Ken Borland

Director of Rugby Gary Gold said on Thursday that the Sharks will honour the agreement they entered into with the South African Rugby Union (Saru) over the resting of Springboks, despite naming Marcell Coetzee, Pat Lambie and Cobus Reinach in the starting line-up for the sixth week in a row for their crunch match against the Chiefs in Durban on Saturday.

Saru confirmed this week that the agreement with the franchises that key Springboks would not play for more than five consecutive weeks and that they would have rest weeks during the tournament was “the ideal” and was not legally binding.

With the Sharks having endured a difficult start to the season, Saturday’s match against the powerful Chiefs is a key one as they look to close the five-point gap between them and the Stormers in the South African Conference, and Gold said the selection should be seen in the light of this.

“Our view is that we’re 100% behind the Boks in resting players, I think it’s the right thing to do and we’ve agreed to a plan. But we have a different challenge on our hands that other Unions don’t have. We have the most number of Springboks and our first bye is only in Week 11. So when other teams get that bye, they have the break within the five weeks.

“Where it becomes problematic is not being able to meet that five-week period this week. We haven’t been given the benefit of a bye which three of the five South African franchises have already. But as of last week, we’re the only team to have rested Springboks.

“It’s a challenge, but it’s something we’re committed to. It’s the right thing to do, I think the Springboks do need to get some rest time, and I want to make it very clear that we’re committed to that agreement. No-one wants the Springboks to win this Rugby World Cup more than me after going through the disaster of 2011,” Gold, who was the assistant coach when South Africa were eliminated at the quarterfinal stage of the last World Cup, said.

The selection of the current national players means there is just one change to the Sharks team that won so convincingly last weekend in Bloemfontein, with Marco Wentzel, capped as a Springbok in 2002, named as the replacement for the injured lock Pieter-Steph du Toit.

The in-form Du Toit’s knee injury is not as serious as first feared, with the 22-year-old now being ruled out for three months.

After such a good performance as the one in Bloemfontein, Gold said it would be silly to now make changes.

“The guys took a lot of confidence out of a tough game, the Cheetahs are not a roll-over. We played in tough conditions and we’re able to keep continuity going for the same guys in the same positions. From next week we’re going to have to look at jiggling things,” Gold said.

“It’s up to us to adapt to what is being blown on the field at the breakdown,” Springboks forwards coach Johan van Graan admitted in Pretoria on Tuesday as the South Africans prepare for their quadrangular series finale against Samoa at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The Springboks are coming off a thoroughly unconvincing 30-17 victory over Scotland, in which they scored 10 points in the last five minutes and coach Heyneke Meyer conceded after the Test in Nelspruit that the breakdown was the biggest area of concern for him.

The Springboks failed to get quick ball, partly because Scotland were all over the breakdown, doing their best to disrupt possession by whatever means, fair or foul. The Springboks knew Scotland were going to attack the breakdown, but they did little to stop them, naively relying on the referee to sort out the mess. As Van Graan agreed on Tuesday, quick ball is not some divine right in the game of rugby, you have to work for it and the opposition are obviously going to try and stop you from obtaining it.

“We expected beforehand that every breakdown would be a massive contest, but my feeling is that we also wanted to focus on our discipline in the first 20 minutes and we expected the tacklers to have to roll away quickly, so we didn’t compete as much.

“But there are no excuses, you have to adapt and sort it out on the field; it’s about fixing our own problems,” Van Graan said.

The first problem the Springbok coaching staff has identified is that they need to be more aggressive when carrying the ball.

“My opinion is that it always starts with the ball-carriers. If they don’t get momentum then it’s very difficult for the cleaners to get in. And if those first and second arrivers don’t do their job, then the breakdown is lost,” Van Graan explained.

The expected return of Willem Alberts should provide a boost to that area of the game at Loftus Versfeld, with the bone-crunching loose forward back in training after a side strain.

“Willem was brilliant for the Springboks in 2012. Siya Kolisi and Pierre Spies both had nearly a dozen ball-carries for us against Scotland, but Willem is world-class. He’s the guy you want on the advantage line and that’s where the big battle will be on Saturday,” Van Graan said.

The Springboks fully expect Samoa to follow Scotland’s lead and attack the breakdown, with another inexperienced referee in charge on Saturday in Irishman John Lacey.

“Samoa have a simple plan, but they execute it well. They have big ball-carrying forwards who are good in broken play and at the breakdown. They’re going to put a lot of pressure on the wide rucks, so it won’t be a lot different to Scotland, it’s going to be a battle for the ball,” Van Graan said.

While Alberts’ return would add 20 caps’ worth of experience to the loose trio, there could be a considerable loss of experience at centre with captain Jean de Villiers rated only a 50/50 chance of playing after popping a rib against Scotland. If De Villiers can’t play then JJ Engelbrecht with just three caps, and Jan Serfontein, with only two brief appearances off the bench, will likely combine in midfield.

However, wing Bryan Habana does not believe that this would also create a leadership vacuum.

“Since 2012, the side has had a very young nucleus, with just myself, Jean, Ruan Pienaar, Pierre Spies and Frans Steyn having played more than 50 Tests. So it will be very disappointing if Jean can’t make it, he’s been an unbelievable captain and I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. But as a senior player, my job is to make that important step up, that’s what we’re there for, our leadership responsibilities increase and we need to bring that leadership to the fore,” Habana said.

“But it’s also very exciting the way guys like Acker Strauss, Bismarck du Plessis and Pierre Spies, who has led the Blue Bulls very well for the past five months, have stepped forward as leaders. We showed that we still have that calmness and belief we can win in the team, even though we were 6-17 down against Scotland, and that’s a great thing,” Habana added.

While facing the combative Samoans in a final at Loftus Versfeld should ensure the Springboks bring the right attitude into the game, Van Graan said there would also need to be a greater focus on their tactical approach, against opponents who thrive on unstructured, loose rugby.

“In the first 30 minutes against Scotland we maybe played too much rugby. Samoa these days are tactically very good and it might become a tactical battle at Loftus, a typical final. It will be about the territory battle, we need to make sure we dominate that because the referees tend to favour the side with territory. And then we need to hang on to the ball,” Van Graan said.

Against unpredictable opposition and possibly unfathomable refereeing, it is probably wise for the Springboks to rely on their tried and tested approach, but even then it will not be easy to get on top of the Samoans.

“Every game has its own personality and every week we get something different from the referee. And there are a few big challenges in the Samoan pack too – Census Johnston is a world-class prop, Jack Lam is well known for his work in the Hurricanes loose trio and their lock, Kane Thompson, has also played SuperRugby.

“Their backs have good running lines, they’ve already had some big scrums in this series and they can stop our maul,” Van Graan warned.

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You could not have hoped for a much better workout at the start of the season than the Springboks enjoyed in their 44-10 victory over Italy at Kings Park in Durban.

Some top-class attacking play led to five tries and even the defence was subjected to a stern examination in the second and third quarters, with the Italians only managing to score one try despite enjoying the vast majority of possession.

While a handful of debutants made exciting starts to their international careers, it was a veteran in the form of Bryan Habana who stole the limelight with a magnificent performance.

He scored a great individual try in the 67^th minute as the Springboks, unusually for them, threw turnover ball wide more in hope than expectation, but Habana turned on the afterburners and raced through half the Italian side as the hosts finally shifted the momentum after half an hour of defending.

While Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer rightfully pointed to a slackening in the intensity of the defence, credit must also be given to Italy for finally putting a premium on possession and hanging on to the ball for long periods.

They enjoyed an astonishing 97% of possession in the first nine minutes of the second half but, even with Bjorn Basson in the sin-bin for a high tackle, they could only cross the tryline once, through centre Alberto Sgarbi from close range.

But the Springboks had attacking firepower aplenty in their backline, with debutant scrumhalf Jano Vermaak providing crisp service, JJ Engelbrecht impressing with his pace and direct running at outside centre and new fullback Willie le Roux showing some lovely touches.

But as Meyer said afterwards, it was the pace – displayed especially by wings Habana and Basson – that had most pleased him.

“I was very happy with the guys and thought they played well. Willie le Roux showed a lot of pace, and so did JJ and Bjorn Basson. It’s great to have extra pace out wide, and I think Bryan Habana fed off that,” Meyer said.

As the Rugby Championship looms, it is encouraging to see the Springboks fielding a back three that can match the All Blacks, who are always the benchmark when it comes to counter-attacking rugby.

Habana was particularly potent as a counter-attacking force off several stupid kicks by the Italians, and it was his sheer pace after fielding an errant kick that set up Engelbrecht for his 23^rd-minute try.

It also helps when your flyhalf has as prodigious a boot as Morné Steyn, who kicked immaculately to collect 19 points through five conversions and three penalties. The massive clearing kick he unleashed in the 64^th minute also broke the shackles and led directly to the penalty that captain Jean de Villiers said had been the turning point of the second half.

Meyer wants to give game time to as many of his squad as possible in this quadrangular series, but he also has to ensure the momentum gained in Durban is not disrupted.

“I want to try a few guys so there will be a few changes for next week but I will try and keep the core of the team together,” said Meyer.

The loss of Vermaak with a torn hamstring is a blow after his encouraging start, and Piet van Zyl, one of the stars of the Cheetahs team, has been called up. Ruan Pienaar, who came off the bench in Durban, is the obvious man to start against Scotland in Nelspruit next weekend, but whether Meyer will utilise the game-breaking skills of Francois Hougaard as the replacement scrumhalf remains to be seen. The media speculation about his role in the Oscar Pistorius case must be weighing heavily on the young man’s mind.

Scotland succumbed to the huge physicality of the Samoans in losing 17-27 in the early game at King’s Park and the bad news for them is that they can expect more of the same from the Springboks.

With the added threat of clinical finishing, thanks to all that pace out wide to make use of the front-foot ball.

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