Boks out to find more answers against Georgia in last outing before Rugby Championship

If we’re a little unsure what to expect from another exciting combination of Springboks against Georgia in Nelspruit on Saturday, we know what we won’t see again — a deliberately short kick-off to force a scrum.

Last week coach Rassie Erasmus’ cheeky tactic in the second Test against Italy led to a scrum under laws 12.5 and 12.6, which deal with the kick-off.

But World Rugby have taken the same view that most rugby watchers did — it was intentional infringement — and the ruling body issued a statement saying it would earn a penalty if attempted again.

“The actions seen in this example (by the Boks) show an intentional violation of the kick-off and restart laws,” World Rugby said in a statement.

“Laws 12.5 and 12.6 set out the sanctions where the ball unintentionally fails to go 10m or a player overruns their teammate at the kick-off/restart. However, if match officials believe this is done deliberately, then Law 9.7 (a) should be applied.”

For clarity law 9.7 states: “a player must not intentionally infringe any law of the game”.

With that piece of “innovation” behind them, the mind does drift to thoughts of what the Boks might try next — especially in a Test against a team such as Georgia, who are well below the world champions on the rankings.

Whether or not Erasmus will produce a few more tricks in this game, just his selections for the meeting at Mbombela Stadium have enough talking points to stoke interest.

Forward power

The Boks have gone with a green front row against a team renowned for its scrumming power and physicality. Erasmus is certainly throwing debutants Neethling Fouche, Boan Venter and Marnus van der Merwe into the deep end.

Georgia, otherwise known as the Lelos, can hold their own against any nation when it comes to the scrum and general power play in tight exchanges.

Georgia lost a warm-up game against the Cheetahs last week, but the team that takes the field against the Boks will be vastly changed and differently motivated.

“They are big. They are very big,” Erasmus said from Nelspruit this week.

“I don’t think you get bigger people than Georgians. They are some of the biggest players that play in France, that’s why the French are signing so many of them.

“They will be physical. We saw against Italy, and we are saying this out of respect, not boasting. If you can put up your hand against South Africa, just because we are currently number one in the world, teams will prove themselves against us.

“The team [Georgia] you saw playing against the Cheetahs — eight guys didn’t play there, who are their top guys.

“That is why we are playing this front row. We want to give Neethling, Boan, and Marnus a sense of what Test rugby is like, and these guys are going to give it to them.

“We have proper locks and loose forwards behind them. I guess it is a bit of a balancing act, throwing in some rookies against a team that is like us and enjoys scrumming. The three guys starting will need the back five to ensure they do okay. There is no better Test to do it than in this game.

“We’ve learned our lesson by being a bit complacent in those first two Tests. We don’t want to make that mistake again.

“Nobody is underestimating what we will face on Saturday.”

It was an interesting admission by Erasmus. The Boks were complacent in the first Test against Italy at Loftus, which they won 42-24. Erasmus did not use that word in the immediate aftermath.

The energy and effort was a lot more focused in the second Test in Gqeberha, which they won 45-0, especially as the Boks went down to 14 men after 22 minutes when Jasper Wiese was red-carded for a headbutt.

This is clearly a public warning to the players from the coach that unfocused performances won’t be tolerated.

Wiese for Wiese

The Boks have picked some real gamebreakers such as Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at flyhalf, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe on the wings, and Canan Moodie at centre.

Yet, the most interesting selection appears to be that of Cobus Wiese at No 8. With brother Jasper suspended for four games, Cobus, who has played lock all season at the Bulls, has a chance to show how he can give the Boks momentum on the gain line.

He was a loose forward in his formative pro years at the Stormers — and a damn fine one at that — but injuries have perhaps robbed him of a yard of pace. That led to a move to the second row, which has been highly successful too.

But Erasmus believes Cobus still has something to offer in the back row.

“We want to see how a guy like Cobus goes at No 8, we think he has potential there,” Erasmus said. “There is a good feeling about him in that role. He is another line-out option. With him selected, it doesn’t mean that the door is closed for someone like Evan Roos.

“He has had nine caps for us, and he trains very well, but we want to ensure we have options there. Elrigh (Louw) is out injured, and Jasper (Wiese) is now suspended again.

“It is still a long season, and after four matches the door is not shut for anybody.”

No backwards steps

Georgia coach Richard Cockerill, who was a fiery hooker in his day who had some combative clashes against South Africa as part of England’s front row, has vowed that his side won’t take a backwards step against the Boks.

They are by some way the best of the so-called tier two nations in rugby, and have been knocking on the door of unofficial tier one status for some time.

A good showing against the world champions will strengthen their cause.

“We can’t be timid,” Cockerill said this week. “I’m a former international — I played against James Dalton (former Bok hooker) many times — and there were no backward steps in those confrontations.

“So, the only way for us to compete on Saturday is to roll our sleeves up, stick our gumshields in, and get in the middle of it. What else can we do?

“We’re a physical team, we’re a physical nation. We like the physical parts of the game. But the next level of physicality and mentality is South Africa — for sure — and we want to see where we sit relative to the Boks.

“There’s only one way to take on a team like South Africa, and that’s head-on. And we’ll see if we’re good enough to compete, to stay with them.

“They’ve picked a different front row this week. I know Boan very well — I signed him for Edinburgh from the Cheetahs. They’ve picked a strong pack, but the only way to go at it is full noise. I’m not going to make any outlandish promises like ‘we’re going to smash the Boks’, but we want to go out and compete.” DM

Teams

South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Cobus Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Boan Venter.
Reserves: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Damian Willemse.

Georgia: 15 Davit Niniashvili, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Demur Tapladze, 12 Giorig Kveseladze,11 Alexander Todua, 10 Luka Matkava, 9 Vasil Lobzhandidze, 8 Ilia Spanderashvili, 7 Beka Saginadze, 6 Luka Ivanishvili, 5 Vladimer Chachanidze, 4 Mikheil Babunashvili, 3 Irakli Aptsiauri, 2 Vano Karkadze, 1 Giorgi Akhaladze.
Reserves: 16 Irakli Kvatadze, 17 Giorgi Tetrashvili, 18 Beka Gigashvili, 19 Demur Epremeidze, 20 Sando Mamamtavrishvili, 21 Tornike Jalagonia, 22 Tedo Abzhandadze, 23 Tornike Kakhoidze

 Date: Saturday, 19 July
Venue: Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
Kick-off: 5:10pm

TV: Supersport
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Hollie Davidson (Scotland), Adam Leal (England)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (England)