There were periods during a pulsating first Test match between the world’s No 1 and No 2 ranked rugby teams when the words of former Ireland player now turned pundit Bernard Jackman were threatening to become eerily prophetic.
As a guest on a podcast I was part of, Jackman was as pessimistic as most of the Irish media were ahead of their meeting with the world champion Springboks. He was expecting his team to lose, but he saw one faint glimmer of hope or possibility — with new assistant coaches there was a possibility the hosts might be caught between different games.
The arrival of former All Black flyhalf and Japan assistant coach Tony Brown in particular suggests that head coach Rassie Erasmus is correctly intending to add a new dynamic to the Bok game. And in the first half, particularly in the build-up and completion of the Kurt-Lee Arendse try, we saw glimpses of what may be to come.
The Boks were far more possession orientated and willing to spread the ball wide, and it is hard to remember when last a Bok outside centre was intentionally involved in attacking play as much as Jesse Kriel was.
However, while the Boks are on the right track and should persist with what they are doing with the long term in mind, Jackman’s view that the Boks might be a bit caught out if they started out the serious part of this international season playing a bit away from what they are used to came to fruition. They were too loose and when they were puffing at the end it looked like they may have come perilously close to running themselves off their own feet.
Brown spoke during the week of Handré Pollard as if he was his pet project. And make no mistake, the flyhalf has fallen into the habit in recent years of taking the ball much deeper than he did when he terrorised the All Blacks in one of his early Bok games in Johannesburg in 2014.
Pollard did not have a great game in general play and looked a little undercooked. And as it turned out it was also a day where he showed that he was human by missing several kicks at goal. It was a big call by Erasmus to replace Pollard with the 22-year-old Stormers star Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at a crucial stage late in the game.
But it paid off through Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s long restart that led directly to the attacking scrum from which the Bok pack clinched the match with a penalty try. There are many who say that Feinberg-Mngomezulu is SA’s future in the position, and although he is still a bit raw, he probably is.
He has Manie Libbok’s X-factor and he is also far more reliable than Libbok as a place-kicker. Stormers coach John Dobson faces a dilemma when both Libbok and Feinberg-Mngomezulu are available at the same time during the next United Rugby Championship season.
It will be interesting to see whether Erasmus feels he has a dilemma himself as he prepares for the return game in Durban. It’s unlikely he will dispense with Pollard for Feinberg-Mngomezulu, as the latter has only played two cameos for the Boks and a clutch of games for the Stormers. But he could recall Libbok, who may be more suited right now to what the Boks are trying to do.
The smart money though will be on Pollard continuing and the Boks tightening up their game. That doesn’t mean they need to play conservative rugby, just be a bit more pragmatic. The new players should be bled in slowly, not in a rush.
Whatever happens, the second Test has been perfectly set up as there isn’t much to choose between the sides and both will feel they have improvements that can be made for Kings Park.
It won’t be the only game that will be eagerly awaited this weekend either. The first games of the other series being played concurrently were all closely fought and there are two things that should be asked — why are these series only being played over two games and is the Test Championship that starts in 2026 and which renders these series as the last of their kind really necessary?
The theory is it will add interest by making all games matter more, but the games at the weekend weren’t for log points and there wasn’t any lack of passion and commitment from players and engagement from fans.
There should be more bilateral series, not less, and rugby shouldn't follow the route of cricket, where there is some kind of World Cup every other year.
“Four more years guys, four more years,” were the words that the Wallaby captain George Gregan chided his All Black opponents with in the closing minutes of the 2003 semifinal. They had meaning and it is what makes a World Cup special. The Olympics would lose its allure if staged every second year and ditto the RWC if every season featured games geared towards winning some form of global trophy.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.