Brute force required Boks getting physical at the right time
Flexing their muscles the way to go as knockouts approach
in Kobe
● The heavy-handed manner in which victory was achieved against Italy is likely to help set the template for the rest of the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup (RWC) campaign.
With just a four-day turnaround, they play Canada in a pool B clash here on Tuesday and coach Rassie Erasmus will make sweeping changes to the side, including the introduction to this RWC of the versatile and vastly gifted Damian Willemse.
The Boks, and no doubt Willemse, are likely to revel in the space and time afforded them by the Canadians, but in their next engagement in the quarterfinal of the competition, they are likely to slip into a mode more suited to dealing with a slippery ball and the rigours of knockout rugby.
Erasmus would have drawn enough encouragement from his team’s performance against Italy to remain on that path.
For much of the build-up to their clash against Italy in Shizuoka on Friday, the Springboks spoke of the need to make their physicality count and snuff out the threat of Italy potentially getting a foothold.
We definitely have to get better on the attacking side
Rassie Erasmus
Springbok coack
One of our strengths
The Boks pummelled Italy into submission, while the red card issued to Italy’s loosehead prop Andrea Lovotti basically sealed the Azzurri’s fate.
The Boks relied heavily on the contributions of their big men with Duane Vermeulen, Lood de Jager, Bongi Mbonambi and in particular Pieter-Steph du Toit all upping their levels of physicality.
Erasmus made the interesting observation that the team’s physicality had been inconsistent over the previous five games, but that they hit the mark against Italy.
“I thought in this specific Test match, our physicality — which is one of our strengths — was very consistent through the game, and I am really proud about that,” said Erasmus.
He knows all too well, however, that pummelling Italy with a succession of heavy carriers and defenders won’t necessarily get the job done against the All Blacks, to whom they lost in Yokohama on the opening weekend of the tournament.
There the Boks just about matched the All Blacks in the physicality stakes, but they were undone by their inability to seize the crucial moments in the Test.
Indeed one player said they didn’t fire enough shots at the All Blacks.
The team with more physicality is more likely to prevail.
Teams able to absorb pressure and turn small moments into big ones can turn the tide.
The Boks have to use their physicality to help create the platform from which to showcase their other talents.
Even after scoring seven tries against Italy, they stood accused of not being ruthless enough. They could have won by a far greater margin had they displayed more composure when they had Italy on the rack.
“We definitely have to get better on the attacking side,” acknowledged Erasmus.
“As you saw, New Zealand scored nine tries two nights ago (against Canada) and we scored nine tries (against Namibia).
“Some people enjoy the way New Zealand score tries, and we enjoy the way we score tries. We have a certain style that we play.
“We know the way we performed is good enough to get us to a quarterfinal, and we know we have to have some improvements in attack to progress to the semifinals and finals.
“But that is not the only area we need to improve.
“We were better at scrum time against a good Italian pack, until they had to go to uncontested scrums. We were good in our mauling, breakdown and physical areas. But surprisingly we were bad in our discipline when defending.
“I wouldn’t single out attack as one of the big worries, as we are scoring tries and are up there with New Zealand.”
The Boks don’t possess the wide skill set of the All Blacks, but unremitting physicality, stout defence, a robust kicking game and the ability to counterattack when the opposition’s defensive lines are vulnerable are qualities that will make them hard to beat.
Italy coach Conor O’Shea said as much after his team was vanquished on Friday.
The downside of adopting tactics that are tailored towards knockout rugby will be the receding influence of star players like Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi.
Kolbe has been described as the team’s heart, and Mapimpi’s nose for the tryline is uncanny.