Willemse's brilliance can't save the Boks from the boring tag
The Springboks crushed England into submission with a demoralising 27-13 win at Twickenham but the manner in which they constructed their win was largely the same for the most part.
Relying on the brilliance of flyhalf Damian Willemse to break open the Test won’t be enough to break the ‘boring’ tag for the Boks, as much as some want them to shed that tag.
The Boks played their waiting game of applying defensive pressure whilst offering zero impetus on attack once again. It was effective against England and delivered the desired outcome on the day.
But their narrow approach to the game cannot be disputed: from their first 20 possessions in the game over the first 30 minutes of game clock, just one reached four phases.
The rest were two phases or less, nine lasted just one phase, as they promptly kicked the ball away, attempted another maul or scrum, or surprisingly, turned it over, even though they weren’t trying to do much.
They managed just 17 total passes from those first 20 possessions, one every 105 seconds, with a total of 16 phases strung together and 11 kicks. It took 11 possessions to get more than two phases out of them after 17 minutes of game clock.
The game lumbered away for this duration, with only England attempting, very poorly mind, to play any ball-in-hand attack. Viewers had to listen to more words from Angus Gardner’s mouth than they saw passes from players in green jerseys.
The Springboks simply do not want the ball and that’s okay. They are a defensive-minded team and play a pressure game based on hammering your opponent physically. They possess back rowers with superhuman strength who can be immovable at the ruck.
To feed this strength, it requires giving your opponent the ball frequently, so that’s what they do. But this approach comes unequivocally with the boring tag, nicely gift-wrapped and placed front and centre.
The first play from a set-piece that offered ball to the backs, a scrum in the 30th minute, was a direct carry up main street by Damian de Allende after a pass from the base by Faf de Klerk.
The seven phase sequence that followed featured seven passes of one-out rugby off De Klerk before a well executed drop goal between the sticks by Willemse to give South Africa a 6-3 lead.
After 31 minutes of action, the Springboks had not played with the ball and England, who were utterly dismal with ball-in-hand, were still in the game after a couple of fluffed penalties by Owen Farrell.
Then came the knockout blow, allowed to unfold as England continued to play their unpolished shape. Marcus Smith, standing so deep he was basically on Whitton Road, shovelled a splitter pass between the pod out to Farrell, who similarly floated another lame duck out the back to Manu Tuilagi for a gain line loss.
Two phases later after the team had unravelled altogether Smith hoisted to the sky in desperation an awful bomb, deep and uncontested, with tired forwards standing in front of him.
Willemse was the chief architect on a magical piece of counter-attack, stepping Freddie Steward cold and breaking away downfield to break the spirits of England.
Kurt-Lee Arendse finished the long-range effort with blistering pace down the right side and punished Smith directly for his aimless kick.
At 11-3 the game was effectively over despite being just 33 minutes old. South Africa had to produce just one play of brilliance to sink Eddie Jones’ ship.
We had seen what England had to offer. They lacked precision, timing, polished organisation, basically everything you need to play efficient rugby. They were a disorganised mess by the third phase, which offered no trouble for South Africa’s high line rush.
After the Boks had landed the killer blow, trickery on the next exit saw the Springboks break out of their own 22 with another piece of creative play from Willemse finding an offload for Arendse.
England could not handle the Springboks at high tempo, but it took over half an hour to get there and it was brief. That they can turn it on for a few minutes does not make the Springboks a high-flying entertainer’s dream.
The Venus flytrap approach is by its very nature a bore, waiting for the fly to make a mistake. It’s the defensive boxer who finds the sucker-punch after soaking up the blows.
That was the Springboks at Twickenham. Patient, gritty, disciplined in their process but ever-so tedius and draining.
From the moment Arendse swan-dived over they were never in danger against an abject England side, smartly constructing a bigger lead, but aided by luck at times with Etzebeth’s earthworm try playing the ball whilst still in the process of getting up off the ground.
Their last points came in the 57th minute after winning another scrum penalty, and a red card in the 60th gave England a one man advantage for the final quarter for a consolation try.
They made just 66 passes in total, a reversal of the expansive game seen against Italy, that was just a tease. But a win is a win of course.
And with that final victory on Twickenham soil another 8-5 season became etched in Bok history, another one at 61.5 per cent.
Comments on RugbyPass
No Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team does not beat the ABs sadly
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
3 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.
3 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.
3 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 commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
18 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
54 Go to comments