RUGBY
Near misses highlight Bok strengths and weaknesses a year out from World Cup
Based on their displays on the current European tour, the Springboks will have to improve if they hope to defend their world title in France next year. But it’s not all gloom.
The toughest matches of the Springboks’ 2022 schedule are a thing of the past. While the Boks have more to prove on the current tour to Europe – particularly against England at Twickenham on 26 November – the examinations against Ireland and France have been completed, and the results are in.
Have the Boks added another layer of depth to their squad? Have they taken their game forward in terms of attack? Have they shown that they can bully and carve up the best teams in the world?
The answer to all questions listed above is a resounding “yes”. Unfortunately, the same box could be checked when assessing the following:
Has substandard refereeing compromised big results in recent years? Is World Rugby culpable, given that they are responsible for the game’s laws as well as the entertainment-driven agenda handed down to officials?
Damian Willemse contests the high ball against France’s Yoram Moefana at the Orange Velodrome in Marseille on 12 November 2022. (Photo: Clement Mahoudeau / Gallo Images)
At the same time, are the Bok coaches and players guilty of an increasingly churlish attitude towards referees? And – perhaps most alarmingly – is that attitude preventing a potentially great side from developing a colder, more clinical approach to marquee fixtures, and getting the job done?
Unfortunately, the answer to each of these questions is an equally emphatic “yes”.
The Boks aren’t the first side to take aim at World Rugby over problematic laws and officiating issues that hamper the game, and they won’t be the last. However, the manner in which Rassie Erasmus and his team have conducted themselves in an attempt to make their point has done more harm than good.
Ireland, France reiterate top-dog status
The Boks’ first two fixtures of the tour to Europe – against Ireland in Dublin and France in Marseille – lived up to their billing. Objectively, these Tests served up some of the best rugby of the season. Everyone involved – from the players to the fans crammed into the stands – was aware of the significance of the results.
Maxime Lucu of France celebrates during their match against the Springboks in Marseille on 12 November 2022. (Photo: Clement Mahoudeau / Gallo Images)
Ireland added another big southern-hemisphere scalp to their tally – after winning a series in New Zealand earlier this year – and enhanced their status as World Rugby’s No 1-ranked team. Andy Farrell’s charges also claimed a psychological victory ahead of the Pool B showdown with South Africa at the World Cup next September.
Read in Daily Maverick: “World Rugby bans Bok supremo Rassie Erasmus again after ref criticisms”
France racked up their 12th successive win – their ninth of the 2022 season – and ended a 13-year drought against the Boks. Les Bleus will host the World Cup next year, and there’s a chance that they will meet South Africa in the quarterfinals. Like Ireland, Fabien Galthié’s side are well placed ahead of a rematch.
The good, bad and the ugly
Ireland and France didn’t have everything their own way against the Boks, but they were still good enough to adapt and take their opportunities. The Boks will have mixed feelings about both fixtures.
The rush defence rattled the much-vaunted Ireland attack in the early stages of the clash staged in Dublin, and the team created several try-scoring chances. The maul and scrum malfunctioned at crucial junctures, however, and the wayward goal-kicking – the Boks are currently without three frontline goal-kickers on tour – ensured that they squandered further scoring chances.
French coach Fabien Galthié’s side are well placed ahead of a rematch with the Boks. (Photo: Xavier Laine / Getty Images)
In Marseille, the Boks’ physical approach was amplified by the lightning-quick distribution from the ruck and the set piece, as well as the accuracy of the kicking game in the early stages. For once, the Bok goal-kickers were flawless, converting all six attempts from the tee.
Poor discipline and composure, however, compromised their march to victory. Pieter-Steph du Toit’s dangerous clear-out of France centre Jonathan Danty may have been unintentional, but it was reckless and deserving of a red card.
This prompted a formidable Bok backlash and arguably their best performance of the year. They may have completed a stunning win against the most dominant team in world rugby if they hadn’t conceded another yellow card for a cynical offence right at the death.
Visit Daily Maverick’s home page for more news, analysis and investigations
The latter stages of the game in Marseille played out deep in South African territory. France did everything they could to keep the Boks pinned in that area, and – as Erasmus has subsequently suggested – they may have breached the laws in a few instances.
Ultimately, the Boks failed to deal with the pressure applied by France at the rucks, and the halfback pair of Cobus Reinach and Damian Willemse struggled to kick the ball clear. While the accuracy of some of the refereeing decisions was questionable, so too was the quality of the Boks’ game management at the most important time of the contest.
Poisonous attitude filters down to players
More concerning has been the trend of players crowding the referee in an attempt to influence his decisions.
Reactions to certain calls against the Boks in Marseille bordered on childish. In some instances, after the Boks had won a penalty, senior players like Willie le Roux rushed towards referee Wayne Barnes and gesticulated in the direction of the offending French player. Like Erasmus, the Boks are starting to make what they consider to be valid points in an unacceptable and potentially self-destructive manner.
Willie le Roux rushes towards referee Wayne Barnes during the Springboks’ match against France on 12 November 2022. (Photo: Clement Mahoudeau / Gallo Images)
The Boks will be under pressure to round off their tour to Europe with at least one big scalp. They will know that for all the physical and tactical improvements they made in Dublin and Marseille they are still falling short where it counts: on the scoreboard.
Complaints about the standard of refereeing in Dublin and Marseille may have been justified. The Boks, and England for that matter, may have valid reasons to feel hard done by when the curtain comes down at Twickenham. But at the end of the day, there is likely to be a winner and a loser.
While the Boks have all the physical and tactical tools to be the best team in the world, they are yet to develop a ruthless mindset on attack as well as a measured approach to challenging situations.
Willie le Roux and Jimmy O’Brien compete for the ball during the Boks’ clash with Ireland in Dublin on 5 November 2022. (Photo: Ramsey Cardy / Sportsfile / Gallo Images)
Over the course of the season, their discipline has let them down, and their response to setbacks and disappointments demands scrutiny. They can’t expect every call to go in their favour at Twickenham next Saturday, or at the World Cup next year.
While there are plenty of positives following the two marquee clashes in Dublin and Marseille, there are several reasons for concern. Regardless of their progress, the Boks have failed in their quest to secure the big scalps, and to ascend the rankings.
They are yet to cultivate a killer instinct, and on current form, do not deserve to rank among elite teams such as Ireland and France. They will go to the next World Cup with a fair chance of defending their title, but as was the case in 2019, they will be dark horses rather than favourites. DM
Become an Insider
Good summary. It seems to me, at least, the Boks are more focused on trying not to lose rather than winning. Hence we never seem to be more than one or two points in front or behind, and that hurts us in the marginal calls (fair or otherwise). This constant whinging about the ref is making Boks the laughing stock of world rugby. We have such talent at our disposal but methinks the coaching is our bigger problem – neither creative or tactically inspiring. The AB’s go into matches to destroy the opposition and any marginal calls are nullified!
I fully agree.
We need to play ruthless rugby and never let a team back into the match.
When ahead we need to push for another score as quickly as possible, because the wrong referee call against us will come. It takes a certain person to be a referee and where I used to think that it is just a job for them and that they should be impartial I am starting to doubt it. Just too many calls go against the Springboks to be a coincidence.
In the first half of the 21/22 URC the south Africa sides were on the receiving end of summer very weird refereeing. Call it interpretation,bias or coincidence but the Christmas break saw the log with our teams off the pace.
The coaches didn’t make videos or Twitter attacks, they got on with the job. The end result is that despite not getting 50:50 calls we got 100% of the teams in the final.
If you critically watch the final 17 minutes of the FRA vRSA match in isolation, any neutral will say Wayne Barnes had a shocker. A rowdy home crowd is one thing but we didn’t take the bitter pills nicely. Willie Le Roux was constantly at the ref, and surprise surprise got a marginal at best forward pass call against him in the dying minutes.
We need to learn to deal with poor decisions better, because we’re not winning the publicity war this way.
One thing to keep in mind is that, once we have a specialist flyhalf again, most of this will change. Pollard and Jantjies are both still there and once Libbok has gained a little bit of experience he will be unstoppable. He was the one who changed the game from the bench against the Italians – from the moment he set foot on the field there was clearly for all practical purposes only one team on the field. Unfortunately their are not many tests left to give him that experience; only a shortened South Hemisphere Championship series. And it is true that our discipline is letting us down; it is time that Erasmus’s twitter account is closed involuntarily so the players can start focusing on their responsibilities in the player-referee relationship.