Ken Borland

There was bad news on Tuesday for those critics who are for some reason disappointed in the spectacle provided by the series between South Africa and the British and Irish Lions because Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber said their next opponents – Argentina – are a side that is very adept at closing down the game as well.

The magnitude of the occasion typically led to three arm-wrestles, beautifully intense and gripping in their own way, between the Springboks and the Lions, who both favoured fairly conservative game-plans. Nienaber warned that playing against Argentina is going to be far from a free-for-all with the shackles released.

“Argentina are a tough team to play against, they have the ability to disrupt your flow as a team, they are really good at that. They have good plans that can really upset you. They are tactically astute and smart, they have a phenomenal defence and a great kicking game. They can also attack and score from turnovers, they have very quick wings and can create some magic.

“They are physical, defensively well-organised and willing to put their heads in dark places. They are well-balanced across the board, quality players playing for each other. Since the Rugby World Cup they have played seven Tests, six of them against big countries like New Zealand, Wales and Australia, and their only loss was to the All Blacks. Their world ranking [7^th] does not reflect how good they are,” Nienaber said on Tuesday.

While those who are bitter over the Springboks’ success have decried the quality of rugby played in the Lions series, Nienaber, enjoying the sweet taste of victory, said rugby had been the winner.

“It was tight! We’re very grateful for the series victory, the tour is such a special thing, happening only once over 12 years, and it could have gone both ways. It was a grind, but it’s the second biggest event in rugby after the World Cup. It was a humdinger of a series, which is what you want. In my opinion, rugby was the winner and there was only three points separating the teams at the end.

“The beauty of rugby is that there are different styles of playing, it would be unbelievably boring if we all played the same way. That means there are different tactics, like we had to employ at the World Cup going from Japan to Wales to England as opponents in the knockouts. The style teams play is determined by the athletic attributes of their players, you create a game-plan to amplify those characteristics,” Nienaber pointed out.

Springbok centre Lukhanyo Am smashing opposite number Elliot Daly to the deck was one of the highlights of the first Test against the British and Irish Lions and the Sharks captain said it was a deliberate statement to lay the platform for the physicality the home side were going to bring.

It worked a charm in the first half as the dominant Springboks controlled the game and racked up a 12-3 halftime lead. The Springboks’ intensity dropped off markedly in the second half, however, as the Lions took a firm grip on the match through a precise kicking game and their rolling maul.

“That tackle was quite intentional, I wanted to set the standards, to show the step-up in physicality we were going to bring. I wanted to show that as a team we have a great defensive mindset. This weekend we have another physical battle to take on. But we know there will also be a lot of contestable kicks, it’s always an aerial battle in Test rugby and it’s an area we’ve worked really hard on.

“We know how important preparation is and unfortunately we were disrupted before the first Test and we had a feeling that it might bite us at the back end. Unfortunately we could not get the result we wanted, but I think we still played with a lot of energy. We managed to play until the last minute and it was just unfortunate that we weren’t able to convert our chances,” Am said.

The Lions were certainly not expected to use the Springboks’ own preferred tactics against them in the second half, with most pundits predicting they would try and scuttle the ball into the wide channels. Am acknowledged that the Springboks are going to have to adapt better on the field because the tourists have surprisingly made three changes to their starting line-up, which may or may not indicate a change in plan by the Lions.

“The Lions had different styles of players on in the first and second halves and it’s up to us to just try and counter whatever they bring to us. We don’t know their game-plans, but we have to be good at adapting on the field.

“Our system means we always try and cover the whole field and from 2018 we’ve been working on using the aerial battle as a great opportunity to get possession. We expect changes to their plan due to the changes in personnel, we have prepared for that and I’m sure we can adapt on the field,” Am said.

It was back in August 2015 in Umhlanga, the Springboks’ base ahead of Tests in Durban, when then coach Heyneke Meyer said Pieter-Steph du Toit reminded him of 2007 World Cup hero Danie Rossouw because of his versatility and exciting all-round ability.

Du Toit started his Springbok career under Meyer as a lock, but just as Rossouw excelled as a loose forward as well as being able to cover in the second row, the 28-year-old Du Toit is now firmly entrenched as a flank and won the 2019 WorldRugby Player of the Year starring in the No.7 jersey as he spearheaded South Africa’s World Cup success.

But a rash of injuries to locks in the current Springbok squad means Du Toit might yet find himself back in the second row. Eben Etzebeth picked up a rib injury in the first Test against Georgia at the weekend and RG Snyman’s return now seems further away as he is recovering from a skin graft operation after his unfortunate fire pit incident in Ireland. Lood de Jager is also making his way back from long-term injury.

While Georgia presented a physical challenge for the Springboks, Du Toit knows the British and Irish Lions will ramp that up to another level, so he is happy to fit in wherever required in the South African pack.

“I haven’t played lock for a while, but when I started my career that’s where I played. It will mean some extra work in the scrums, but I will play wherever they need me. But for now, every game you play as if it’s your last match and we need to get our systems better for the Lions series. The physicality of Georgia was a good test, they’re big and naturally strong as well.

“The Lions are very spoilt in the loose forward department, they definitely have world-class players there and they seem to have a player for every game-plan and every situation. I guess they’ll assess what their best combination is against the franchises, and we can judge what their strategy might be from that,” Du Toit said on Sunday.

As far as the performance against Georgia goes, Du Toit was as considered as when he is back home in his bermudas on the Riebeek Valley wine farm, tasting the latest bouquets from their Kloovenburg estate.

“It gave us a good indication of where we are at and what we have to work on. There were a few things lost in the detail and clearly they need some work, some decision-making here and there was not that good.

“I also felt sad for someone like Jasper Wiese running on for his debut and there were no fans shouting. That moment was so special for me, I dreamt of it from a young age. We’ve had experience of no crowds at franchise level but it makes a massive difference in Test rugby, it’s like that small flame that gives you extra motivation needs to find a different place,” Du Toit said.

The Springbok camp was rocked by three positive Covid tests on Sunday, but director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said the notion that this would put the two Tests against Georgia and the entire British and Irish Lions tour in doubt was incorrect.

Erasmus revealed that Durban-based wing Sbu Nkosi, tighthead prop Vincent Koch of Saracens and scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, who has already had Covid, were the three players who tested positive when the squad gathered at their Johannesburg hotel. All three players are asymptomatic but training on Sunday was cancelled as a precautionary measure.

“We’ve been in camp for three weeks without any problems, but this was the first time everyone really assembled, the first time we’ve had all squad members with guys coming in from all over. The three guys who tested positive have to be confined as we fall in now with British and Irish Lions tour protocols. We have advised the tour medical committee and now we wait for the next step.

“But it’s not a big worry for us, I’m fairly confident these are isolated cases, those players have just been unlucky. We’ve followed very strict protocols at our hotel, we weren’t allowed to be in one room before testing and the guys could not go to their own rooms for five to seven hours until they got the results – just to make sure that contacts are minimal.

“I don’t think the Georgia game on Friday is in any doubt, we have a squad of 45 especially for this reason. We will never not have enough players, we can draft players in because they are on testing regimes with their provinces. I’m fairly sure very few guys are infected, this came from something external and the guys have not done anything wrong,” Erasmus said on Sunday.

While the positive tests have spiked the Springboks’ plans on Sunday, most of the groundwork for the first Test against Georgia will already have been laid down. Coach Jacques Nienaber said the Springboks had to be adaptable in these harrowing times.

“It’s not ideal, we would have loved a normal week flow, but it’s important in these times of Covid and changing environments, that we are adaptable, that is key,” Nienaber said.

Both Nkosi and Jantjies were likely to feature in the squad for the Georgia Test at Loftus Versfeld, but the heavy frame of powerhouse Koch was only likely to be seen later because he has been in England and has not been working with the Springboks over the last three weeks.