Ken Borland

When the going gets tough, this Springbok team says they don’t make excuses, they find solutions. And that attitude was much in evidence in the third Test against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town at the weekend when, despite not producing anything close to their best rugby, they simply refused to lose, doing what had to be done to secure a nailbiting 19-16 win and clinch the series.

With Rassie Erasmus still facing a misconduct charge from WorldRugby over his video analysis of officiating mistakes in the first Test loss, the churlish will say the director of rugby makes the Springboks’ excuses for them, but only the most biased would not have at least some grudging respect for the sheer determination and heroism this Springbok team has shown.

And speaking of heroes, the feats of wing Cheslin Kolbe and replacement flyhalf Morne Steyn were pulled straight from the pages of superhero comic books.

Kolbe scored the crucial try to overturn a 10-6 deficit, once again unveiling his superpower ability to simply vanish from the grasp of tacklers thanks to those incredibly feet of his.

And then Steyn, who had won the 2009 series with his long-range penalty, came on after 64 minutes, a 37-year-old playing his first Test since 2016. It was certainly a gamble, replacing the Springboks’ general, Handre Pollard, who has enjoyed an outstanding series but things were not going that well with his boot.

Incredibly, history repeated itself 12 years later as Steyn kicked two penalties, including the match-winning one in the 78^th minute, leaving one to wonder who exactly writes his scripts?!

“I had my head between my legs when Morne kicked, I just listened, I did not see it,” Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber admitted. “I’m really happy for him, it’s a fairytale.

“In the last five weeks, everybody had challenges, a lot of us got Covid and we lost a whole week of training. But the positive thing about this team is that they have no time for excuses, we knew we had to move on and make another plan. Those were the cards we were dealt with, they said ‘unfortunately that’s where we are, we have to move on and find a solution’,” Nienaber added.

For captain Siya Kolisi, the overriding emption was great pride in the team he has led magnificently.

“I honestly can’t explain in words what it means to us as a group to win the series. Coming from isolation, we all agreed that we would never make excuses, that’s not what South Africans are made of. When you step out on to the field, you agree that you are ready to play. That’s what I love about this team, we don’t make excuses, we find solutions,” Kolisi said.

Lock Eben Etzebeth and Steyn were the star players put up by the Springboks for media duties after the gripping match, and it turned out a friendly chat between the two at the start of the day had almost been prophetic.

“We expected it to be a close contest and we always knew that the Lions would come with a massive effort. I had breakfast with Morne and I said that it might come down to him winning the series again with a kick. He said he hoped we were a bit further ahead if he came on.

“It doesn’t matter how we won, just to get the victory is massive for us. We were able to get over the final hurdle. Apart from Morne, the rest of us knew we only have one chance to win a Lions series and we knew it was our last 80 minutes to do it. What happened is absolutely unbelievable and all credit to him,” Etzebeth, a talismanic figure in the Springbok pack all series, said.

“Just to be part of this series 12 years later was amazing and then to get on the field and then to have that kick. It was in a similar position to 2009, just a bit closer for these old legs, 54 metres then and this one was about 35 metres. For a kicker, these special occasions are why you put in all the hard work. You always dream of making a kick to win a series or a championship. All glory to God for giving me the chance to do it again.

“But credit to the whole team for building up to that moment on the field, their work softened them up. It was not our best performance but it doesn’t matter how you win. And thanks to Eben for that pep talk at breakfast!” Steyn said.

The Springboks have two things they can lean on for confidence as they go into the third and decisive Test against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town on Saturday: the momentum from a top-class performance in the second half of the second Test and the knowledge that the last time they were put into a high-pressured ‘final’ situation, they came through with flying colours.

Captain Siya Kolisi acknowledged on Friday that a performance as good as last weekend, when they won the second half 21-0, does not deserve to be wasted and become a mere footnote in history, all but forgotten should the Springboks lose the third Test and the series.

And it was just four Tests ago, albeit in November 2019, that South Africa shocked England in the World Cup final in Japan, thumping them 32-12 after leading 12-6 at the break.

“There’s definitely a similar feeling but this opportunity to win the Lions series won’t come again for a lot of us. We get one shot on Saturday, that’s the mentality and the message to the team. It’s definitely a final for us, that’s the talk. We have worked so hard to get in this position. You play to get somewhere and after last weekend now we are here.

“This is the one that counts though, what happened before does not count. We have been seeing how we can get even better this week. Last week does give us confidence but we want to remember this last game more than anything else. It’s always a huge honour to play in a series like this and hopefully it’s going to be a good, proper game. It’s going to be special,” Kolisi said.

Apart from the absences of flank Pieter-Steph du Toit and scrumhalf Faf de Klerk through injury, the Springboks are happy as Larry approaching the decider. Their issues with the officiating seem to have been resolved by the fine job done by Ben O’Keeffe and his assistants in the second Test, and Kolisi said they have the luxury of sticking with the same game-plan because they know it works.

Indefatigable lock Franco Mostert will move to blindside flank to replace Du Toit, as he did last weekend, while the experienced and in-form Cobus Reinach starts in the number nine jersey in place of De Klerk.

“There’s not much we can do about injuries, but Franco really stood up last weekend, his work-rate is second-to-none. He knows his role, he did it last week, so nothing changes for me and Jasper Wiese,” Kolisi said on the loose trio.

“Cobus has been with us for years, he was at the World Cup and he has experience of playing against these guys in the Northern Hemisphere, so he has had a big impact in the squad. Our backline is really balanced, we have the experienced guys and then the speed of Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe. We’re not going to read too much into their side and all the changes they’ve made, we know they will still be excellent and physical,” backline coach Mzwandile Stick said.

The Lions almost seem to be suffering from a surfeit of personnel and playing options. Coach Warren Gatland has made six more changes to his team for the decider and their failure to truly commit to one game-plan has many neutral observers wary of their chances of winning the series.

Even the team for Saturday’s third Test could fall between the two stools of playing a physical, kicking game or a more expansive, fast-paced style to stretch the incredible Springboks defences.

Teams

Springboks: 15–Willie le Roux, 14–Cheslin Kolbe, 13–Lukhanyo Am, 12–Damian de Allende, 11–Makazole Mapimpi, 10–Handré Pollard, 9–Cobus Reinach, 8–Jasper Wiese, 7–Franco Mostert, 6–Siya Kolisi, 5–Lood de Jager, 4–Eben Etzebeth, 3–Frans Malherbe, 2–Bongi Mbonambi, 1–Steven Kitshoff. Replacements – 16–Malcolm Marx, 17–Trevor Nyakane, 18–Vincent Koch, 19–Marco van Staden, 20–Kwagga Smith, 21–Herschel Jantjies, 22–Morné Steyn, 23–Damian Willemse.

British & Irish Lions: 15-Liam Williams, 14-Josh Adams, 13-Robbie Henshaw, 12-Bundee Aki, 11-Duhan van der Merwe, 10-Dan Biggar, 9-Ali Price, 8-Jack Conan, 7-Tom Curry, 6-Courtney Lawes, 5-Alun-Wyn Jones, 4-Maro Itoje, 3-Tadhg Furlong, 2-Ken Owens, 1-Wyn Jones. Replacements – 16-Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17-Mako Vunipola, 18-Kyle Sinckler, 19-Adam Beard, 20-Sam Simmonds, 21-Conor Murray, 22-Finn Russell, 23-Elliot Daly.

Cheslin Kolbe’s sidestep has become one of South Africa’s most beloved sporting memes but the ace winger has praised the Springboks’ kicking game and their defence for allowing him to pull off his trademark move once again in setting up Lukhanyo Am’s dazzling try in the SA A team’s win over the British and Irish Lions in midweek.

Kolbe fielded a kick just inside his own half and five metres in from touch 32 minutes into the first half, jogged a bit and then exploded, wonderful footwork taking him through a small gap, and his super offload to Am then leading to a try. But the build-up to the try had seen the Springboks constantly driving the Lions back into their 22 with kicks, a tremendous defence then getting up quickly to force the tourists into kicking the ball back.

“A lot of teams try to use the kicking game to launch attacks and it’s about showing the patience for the perfect time to counter-attack. We did well to capitalise on our opportunities. For us, kicking is always about going forward, we want to make sure our backs are always going forward. You need to sum up what the defence are doing and try to bring some x-factor.

“We managed to do that quite a lot, but credit must also go to the forwards. They defend, defend all the time and that gets you energy and excitement and then you can’t wait to attack again. We expected the Lions to use long kicks on to the back three, but their kicks were mostly quite short. Fortunately Jasper Wiese was able to get up and take most of those,” Kolbe said.

While the try gave the Springboks a 17-3 lead, it took the mother of all defensive efforts for them to hold on to that lead until halftime, especially with scrumhalf Faf de Klerk and flank marco van Staden yellow-carded in quick succession. That superb defensive effort continued in the second half as the SA A side won 17-13.

“I was super-proud of the character everyone showed without a lot of preparation. We just had to hang in there, man up and try and stay in the fight. The defence delivered, especially when they defended a number of phases on our line. That showed our fight and we got energy from that,” Kolbe said.

Despite a highly-encouraging first-half display by the SA A team before they understandably depleted their energy reserves, Springbok director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said he remains concerned about how he is going to manage his squad ahead of the first Test against the British and Irish Lions on July 24.

The SA A team raced into a 17-3 lead in the first half against the Lions at Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday night, but the second half saw them desperately clinging on in defence, eventually securing a 17-13 win. Getting the match fitness up and dealing with the numerous Covid cases within the squad will continue to require a delicate juggling act by Erasmus and head coach Jacques Nienaber, who is now out of quarantine and will retake the onfield reins.

“The guys put their hands up and showed their guts, and we do have a lot of players to come back into the mix. But there are guys I’m worried about – Malherbe, Mbonambi, De Jager, Snyman, Kolisi, Vermeulen, Pollard, Mapimpi and Frans Steyn – it’s about how we reintegrate those Covid cases because they are coming back in dribs and drabs as they get released from quarantine.

“So I’m 70-80% happy with the squad, but the other 20-30% are going to need really good management. We have two options to play on Saturday: the Bulls have gone into quarantine for us as back-up, but if there are cases in the Stormers camp then it would be safest for us to play the Lions again. If we don’t play them again, it definitely won’t be because they are afraid, it will because of their plans for the tour. It won’t be because we’re more physical than them,” Erasmus chirped.

As heartening as the SA A team’s display was, since it was basically a shadow Test team if all the players Erasmus mentioned don’t make it back for the first Test, the World Cup winning coach knows that courage and determination will only win the silverware if they are reflected on the scoreboard.

“We don’t want to run away with our emotions. We knew we would run out of steam and that made the match tighter in the end, but we played with a lot of heart. I’m proud of that, but we won’t win the series on that alone. There are a lot of technical and tactical things we need to get right,” Erasmus said.