There will be no fairytale ending for the Springboks in 2023. They either retain the World Cup in France later this year, which won’t constitute a surprise given the Boks’ obvious status as one of the best teams in the world, or they lose it.

Scaling the mountain in sport, and life in general, is hard. Staying there is harder. The Boks know this. Anything other than winning the Webb Ellis trophy again is a step down from four years ago. That’s the obvious and painful reality.

In the unusual, Covid-ridden four-year cycle between World Cups, the Boks ended three of the four years (2019, 2020, 2021) ranked No 1 in the world. They’re currently fourth but the difference between the top teams is minuscule.

They will arrive in France as a favourite, despite a tough Pool including Scotland and the current No 1 ranked team, Ireland.

Even though the path to the final almost certainly includes a quarterfinal against either hosts France or the All Blacks, the Boks will still be expected to advance.  

They have the foundation to retain the title with a squad that is far more experienced than it was in Japan. The likes of Rugby World Cup 2019 survivors Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi, Damian Willemse, Malcolm Marx, Kwagga Smith, Cheslin Kolbe, Vincent Koch and Herschel Jantjies are now seasoned veterans.

Siya Kolisi of the Sharks during the Springboks’ press conference at Southern Sun The Cullinan on 28 February, 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images)

Others such as flyhalf Handre Pollard, props Frans Malberhe, Trevor Nyakane and Steven Kitshoff, hooker Bongi Mbonambi, locks Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert and centres Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel have all moved beyond 50 Test caps in the interim.

Captain Siya Kolisi, who earned his 50th Test cap in the 2019 final, has added another 24 caps, lock Eben Etzebeth went beyond 100 Test caps last year and Duane Vermeulen, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Willie Le Roux are vastly experienced. And they’re all still available.

Between Japan and France, coach Jacques Nienaber has also blooded new players such as prop Ox Nche, scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse, wings Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie, loose forwards Marco van Staden, Jasper Wiese and Evan Roos, locks Marvin Orie and Salman Moerat (who is currently overcoming a serious knee injury) and flyhalf Manie Libbok. And even at 36 years old, utility forward Deon Fourie has been a revelation in a belated start to his Test career.

The squad is settled and there are almost no weaknesses, with two quality players at least, covering every position. There are no guarantees of course, but there really aren’t any excuses either. The most important components — the players — are in place. Now it comes down to planning, execution and a little luck.

Visit Daily Maverick’s home page for more news, analysis and investigations

Different approach

What worked in 2019 won’t necessarily be as successful again, although the tenets of strong defence, an accurate kicking game and a powerful set piece never change.

But Kolisi admitted this week that the Boks are evolving because the game is faster than it was four years ago.

Another key aspect is that body height in tackles is now an essential battleground. High tackles, even inadvertently, are resulting in harsher punishment. An early red card in a key game could end a World Cup campaign.

“We’re growing and the nice thing about it is that the coaches have set the standard and said there’s no way you can do what you did in 2019 and win now,” Kolisi said at a Bok training camp in Cape Town this week.

“The game has changed, the rules are changing the whole time, and the game is getting faster. So, we’re working hard on our fitness.

“Fitness-wise … we’ve always been good at that … the game is getting faster, but the coaches they’re preparing us right now.

“As you can see with the Six Nations, everything is being made much faster. So, we’re preparing for that and, step by step, we’ll get there.”

Assistant coach Mzwandile Stick confirmed that the coaches had been driving the players hard at the camp and are setting high standards for individuals in such a crucial year.

“The goal is to make sure that they’re in better shape and better space, also when it comes to rugby,” Stick said.

Boks assistant coach Mzwandile Stick during the squad’s press conference at Southern Sun The Cullinan on 28 February, 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images)

“When they’re going back to their franchises they’re going into the playoffs. So, our main focus point will be on the fundamentals.

“Next week we’re going to move to Stellenbosch, and we know Stellenbosch at this time [of the year], it’s going to be close to 40 degrees.”

In terms of the technical aspects of the tackle situation, Kolisi says they are specifically targeting that area of the game.

“We’re one of the teams that conceded the least number of penalties. And we want to take it down even more,” the captain said.

“Rugby is being played at a much lower level. I mean in terms of body height. And that’s what we’re working on. We’re big men but you don’t get a lot of us making tackles higher than they should be because we’ve worked so hard on our fundamentals to make sure that, whatever the rule is, we’re already doing that.”

The Boks are using specific training techniques to help them with tackle height, but it’s a physical as well as mental shift.

“To lower the tackle height, from a physical point of view you must be able to have the mobility to get down there. So obviously mobility in your ankles and your knees and hips to get to that point is important,” Bok coach Jacques Nienaber said.

“But you obviously need to generate force as well, which is probably easier when you’re a little bit upright so we have to work on these law changes.” 

In 2023, the Boks are going to have to go lower and faster, to reach higher. DM