Ken Borland

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 and Irish Lions were successfully able to check the Springboks’ momentum in the second half as they turned a 3-12 halftime deficit into a 22-17 win in an enthralling first Test in Cape Town on Saturday.

A focused Springbok side had ticked all the boxes in the first half, putting in an impressively controlled performance considering how much talk there has been about them being underdone. In contrast, the Lions seemed to be the side who were over-excited by the magnitude of the occasion, conceding several penalties.

Springbok flyhalf Handre Pollard gave a polished display and kicked all four of his shots at goal in the first half. South Africa dominated territory and held on to the ball with composure, building phases and pressure. Their defence was also typically effective and, having taken the 12-3 lead, they had to repel a concerted onslaught from the Lions. They did so, but the Lions also missed a couple of penalties and made other errors that prevented them from closing the gap.

The momentum carried into the second half, however, and the Lions were given a great attacking platform by two soft penalties – Kwagga Smith getting up with the ball after he had been tackled and then a high tackle by Eben Etzebeth, who had been the dominant force around the rucks.

Four minutes into the second half and the Lions had the first try, hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie going over from the lineout drive.

The fire in the Springboks was not quite quelled just yet though and they roared back with Willie le Roux dotting down in the corner, but the try was disallowed because the TMO ruled he was in front of the kicker.

But two minutes later, TMO Marius Jonker awarded the try after Pieter-Steph du Toit had picked up a wayward pass, burst clear and passed out wide to Makazole Mapimpi. Du Toit then attempted to collect the wing’s deft kick infield, but seemed to over-run the ball, with scrumhalf Faf de Klerk then picking up and scoring. Jonker ruled that Du Toit’s hands had missed the ball, which bounced off his leg.

In both cases, replays suggested the under-pressure South African TMO was quite correct.

Pollard crucially missed the conversion and it was the first sign that the Boks were starting to flag, to lose their intensity.

The Lions went back to basics, adopted the tactics associated with the Springboks – the box-kick and the rolling maul – and the home side were not able to handle their own weapons being turned against them. The territory statistics turned around totally.

The pressure led to a trio of penalties kicked by Dan Biggar, in the 52^nd, 57^th and 63^rd minutes. The coup de grace was landed by replacement Owen Farrell, with a penalty two minutes from full time.

The failure of the bench to make much impact will probably be the biggest concern for the Springboks, seeing as though it was the key component of their World Cup triumph.

Scorers

South Africa – Try: Faf de Klerk. Penalties: Handre Pollard (4).

British & Irish Lions – Try: Luke Cowan-Dickie. Conversion: Dan Biggar. Penalties: Biggar (4), Owen Farrell.

Former Springbok Lionel Mapoe has swapped the aquamarine seas around Nice for the dry winter of the Highveld and will make his return to the Bulls side on Sunday for their Currie Cup match against one of his former teams, the Lions, at Loftus Versfeld.

Born in Port Elizabeth but schooled at Fichardtpark in Bloemfontein, Mapoe made his senior rugby debut for Free State before joining the Lions in 2011. He had a stint with the Bulls from 2013-2015, before returning to Ellis Park, from where he made the Springbok side for the first time. While earning 14 Test caps, Mapoe also spent three years playing for Kubota Spears in Japan.

He moved overseas permanently in 2019 to play for Stade Francais, but when Covid-19 forced the Top 14 franchise to cut their roster, Mapoe joined third-tier club Stade Nicois, who are based in the French Riveira city of Nice.

But Bulls coach Jake White has now snapped him up and is delighted to be able to add him to the other gems he has in the midfield – Cornal Hendricks, Harold Vorster, Stedman Gans and Marco Janse van Vuren.

“Lionel is very talented. As I’ve said before, I’m big on combinations and a team spending time together, and our win over SA A reaffirmed that. Harold and Lionel would have spent many hours playing and training together at the Lions and it will be nice to see that combination back together again. Cornal has played a lot of rugby on the wing, we know he can play in several positions.

“Cornal can now come into play in different places, we can use him in different ways and he’s a dangerous guy to have to defend against. Lionel and Johan Goosen are quick too so we have a team with real pace and hopefully we can move the ball around and use it. Lionel can play on the wing as well of course, but he and Harold could make a great centre combination if we lose Cornal to the Springboks,” White said on Friday.

The Bulls’ forward selection is resonant with the need to break down the Lions, which White said is always a tough task even though their neighbours are coming off a defeat to Griquas.

“The Lions are the one side we haven’t really played well against, we just haven’t been able to click against them, we never really get the ascendancy. I think it’s because a lot of them know this environment and our style of play, they tend to stay in the game for a long time and they can score quickly. They have played consistently well against us.

“Simphiwe Matanzima did very well scrumming against Vincent Koch in the SA A game and he’s incredible on his feet and with ball in hand. Jacques van Rooyen held his own at tighthead and Johan Grobbelaar played really well too. A guy like Elrigh Louw wants to play eighthman like Duane Vermeulen and I would like to see him there too, Muller Uys can also double up there,” White said.

Bulls team: David Kriel, Cornal Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Richard Kriel, Johan Goosen, Zak Burger, Elrigh Louw, Muller Uys, Marcell Coetzee (Capt), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Jacques van Rooyen, Johan Grobbelaar, Simphiwe Matanzima. Bench – Schalk Erasmus, Gerhard Steenekamp, Mornay Smith, Janko Swanepoel, Nizaam Carr, Keagan Johannes, Chris Smith, Sibongile Novuka.

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.