vulnerable against the British and Irish Lions.

Scorers

SA A: Tries – Aphelele Fassi, Wandisile Simelane. Conversions – Elton Jantjies (2).

Bulls: Tries – Keegan Johannes, Johan Grobbelaar. Conversions – Johan Goosen (2). Penalty – Chris Smith.

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.