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'I thought it was a bizarre decision' - Rassie's biggest strategic error?
Two years is a long time in rugby, even when you factor in the disruption and layups brought by the pandemic. Yet for scrum nauses, the British & Irish Lions versus the Springboks first Test in Cape Town offered up one particularly juicy subplot that was worth the wait.
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Mako Vunipola and Kyle Sinckler, England’s starting props in the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final, were in the position to seek some restorative justice against a South African front row that humiliated them in Yokohama 21 months previously.
Although they didn’t start in Cape Town, the pair came on in the second half and were pitted against Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe, who were themselves being sprung from the bench.
It was a turning point in the match. The Lions had struggled for parity in the first half but they held the whip hand in the second, frustrating Jacques Nienaber’s men, starving the Boks of the platform that they craved.
Now former Lions and England tighthead Matt Stevens has given an insight into how Vunipola, with the help of Sinckler, turned the tables, an opportunity afforded by a ‘bizarre’ decision from the Springboks camp.
“When he got to Saracens he was just a terrible lump of lard,” Stevens told The Offload podcast. “He managed to condition that into something that still looks like a terrible lump of lard but he has an engine on him for days, he’s got ball skills like any of the backline players, that are playing in international rugby. It’s not like ‘he’s good for a prop’, he’s just good.
“He’s got a step on him. He’s got nuisance in the way he plays. He’s a super player. I don’t think there was anything wrong with his loose game.
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“At that World Cup final, we all knew that if you didn’t have parity against the Springboks, they would be able to get into their game and play that game: that abrasive game, that line speed chase, have a good kicking game or front-foot ball, take good aerial ball in the air and just slowly break people down and then come back and play off the scraps.
“That’s what they did to us in the 2007 World Cup final. It’s the same team. There’s no changes.
“In that game [2019 Rugby World Cup Final] The Beast and Malherbe completely pinned [England]. They didn’t pin Sinckler, he just got completely taken out early on. That was a big changing point. That was a big changing point as mentally Kyle was ready for that game and the guy coming off the bench [Dan Cole] was ready to come on in the second half.
“If you come into a World Cup final ten minutes into it, it’s a scary place to be and then you’re at tighthead, which is just the most pressure you can have.
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“He [Cole] got thrown into something he wasn’t ready for and got shamed.
“I was devastated for him [Sinckler]. The tighthead that came on, my old friend Dan Cole, got pinned and Mako was lifted.
“I don’t think Mako had the worst performance [in 2019]. I think he was put under pressure because the right-hand edge of the scrum tilted on its access and so he got lifted up through the left-hand shoulder and then he was pinned all game long.
“And that for your confidence, being able to run around the park and through the ball around, hit rucks, get over the ball, the running rugby that he’s so good at, he wasn’t able to do that in that game.”
Stevens explains how Mako reversed that against the Springboks in Cape Town last weekend.
“Whereas in the second half [against the Springboks in the first Test], he gets confidence straight away.
“Malherbe is heavy, he’s got his axis up, Sinckler’s doing his job against the hooker and the loosehead, and Mako is able to come back and win that scrum. That couldn’t have done anything for the Springboks’ confidence, when they’re trying to get on the front foot and get that last score.”
Stevens also couldn’t get his head around why the Springboks took off Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Trevor Nyakane, who were getting the up hand against Rory Sutherland, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Tadhg Furlong in the first half.
“I thought it was a bizarre decision. I didn’t understand it. Maybe Rassie was going ‘okay, we’ve got this’. Not Rassie, but Nienaber, but probably Rassie, saying ‘We’ve got this and maybe we need to give our big boys a full half before the second Test match.
“If that is the case, than wow, that is thinking way too far ahead, but Rassie is a way better coach than any of us.”
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
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