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The Springboks have something you don't have
Before the final whistle sounds in Cardiff, the Springboks will have fielded 52 players across the calendar year. Jean Kleyn, who will start, and Cameron Hanekom, who will win his first Test cap off the bench, have been named in the squad for the match against Wales, underlining the coaching masterstroke pulled off by Rassie Erasmus.
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Ordinarily such heavy rotation is a sign that things aren’t going to plan. In 2022 Italy used a whopping 58 players in 11 Tests as Kieran Crowley, who’d only got the job a year earlier, desperately sought to inject some experience into a young squad before the World Cup. It didn’t always work. They got spanked in Paris (37-10), at home to England (33-0) and in Dublin (57-6) at the start of the Six Nations before a famous win in Cardiff. And though they beat Australia later in the year, a loss to Georgia showed that they were a work in progress.
The Wallabies were in a similar state of flux in 2022. Dave Rennie used 51 players as he chopped and changed a squad that lost a home series to England, finished second last in the Rugby Championship and failed to win enough games on the autumn tour to prevent their coach from getting the sack.
In 2020 Wayne Pivac used 50 Welsh players. And though he’d win the Six Nations a year later, the 12 months off experimentation in a season disrupted by the pandemic yielded just one win from six Tests.
Before Erasmus’ Springboks, one side has used a comparable number of players and achieved success. No prizes for guessing that it’s the New Zealand All Blacks. In 2022, across 13 Tests, Ian Foster fielded 51 players. Though he lost a home series to Ireland, he claimed his nation’s 19th Rugby Championship crown and went unbeaten on their northern hemisphere tour.
But the All Blacks were not the best team in the world in 2022 and Ian Foster was not universally loved back home. The Springboks are unquestionably the top outfit on the planet right now. Erasmus is an anointed saint in South Africa. The man has maintained his hero status while winning games and rotating his team. He’s achieved the rugby equivalent of juggling three chainsaws while balancing on a unicycle.
How has he pulled this off? It starts with buy-in, and on that front Erasmus is unrivalled. Every member of the group – from the 130-Test veteran Eben Etzebeth to the four players who earned their one and only cap against Portugal in July – accepts that the team and the country it represents is more important than any individual and his ego. Last week Matthieu Jalibert refused to occupy the French bench against the All Blacks, seemingly stating that unless he starts he will not play.
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It is unthinkable that a Springbok would behave in this manner. Malcolm Marx is the best hooker. He’s probably South Africa’s best hooker of all time. Despite this, Marx has started just 24 of the 60 Tests he has played since 2018. In most games he spends more time on the bench than he does on the field and yet he completely accepts his role within the group and recognises the impact his cameos have on tight games.
Erasmus is also uniquely blessed with a near-bottomless talent pool. Exact figures are hard to come by but by some estimates, there are more than 1,000 professional South African rugby players overseas and Erasmus can call on any of them.
Some countries have made life difficult for themselves with outdated and illogical selection policies that restrict their national coaches from selecting players who ply their trade abroad. While this might make sense in France, where Fabien Galthie can select from 14 top-flight teams that are themselves under pressure to avoid relegation, Steve Borthwick at England and Scott Robertson at New Zealand could really do with a loosening of the rules.
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Owen Farrell’s experience would have been invaluable to England as they attempted to get on the right side of a string of closely contested Tests. Richie Mo’Unga’s class would have eased some of the pressure from Damian McKenzie and given the All Blacks options in the creative areas of the park. But because these two world-class athletes earn a living beyond the ring-fenced and limited leagues of the Premiership and Super Rugby respectively, they are effectively personae non gratae. Erasmus must be shaking his head and wondering why his rivals have chosen to shoot themselves in the foot.
Then there’s the situation with Ireland. Andy Farrell has selected just 38 played this year and handed debuts to four (Hanekom will be the 13th South African to win his first cap this year). There’s been plenty of talk around Ireland’s ageing group, and problems at fly-half and prop have materialised. But perhaps Farrell deserves a bit of slack. Are there enough players kicking down the door and demanding a place in the team? With only four professional sides, and with most of the talent skewed towards Leinster, the famous pipeline is now clogged.
In South Africa, the Varsity Cup, the SA Cup, the Currie Cup and the national sevens side (which helped develop Cheslin Kolbe and Kwagga Smith) all serve as feeders for the four United Rugby Championship (URC) sides. Players who cut their teeth in these highly competitive competitions gain experience playing in large stadiums (though admittedly, they’re almost never full) and on live TV. When they do get the opportunity to make the step up to the URC they are battle-hardened.
All this means that Erasmus can select players in good faith, knowing that they are ready for international rugby and won’t be a liability alongside proven winners. Thomas du Toit and Wilco Louw can prop up the front row and the scrum doesn’t lose any torque. Ezebeth can start off the bench and the tight five looks just as formidable without him. Brothers Jaden and Jordan Hendrikse can combine in the half-backs and no one can argue that this is purely for sentimental reasons.
This is not a team in flux or transition. This is not a group that has to compromise on quality when it experiments. It is a team that has a deeper well than any in history, including the All Blacks of McCaw, Carter and Nonu. They’ll end the year with another comfortable win and close out the campaign on top of the world. It’s hard to see how anyone will topple them in the near future.
Go behind the scenes of both camps during the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 2021. Binge watch exclusively on RugbyPass TV now
A few comments. Firstly, I am a Bok fan and it's been a golden period for us. I hope my fellow Bok fans appreciate this time and know that it cannot last forever, so soak it all in!
The other thing to mention (and this is targeted at Welsh, English and even Aussie supporters who might be feeling somewhat dejected) is that it's easy to forget that just before Rassie Erasmus took over in 2018, the Boks were ranked 7th in the world and I had given up hope we'd ever be world beaters again.
Sport is a fickle thing and Rassie and his team have managed to get right whatever little things it takes to make a mediocre team great. I initially worried his methods might be short-lived (how many times can you raise a person's commitment by talking about his family and his love of his country as a motivator), but he seems to have found a way. After winning in 2019 on what was a very simple game plan, he has taken things up ever year - amazing work which has to be applauded! (Dankie Rassie! Ons wardeer wat jy vir die ondersteuners en die land doen!) (Google translate if you don't understand Afrikaans! 😁)
I don't think people outside South Africa fully comprehend the enormity of the impact seeing black and white, English, Afrikaans and Xhosa and all the other hues playing together does for the country's sense of unity. It's pure joy and happiness.
This autumn tour has been a bit frustrating in that the Boks have won, but never all that convincingly. On the one hand, I'd like to have seen more decisive victories, BUT what Rassie has done is expose a huge number of players to test rugby, whilst also diversifying the way the Boks play (Tony Brown's influence).
This change of both style and personnel has resulted in a lack of cohesion at times and we've lost some of the control, whereas had we been playing our more traditional style, that wouldn't happen. This is partially attributable to the fact that you cannot play Tony Brown's expansive game whilst also having 3 players available at every contact point to clear the defence off the ball. I have enjoyed seeing the Boks play a more exciting, less attritional game, which is a boring, albeit effective spectacle. So, I am happy to be patient, because the end justifies the means (and I trust Rassie!). Hopefully all these players we are blooding will give us incredible options for substitutions come next year's Rugby Championship and of course, the big prize in 2027.
Last point! The game of rugby has never been as exciting as it is now. Any of Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Argentina, Scotland, England & Australia can beat one another. South Africa may be ranked #1, but I wouldn't bet my house in them beating France or New Zealand, and we saw Argentina beating both South Africa and New Zealand this year! That's wonderful for the game and makes the victories we do get all the sweeter. Each win is 100% earned. Long may it last!
Sorry for the long post! 🏉🌍
Really well summed up in a nutshell 👏 Nothing lasts forever.
Rassie has done very well with the Boks. The well will certainly not dry up soon. The amount of young talent coming through, that don't even stand a chance of making it in before 2027, is just absolutely amazing.
However, Rassie has proven to be a rugby genius. He will never rest on his laurels. It's why he keeps evolving tactics, keeping everyone on their toes. He doesn't underestimate any team. He is very aware of just how close the top teams is.
There will be no complacency not will he relax with his main stars. He is very astute, knowing that his team is getting older and thus giving the younger players much more playtime than what any other coach would do.
By the time the 2027 WC comes around, he will be prepared to defend his title and he knows one bad day will end a triple WC crown. Competition is that close. The Boks are in transition, even though it doesn't look like it.
After the 2027 WC, most of the double (possible triple) WC champs players will become unavailable due to retirement from international rugby. Rassie is already preparing the replacements, getting caps under their belts.
The top teams is just too close to underestimate and no Bok will be allowed to get complacent. Although they are by far the current most successful team and clearly the best by miles, they are not undefeatable.
Very tough to beat yes, but they can lose on the day. I am not worried. The youngsters by 2027 WC will be experienced with lots of years ahead and that should be a warning to the rest of the pack biting at their heels. Love them or hate them, but you have to admire the Boks. They truely deserve to be top dogs currently.
Jalibert should be banned from playing for the French ever again, his rank and self-serving arrogance is so typical of the attitude in French rugby and in their culture as well. I am a Saffa and have lived in France for many years and, generally speaking, it's every man for himself, the team comes 2nd or even 3rd sometimes. The Boks show humility and team spirit and play for their country, never themselves......
Where was this team spirit and humility when it came to family? Rassie and Kolisi? Rugby is but a part of your life, family is till you die.
Individualism can be heroic. Sometimes you beat the door in with a steel-tipped sequoia, only to find a grinning Eddie Jones in your way.
Individualism can be heroic. Sometime you beat the damn door down only to find a grinning Eddie Jones or some such twat in your way.
Africa is not for sissies...
Well done to most sides this year - the standard of rugby is higher across the board (generally) and steel sharpens steel
I really enjoy the better parity amongst the top sides and most test matches have been proper in the summer and autumn
I was at Twickenham last weekend and my heart was in my throat for a bit. Well done boys and I look for good things from Hanekom tomorrow
Cheers
Wow. DG must be starting his New Year’s resolutions early this year. Another nice article about the boks. 🎉
Lots of truth about the Boks, but they also have much to be humble about. And in their case complacency is the common prelude to the fall.
NZ, Australia, England, Ireland, and France are all timing their campaigns for RWC 2027, and Argentina, Scotland and Wales will be much improved. Rassie will keep building and evolving things, but he knows that it does not take much to derail any team on any given day.
It will be fun to watch.
They have much to be humble about - but not as much as most.