‘We’ll be good enough to beat them 3-0’
IRELAND have not toured here since they provided Jake White his first testosterone-laden obstacle as Springbok coach in 2004. Little did they know that it was upon them that the Springbok coach placed the first building blocks in the erection of his World Cup-winning side of 2007.
One of White’s assistants was Allister Coetzee, the man who will next week undergo his maiden examination as Springbok coach, also against the team in emerald green.
Coetzee, too, may one day have his date with destiny but first he needs to forge a side that needs to convince in win percentage, the way in which it is transformed and the appeal of their playing style.
Coetzee above all is a pragmatist and he will not overly concern himself with the latter expectation. It is after all an expectation, not a prerequisite.
Besides, a quarter of his squad is made up of players who have played with unbridled passion and panache for the Lions in Super Rugby. It is difficult to recall a Bok coach who has had the benefit of that.
If those players have pushed boundaries with their clinical execution and unrestrained exuberance, Ireland will arrive here on a wing and a prayer.
Ireland have suffered a few hammer blows before their departure. It is the time of year when northern hemisphere players yield to all manner of orthopaedic upheaval.
Star playmaker Johnny Sexton is out injured, as is Rob Kearney, Luke Fitzgerald, Cian Healy and Simon Zebo, all players who would ordinarily line up in coach Joe Schmidt’s match-day 23.
“It is a massive blow,” stressed former Springbok utility back Stefan Terblanche.
“Often if there is doubt about a player they would pull him out and we tend to see weaker teams coming to the southern hemisphere in June,” noted Terblanche, who finished his career in Belfast with Ulster.
“They have replaced those guys with good players but Sexton is probably one of the better flyhalves in the world.”
Ireland have won two of their last four tests against the Springboks. In those four tests Sexton averaged 13 points, a lot higher than the nine he averages in all tests.
His place in the squad goes to the clean-cut Ian Madigan, a player who poses more than imposes. Ireland will miss Sexton’s full-throttle tendencies.
The Springboks will also be without their form flyhalf for the first test in Elton Jantjies, but Pat Lambie, injured for the bulk of Super Rugby, has hit the deck running since returning to fitness.
He has not put a foot wrong in the last month which will come as a source of huge comfort for Coetzee. The injury to Jantjies has also spared Coetzee having to agonise over who should start in the No 10 jersey at Newlands. He may, however, have to show his hand later in the series.
Terblanche, who made a dream debut when he scored four tries against Ireland in 1998, believes the tourists will huff and puff initially.
“They’ll be fired up. The Irish always are. They know they’ll be up against it. They’ll start well and it will be all fire and brimstone but I don’t think they have enough to beat the Springboks even though we are starting afresh.
“It will take a while for our combinations to settle. You can do a lot in two weeks on the training field but in the game it is different. The speed and the lines which you are running are different on the day.
“We have a new coach and have a few new faces, but we’ll be good enough to beat them 3-0 in the series.”
It will take a while for combinations to settle. You can do a lot in training but in the game it is different