Ken Borland

For a second week in a row, the Springboks produced a messy, error-strewn performance as Australia showed top-class finishing to beat them 30-17 in their Rugby Championship Test in Brisbane on Saturday.

A clinical Wallabies side did not need to create a whole lot as they were gifted a bonus point through a slew of basics mistakes by the Springboks, who showed a dismal lack of nous and accuracy at the breakdown. A ruthless Australian backline capitalised on ample turnover ball with centre Len Ikitau and wing Marika Koroibete both scoring twice.

They were helped by a dreadfully scrappy defensive effort by the visitors, with a third of their tackles missed.

South Africa made a terrible start to the game as scrumhalf Faf de Klerk was yellow-carded for a stupid act of ill-discipline, playing his opposite number at a ruck on his 22-metre line. Ikitau burst through two soft tackles to score the opening try after the penalty was kicked to touch, but more importantly, Australia had been gifted momentum and a firm grip on the match from early in the piece.

Ikitau scored again just before De Klerk returned, hooker Folau Fainga’a’s strong charge giving them front-foot ball and a killer inside pass from fullback Tom Banks to Koroibete providing the centre with the space needed for the try.

The Springboks were already chasing the game after a torrid first quarter, trailing 3-12. They managed to keep a finger-hold on the game though as flyhalf Handre Pollard nailed all his shots at goal for a 12-15 deficit at halftime.

Forty minutes can be a long time in rugby and De Klerk began the second half by making up for his blunder in the first half, injecting immediate energy with a blindside break and then putting a lovely grubber through for centre Lukhanyo Am to score.

South Africa had snatched a 17-15 lead and there was renewed hope.

But Springbok fans have spent a lifetime waiting for their team to really dominate the Wallabies on their home turf, and it was the home side who thoroughly dominated the rest of the match.

The lead lasted just eight minutes as the Wallabies won territory thanks to a good kick by scrumhalf Nic White and then Quade Cooper slotted a penalty for offsides (18-17).

The basic skills of passing and handling seemingly deserted the Springboks after the hour mark, a series of errors culminating in replacement scrumhalf Tate McDermott sniping from a scrum, Australia then went blind and a sublime offload by tighthead prop Taniela Tupou put Koroibete away for the try.

With 12 minutes remaining, another Brisbane battering was sealed as more woeful breakdown work by the Springboks gifted a turnover, replacement flank Pete Samu burst clear and set up an easy run-in for Koroibete’s second try.

The Springboks spent the last 10 minutes battering away in Wallabies territory but had nothing to show for it as they regularly turned possession over. It is hard to remember when last South Africa were so poor at usual strengths like the breakdowns and defence.

Scorers

Australia: Tries – Len Ikitau (2), Marika Koroibete (2). Conversions – Quade Cooper (2). Penalties – Cooper (2);.

South Africa: Try – Lukhanyo Am. Penalties – Handre Pollard (4).

The fact that South Africa are currently enjoying a surfeit of top-class depth is a particular boon in these times of Covid restrictions because for a player to join the Springbok squad in Australia at a later stage for the Rugby Championship requires them to jump through a series of almost impenetrable hoops.

Which is why the Springboks will be leaving for Australia on Sunday, the day after their second Test against Argentina at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, with a squad of 42 players and 10 others on standby who are also following strict Covid protocols.

“We are all in a very specific testing regime, so it is tough to get people from outside into the squad. All the players need to pass blood tests, PCRs and antigen tests on specific days, even our standby players, if they are to be allowed to get on the plane to Australia. A player coming in to the squad once we are there has got to follow a well-prescribed testing regime in South Africa and then isolate for 14 days in Australia.

“It’s why the whole squad of 42 will travel on Sunday because it’s almost impossible to add players later on. Argentina and us will be travelling together from Port Elizabeth on Sunday in a plane to Cape Town that will be our own bubble and then we fly together to Australia. If we lose a player to injury in the first Test then his replacement would probably only be available to play on the Tuesday before the last Test against New Zealand on October 2,” Nienaber explained on Tuesday.

The Springbok coach was forced to call into service many of his back-up players in last weekend’s first Test against Argentina and they did a superb job, notching a 32-12 bonus point win. For this Saturday’s repeat fixture, the first-choice, World Cup winning, backline, save for Cobus Reinach coming in for the injured Faf de Klerk at scrumhalf, is back in tow.

The pack is more mix-and-match with regulars Trevor Nyakane, Malcolm Marx, Lood de Jager, Siya Kolisi and Franco Mostert all starting, while tighthead Thomas du Toit will play his first Test since coming on against Namibia in the 2019 World Cup, lock Marvin Orie is in the run-on XV for the first time and fellow second-rower Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg is in line for his debut off the bench.

“It’s a punishing Test schedule we have with the Lions series on three successive weekends and then six matches in eight weeks in the Rugby Championship, so we are forced to make changes to look after the players’ welfare. I said last week how good Argentina are and we are not taking them lightly at all. But our selection speaks volumes for the depth we have,” Nienaber 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.

Even though the British and Irish Lions are a ruthless, top-class outfit that inflicted plenty of pain on them in midweek, Sharks coach Sean Everitt said on Friday that his team is delighted to get a second chance against them when they meet in a hastily-arranged rematch at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

With the Bulls having to postpone their scheduled match against the tourists on Saturday due to Covid cases in their squad, and the Sharks having been in a bio-bubble in Johannesburg since last Friday, the KwaZulu-Natalians have agreed to step up again and ensure the Lions don’t miss out on valuable game-time before their Test series against the Springboks.

Having been hammered 54-7 at Ellis Park, the Sharks are hopeful of putting on a better show, with Everitt naming a vastly-changed side thanks to them having 36 players up on the Highveld due to Covid precautions.

“There’s massive excitement in the team, we’ve only been playing against South African teams so it’s great to have fresh opposition, even though they are a world-class outfit. It’s an opportunity for us to learn from our mistakes and rectify those. When we did the review, we saw the opportunities we created, but also the errors and soft moments that ruined those.

“It was surprising to see how we put the Lions through their paces, normally it’s all doom and gloom when you take a 54-7 hiding, but there were actually lots of positives. I think we have a shot at redemption but we have to tidy up and cut down on the errors when we were in good positions. They were mostly unforced errors and a hard pill to swallow when they happen on the Lions’ tryline,” Everitt said.

Captain Phepsi Buthelezi retains his place at eighthman and he and scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse were two of the few players to show some fire in the first match against the Lions; together with the experienced Lionel Cronje, who has replaced the misfiring Curwin Bosch at flyhalf, they will provide the backbone of the Sharks’ effort.

The Sharks will certainly need strength of character to bounce back from their Ellis Park mauling, but they also need to lift their intensity.

“The Lions tour has taught us a lot, it has showed us where we are in terms of conditioning and we need to get our ball-in-play time higher to at least 35 minutes, that’s what it takes to withstand the intensity of a team like the Lions. It make sense to give everyone an opportunity to have a taste of that, it will be a great learning experience of international rugby.

“You can see the intensity of the Lions, but until you’ve experienced it on the field and tried to match it, you don’t really understand it. But it will make us better players to see how an international team punishes your mistakes. But we did manage to keep the ball through numerous phases, we had two passages of close to three minutes, we must just not turn over the ball,” Everitt said.

Sharks: Anthony Volmink, Marnus Potgieter, Werner Kok, Murray Koster, Thaakir Abrahams, Lionel Cronje, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Mpilo Gumede, Dylan Richardson, Reniel Hugo, Le Roux Roets, Wiehahn Herbst, Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Bench – Dan Jooste, Mzamo Majola, Khutha Mchunu, Thembelani Bholi, Juandre Labuschagne, Cameron Wright, Boeta Chamberlain, Jeremy Ward.