Ken Borland

Jasper Wiese will now be the man the Springboks turn to to wear the No.8 jersey and try and make up for the much-mourned absence of Duane Vermeulen, while the much-criticised replacement of prop Ox Nche for the second half of the first Test against the British and Irish Lions has now officially been confirmed as being due to injury.

Nche, who held his own against highly-rated Lions tighthead Tadhg Furlong and was typically impactful in open play, will sadly miss the second Test on Saturday due to a neck injury he picked up towards the end of the first half. It has forced a rejigging of the Springboks’ front-row plans, with Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe now the starting props. Trevor Nyakane, who also did well last weekend, will now cover loosehead from the bench, with Vincent Koch brought in as the tighthead reserve.

But scrummaging was not the Springboks’ major issue in the first Test defeat. In the second half they were exposed in the aerial battle and there was little explosive gainline work either. Wiese, who has been a superb offensive ball-carrier for Leicester Tigers, will hopefully be able to bring some improvement in both problem areas.

“Jasper has been part of our plans and he could form a nice combination with Kwagga Smith coming off the bench too and able to play to his strengths. His main role will be the same as Kwagga’s last week – to get and stop momentum and he was Player 24 last weekend. He’ll have another week of preparation now to get used to how we do things.

“He did very well in the Premiership, his carries were so dominant. Tactically I was probably not sharp enough last weekend to protect Kwagga on the high balls, he was hung out to dry a bit. So we have changed things around there and we want to see from Jasper what got him into the squad. We just needed to improve on how we handled the contestable kicks in the second half,” Nienaber said at the team announcement on Monday.

Smith and Marco van Staden both coming off the bench are certainly two high-energy players and the Springboks have returned to the 6/2 split on the replacements bench they used so successfully in winning the World Cup. That makes Damian Willemse the key backline substitute, fulfilling the role of the veteran Francois Steyn in Japan in 2019.

“Damian has participated in all of the warm-up games and has had time at 12, 15 and 10, similar to what Frans Steyn gave us. He’s versatile and we’ve introduced him into the various roles. We’re comfortable that he can slot into all three of centre, fullback and flyhalf. We’re comfortable the backs can now all handle a full 80 minutes, after a couple of guys had been in isolation for 10 days before the first Test.

“We knew it was going to be tough last week, which is why we didn’t go for the 6/2 split, guys had just not been exposed enough to training, someone like Handre Pollard started cramping. Now they have all been exposed to high-intensity rugby, they are topped up and the muscle memory will still be there having dropped off after isolation,” Nienaber said.

Springbok team: Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handré Pollard (vice-captain), Faf de Klerk, Jasper Wiese, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff. Bench – Malcolm Marx, Trevor Nyakane, Vincent Koch, Lood de Jager, Marco van Staden, Kwagga Smith, Herschel Jantjies, Damian Willemse.

While the Springboks have rightly been lauded, both locally and overseas, as being a beacon of true nation-building hope in this troubled land, their game-plan has earned less respect from foreign critics.

But backline coach Mzwandile Stick made it clear on Friday, on the eve of the first Test against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town on Saturday, that they don’t care.

“We will never run away from our strengths. The All Blacks pass the ball a lot, that’s how they grew up as kids, but nobody says they must stop doing that. It’s the same with us, physicality is in our DNA, it’s in our genes. If we want to play lovely, free-flowing, running rugby then we have to earn that right. We’re very happy with the way we play.

“In 10 years time, people will only see the results and they won’t be worried about the style of rugby we played. Seventeen of our squad for the first Test were involved in the World Cup final and we have been more than three years with these guys. So we can’t be underdone,” Stick said on Friday.

While Lions coach Warren Gatland said South Africa’s ego had somehow been dented when SA A beat the tourists and some have painted the Springboks’ preparations as being chaotic due to Covid-19 cases and several injuries, Stick painted a picture of a squad that has been an island of focus, with even isolation being used to fine-tune their planning.

“We have made peace with the fact that these are very challenging times and the team that adapts best will have a better chance of winning. When you get guys like Siya Kolisi, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi and Handre Pollard back in the squad then you can feel the vibe and energy goes to a totally different level. These are guys who know what it takes.

“They know how to switch on and they have proper, proper heads on their shoulders. That’s what coaches enjoy and we are excited about the first Test. Hopefully everything goes according to our plan. We are happy as a team about the SA A game because we came out on top in the most important stat – the scoreboard; we won the game. So I’m not sure why our ego would be dented,” Stick said.

The last remaining players coming out of Covid isolation, including Siya Kolisi and Makazole Mapimpi, will undergo testing and get their results on Monday evening, but assistant coach Mzwandile Stick said on Monday he is not worried about any Springboks having suddenly become unfit while in quarantine because it’s not as if they’ve been sitting on the beach for the last six weeks.

“We’re in a good space, we’ve got almost everyone back and the last guys should be joining us today. So we are almost 100% back to the way we wanted things. Siya and Makazole still have to go see the specialist and will have their final tests and results today. But all the players have had two to three weeks of conditioning camp so we are in a good space, you don’t get unfit in one week.

“By tonight we will know who will be fit to play in the first Test and the team announced on Wednesday will be the final squad. But we won’t do anything stupid and rush players back, we hope it’s good news for them later today, but we have great players in the squad who we trust can do the job. If Siya is not fit then we have Rynhardt Elstadt who has been winning everything, Marco van Staden was very solid for SA A and there’s Jasper Wiese,” Stick said on Monday.

And because physically dominating the British and Irish Lions is going to be such an important part of the Test series, the Springboks need their big breakers up front to be in peak conditioning.

“We’re coming up against the very best of the best in the Northern Hemisphere, so we have to be at our best in all departments. Credit to the Bulls because they were well-prepared and they gave us a big challenge in the set-pieces, they really climbed into us physically. That match showed us what will happen if we don’t pitch up, and we expect the Lions to come hard at us at the wide breakdowns.

“So we have to make sure that we are prepared for it. We are grateful for the experience of Eben Etzebeth, Bongi Mbonambi and Steven Kitshoff up front, so we are not worried at all, we have got the players to do the job. That’s the honest truth, even if one or two players are not cleared, that’s the trust we have in the other players, I have no doubt they have what it takes to win the series,” Stick said.

For Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, Test rugby is like a drug that he cannot get enough of, while for backline coach Mzwandile Stick, the forthcoming series against the British and Irish Lions is the chance to chase memories for the players.

Kolisi’s gratification will finally come on Friday evening when he leads the Springboks out against Georgia in their warm-up Test at Loftus Versfeld, ending a 20-month wait since he last donned the Green and Gold and lifted the greatest prize of them all – the World Cup trophy.

“Once you’ve tasted it you don’t want to stop. It’s the best in South Africa against the best from elsewhere in the world. Just the intensity in training as well, it’s double what you experience back at your union and you just know that you cannot switch off or get a big head otherwise you will get left behind. You learn a lot about yourself in this environment,” Kolisi said on the eve of his return to the international stage.

The excitement ahead of taking on Georgia, ranked No.12 in the world, is going to at least double when the Springboks approach the main course: three Tests against the British and Irish Lions that only come along every 12 years.

Stick, a former Springbok Sevens captain who won the World Series, knows what it feels like just to play against the Lions in a tour game, having appeared for the Southern Kings against the famous tourists in Port Elizabeth in 2009.

“It’s a chance to build new memories. The Lions are a massive challenge and we are really excited. The players have one opportunity to create something special. I played against the Lions in 2009 and it was a challenge every second. I came on at blindside wing and I just wanted to get in the game so badly that I tried to stand in the defensive line at flyhalf.

“But Ronan O’Gara was so smart and he just kicked the ball over my head. I was stupid and the players mustn’t be like me. They have to play together as a team. Like against Georgia who we respect as a tough side – we will be punished if we don’t pitch up,” Stick said.

The two teams also always have a chat with the referee before a Test match and in this case Stick was reunited with an old opponent from his Sevens days in Scotland’s Mike Adamson.

Adamson will be blowing just his second Test match after officiating in the England versus Italy Six Nations match earlier this year. He has also taken the whistle in Currie Cup games before.

A flyhalf in XVs, he was a top-class Sevens exponent who was Scotland’s Sevens Player of the Season in 2006/7.