Tall timber ready to fell
The Springboks have rejigged their back row in a bid to fix their lineout woes against the All Blacks.
Coach Allister Coetzee sprang a surprise by selecting regular flanker Francois Louw at No 8 for an injured Uzair Cassiem and bringing specialist lock Pieter-steph du Toit into the blindside flanker berth for the test at Newlands on Sunday.
Louw has played 53 tests but has never packed down at No 8 for the Springboks.
The selections blindsided South Africa rugby observers with the Sport24 website saying: ‘‘Boks shock with pack changes’’.
Du Toit’s selection on the side of the scrum allows Lood de Jager to start at lock alongside captain Eben Etzebeth with the Boks’ lineout fielding three 2m tall jumpers.
But Sport24 pointed out the Boks had lost the only two tests where Du Toit played in the back row – the 2015 Rugby World Cup defeat to Japan and last year’s 37-21 loss to England in London where the 2m tall, 120kg Stormers player’s defence was exposed.
Coetzee said at a press conference in Cape Town that it was important to ‘‘play with your most experienced players’’ and to ‘‘fix what didn’t go right in Albany’’, where the Springboks were thrashed 57-0 by the All Blacks three weeks ago.
The All Blacks stole five of the Springboks’ 14 lineouts, exposing their frailties at the set piece, which had traditionally been a strength of South African rugby.
‘‘Our lineouts, if you look at the combination ... it’s a perfect balance,’’ Coetzee said.
‘‘We’ve got Pieter-steph du Toit, who is a great lineout player, and he carries hard.
‘‘Then we’ve got two loosies [Louw and Siya Kolisi] who can play on the ground and also carry in the wide channels, so for me it’s a good combination.
‘‘I’m confident that there will be an improvement. ‘‘There has to be.’’
The big question for the All Blacks is will brining in five guys fresh prove a masterstroke coach Steve Hansen?
As he is inclined to say, it’s not enough for the All Blacks to just win.
They have to win well. Rightly or wrongly, the assumption is New Zealand will beat South Africa by a healthy margin in Cape Town.
But that’s not to say that all the players will get a pass mark, should the team get that win. So who are the blokes with the most to prove or gain in this one?
Let’s start with someone forever under the spotlight.
Sonny Bill Williams
The second five-eighth badly needed a performance of substance against Argentina last weekend. One moment aside, when he took the ball into contact in a slightly passive way and turned it over, you’d have to say Williams produced it.
But he’s not the public’s favourite bloke and one good game won’t win them all over.
It’s funny for a guy to be a work in progress at 32. But the last time he had a run of starts like this was 2012. After that it was a diet of rugby league, sevens, injury or sitting on the bench behind Ma’a Nonu.
It’s natural for his form to fluctuate, then, as he learns to play, what shouldn’t be forgotten is, his second sport. We’ll see if the persistence of the All Blacks coaches pays off in the end.
Nehe Milner-skudder
Right wing is waiting for someone to make it their own. Israel Dagg, Ben Smith, Waisake Naholo and Milner-skudder are among those who’ve occupied the jumper in recent seasons, without the desire, opportunity, or form to keep it.
The All Blacks seem to pick genuine wings on the left and ask fullbacks to play on the right. So with Rieko Ioane looking hard to dislodge from No 11, here’s Milner-skudder’s chance to make himself the same on the other side.
Liam Squire
Another playing in a spot where there’s reasonable competition. Vaea Fifita and Jerome Kaino both have their admirers, while Scott Barrett acquitted himself very well there when the All Blacks last played South Africa.
But in spelling Squire from the team that went to Argentina, head coach Steve Hansen elevated the 26-year-old to quite senior status within the squad. Let’s see if he can live up to it
Kane Hames
Areas where the Springboks will genuinely believe they can hurt the All Blacks are few. They can plan well and train well, but they’ll still only be hoping to put that stuff into practice.