Warren Gatland has set a classic 'rug pull' trap for the Springboks
If you are a Springboks player and believe you just played the real British & Irish Lions, then I have a bridge to sell you.
The physical, test-match level intensity brought by South Africa ‘A’ promised an appetising entree in what was dubbed the ‘fourth test’. Although, unfortunately the shadow box job performed by the Lions reduced the match to something far less. And that was certainly to be expected.
The Springboks needed minutes under the belt, the Lions, with nothing to gain from this match, reacted accordingly. Show me the incentives and I’ll show you the outcome. The Lions, without any incentive to play and all the reason to hide everything, did exactly that.
The first half from the Lions was an obvious con job. The endless penalty taps on the stroke of halftime and the barrage of pick-and-go carries into the South African line were almost laughable.
Even with the opposition down two yellow cards, the Lions refused to call a set-piece scrum or kick to the corner for a line out to take advantage.
The South African ‘A’, or basically the Springboks, were robbed of testing their goal line maul defence, and their multi-phase goal line defence against planned strikes or mauls in the red zone. Every single penalty inside the 22 was a tap and go throughout the entire match, by hooker Ken Owens none the less.
The British & Irish Lions were not going to reveal a single thing, an obvious ploy to leave the Springboks blind ahead of the test series.
Every set piece play that had to be run from midfield zone was just given to Bundee Aki to truck it up. Most of the midfield possessions were reduced to a box kicking contest between Conor Murray and Faf de Klerk. Anything more than two phases and Farrell or Daly would plug the corner or hoist the ball away downfield.
As if they needed a reminder of the ability of Cheslin Kolbe, a poor exit kick from Daly that failed to find touch cost the Lions when he cut them to pieces on a kick-return and set up Lukhanyo Am for a try.
This was after a poor cross field kick from Owen Farrell, with no advantage, ended up being charged down and scooped up for South Africa’s first try.
If this was a supercharged South Africa ‘A’ side, we just saw the British & Irish Lions ‘lite’ version, if you even can call it that. The game plan was watered down completely, particularly the first half, to hold all the cards close to the chest.
A game of cat-and-mouse mind games begun. And to be clear, just who is the cat and who is the mouse is unknown, as the Lions just dished up a half-volley inviting the Springboks to hit them out of the park and all they got was a four point win.
When the Lions finally started to play with the ball it took them just four minutes to score to open the second half, albeit with the opposition still down to 13-men.
Off the first set-piece play that offered any look at potential Lions’ plans, Anthony Watson sliced through the right edge once the ball was swiftly moved back to the opposite touchline on the next phase.
The Lions opened up the undermanned Springbok line with the first attempt at moving the ball using width. Wyn Jones crashed over a few phases later.
The Lions playing a mild version of expansive rugby found ground and gain-line any time they went to the edges, even with South Africa ‘A’ back to a full compliment once their players returned from the bin.
It wasn’t clinical by any means, but with one hand deliberately tied behind your back it isn’t supposed to be.
By finally throwing a few jabs, the Lions found out the Springboks are undercooked and lacking staying power late in the game after a blighted build-up to the series.
And that’s why Gatland was confident sitting in the post-match press conference, praising the ‘bullishness’ of his players after completing the shadow box training run. After denying them a second go-round on the weekend, they have everything they need to know.
Without Jaco Peyper taking the whistle in the test series, or Marius Jonker in the review box, the Lions will probably be even more bullish after being subject to their performances in Durban.
Maro Itoje getting penalised for sacking a lineout maul after going up the middle and Morne Steyn getting stripped of the ball and knocking it on were just two of the calls that went against them.
It took an age to send Faf de Klerk to the bin after a shoulder charge, while Peyper refused to get Jesse Kriel’s high shot looked at in the lead-up to Louis Rees-Zammit’s no-try, despite Owen Farrell asking him directly for a review. TMO Marius Jonker was nowhere to be found.
And then South Africa A’s scrum getting demolished on the final play but Peyper deciding for a ‘reset’ instead of awarding the visitors a penalty. Gatland must rest easier knowing they won’t play apart in the test series.
The Springboks themselves looked far better than most would have predicted given their circumstances, bringing trademark physicality and bruising hits before running low on energy later in the game.
Faf de Klerk back running the show from scrumhalf makes a world of difference to the speed at which the Springboks can play, even in the kicking game.
He can spot an opportunity from a mile away to use piggyback kicks after the first one is won back. The territorial swings are fast, and opportunities for his kick-chase to force pressure are dangerous to manage for the Lions.
Morne Steyn kicked well from the tee despite missing one long range kick and a drop goal, and offered a composed performance for the most part. It would be tempting to keep possibly the world’s best place-kicker in the starting line-up.
The brilliance of Cheslin Kolbe was once again on show, with just one opportunity he made them pay. And the Springbok pack brought everything you thought they would.
But deep down the Springboks camp will know they weren’t treated to anything near a test match by the Lions.
If they do think that can be used as a benchmark, they have been conned and Gatland has the rug ready to be pulled right out from under them.
Soon we will find out who is the cat and who is the mouse, but not from this game.
Or in a context that may make sense to Rassie, which of the proclaimed ‘Lions’ is Scar and which is Simba.
Comments on RugbyPass
Billy'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.)
2 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
1 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?
1 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.
2 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
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
28 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to comments