Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2021 i SA RUGBY

SPRINGBOKS 19 BRITISH & IRISH LIONS 16 Cape Town Stadium, 7 August 2021 DAVID ROGERS/GETTY IMAGES There were scenes of jubilation for the Springboks and despair for the Lions after the dramatic third and final Test. In a match where momentum swung one way and then the other, the Springboks won a late scrum penalty to secure a famous victory, sending the world champions and their legion of supporters into wild celebrations. SPRINGBOKS 19 BRITISH & IRISH LIONS 16 Cape Town Stadium, 7 August 2021 JOHAN ORTON/COLORSPORT UK Undoubtedly the highlight of the third Test came almost midway through the second half when Cheslin Kolbe produced a trademark moment of magic to score the Springboks’ solitary try in spectacular fashion. After stepping past Liam Williams, he fended off the attempted…

In the lead-up to the all-important second Test between the Springboks and British & Irish Lions, Siya Kolisi faced what was self-admittedly his most challenging week as a captain. For a player who has had to deal with the responsibility of becoming South Africa’s first black Test captain, and leading the team during several high-intensity Test weeks on the way to World Cup glory in 2019, such an admission was telling. Yet, it also wasn’t all that surprising in the context of what Kolisi had to contend with during, and after, the first Test, which sparked an off-field controversy that reverberated through the rugby establishment. After the Boks’ opening defeat, South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus took to social media, and then fronted up at a media conference, to…

The British & Irish Lions tour has come and gone, and it’s time for the Springbok coach to cast his gaze ahead to the 2023 World Cup and beyond. Over the coming months, Jacques Nienaber will need to start experimenting with different combinations and addressing the problem areas with the long-term aim of building an experienced squad to peak at the next global tournament. To be fair to Nienaber and company, they have long spoken about squad development as a priority and are only in the present predicament due to the impact of the global pandemic. In 2020, the Covid-19 situation in South Africa prevented the Boks from hosting matches or travelling abroad. The upshot is that Nienaber and his staff did not have the opportunity to spend four to…

When Jacques Nienaber was announced as Springbok coach, he told an anecdote that went a long way towards explaining the key dynamic to why his partnership with Rassie Erasmus works. Asked if he and Erasmus had ever sat in the coaches’ box together – instead of him taking orders from the touchline – Nienaber remembered one time, where his current director of rugby started barking instructions to him through one of those call centre headsets when he was sitting right next to him. Erasmus’ move from head coach to full-time director of rugby was literally meant to be a move upstairs, where he and Nienaber would call the shots from the coaches’ box. But the two seem to have discovered that their 30-year association works better when there’s a general…

Shortly after the Springboks won the 2019 World Cup, SA Rugby magazine caught up with Jacques Nienaber and asked the new coach to talk about the team’s plans for the future. He outlined the buildup to the Tests against the British & Irish Lions in 2021, as well as the lead-up to the 2023 World Cup. He also highlighted the importance of performing in the Rugby Championship each season and winning regularly against the Australasians in particular. ‘The Rugby Championship is not as big as the World Cup, but it’s a bloody hard tournament to win/ said Nienaber. ‘England got a taste of that challenge when they had to play Australia, New Zealand and then South Africa on consecutive weekends during the 2019 World Cup playoffs. ‘While we’re building towards…

Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie combined to form one of the greatest centre partnerships of the professional era. The pair started in tandem for South Africa on a record 29 occasions between 2005 and 2013. The two versatile players complemented each other well on attack and defence. With regard to the latter discipline, they had very few rivals. De Villiers was at 12 and Fourie at 13 when the Boks beat the British & Irish Lions 2-1 and subsequently romped to an emphatic Tri-Nations triumph. The Boks finished that 2009 Test season at the top of the world rankings.…

After missing out on any international action in 2020, the Springboks begin the defence of their Rugby Championship title with back-to-back clashes against Argentina. After those two Tests in Gqeberha, the Boks will then head to Australasia for four consecutive weekends of action in September and October, first tackling the Wallabies before reigniting a 100-year rivalry with the All Blacks. With all this to look forward to, we pick six players who are worth keeping a close eye on. RG SNYMAN South Africa There is a hunger burning within RG Snyman. The Springbok lock has had to endure more than most over the past year and a half. Freak injury upon freak injury has kept him away from the game he loves and deprived him of the chance to face…

THE POLAR BEAR Vincent Koch is a softly spoken individual. Affable and understated, he is one of the most popular members of the Springbok squad. His personality, however, has led to some underestimating his potency as a player. Before the second Test against the British & Irish Lions, Schalk Burger described Koch as a ‘polar bear’ who needed to be poked to get a reaction. As it turned out, Bok coach Jacques Nienaber clearly knew which buttons to press before that Test because when Koch eventually came on from the bench, he savagely mauled his opposite man! WELL-PAID WATERBOYS Rassie Erasmus may have caught the headlines for his role as the Springboks’ waterboy, but not many realise that Duane Vermeulen performed the same role for the Bulls in the Currie…

The Boks have been fortunate that Pollard has been fit and available for the biggest matches staged over the past three years. There was a time in 2016 and 2017 when he was sidelined by injuries and illness, and it was during that period that South Africa failed to field another flyhalf with the same skill set and composure. Elton Jantjies has never replicated his Super Rugby form on the Test stage. He will be 33 by the time the next global tournament is staged in 2023. At 37, Morne Steyn Is another flyhalf for the short term rather than for the future. Nienaber needs to back one of the younger flyhalves sooner rather than later. Perhaps the Sharks’ Curwin Bosch deserves a chance to show whether he has what…

‘Our message to the players was let’s use this as a positive, look at it as whatever’s thrown at us we can deal with it because nothing’s going to faze us. We were in a situation where we weren’t in control of things and lust had to go with the flow and adjust’ – Lions coach Warren Gatland after having to field a 7-1 split on the bench due to Covid complications in the buildup to the first game against the Sharks. ‘Last night, he’s a waterboy and running on to the pitch, but the thing is if you’re the waterboy running on to the pitch, you’ve got to make sure you are carrying the water. So I didn’t quite understand what his role was. My advice is next time,…

South Africa’s performances in a dramatic series victory against the British & Irish Lions offers a glimpse of what to expect in the Rugby Championship when the Springboks charge into the All Blacks for the first time since the 2019 Rugby World Cup. South Africa were crowned world champions despite opening the tournament with a 23-13 loss against New Zealand – the All Blacks went on to reach the semi-finals before being emphatically expelled by England, who were similarly trampled in the final. After hoisting the Webb Ellis Cup, the world champions scalped the Lions, adding to a growing list of achievements under Rassie Erasmus. The current crop will be driven by a deep desire to match the legends of 2009 by adding a Rugby Championship trophy to the cabinet.…

There were also a number of players who were unfortunate to miss out on the 47-man Springbok squad entirely. Of course, Duane Vermeulen missed the series due to injury but will certainly form part of the plans when he recovers. Bulls flank Marcell Coetzee (right) was high among those unlucky to miss out. Many expected the 30-year-old to be included, but he was left out to get more game time after only recently recovering from injury when the squad was named. His chances of involvement in the Lions series were further dented when he tested positive for Covid-19, but he still has plenty to offer in the rest of the year. Similarly, Harlequins duo Andre Esterhuizen and Wilco Louw could count themselves unlucky, after helping their club claim the Premiership…

A few years ago Steve Hansen ill-advisedly waded into the divisive topic of transforming the Springbok side. Having no doubt gleaned some insights on the subject from his great mate Heyneke Meyer, the Springboks’ former coach, Hansen was of the view that South Africa was the ‘only team in sport that doesn’t pick its best team’ when interviewed for the book The Jersey: The Secrets Behind the World’s Most Successful Team. ‘I understand what they are trying to do,’ Sir Steve warmed to his task. ‘Nelson Mandela understood it better than anyone else. He knew the Springboks were a team that could unite the nation. ‘I still believe it is... if they got things right and allowed it to develop naturally. Rugby wasn’t a black man’s sport, but it was…

THE WELLINGTON MIRACLE – 2018 Who will ever forget the Springboks’ famous win over the All Blacks at Westpac Stadium? The All Blacks had only lost twice to the Springboks in that decade and were on a six-match winning streak against their opponents. This included 41-13, 57-15 and 57-0 humiliations in successive matches between 2016 and 2017. The Springboks were going into the game on the back of two disappointing losses to Argentina and the Wallabies. However, in one of the most remarkable performances, they defied all expectations and scored five tries to beat NewZealand 36-34 after falling 12-0 behind early in the match. This included a brace for wing Aphiwe Dyantyi and Cheslin Kolbe’s first Test try in a game where he officially introduced himself as a Test-level player.…

Morme Steyn produced a fairytale ending to the 2021 Lions series through his match- and series-winning penalty in the third and final Test. The first thought that went through many Springbok fans’ minds when they saw Steyn selected on the bench for the deciding Test in the series was, ‘Could he do it again?’ in reference to his heroics when the Lions last visited South Africa in 2009. Back then, coming off the bench as a relative Test rookie, Steyn nailed a 52m penalty after the full-time hooter in the second Test to give the Springboks an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Fast forward 12 years and Steyn, now a comparative veteran of 67 Tests, proved to be the Lions’ nemesis once again as he came off the bench…

DYLAN JACK SAYS THE 100TH TEST BETWEEN THE SPRINGBOKS AND THE ALL BLACKS Ask any Springbok fan which game they normally look forward to the most on the annual calendar and it will inevitably be the clash against the All Blacks. However, this year’s match in Dunedin will have something extra special about it, as it will mark the 100th game between the two nations. It will also be the first battle between the two rivals since they faced off in their opening match of the 2019 World Cup. Famously, the Springboks lost that match but bounced back to go unbeaten through the rest of their campaign and win the Webb Ellis Cup. Of course, it adds to the spectacle that it’s been two years since New Zealand and South…

The Springboks spotted the British & Irish Lions a one-match lead and then reeled in the tourists to clinch a historic 2-1 series victory in dramatic fashion. There were few constants in a pendulum narrative that started with the Lions’ tactical superiority and ended with the slow poison of South Africa’s patient defence, so these ratings are based on the overall value of the contribution made by each player in beating rugby’s greatest touring team. FRONT ROW 8 Ox Ncha 7 While Nche’s series only lasted seven scrums and 43 minutes before he was forced out by a neck injury, the athletic loosehead troubled the Lions scrum in just his third Test. Steven Kitshoff 8 A member of the dud Bomb Squad in the first Test, Kitshoff shrugged off a…

Lukhanyo Am fired the first significant shot in the three-match battle between the Springboks and the British & Irish Lions. In the third minute of the first Test at Cape Town Stadium, the Bok outside centre anticipated the shape and flow of the Lions attack. With the primary threat identified and targeted, Am bolted forward and hammered his opposite number to the turf. While the Lions bounced back to win the game, Elliot Daly did not. The following week, coach Warren Gatland selected Chris Harris at No 13 with the hope that the Scot would have better luck against South Africa’s outstanding midfield pairing. Damian de Allende and Am took the fight to their counterparts at the gainline, with the former firing as hard and relentlessly as a blindside flank.…

Baks’ star man: Make no mistake, Lukhanyo Am (right) walks into any World XV. He was devastating against the Lions, an Exocet missile in green and gold. Hard as nails: Eben Etzebeth was shaded in the first Test by Maro Itoje, but he roared back. Better still, his brand of violence ensured the Lions could never maintain a firm grip for long. Most underrated Bok: Damian de Allende. Fearless. Hard. Ferocious. Awful to play against. Most niggly: Officially, the Lions professed ignorance to Rassie Erasmus’ wiles, but his waterboy persona and video nasties offered a masterclass in deflection. How that burned. Best super-sub: Lood de Jager’s cameo in the second Test was equal parts destructive and divine. Blessed with a tractor engine and supreme athleticism, he exemplified South Africa’s heart.…

Former Springbok assistant coach Matt Proudfoot on how Rassie Erasmus tackled the subject of transformation: ‘Rassie’s been very honest about it. It was Allister who first educated me on the transparency needed when dealing with it. He said every player deserves an opportunity when he’s ready, and Rassie has done the same thing. ‘A lot of white coaches need to be honest and not see transformation as something to work around. They need to be honest and do what’s in their hearts because that’s what players respect, there’s no need to hide behind a piece of paper. He’s been honest by judging the players on whether they’re good enough or not. ‘That’s what Rassie is doing with the franchises, he wants them to reward the players for working and training…