I had great expectations for the new-look Springboks last weekend against Wales and I thought a young and energetic team under a fresh coaching staff would play with real vigour and physicality. So it was a surprise to see them play so ponderously and under pressure they seemed scared to take the initiative and impose themselves on the Welsh.
It was strange to see a guy like Ivan van Zyl, who at the Bulls is always keen to move the ball, to keep the flow going, suddenly slow the whole game down. He normally plays an up-tempo passing game, so why did he become a box-kicking player in one week?
To offer some perspective though, it was a difficult away Test and it was obviously just a money-making venture to send them all the way to Washington. It was the Springboks’ choice to have only one training session in Washington, and a captain’s run and then play. An international coach has a lot of time for planning and preparation, with Rassie Erasmus resigning from Munster in November, they had those alignment camps, but they chose not to have training camps which possibly came back to bite them in hindsight.
The conditions were the same for both sides, the Springboks really needed to play a lot more adventurously. Obviously Wales also did a lot of kicking, but whenever the Springboks fielded the ball they tended to slow things down, a whole line of forwards involved in the ruck very slowly setting up the box-kick, and it meant there was no width to the chase. That whole set-up tactic also gives time for the opposition to drop men back to deal with the kick they know is coming because there is no attacking shape, and it’s made easier for them because the chase is so narrow, the Springboks exposing themselves out wide. The big problem for the Springboks was that Wales were able to deal with their kicks and showed more adventure; they were able to put in attacking kicks on the open wing, regain possession and put more pressure on the Boks.
On the positive side, the Springbok set-pieces were good, they scrummed well and were able to get their own lineout ball well, forming the driving maul easily and quickly. Marvin Orie also had the measure of the Wales lineout at the end of the game and was able to steal some crucial balls.
The defence was not up to scratch according to Erasmus, but I didn’t think it was too bad, they had good line-speed when they were set and generally kept the attack from getting gainline and momentum. There are things that they need to put in place better, but they’ve got time now ahead of the first Test against England.
The first try conceded was because of the ball just squirting out at a ruck, while the scrumhalf try after that came after a very poor kick-chase and there was a blocker in the line who took out our props. I don’t understand why they are front-line on a chase, you don’t want to expose them to wings or fullbacks. The Springboks then did not get set in the pillar area, they were moving outwards at pillar two when Tomos Williams broke, which is a basic error.
Obviously they regrouped at halftime and the Springboks’ line-speed forced an error and Travis Ismaiel’s intercept try brought them back in the game. Having been 14-3 down, they did well to get back into it.
But then came the last try conceded by the unfortunate Robert du Preez. One had to ask where the blockers/screen were around the ruck? There was massive space left which enabled Wales to come through easily and put pressure on the replacement flyhalf. Two chargedowns in a passage of play will definitely lead to a try at this level.
While Du Preez had his problems at the end, I also didn’t feel Elton Jantjies controlled the game that well. Van Zyl also did most of the kicking and I think it was probably an instruction for them to kick from scrumhalf because that’s what worked for Rassie at Munster, but then he did have Conor Murray, the best scrumhalf in the world!
Apart from the Springbok scrum being good, they were also very flat and direct on attack from the scrum and they went hard over the gain-line. Jantjies did a lot of this too, but then that means the flyhalf is on the floor for the next two rucks and by the time he is back up on his feet he has static ball, which is why Elton used the outlet of a kick-pass so often. No flyhalf enjoys not having quick ball because that’s when the defence dictates and rushes, and a static flyhalf easily has his wide runners picked off.
The Springboks now need to get back to their best quickly for the England series, which everyone is really looking forward to. It certainly is interesting, as it always is with Eddie Jones and his words off the field. He’s under pressure and deflecting from the fact that England have lost their last four games, which is quite a run and includes their worst ever loss at Twickenham, against the Barbarians in their last outing. They are coming in with no confidence and they rarely win in South Africa – three wins in 13 Tests – so Eddie could be staring down the barrel of seven successive defeats if the Boks hit their straps.
The Springboks are also under pressure though because a world ranking of seven is certainly not where a side with the strength and rugby culture of South Africa wants to be. But it will be a completely different game to Erasmus’s first one in charge, playing at altitude at Ellis Park, which is a super-quick, big field with quick ball.
It’s a bit strange that England have gone to Durban to prepare and have not come straight to altitude. Maybe they wanted to escape winter on the Highveld, but they are definitely going to feel it at the back end of the game and they will need a strong bench to cope. At altitude you have to use 23 players.
I am looking forward to seeing Willie le Roux back at fullback, and with Handre Pollard at flyhalf it means the Springboks have left and right-footed kickers. Willie is tremendous at seeing things on the field, he has great vision in terms of spotting space, and chips and other little kicks -plus he’s lightning quick -to exploit it. He’s also very safe under the high ball.
John McFarland was the Springbok defence coach from 2012 through to the 2015 World Cup, where they conceded the least line-breaks in the tournament and an average of just one try per game. He won three SuperRugby titles (2007, 09, 10) with the Bulls and five Currie Cup crowns with the Blue Bulls as their defence coach. In all, he won 28 trophies during his 12 years at Loftus Versfeld.
He is currently the assistant coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan.