The Springboks are more than a starting XV and it is this trust in a squad that has been at the heart of their success in winning the 2019 World Cup and beating host nation France in the quarterfinal to set up a replay of the 2019 final against England for a place in the 2023 final.
The strategic mastermind in all things Springbok, Rassie Erasmus, has been active this week in addressing the media and taken a load off coach Jacques Nienaber.
Erasmus, as he did during the 2-1 series win against the British and Irish Lions in 2021, is comfortable entertaining the media and providing the soundbites, while Nienaber gets on with the job of coaching the team without too many off-field distractions.
Erasmus and Nienaber, who have aligned their skill sets as a potent coaching combination for the past 20 years, function effectively regardless of the hat each is wearing for a particular cycle.
Erasmus was the head coach of the Springboks in 2019 and Nienaber was his second in command and the defensive genius in breaking down the most powerful attacks in the game.
This time round Nienaber is the head coach and Erasmus is the primary tactician and strategist in his role as national director of rugby.
Erasmus this week acknowledged he and Nienaber may have frustrated fans with a rotation policy in the matches leading into the playoffs, but he defended the approach as one of player management and trust in more than one player in each position.
To win the World Cup requires a team to front three weekends in succession, but that does not mean the same XV front each time. Erasmus and Nienaber’s six-year Bok tenure has been characterised by their willingness to build depth. They have taken risks and been prepared to include defeats in those risks to get answers and to also ask more questions.
They made it clear that the biggest prize was the World Cup, winning it and then defending it, and if achieved, then every action would have been merited.
Both have backed players to start and to finish games. Both have made big substitution calls if they feel a player’s tank is empty or the player’s contributions are ineffective. It is not so much a predetermined time, but a recognition that it is time.
The early second-half substitutions against France certainly did not have a predetermined feel about them. This was a coaching duo getting the moment, knowing who had played themselves to a standstill and understanding what was needed to disrupt the French flow through having to front a very different type of player. An example is the change of halfbacks a few minutes after halftime.
There will be a greater emphasis on the set-piece against England and there will be an appreciation of the potential after-effects, mentally and physically, of the players’ effort against France in Paris
The Springboks, against France, produced an approach in contrast to what they had shown in the pool matches. They had to adapt and rely on a counterpunch to negate the French approach of refusing to kick the ball into touch. The Boks had just four line-outs and five scrum feeds.
The Boks response was to flourish on the counterattack and turn desperate defence into an attacking weapon. The lack of own ball set-piece also neutralised the possibility of penalty infringements.
There will be a greater emphasis on the set-piece against England and there will be an appreciation of the potential after-effects, mentally and physically, of the players’ effort against France in Paris.
There will be a reliance on player management and game time science with regards to everyone’s ability to deliver effective contributions throughout the 80 minutes.
I have the Boks to win by 12, but I don’t think it will be smooth, easy or pretty. It will be a slog, but it will be a victory determined because of superiority, among individuals and because of a collective.
England, despite being unbeaten at the tournament, have not played a team of South Africa’s quality.
The All Blacks, very much like the Boks, would have been physically and emotionally drained from their 84-minute effort to defy Ireland’s vaunted attack and win in Paris. The All Blacks defended 37 phases in the final four minutes to secure the victory.
In the semifinal, they beat Argentina in a match that was more grind than grand.
And then the rugby world will get the final of all finals, with the game’s two greatest teams meeting for the first time in a final on neutral ground to determine who takes a record fourth World Cup title.
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