The Springboks are out for redemption in the second Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks in Cape Town on Saturday (17:10 kick-off), writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.
ALSO READ: Rassie Loads Up On Experience For RGR Rescue Job.
Mixed martial arts megastar Conor McGregor once said: “Precision beats power, timing beats speed.” “The Notorious” would know – he’s claimed 19 of his 22 wins by knockout, including his famous victories over Jose Aldo and Eddie Alvarez to become the first simultaneous two-division champion in UFC history.
The first half of the Irishman’s quote summed up last weekend’s seismic series opener at Ellis Park. The Boks, for all their power and scrum dominance, couldn’t land the knockout blow on their Kiwi counterparts.
They crashed over the gainline with ball in hand, smashed them back in defence and, on more than one occasion, turned the tourists’ pack into a puff of black smoke at scrum time. They did everything but convert that dominance into a substantial lead.
New Zealand, in contrast, were surgical in their precision. First came the guts, then the style and finally the glory as they stayed in the fight for the tough first 55 minutes – trailing just 16-12 – and seized control with opportunistic and ultra-accurate attacks to romp to an emphatic 33-16 win that silenced the entire South Africa for days.
The five-tries-to-one flaying was as costly and as bitter a pill to swallow as they come for the Boks. It saw them surrender the No. 1 ranking they’d held since last September to the All Blacks, brought their 12-game winning streak to an abrupt end and pushed them into a corner, with the men in Green and Gold now having to win the three remaining Tests to win the series.
The fact of the matter is that as wasteful as the Boks were, and as much as the All Blacks deserve all the credit in the world for drawing first blood, everything that could go wrong for Rassie Erasmus and his charges did. For the first time in ages, the 6-2 split bench backfired, with Kurt-Lee Arendse going off early and Cheslin Kolbe following suit in the 58th minute, requiring not one but two backline reshuffles.
Malcolm Marx being stripped of the ball in the maul by Jordie Barrett a metre from the line – denying the World Player of the Year a try he’d score nine times out of 10. And the defining moments of the game, with the Boks opting for a fourth successive scrum five metres from the try line in pursuit of the killer blow, were instead penalised for what was deemed wheeling.
That 56th-minute penalty was a psychological blow the Boks couldn’t recover from, leading to an absolutely disastrous final quarter in which they were outscored 21-0. I mention these key moments because if any of them hadn’t happened or had gone the Boks’ way, they likely would’ve been in the pound seats going into Saturday’s sequel.
A lot was said last week…A LOT. Dave Rennie and company riled up Erasmus and the Bok boss fell into their trap. Now it’s put-up-or-shut-up time for the Boks. It’s must-win mania, a position of intense pressure from which they’ve claimed their three greatest triumphs – the back-to-back world championships and the British & Irish Lions series sandwiched in between.
It’ll be a rainy day in Cape Town with morning rainfall forecast. It’s not expected to rain during the game, but the ball will likely be slippery and the field heavy. On a day that’s all about execution for the Boks, especially after last weekend, passes will have to stick, and ball protection will have to be vastly improved.
South Africa will also have to be smarter in terms of playing the percentages, which will require not just more kicking than they did on the Highveld but more variation off the boot. Erasmus has called on the veteran halfback duo of Cobus Reinach and Handre Pollard to do just that, and has loaded up on experience in general, all smart decisions.
The Boks are always at their best when their backs are against the wall, and the wise and cool heads who’ve been brought in will help them bounce back.
Prediction: South Africa by 5.
Suggested Bet: New Zealand +7.5 at 1.82.
Quintin van Jaarsveld is a former MDDA-Sanlam SA Local Sports Journalist of the Year and a former three-time Vodacom KwaZulu-Natal Sports Journalist of the Year. Formerly the sports editor and Outstanding Journalist of the Year award winner at The Fever Media Group, deputy editor at eHowzit, editor at SARugby.com and senior staff writer at Rugby365.com, he boasts over 20 years of experience.
