The Springboks owe their supporters a performance worthy of world champions because in the past fortnight we haven’t seen one that warrants the hype.
The 13-12 defeat to Wales in Bloemfontein put a target on coach Jacques Nienaber’s back. Not because of the loss, but what he said afterwards.
The coach said the risk of defeat, the first against Wales in SA, was worth it because of what the national coaching staff had learnt about certain players in the build-up to the Rugby World Cup (RWC).
Only a successful defence thereof in France next year can limit the damage of this statement from Nienaber. Failure at the World Cup and Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus’s legacy of world champions and Lions tamers will be counterbalanced with defeats to Argentina in Mendoza and Wales in Bloemfontein.
Much has been made of the similarities to the 2019 RWC build-up. Those who look for signs that a title triumph is again written in the stars are seeing plenty.
Here are a few examples:
In 2018 Erasmus, with Nienaber as his second in command, picked a second-string match 23 and sent them to play Wales in Washington DC. Pieter-Steph du Toit captained the Boks and they lost 24-22 to a late Wales penalty. Du Toit would be among the substitutes six days later when an entirely different Springbok team came from 24-3 down to beat England at Emirates Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
In 2022 the Bok coaches again picked a largely second-string combination to play Wales in Bloemfontein. Wales won by a point with a late conversion. Du Toit, back from injury, started the Test match.
In 2018 the Boks would take a beating against the Pumas in Mendoza, lose to Australia in Brisbane, then record a miracle 36-34 win against the All Blacks in Wellington, New Zealand.
No Test match should be sacrificed for a possible World Cup title triumph and Erasmus and Nienaber may find a rugby public very unaccommodating should the 2023 RWC not follow the path of 2019.
They would lose at home to the All Blacks 32-30 after leading 30-13 after 65 minutes and stumble against Wales in Cardiff to end the season with seven wins from 14.
Another defeat to the All Blacks in the World Cup opener would follow in 2019. Then the Boks went on a competition roll that culminated in the most emphatic destruction of England in the final.
Which brings us to 2022 and the build-up to 2023’s tournament. The Springboks, since winning the Lions series 2-1, are six wins from 11. They’ve lost to the All Blacks, Australia (twice), England and Wales. Their wins have been against Argentina (twice), Wales (twice), Scotland and the All Blacks.
“Have faith,” has been the ongoing message from Erasmus. The Boks are trekking as they did in 2018. Statistically they are, but what shouldn’t even be a comparison is that in 2018 Erasmus was sifting through the top 60 players to find 30 who could be competitive at a World Cup.
In 2022 he has the core of those winners available and with that must come expectation that six from 11 is not good enough.
No Test match should be sacrificed for a possible World Cup title triumph and Erasmus and Nienaber may find a rugby public very unaccommodating should the 2023 competition not follow the path of 2019.
For now, Erasmus and Nienaber answer to no-one but themselves. Social media opinion favours the duo and condemns anyone who dares question performances and defeats.
The pair have got a lot right since 2018 and they have the 2019 World Cup and the Lions series of 2021 to show for it. But equally they’ve got it wrong on many occasions — in selection, approach and their team’s inability to close out several one-score matches.
Having faith in the two doesn’t mean questions can’t get asked and the biggest is around the two indifferent and limp performances in Pretoria and Bloemfontein.
Nearly 100,000 South Africans paid to see the world champions play in Pretoria and Bloemfontein. All they got was a bunch of impostors.
In Cape Town the paying rugby public is owed a performance befitting a world champion and not a justification of why we won’t see them until France in 2023.
Mark Keohane is the founder of keo.co.za, a multiple award-winning sports writer and the digital content director at Highbury Media. Twitter: @mark_keohane
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.