Rassie came with a plan and it’s borne fruit

Whatever happens in the World Cup final in Yokohama today, all Springbok supporters should raise their glasses to salute coach Rassie Erasmus and his team for the remarkable turnaround in South African rugby fortunes over the last two years.

Let us not forget the fragile state of Springbok rugby when Erasmus, temporarily vacating his director of rugby role, stepped in to be head coach. They had been hammered 57-0 in Albany by the All Blacks, who also walloped them 57-15 in Durban in 2016, and had even lost to Italy for the first time. The results certainly didn’t suggest South Africa would be in the 2019 World Cup final.

Erasmus has always been highly touted as a coach with vision, but perhaps the greatest attribute he brought in turning the Springboks around has been his attention to detail. He quickly settled on his best team, while also rebuilding the depth, and was pragmatic enough to come up with a game plan that plays to their strengths. It is simple but brutally effective, and, crucially, the team buy into it and were utterly dedicated in following it in their semifinal against Wales.

And against a team that is as well-rounded as England, it is their best chance of winning the World Cup for a third time.

England, guided by the tactical nous of Eddie Jones and John Mitchell, certainly have some fancy attacking moves, but the Springboks will pour forward with great resolve and power to try and win the crucial Battle of the Gainline.

The fact that that is the vital contest is borne out by the semifinal statistics (as published by The Telegraph): New Zealand may have made more metres than England overall because of their big runs in the wide channels, but England achieved gainline success with nearly half of their carries; Wales carried the ball 114 times against the Springboks, but only managed to make it over the gainline on 23 occasions. Wales’ average gain of 1.6 metres per carry was the lowest any side has ever recorded in a Rugby World Cup fixture; South Africa crossed the gainline the same number of times but from only 71 carries. The Springboks were far more effective carriers, making over 100 metres more than Wales despite having less of the ball.

Some critics have suggested New Zealand were poor in terms of aggressive defence last weekend, but I prefer to give credit to England because their execution was near-perfect and their intensity superb. Sometimes even a team as great as the All Blacks can only play as well as they are allowed to. Whether England can reach those heights again just eight days later remains to be seen against a team that prides itself on being the best when it comes to depriving the opposition of time and space.

Over the 32 years of the tournament, only twice (1987 and 2015) have more than two tries been scored in the final and kicking is obviously going to be of paramount importance. South Africa’s much-loved box-kicks will not only have to be deadly accurate, especially with Jonny May lurking at the back, but Handre Pollard is also going to have to get all his kicks at goal over.

The over-reliance on Faf de Klerk to dictate the Springbok game plan has meant Pollard has had something of a bit-part in this World Cup, but it was wonderful to see him step to the fore with a superb all-round display against

Wales. Having a tremendous “General” at flyhalf is a common theme when it comes to World Cup winners.

Both coaches are known to love springing a surprise on the opposition, but whether the card up Erasmus’s sleeve is an ace or any better than the card up Jones’s sleeve remains to be seen. The acquisition of Mitchell has also proved crucial for England because of his in-depth knowledge of both the New Zealand and South African games, and the English defence was superb in dealing with the potent threat of the All Blacks.

But the underdogs tag certainly seems to bring out the best in the Springboks.

Whatever happens, Erasmus can feel well-satisfied. He may have manipulated his way into the position and then feathered his own nest by changing the rule on overseas players, but the end has certainly justified the means in this case.