The raged-up Springboks find their intensity again and enter the box seat
We’ve seen this Springboks side before.
You know the one, the raged-up, aggrieved Boks, playing the victims to fuel a response.
The same approach was taken in the second British & Irish Lions test, with the backs against the wall and the drama surrounding the surfacing of the Erasmus video after the first test.
A similar scoreline was also achieved then, a 27-9 victory, to the 24-8 in Sydney.
There have been other occasions, like the second test last season against the All Blacks after a three-game losing streak where they were absolutely desperate to get a result.
The beast awakens from mediocrity to deliver a flurried frenzy. It is on the edge but exactly the intensity needed for test rugby, just minus the antics after the whistle in this case.
It makes for great entertainment but undeniably is an ugly look when the aggression goes past the play, like Makazole Mapimpi’s response to Marika Koroibete or Etzebeth’s alpha moment.
Was the Springbok winger actually worked up about what happened last week? About getting popped in a tackle? Perhaps aggrieved by the victim narrative that the Wallaby wing and officials were to blame for spilling the ball an inch from the line, despite jumping into contact?
The try Mapimpi scored in Sydney to seal the game was fantastic, this time going low and staying grounded, but grabbing the throat of the Fijian afterward was too much.
Koroibete plays hard, that’s it. He puts his body on the line, with no malice, this week and last. He’s a man from a humble background and culture.
There were no issues with this tackle. Why are you grabbing his throat after scoring and standing over the top of him?
Instead of celebrating with your teammates and enjoying the moment, it sparked an anger-fuelled fracas.
If there was ever a moment to celebrate and saviour, that was it, the try that made certain a nine-year drought in Australia would be broken and saved the Springboks Rugby Championship campaign. It was far from a moment of elation or enjoyment.
It happens of course, emotions run high in sport, but then Mapimpi couldn’t believe he was getting carded afterward, highlighting what must be a victim mentality.
The reaction from their fans is always aggrieved, always offended, everyone is out to get them, conspiracies everywhere, finger pointing and ref blaming. Maybe the team has to also believe in the nonsense to find it in themselves to show up, who knows.
The shame is that the rage-Boks play at a level above what you usually see, the enigma with them is why they can’t deliver that intensity each week.
It can’t just be the standard that they play at, it’s the result of outrage after being whipped into a frenzy after buying into some lizard brain-level conspiracies, faux injustice or just plain embarrasment from dented egos it seems.
They were angry at Nic White after last week and went after him, demeanour out of the window. The fired up Aussie No 9 tried to give it back equally but it only led to self-destruction.
The verbal targetting put him off his game, with the Wallabies halfback getting lost in the chirp and failing to exit consistently or bring stability to the attack. His kicks were unable to give the Wallabies breathing room as the Springboks rolled over the top of them.
The Wallabies self-imploded with the ball by trying way too much at the wrong end of the park. Problems just compounded into errors and penalties.
Captain Siya Kolisi had his best game of the year, dominating the breakdown to consistently spoil Wallaby ball with three turnovers. The Wallabies couldn’t handle the intensity of the breakdown.
Possession is said to be nine-tenths of the law, but in rugby, interpretation should be nine-tenths of the law. If the referee lets it go, it’s good. That is the game and it’s easier that way.
Different referees will see things differently and officiate accordingly, no need to get angry about it. They are not perfect, they are humans, but their word is law. Remember that.
If Ben O’Keeffe doesn’t want to police players going off their feet to clean out, it’s good. The Springboks obliged, doing what was necessary to move bodies out of the way and keep the train moving. It was what they needed to do last week, take matters for their ball into their own hands, and they rectified it this week.
Damian de Allende crashed over to open the scoring after the Wallabies took a pounding and the home side could not get back into the contest after that.
The Wallabies held firm at times, and repelled the Boks, but couldn’t muster anything meaningful with the ball to even look like threatening.
In their defence, they lost key players during the game which severely hurt their chances of executing their attacking game plan effectively.
The Springboks defence was outstanding, getting up off the line in a flash and not giving the Wallabies anything, limiting them to just one break.
It was a comprehensive victory by South Africa who rescued their Rugby Championship campaign in the process, with two tests remaining against Argentina, one at home and one away.
Los Pumas have only won twice at home in 15 tests against the Springboks, and three times in 32 fixtures overall. The Springboks should be favourites for both.
They are now in the box seat to deliver a proper Rugby Championship title, their first full one, as the up-and-down All Blacks have to travel to Melbourne to face the Wallabies.
Perhaps this year’s title rests on the Melbourne fixture, if the Wallabies win, it’s still an open race with the Springboks in the lead.
If the All Blacks win it, you can almost guarantee them the title the next week at Eden Park.
The Wallabies chances in Auckland increase if they win the first one. The trip will seem far less daunting with just one game to make history and win back the Bledisloe Cup.
But if they have already lost it for another year, it could be ugly.
No team has swept their opponent yet this year in what has been the best The Rugby Championship in its history with the revised format.
With each team on two wins and two losses, any of the four teams can still win it at this stage which is refreshing, but it feel like the team that does manage to sweep a rival will get the title, otherwise it will be decided on bonus points.
Comments on RugbyPass
Who's Jarrad Hohepa?
1 Go to commentsSo let me get this straight. Say you have the dominant scrum. You are 99% sure you can go for a scrum pushover try on the line to win the game. The opposition knows it too. They give away a silly tap kick instead. You are now not allowed to scrum. This is ridiculous! *%@ing the game up as usual! The fact that the attacking teams are not allowed to scrum from a held up over the line is just as ridiculous. Really world rugby? Careful people might start a rebel league called True Rugby or Real Rugby.
72 Go to comments12 subs during a game? How has that been allowed to happen NB? I hate when the game goes in this monopolistic direction closing up shop, it just becomes non sport. Btw have you seen anything of how Liam Coltman was tracking for Lyon? He has just signed to return to Otago though we have a couple of young hookers developing here. He was a popular gentle natured character down here and I’m glad to see him back but maybe he will be a mentor primarily?
4 Go to commentsGreat breakdown and the global politics always confuses me a little. The southern hemisphere seems to be left out a bit but I wouldn’t even know where to start with fixing it. Club challenge could be a step in the right direction
4 Go to commentsSince he coached Free state, from that time onwards, I maintained he was the coach for the Boks. A nice, no nonsense guy with an excellent brain, who gets results.
11 Go to commentswell - they only played against 14 men and had the TMO team on their side - and still should have lost… so actually that makes sense.
32 Go to commentsSouthern hemisphere Rugby is exactly that, boring. Northern Hemisphere Rugby is soooo much more entertaining and better with better players.
2 Go to commentsIf he was to be cited for a dangerous behavior, then it’s natural that he should be. Then NTamack too, yes? And I’ll add a good whataboutism - Yeandle eye-gouging on Richie Arnold: not cited. Eye-gouging. Not high tackle. Eye-gouging. It was on French TV, with French TV directors.
5 Go to commentsReally poorly written rambling piece ..
4 Go to commentsIt was so boring
2 Go to commentspersonally I’d go with : 1. France 2. NZ 3. England 4. Ireland 5. Scotland
32 Go to commentsAndy everything becomes easier with experience therefor counting etc straight after a match becomes easier when you have 100+ caps vs 17 which is the experience you speak from.
160 Go to commentsGetting rid of the Dupont Law is a good thing and ought to have been done months ago! Officially getting rid of the croc roll is a good thing. The law about no scrums from a short arm is well intended in terms of speeding the game up but it’s an overreaction to a clever yet calculated gamble that could have blow up in South Africa’s face if they conceded a penalty from the scrum that was set after Willemse took claimed the mark in the World Cup QF.
72 Go to commentsRassie The GOAT
11 Go to commentsOf their 5 big matches in RWC Scotland and NZ were the easiest. They took a 12-3 lead against NZ and after the red decided it was best to hold the lead and take chances that came. None came and it was tight but they dug a lot deeper in the other two knock out matches. They had trounced NZ in Twickenham in a fixture that NZ must now regret. Psychology was clearly with SA in the final as a result.
32 Go to commentsMy favourite line/exchanges from Chasing the Sun 2. News headline: “SA. The last hurdle in ABs World Cup glory”. Something like that. “You’re all just a hurdle. A hop, skip and a jump”. Coming from Rassie and Jacque. Basically - nobody thinks you’re going to win. You’re just a pushover team. Nobody respects you. When the camera shows the players faces, you can see the effect. You can see the rev meters (die moer metertjies) firing up. Mitchell said he felt it prior to the 19 final. He said to Eddie watching the teams warming up that it was going to be a tough day at the office. Wave a red flag in front of South African, and you can expect a reaction. This is not unique - many teams rev themselves. And Bok teams in particular. With horrific consequences (discipline, poor thinking under pressure) because that’s the drawback to using emotion right? But what this Bok team does better than many since 2007 is channel the emotion and stay on task. Despite the emotion. Why, because while Rassie might play mind games - he talks about creating a safe environment. Listen to his recent honorary doctorate acceptance speech. While he uses psychology he creates psychological safety. He’s a damn fine coach. Can’t wait for Pretoria. It’s going to be a hummer.
11 Go to commentsWhat Rassie does for SA is big. It has helped people to unite and see we can win with the right people in place.
11 Go to commentsTerrible conditions for young players to express themselves just enjoy it guys. As a saffa great to see Ausie youth looking good. Wow SA have some great talent also.
2 Go to commentsYes, another example of French tv directors ensuring that incidents like this are swiftly glossed over for the benefit of their teams…
5 Go to commentsThe prospect of the club match ups across hemispheres is surely appetising for everyone. The reality however, may prove to be slightly different. There are currently two significant driving forces that have delivered to same teams consistently to the latter champions cup stages for years now. The first of those is the yawning gap in finances, albeit delivered by different routes. In France it’s wealthy private owners operating with a higher salary cap by some distance compared to England. In Ireland it’s led by a combination of state tax relief support, private Leinster academy funding and IRFU control - the provincial budgets are not equal! This picture is not going to change anytime soon. The second factor is the EPCR competition rules. You don’t need a PhD. in advanced statistical analysis from oxbridge to see the massive advantage bestowed upon the home team through every ko round of the tournament. The SA teams will gain the opportunity for home ko ties in due course but that could actually polarise the issue even further, just look at their difficulties playing these ties in Europe and then reverse them for the opposition travelling to SA. Other than that, the picture here is unlikely to change either, with heavyweight vested interests controlling the agenda. So what does all this point to for the club world championship? Well the financial differential between the nh and sh teams is pretty clear. And the travel issues and sporting challenge for away teams are significantly exacerbated beyond those already seen in the EPCR tournaments. So while the prospect of those match ups may whet our rugby appetites, I’m very much still to be convinced the reality will live up to expectations…
4 Go to comments