Backs to the wall as Springboks’ Rassie admits to being outsmarted by All Blacks

In the aftermath of the Springboks’ chastening 33-16 defeat against the All Blacks at Ellis Park on Saturday, coach Rassie Erasmus was typically forthright.

He admitted the All Blacks’ tactics had surprised the Boks and that his team didn’t respond as well as it should have.

Erasmus’ comments were hugely complimentary towards All Black coach Dave Rennie and his team, but there was also a subtext that all was not as it seemed.

“They had a very clever tactic, again – 100% legal – they were stripping in the tackle,” said Erasmus after the match.

“They didn’t tackle like we practised that we thought they would. They were normally either pushing down or chop tackles, and in this game, they had a lot of strips [attacking the ball]. Even the try or the non-try, which we didn’t maul, the ball was stripped right over the touchline.”

Read into that last comment what you want.

By admitting that they didn’t expect the tactic from the All Blacks, Erasmus was conceding that the coaching staff got it wrong.

The reality, though, was that the Boks turned the ball over 23 times; many of those were handling errors, caused both by the All Blacks’ tackling technique and the Boks’ sloppiness.

“A lot of them [turnovers] was because of the good work of New Zealand. The ball wasn’t slippery – we can’t use that as an excuse. We’re not an inexperienced team,” said Erasmus.

“It’s probably the pressure that they put on us, at that different loose play, breakouts, and so on. We didn’t do well there, and they did great.”

Erasmus might be quietly seething at being outfoxed by the brilliant Rennie, and the squad will feel the coach’s blowback this week – that includes analysts, assistant coaches and players.

The Boks entered the All Blacks 22m area 11 times and scored an average of 0.9 points per entry. The All Blacks made only nine visits to the Boks’ 22, scoring an average of 3.6 points per entry. It was a story of wasted chances against clinical finishing.

While some blame referee Matt Carley’s reluctance to issue yellow cards for penalty concessions, the real issue was execution: the Boks were simply not good enough with the ball in hand.

Bench issues

While all the players in the Bomb Squad were familiar names, the deployment of the reserves was unusual and ineffective.

Losing wing Kurt-Lee Arendse early on to concussion meant a backline reshuffle. Surprisingly, defence captain Jesse Kriel was moved to the wing and André Esterhuizen deployed at centre.

In retrospect, leaving Kriel in his familiar outside centre berth, bringing in Cobus Reinach to scrumhalf and putting the lightning-fast Grant Williams on the wing might have created more balance.

Erasmus did not get into the details of the choices he made, such as bringing on loosehead Gerhard Steenekamp for the brilliant Ox Nché and then hooking the former after 20 minutes.

Nché, playing his first game in a month, was understandably done after 45 minutes following a towering performance in which he eviscerated All Black tighthead Tyrel Lomax in the scrum.

Steenekamp did not have the best outing, being penalised for “walking” the scrum around at a crucial moment, which cost the Boks momentum when they were three points down.

Minutes later, Steenekamp dived off his feet at the ruck and conceded another penalty that allowed the All Blacks to escape a tricky position. Erasmus yanked the unfortunate prop off seconds later. It was ruthless coaching, borne from frustration at a game that was slipping away in a deluge of errors.

Esterhuizen was also pulled, in the 62nd minute – seemingly uninjured – in a curious sequence as the coaching staff tried to find answers.

What is clear is that the Boks are hugely missing RG Snyman and Kwagga Smith – two players that can change the game when they come off the bench.

But Erasmus and Co will have to find other solutions, because those two stalwarts will not be back this season.

It does raise some interesting selection questions for next week’s second Test in Cape Town.

Erasmus would normally have already chosen his team for the second clash, but he will have much to ponder, both in terms of player performances and the type of personnel he needs to claw the Boks back into the series.

Captain Siya Kolisi should be back, and will bring composure and leadership at critical junctures.

Does flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu have another go or do the Boks turn to the more pragmatic Handré Pollard? The second Test is essentially the same as a World Cup knockout game, and who better to play in the white heat of a must-win match?

Backs to the wall

While the result was disappointing and the careless respect for the ball unexpected and unusual, there were many positive aspects from the Boks.

The scrum was a great source of dominance, forcing four penalties and field position and really hurting the All Blacks, while the Boks dominated the physical battle.

No 8 Jasper Wiese was colossal in a losing cause, while flanker Paul de Villiers carried strongly and looked effective in the breakdown battle.

Lock Ruan Nortjé was quiet, and next Saturday might be the moment to unleash Lood de Jager, while prop Thomas du Toit will at the very least be back on the bench. Wilco Louw and Nché were outstanding.

Ethan Hooker might get a chance in place of the injured Arendse.

The Boks have to find a way to respond because another loss means they can’t win the series. They will also realise that they did a lot right in the game and that the scoreline perhaps didn’t reflect the tight nature of the contest.

Rennie admitted as much afterwards.

“There was nothing in that game. I know the score might sound convincing, but it was an absolute arm-wrestle at 19-16,” said Rennie.

“We were under the pump, and the boys barred up, and we defended and defended, and then we were clinical when we got our opportunities.”

With four Tests there was always going to be squad rotation, but the Boks are in a must-win situation now.

Wholesale changes might not be the answer. That would look like panic, and if anything, the Boks are not a team that panics in tough situations. There were enough green shoots at Ellis Park to suggest that with a little more composure and patience, they can ask some seriously tough questions of the All Blacks. DM