It’s bombs away for the Boks!
And not only concerning South Africa’s infamous “bomb squad” and the scrummaging blitz that nailed Ireland’s coffin shut at the death last Saturday at “Fortress Loftus”.
If it is more innovation in attack Springbok fans are looking for, then new attack coach Tony Brown, of Highlanders and All Blacks fame, has arrived to deliver.
A well-spaced offensive led to a brilliant Bok try by flyer Kurt-Lee Arendse after barely three minutes in Pretoria.
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The precision and poise exhibited in that early scoring move were such that former Bok winger Stefan Terblanche was convinced South Africa would prevail by a bigger margin than just 27-20.
“That was a great try; the Boks set up a fantastic phase, moved the ball wide efficiently and Arendse finished in style,” says Terblanche, who celebrated his international debut against Ireland in 1998 with a record-equalling four tries.
“Often, however, such a sensational start can prove detrimental; one can fall into the trap of expecting the rest of the game to be a breeze, and, let’s face it, Ireland showed why they are the Six Nations champions and second on the World Rugby rankings.”
In the end, it came down only to the two blunders by James Lowe in the final quarter, a quick throw-in and carry-over that led to Cheslin Kolbe’s opportunistic try and a penalty try respectively. Ultimately, that proved costly for Andy Farrell’s charges.
Regarding Brown’s influence on the attacking mindset of the Boks, Terblanche acknowledges that there were signs of more streamlined South African sorties.
“We have started creating more space out wide.
“The New Zealand mentality differs from ours; the Kiwis are forever keen to move the ball wide. Whether, in the long run, that approach would suit our forwards, only time will tell.
“One thing’s for sure, though, if the Boks can manage to bring speedsters like Arendse and Kolbe into the game more often, they’re certain to cause havoc with opposition defences.”
The Bok scrum again caused havoc in the dying minutes at Loftus Versfeld to extort the penalty try.
Apart from mercilessly shunting the Irish pack across their goal line on that occasion, the South African front eight was not nearly as ruthless as expected at scrum time.
Former Bok, Ulster and Munster strongman Brendon Botha reckons Ireland succeeded in disrupting the South African scrum.
“I wouldn’t say that the Irish necessarily tried to fight fire with fire, but there were early engagements, there was some niggling, when the scrums weren’t properly controlled initially,” Botha says.
“I don’t think the Boks expected that; they would have wanted to use the scrum more as a weapon.
“Once the game started flowing and the referee put his marker down, they started getting better returns from the scrums, including that massive one at the end.
“I was particularly impressed with Vincent Koch, Malcolm Marx and new boy Gerhard Steenekamp, as a front row, when they came off the bench. RG Snyman, too, was a standout performer in the second half and made a huge difference.
“The bomb squad once again did the business.”
The Bok-Irish roadshow has now rolled into Durban, my beloved hometown on the warm eastern seaboard of South Africa.
I was at Kings Park 43 years ago when South Africa and Ireland clashed for the first and only other time in Durban.
In the official brochure for the 1981 test, Ireland’s manager, the late Paddy Madigan, wrote:
“Today we encounter the Springbok side once again having lost narrowly at Newlands [in the first Test]. We believe we were good enough last Saturday to have, with a little more Irish luck, succeeded in our aim of winning the match. Today, therefore, we shall try a little harder and perhaps gain a little more success ...”
Farrell, in his 50th test in charge of Ireland, would share the same sentiment following the loss in Pretoria.
Still basking in the glory of their impressive 3-1 series defeat of Bill Beaumont’s British & Irish Lions the previous year, South Africa were tipped to secure the 1981 rubber against Ireland in Durban with something to spare.
The Irish, however, had clearly not read the script.
Led by that legendary scavenger of the all-conquering 1974 Lions, Fergus Slattery, Ireland were all over the Boks like the proverbial rash, preventing South Africa’s supreme strikers Danie Gerber, Gerrie Germishuys and Gysie Pienaar from getting out of the blocks.
Instead, Ireland scored the only try of the match through fullback Kevin O’Brien, to lead 7-6 at the half. My friend and former colleague Wynand Claassen captained the Boks from number eight and in the second half rallied his forwards sufficiently to provide just enough ball for Naas Botha to bang over three potshots and salvage a heart-stopping 12-10 win.
To be sure, the teams stack far more evenly this time around compared with 1981. After all, we have No1 and 2 on the World Rugby rankings facing off this time around.
Having retained an unchanged 23-man squad for Saturday, South Africa will be fielding the most experienced starting line-up, with a combined total of 990 test caps, in the history of Springbok rugby.
Rassie Erasmus and Co are taking this seriously.
The duel of Durban is shaping up as one for the ages.
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