Ken Borland

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.

Increased intensity is what the Springboks will be working on ahead of the second Test against Georgia at Ellis Park on Friday, because the British and Irish Lions are the team who are the benchmark for that at the moment, forwards coach Deon Davids said on Sunday.

The Springboks returned to action with an efficient enough 40-9 victory over Georgia in Pretoria in the first Test, with a slow start probably being a question of rust and having to get back into the swing of international rugby.

“We could see the higher tempo and intensity of international rugby when the British and Irish Lions started their tour on such a high note against our Lions, they played some very good rugby and we saw they have some quality players. But we must understand that the Springboks have just come back, they haven’t played for a long time and we could see that at the beginning of our game.

“We had to get used to the level of intensity and physicality, we spoke about it at halftime and the players responded tremendously. We saw the longer the game went on, the more into our stride we got and the more physical we were. There are obviously things we will look to apply in the second game and the players themselves have said there are definitely things they can do better,” Davids said.

The forwards coach said he was pleased that Georgia had extended the Springbok pack, especially in the set-pieces.

“They certainly challenged our set-pieces. But our lineout had a 94% success rate and we scored two maul tries, while in the scrums there was only one penalty against us and four or five for us. It’s a process of building towards the Lions series and overall we are pleased,” Davids said.

Outstanding lock Franco Mostert echoed the satisfactory outlook.

“It’s going to take a while still but there are no excuses not to get to that required level. Hats off to the forwards, we really did our job, the mauling was good, but there is still stuff to work on for us to get to that level we need. The Lions are a world-class side and we’ll definitely have to step up, but we are happy with our first game and there is still one to go against Georgia,” Mostert said.

Debutant Springbok wing Aphelele Fassi has spent the last couple of weeks fielding congratulatory phone calls from King Williams Town and Dale College wishing him good luck for the start of his international career.

The Eastern Cape has been very proud of the 23-year-old ever since he started making waves at the Sharks, and many observers believe he is a unique talent, with a combination of physical attributes that is seldom seen.

And Lady Luck certainly had her eyes on the prodigious young talent as he scored with his first touch in Test rugby in the first Test against Georgia. Not that luck had too much to do with it though as Fassi showed, while galloping down the touchline, the many attributes he has – good hands to take the pass slightly behind him, a massive stride, great feet, searing pace and clinical finishing ability. Just before halftime, he set up the Springboks’ third try with his clever chip infield just to showcase a kicking game befitting a former schoolboy flyhalf star.

“When I first got the ball, I just saw space in front of me and my first instinct was to just back myself and go for the try. Mzwandile Stick [backline coach] gave me the confidence during the week to back myself and just finish off whatever opportunities I get. I’m very proud to represent my country and I’ve had people from back at school and home phoning me to wish me good luck, including the principal.

“In my first Currie Cup game, I did the same thing. And I did visualise it again on my bed in the hotel this week, but you don’t really think it’s going to happen. And then it all happened so quickly. It’s a moment I will cherish for a long time,” Fassi said after the Test.

The lanky [1.89m] athlete has usually played at fullback in senior rugby but he also made his Currie Cup debut for the Sharks on the wing back in 2018 and also scored an impressive counter-attacking try, following a mistake by the Bulls.

The Springbok family looks to have welcomed a new star, one that will hopefully follow in the footsteps of all-time leading try-scorer Bryan Habana, who also scored with his first touch in Test rugby, against England in 2004.

“It’s been fantastic being part of the Springbok environment and the senior guys have obviously given me plenty of guidance. I feel very comfortable in this set-up,” Fassi said.

And he certainly looked very comfortable out on the field as well.

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber was a bit crabby over the ill-discipline his team showed in the first half, but otherwise he pronounced himself satisfied with the way they had gone in the first Test against Georgia at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.

A string of penalties in the first quarter allowed Georgia to lead 9-5 and denied the Springboks much momentum. But once they gave themselves a foothold in the game with two tries in the last five minutes of the first half, they took a firm grip on the game in a rock-solid second half that saw South Africa ultimately win 40-9.

“The discipline was poor in the first half, but you have to credit Georgia as well because they put us under pressure until the back end of the first half. We all knew they would bring physicality but they caught us a little bit in the first 20 minutes. But that’s exactly why we were desperate to play a Test, we wanted a nice physical battle and we couldn’t have asked for better opposition for that.

“With no marker because we haven’t played for 20 months, it was difficult to know where we are at, but now we have a starting point. I don’t have worries but obviously we will work on the things that aren’t good and we probably have to improve in everything. We saw a notable change, what we wanted to see, in the second half when we imposed our game-plan on them more,” Nienaber said after his debut Test as head coach.

It was the Springbok forwards who bore the brunt of the responsibility for softening up the Georgians and captain Siya Kolisi said he was happy with the way his team responded.

“We didn’t hold back but we did not start as well as we wanted, we couldn’t get our maul and scrum going at the start, which is most important for us, we will never hide away from the set-pieces being important for us. Our discipline let us down too. But we wanted the same 2019 physicality and to be the Warriors, do the things that don’t require talent, that’s what we wanted to see today.

“We knew what Georgia are capable of and it was most important that we beat them and we responded well in the second half. But we need better discipline and we want to impose ourselves on the opposition more as individuals. We responded well but we still left a couple of opportunities out there,” Kolisi said.