The Springboks are in search of familiar territory when they clash with England in their Rugby World Cup semifinal at Stade de France on Saturday.
A place in the final is at stake and it is territory with which the Boks are thoroughly familiar. They are in search of a fourth final and though they start clear favourites, they cannot allow England to develop belief they can win against the odds.
Sure, England are likely to display all the bulldog characteristics that are so easily attached to them when they deliver a dogged display — but the Boks have it within their arsenal to remove the notion that the match is a contest early on.
The Boks certainly don’t want a repeat of their semifinal win over Wales four years ago. That became an unnecessarily tense affair. They tried to keep Wales at arm’s length without taking any undue risk, but the Dragons grew in belief with the realisation they were still in striking distance with the match well into its final quarter.
A Damian de Allende try in the 56th minute appeared to be the decisive score, but Josh Adams set the cat among the pigeons with a try in the 65th minute to send the match into a tense finale.
Handré Pollard’s nerveless 76th minute penalty, however, got the Boks over the line — just.
The general sentiment was that had South Africa played with more ambition in attack, they would have removed the peril they were in during the closing stages of that game.
They were the superior side but they weren’t prepared to shift through the gears and prove it.
They cannot afford to play with limited ambition against England.
England may not yet have the building blocks in place to win the Webb Ellis Cup, but as they have shown thus far in the tournament, they deal with what is in front of them. They are the only unbeaten team in the semifinals and a hesitant and twitchy Bok team will suit them just fine.
The Boks need to be assertive and decisive.
Last week against France they did not create as many opportunities as the hosts, but when they did they were ruthless in the red zone deep inside the opposition’s 22. They need to be as clinical against England, especially in establishing an early lead and building scoreboard pressure against a team that has offered little in attack.
England, as the Bok camp has been keen to remind, are on the up. The system that head coach Steve Borthwick is trying to bed down is starting to bear fruit, but they are some distance from where they need to be.
History and recent form suggest they have no reason to fear England. England have lost four of their five meetings against South Africa at the Rugby World Cup. The last time the teams met at the RWC was in the final four years ago, when the Boks recorded a crushing 32-12 win in Yokohama.
In their most recent meeting, South Africa prevailed 27-13 at Twickenham to help smooth the path for the RFU to show Eddie Jones the exit.
There is no reason to believe England have sufficiently turned the corner. If England ran into France or Ireland on Saturday, they would likely cop a chastening defeat. They are a side still fitting Borthwick’s mould. He is yet to pick an unchanged team, which suggests he is still in search of his best combinations.
The Boks aren’t used to picking unchanged sides either, but on this occasion they did. They are comfortable the personnel that got them into the semifinals can successfully reprise their roles this weekend.
The Boks need to remove any doubt about who the superior side is and they need to do so early. Their fans, frankly, aren’t up to another nail-biter.
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