The Springboks have the golden ticket for a memorable test season
The Springboks enter 2022 as still the world’s best-ranked team, but one looking to atone for what was labelled an average year by head coach Jacques Nienaber.
They proved in 2021 to be who they ultimately always were, putting up a respectable eight-win, five-loss season in trying circumstances away from home for most of the year.
The British & Irish Lions tour was not totally joyful for the Springboks, despite winning the series coming back from 1-0 down. The relief at having saved face was probably the overwhelming emotion for them.
When you are expected to win, or expect to win, the feeling of relief is often greater than the joy of winning. It goes without saying that the number one team is expected to win every time. It comes with the territory.
South Africa’s 2019 World Cup success put the Springboks on a pedestal to live up to, and losing their first meaningful action of test rugby since that tournament would have been embarrassing.
We saw behavioural changes manifest in a variety of ways under the pressure. The emotionally charged series spiralled and left the international game in a bitter state by the end of it.
After the Lions series, the Springboks slumped through the Rugby Championship and the wheels came off the cart.
They have not travelled well to Australia over the last 20 years, and this trend continued with back-to-back defeats to the Wallabies – who were ranked seventh in the world at the time – and was followed by a shared 1-1 ledger with the All Blacks.
The Springboks then almost completed an undefeated end-of-year tour, but a last-minute loss to England at Twickenham left the world champions with a 60 percent win rate for the year.
However, 2022 looks far more promising for the Springboks. The expectations have been lowered after 2021, allowing for a renewed focus, while they have been handed a schedule that is favourable.
The Springboks will finally get the chance to reunite with the South African rugby public in July, which will be a magnificent occasion with crowds returning.
At home, they are a very different beast. Afternoon test rugby in South Africa is feverish that brings the best out of the Boks and, unfortunately for Wales, they are going to be the sacrificial lamb in this instance.
They will likely fight hard, but a series sweep is on the cards. It could get very, very ugly on the scoreboard for Wayne Pivac’s men as the three-test series progresses.
A more expansive style of play with deeper structures is more common of the Springboks when they play at home, and that could be expected against the Welsh.
That should entail more ball-running to find the edges in the midfield zones with far less kicking than last year’s Lions series.
The United Rugby Championship has shown there is incredible attacking talent out wide for the Springboks to potentially call on, with Leolin Zas, Aphelele Fassi and Warrick Gelant all in top form.
If they wanted to play a more expansive running game, the younger talent is there to add to the mix with Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi. It could be as potent a backline in test rugby, if they want to use it.
In the red zone, the power game will come into fruition and Wales will be asked to deal with forward runner after forward runner coming around the corner – but only if they can stop the rolling maul.
After their injury-plagued and underwhelming Six Nations, Wales will be doing well to keep the games close.
Beyond the Welsh series, the Rugby Championship has offered the Springboks the best chance in a while to capture their first ever full title as the previous home-and-away format has been discarded.
Instead, the Springboks will play the All Blacks twice at home and the Wallabies twice away, with only a home-and-away series against Los Pumas.
This has offered up a golden opportunity to take home the title as they will get home ground advantage in both tests against New Zealand.
Many of Ian Foster’s new All Blacks have never played a test on South African soil, and if their European capitulation late last year is anything to go by, the Springboks will sweep them.
The All Blacks have never been more vulnerable, with Foster clinging to older players and old game plans, while the side lacking cohesion with the Crusaders-laden contingent.
This isn’t an All Blacks side that can be considered favourites away from home against top tier teams, particularly not against the world’s top-ranked team.
We saw what France and Ireland produced against the Kiwis when they played abroad, and the expectation now is that the Springboks will do the same.
If the Springboks lose any of those two tests at home, it would be a big missed opportunity. If they lost twice to Foster’s side, that would be incredibly fragile and nothing less than a disaster.
The biggest hurdle facing the Springboks is likely to be the Australian tour, a trip of which they have struggled for results in the past.
However, if they can win one of those games, they are looking at five wins from six matches to take the Rugby Championship, meaning this year’s title could be decided by those two games between the Wallabies and the Springboks.
The All Blacks have a slight disadvantage due to their scheduling this season, which sees them travel to South Africa for two tests, host Argentina twice and share home and away matches with Australia.
That scheduling quirk will turn around at some point when the teams rotate through the new travel format each year.
Sitting with an 8-1 record for the year, South Africa would be looking pretty heading into a tough European tour, where they play the two best Six Nations teams, Ireland and France, along with England and Italy.
This year brings forth a chance for South African rugby to truly earn their tag as World Rugby’s top-ranked team, which has been propped up for so long by their cakewalk 2019 World Cup win.
In that tournament, the Springboks required just three tier one victories: Italy in pool play, Wales in the semi-final and England on the last day.
France have put together an eight-test win streak and won nine of their last 10 tests, with the only relative freebie win over over that period coming against Italy.
Ireland, meanwhile, also won nine of their 10 tests in 2021, and have won 13 of their last 15, with their only defeats in that span coming against Les Bleus.
The Springboks are here, ranked at number one on World Rugby’s rankings, after putting together a test season that finished with a win rate of only 60 percent last year.
If there was ever a time to validate that ranking, it’s this year. Should they clinch a 3-0 series win over Wales in July, a Rugby Championship title after sweeping New Zealand, and finish with statement victories over Ireland and France, it will be well earned.
Comments on RugbyPass
In the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getitng to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
5 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
6 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
5 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
6 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
6 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
18 Go to comments