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Wallabies great’s take on Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii moving to the wing
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This Springboks selection will knock France out of their own World Cup
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Well done Jacques Nienaber. Well done Rassie Erasmus. You nailed it. No notes. Ten out of ten. This is the side that will advance to the semi-finals.
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The Springboks match-day 23 selected for their most significant, and arguably their most difficult, match for four years is perfect. No doubt that there’ll be a few fans and pundits who’ll pick holes, highlight weaknesses or stroke their chins as they make a case for a player committed from the team. But across the board, in every position, this is the ideal team to beat France in front of a hostile Parisian crowd.
The selection that will grab most attention is the decision to start Cobus Reinach over Faf de Klerk at scrum-half. And though this has as much to do with de Klerk’s contributions off the bench in the second half, it is perhaps a sign of how South Africa will look to neutralise France while landing blows of their own.
Apart from Grant Williams, there isn’t a faster scrum-half in the game than Reinach. But unlike Williams, Reinach has enough bulk to impose himself from short range. This makes him the ideal candidate to get in the face of Antoine Dupont – the most physically imposing scrum-half around – or Maxime Lucu around the fringe.
France’s strategy relies on quick ball from the base of the ruck with the odd snipe round the corner from their ‘little corporal’. This has been a cornerstone of French rugby for generations and suffocating their leader can cause the rest of the operation to falter.
Reinach’s partnership with Manie Libbok outside him will be an enticing watch. It is the third time they’ve been paired together and serves as counterbalance to the more defensively minded centre duo of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel. With Damian Willemse expected to join the party on occasion at first receiver, this is one of the most dynamically creative backlines named over this past World Cup cycle. To do it in a fixture of this magnitude underlines the evolution of Springboks rugby.
Forgive the indulgence and hyperbole but it’s such a tantalising prospect. Reinach’s extra zip feeding Libbok’s flair and Willemse’s slippery slaloms. For those of us who grew up on stodgy play dominated by all-kicking 9s and 10s, this feels like a triumph no matter the result. And with two diminutive wingers in Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse out wide, there is every chance that the Springboks will look to run their hosts off the park.
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They might be wearing the same badge on their chest and have eight players who beat England in Yokohama four years ago, but this is a wholly different outfit to the one that last lifted the Webb Ellis. Back then it was mauls, scrums and counter-punches that saw them steamroll their way to the final after victories over Japan and Wales. If they reach the showpiece event this time, they’d have done so with a spring in the hot-stepping boots.
Not that they’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Sure, they’ve gone for a 5-3 bench split – just as they did the last time the teams met in Marseille last year – which suggests they’ll look to spread the ball throughout the contest. But there is still enough grunt up front to keep the traditionalists on board.
Duane Vermeulen will be a key figure. It’s worth lingering on that for a while given he’s a 37-year-old that has a seemingly endless production line of meaty back-rowers. And though there have been faster, more skilful and more explosive men in this all-important area of the pitch for South Africa over the years, few have been as immovable as the one they call Thor.
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It is that immovability over the ball and from the kick-off that will be decisive on Sunday. Against Ireland the Springboks were bossed at the breakdown. Siya Kolisi, Pieter Steph-du Toit and Jasper Wiese – who drops out of the 23 entirely with the more elusive Kwagga Smith named on the bench – were constantly beaten to the ball or shoved off it.
Vermeulen might not get their first every time, but once he positions his hefty frame over the ball it’s only coming out one way. Expect the burly veteran to play a starring role until he makes way for Smith.
It is the side’s ability, and intention, to dovetail that is most exciting. Smith’s energy will replace Vermuelen’s power. The dazzle and speed from Libbok and Reinach will make way for the control and nous provided by de Klerk and Handre Pollard. And with Willie le Roux also included on the bench, we might see a triple substitution in the backline with Willemse making way for the seasoned full-back. It’s not quite a Bomb Squad but it’ll be just as destructive with enough front-foot ball.
Much will depend on South Africa establishing a lead for de Klerk, Pollard and le Roux to maintain. I fully expect this to happen. A red card, an uncharacteristic mistake or a French masterclass might compel me to eat my words on Monday, but this is a Springboks side that has all the ingredients to detonate out of the blocks and make the game safe as the French grow more frenetic with waves of blue runners crashing on bottle green rocks. France have wowed the world for four years, becoming the darlings of every rugby fan as their captain morphed into a truly global superstar.
That is not meant to denigrate the host nation and their brilliant team. Beating them in Paris would constitute the greatest achievement of Nienaber’s tenure to date and I include a British & Irish Lions series victory in that. This is the final I was hoping to see and I know many South African fans feel the same way. If France triumphs I expect they’ll instantly become every Saffas preferred pick to win it. They’d have my full backing.
Unfortunately for them, their adoring fans, and their leader in a mask, they’re meeting a perfectly assembled Springboks side. This is where their story ends.
