Bok maul, where are you hiding?

It was at this stage four years ago at the Rugby World Cup that the Springboks unleashed the might of their maul and devastated the host nation.

Poor Japan felt the brunt of the Bok maul clicking into overdrive as they at one point were marched back over 40m from one such advance. It sent shock waves around the competition.

The maul, however, isn't the Boks' weapon of choice as it perhaps was four years ago. More developed defensive strategies and the vagaries of refereeing interpretations have brought the Bok brains trust to a fresh perspective.

The Boks still maul, but it is not their default setting when they're in favourable territory.

There was perhaps an over-reliance on the maul and the refs couldn't always see the wood for the trees.

“It is difficult to referee a maul, and similarly if you rely on a scrum, it is difficult to referee a scrum. He doesn't have to figure out who is dominant and who's not when there's free flowing passes and open [play] tries,” director of rugby Rassie Erasmus explained.

Forwards coach Deon Davids made a similar point.

“Mauling has always been part of our game. Teams also evolve in terms of their own mauling, or their maul stopping. It will always be part of our game but over the past few years we also said to ourselves we have to evolve our game, and though the maul is a very important thing for us, there are also other opportunities that open up in the game.

“That perhaps puts you in a better position. Mauling will always be part of the Springboks.”

The Boks not opting for the maul as they might have in the past had become a talking point earlier in the tournament. There were opportunities in the defeat against Ireland where they could have kicked for touch and deployed their human caterpillar but opted to kick for poles, and failed.

In fact, it has given rise to a theory that might be straight from the Erasmus playbook. Maybe the Boks are loath to reveal what their maul is capable of until it is really necessary at this World Cup.

“Maybe, maybe,” former Lions coach and Bok attack coach Swys de Bruin nodded on a podcast.

“Cast your mind back a few weeks. We were definitely fantastic, not just with the maul but playing off the maul as well. You see the variation and the blindside tries we scored with our hookers.

“If you have your four, five options, and we call it the Rhino attack system off your line-outs, and you are clever, you do bring your guys into play.

“Maybe they were hiding it up to now because if you are coming with something special now is the time.”

To be fair the Boks have lost a bit of bulk in the second row with Lood de Jager not part of this World Cup squad. France, too, have lost some weight in that department with Paul Willemse ruled out of the equation.

What potentially makes the maul an intriguing aspect in Sunday's quarterfinal is how its deployment will impact the flyhalf on either side.

Matthieu Jalibert has looked assured with ball in hand for France as replacement for Romain Ntamack. Defence, however, is not one of his strong suits. His tackle completion rate stands at around 60%, which would make him an obvious target for the Bok inside centre gathering a pop pass from the back of a maul.

Similarly Manie Libbok can expect French midfield battleship Jonathan Danty to advance up his channel at a rate of knots.

Even if the maul does not come to its natural conclusion, its value, especially on an occasion like Sunday, cannot be underestimated.