Momentum’s the name of the game for today’s Springboks
As was the case in 1996 and 2008, the year following Rugby World Cup glory, the Springboks have been unable to build on that momentum, although this time a pandemic has stunted their progress.
As it turns out, the year following RWC success is also one in which they are supposed to lay the groundwork for the tour of the British & Irish Lions.
That opportunity is lost to the current crop with SA Rugby looking to arrange three or four Tests ahead of next July’s series.
Back in 1996 the Boks didn’t have time to bask in RWC afterglow. They lost coach Kitch Christie who had taken ill, which meant Andre Markgraaff was the new man in.
In 1996 the Boks didn’t have time to bask in RWC afterglow. They lost coach Kitch Christie, who had taken ill
Swift change
Change was swift. Of the starting XV against Fiji, who were the Boks’ first opponents in 1996, Henry Honiball, Justin Swart, Gary Teichmann, Johan Ackermann and John Allen had not played in the RWC final the previous year.
“There was a thought the team could continue that momentum had it stayed together,” recalled RWC winning inside centre Hennie le Roux. “But with the change of coach there was a significant change in thought and personnel.
“One can’t talk about keeping momentum if you change the captain and three or four key players,” said Le Roux about Francois Pienaar losing the captaincy to Teichmann following the Test against the All Blacks at Newlands.
Much in demand Boks
To be fair, the much in demand Boks faced a daunting first season as professionals. They started their Tri-Nations journey narrowly, losing in Sydney and Christchurch.
Markgraaff's team then did something that at the time was too ghastly to contemplate. The Springboks, for the first time, lost a home series against the All Blacks.
On the domestic front there was growing unease in the Transvaal camp which had supplied the biggest share of the 1995 RWC winning side. Their season of discontent ended when they were well beaten by the Sharks in the Currie Cup final.
Le Roux, who played his last Test on the end-of-year tour in 1996, agrees SA rugby is particularly adept at locating a rifle and pointing it downward.
“Yes, we blow hot and cold. Maybe we have too much French in us,” he chuckled.
Peter de Villiers was at the helm in 2008 when the Springboks played the All Blacks twice in New Zealand for the first time since 1994. Though they won in Dunedin they were later held scoreless in defeat at Newlands against the same opponents.
John Smit, RWC winning captain from 2007, concurs that the team struggled for consistency in 2008.
“We had a mediocre to below average side in 2008,” said Smit. “We wanted to show what we did in 2007 was a process that took four years and that it wasn’t over yet. That was a massive motivating factor for us.”
The current crop of Boks have similar dynamics at play. They too have senior Boks hanging on for a date with the Lions. Duane Vermeulen and Frans Steyn are two players who have expressed the desire to see out their Test careers against the Lions. Other, younger members of the RWC winning side are likely to harbour similar thoughts.
“There will probably have to be an overreliance on the form of 2019,” noted Smit, who despite the obstacles facing the team is still bullish about the Springboks’ prospects next year.
“We had a year-and-a-half with Test matches to get into a groove and understand Peter’s way and kick on from 2008. These guys have skipped a year which I think is great for the year and refresh but from a systems and a battle hardened point of view is going to be the big challenge.”
Smit draws comfort from the fact that Rassie Erasmus, as SA Rugby’s director of rugby, is at the helm, calling him “a genius at analysing”.