Ken Borland

It must have been a big call for coach Jacques Nienaber to bin Francois Steyn from his match-day 23, given the utility back’s tremendous experience and vital role off the bench in the World Cup triumph. But young Damian Willemse has given no reason for the Springbok management to rue that decision.

The 23-year-old has featured in the last five Tests, four of them as a replacement, while he started at fullback in the opening Rugby Championship match against Argentina. Willemse himself on Friday acknowledged how lucky he felt to be preferred over the more experienced options available to Nienaber, and he also praised Steyn for being so helpful to him.

“There are a lot of quality players who are missing out on the 23 – guys like Frans Steyn, Jesse Kriel and Morne Steyn, who all have more than 40 caps. So I feel very fortunate to make the playing squad. I’ll be happy to continue my run of playing and I’m looking forward to the next four weeks in Australia. The coaches’ trust in me is a big thing for me.

“I’ve been training with Frans and he’s always so calm and communicates well, I’m really enjoying it. He helps the youngsters a lot, Morne and Jesse too. Aphelele Fassi [wing/fullback] and I are always learning from them,” Willemse said from the Gold Coast on Friday.

Although Willemse has also been earmarked as a back-up inside centre, Damian de Allende has been so commanding in that position that the Stormers star has almost entirely featured at fullback in the Green and Gold this season. That is one of the decision-making positions for the Springboks and Willemse said although he is working hard on his game-management skills, it has not been a case of him having to temper his normally adventurous approach.

“We have a specific plan, the way Willie le Roux manages play. We want to force pressure on the opposition and turn the ball over to get our wings in the game and scoring their brilliant tries. It’s about playing smart rugby and not making as many errors, especially the decision-makers. I had a conversation with Aphelele today about how small the margins are at this level.

“The smallest mistake can cost you five or seven points, and we know Australia and New Zealand have a lot of skilful backs in their armoury. I’ve been working very hard with Mzwandile Stick [backline coach] on the high balls and my game-management at fullback. I’m enjoying the challenge,” Willemse said.

Veteran Duane Vermeulen has been on the sidelines for the last five massive Springbok Tests and as fantastic as their results have been, the eighthman said there are still many areas they can improve on.

“We can always improve. There have been small steps taken through the Georgia game, the SA A matches and the Tests against the British and Irish Lions. We slipped up on the first Test against them, but it’s been nice to see us get some continuity. We want to keep on improving and be consistent. It’s one step at a time but we’re heading in the right direction,” Vermeulen said.

So what are the areas the Springboks still need to work on?

Getting the back three more involved in attack

The Springboks’ five victories so far this year have largely been down to their tight five outmuscling and outworking the opposition. As effective as it has been, forward dominance alone has seldom triumphed in the Southern Hemisphere competition. It would be great to see Cheslin Kolbe, Makazole Mapimpi and Willie le Roux able to exploit space out wide more. They can also be brought into play from clever first-phase plays. Those three are all capable of breaking defensive systems and showing a clean pair of heels.

Increased tempo

One can forgive the Springboks for adopting a wear-them-down strategy against the British and Irish Lions because their lack of high-intensity conditioning after 18 months out of Test rugby made it essential. But they now have a good month of game-time and conditioning work under their belts so the time has come for them to put more speed on the ball. Unlike Argentina, Australia and New Zealand will be actively trying to quicken the game up, so the Springboks will need to be more mobile, with greater continuity between forwards and backs, and maybe even more offloads.

Better discipline

The old benchmark for Springbok teams was to concede fewer than 10 penalties per game. recently they have been in double figures most of the time. It’s not that their discipline has been bad, but under pressure they have tended to err a bit too easily. They can get their penalty count down and that will help with momentum and territory.

More accuracy at restarts

At times the Springboks have looked like a bunch of boisterous pups having a bone thrown to them when it comes to receiving the restarts. The absence of Vermeulen has been felt there and a bit more organisation and clinical execution will help make their exits smoother and relieve territorial pressure.

Improving their strengths even more

In the sage words of Nick Mallett: “It is not up to us to change the way we play because it’s not attractive. You play the way you play best in order to beat the opposition”. And the Springboks’ strengths are their set-pieces and kicking game. Which can still improve!

Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert have been immense at lineout time, but more options can be brought into play there.

Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Trevor Nyakane have excelled at scrum-time, but we are still waiting for Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe to really cut loose and destroy opposition scrums.

And the Springboks can improve their box-kicks and kicking into space.

Australia is enough of a nanny state to make even your most law-abiding South African granny to want to rebel and there was a graphic illustration during Tuesday’s press conference of just how strict a quarantine the Springboks are under in Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast, especially after they suffered a false positive Covid scare that forced them to miss training on Monday.

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber was interrupted by a stern voice over the tannoy saying all guests must now remain in the main building because the laundry service has now arrived. Nienaber laughed as he explained what the squad have been through since arriving in one of Queensland’s most luxurious resorts.

“We’re under a testing regime here and unfortunately the Saturday results only came back late on Sunday and there was a possible positive test so we all had to isolate on Monday and not leave our rooms. The guy was re-tested and it was a false positive because he has had Covid before. Normally we can walk around outside but there are no luxuries and we can’t use the swimming pool.

“We are in a red zone, which no-one is allowed to enter, not even the staff so we clean our own rooms. We have meals in an orange zone, we have to dish up ourselves in the two dining rooms and we eat at the same time as the Argentinians, who we are quarantining with. There is a gym on the premises though and one rugby field, so we share those too with Argentina,” Nienaber said on Tuesday.

The good news is that after quarantine, which ends on Friday, September 10, two days before their first Test against Australia, the Springboks will be able to live life normally, moving around outside, enjoying restaurants and coffee shops. They will obviously be delighted with that and Nienaber said the squad is also really looking forward to taking on the best of the Southern Hemisphere again, which they have not done since 2019.

“It’s always nice to test yourself against Australia, New Zealand and Argentina. We missed out last year, which was hard for us. Playing against these guys in Super Rugby, we are so accustomed and used to it. Without it you kind of wonder where you are currently. It’s nice to measure ourselves against Southern Hemisphere teams again.

“Not playing against them means we have not been exposed to individual players, we haven’t seen their skill sets, even though Super Rugby is different to Test rugby. The Rugby Championship is a different tournament, we know how tough a competition it is, against the best of the Southern Hemisphere, three sides in the top seven of the world rankings,” Nienaber said.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt had a little dig on Thursday at Argentina lock Marcos Kremer for his role in the injury of scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse, that led to the call-up of team-mate Grant Williams to the Springbok squad, but fortunately the franchise do have great depth at halfback as the Currie Cup enters its final stages.

Hendrikse was tackled after he had kicked the ball by the replacement lock in the second Rugby Championship Test last weekend, and landed awkwardly, fracturing his ankle. The incident was referred to the TMO, with referee Karl Dickson and the other officials agreeing that Kremer was committed to the tackle and it was not late.

Everitt was annoyed by the tackle though, but at least could take some solace in still being able to name 2021 Springbok squad member Sanele Nohamba and 2018 Springbok tourist Cameron Wright for their Currie Cup match against Western Province in Durban on Saturday.

“I was really disappointed in the way the injury happened to Jaden. I thought it was a cheap shot,” Everitt said. “But it is pleasing to see Grant get recognition after all his months and years of hard work and resilience. He has worked incredibly hard and came through the club system [College Rovers] in Durban.

“Sanele has been with the Springboks as well and has played really well for us in his last two games, while Cameron was really good against the Cheetahs when he started. We are really blessed with our depth at scrumhalf, they have all bought into rotation and the ranking order sometimes changes, which certainly motivates everyone to work hard,” Everitt said on Thursday.

The Sharks are coming off an impressive 56-14 demolition of the Lions at Ellis Park last weekend. Although it all worked out more than okay in the end, some mediocre set-piece work at the start of the match saw them struggle in the opening quarter. Former Western Province lock Gerbrandt Grobler, who debuted for the Sharks last weekend and looked good to go for the rest of the year, is the only member of the tight five who retains their starting position for Saturday.

“We’ve rotated the front row, we’ve not really had much consistency in that department and we know Western Province have a formidable front row so we will try to negate that strength. Emile van Heerden is still working through the concussion return-to-play protocols and it’s great to have Le Roux Roets back after he had played so well.

“Gerbrandt gets the opportunity for more game-time and we would like him to really hit his straps in the coming weeks. He had not played for quite a long time since returning from France, but that cover-tackle he made on Wandisile Simelane on the Highveld at 2pm will live long in the memory. He’s an experienced campaigner and clearly a competitor. He’s made a great mark with us already,” Everitt said.

Sharks team: Curwin Bosch, Yaw Penxe, Werner Kok, Murray Koster, Thaakir Abrahams, Lionel Cronje, Sanele Nohamba, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Henco Venter, James Venter, Gerbrandt Grobler, Le Roux Roets, Khutha Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Bench – Dan Jooste, Khwezi Mona, Lourens Adriaanse, Reniel Hugo, Thembelani Bholi, Cameron Wright, Marius Louw, Anthony Volmink.