The Springboks have a point to prove against the only team to beat them at last year’s World Cup, writes DYLAN JACK.
A gnawing sense of unfinished business has agitated the Springboks to a singular focus on demolishing Ireland when the reigning back-to-back world champions host a two-Test series against the Six Nations winners in July.
The Boks defended their 2019 title at the 2023 World Cup in France, cementing their status as one of the greatest teams in rugby history, but the quest to retain the Webb Ellis Cup was not without setbacks.
A narrow defeat to Ireland in the pool stage opened a wound that has not closed in the months following the tournament, a gash that has got the Boks throbbing for payback.
Despite ultimately triumphing, the Springboks, with Rassie Erasmus back in the driving set as head coach, are on a mission to prove that they can overcome any obstacle, including the Irish juggernaut that thwarted them early in the tournament.
Of all people, Erasmus will need little convincing of the importance of the series. It was Erasmus who most felt the pain of South Africa’s pool-stage defeat, after attempting to fire his squad up during the week for a game he initially signalled as not being as important as the opener against Scotland.
In the documentary Chasing the Sun 2, Erasmus shared his candid assessment: ‘For me, there was not enough pain in their faces, not enough regret in their faces, not enough, “Hell, we f**ked this up” in their faces.’
This was after he spent much of the week’s build-up to the game trying to make it as personal as possible for his players, because of a perceived lack of respect for the Springboks.
‘I want to show you things here that would probably upset you. It’s not to psyche you out, but to make you determined to understand what you face for Saturday,’ he told the squad, before playing a clip of former Harlequins flyhalf Andy Dunne describing the Springboks as a team Ireland could outsmart.
‘Rugby’s a physical game, it’s not chess,’ Erasmus told his players in reaction to the clips.
‘F**king go play chess if you want to be so smart. Let them be smarter, but at least match us physically within the laws, man. Match us physically within the laws, we’ll be smart enough.’
Erasmus went on to play clips of broadcaster Gil Gilroy offering a take on doping in South African schools rugby, with the Irishman labelling it ‘one of the worst sporting cultures in the world’ and calling South Africans ‘whinging babies’.
The clips did have an impact, with Bongi Mbonambi admitting that they got under the skin of the Springboks.
‘It’s something that got us f**king angry,’ he said. ‘The way they see us is a little country in the corner of Africa – they think they can compete with the rest of the world, they’ve got all the facilities, all the equipment, all the training grounds … English rolls better off their tongues than us – we were f**king upset.’
Ireland would go on to claim a 13-8 victory in a game that RG Snyman described as one of the most physical of his Test career.
After the game, Erasmus watched on, frustrated, as his players shook hands with their opponents and seemed emotionally unaffected by the loss.
‘When I walked down and “Zombie” was playing and I saw their faces and their happiness, I thought this was a bitter one to swallow,’ Erasmus said in the documentary.
The only player who noticed the coach was Duane Vermeulen, who knew what was coming as Erasmus stewed before the Monday briefing.
‘Before the start of the World Cup, Rassie said the Scotland game was the important one. If we lose to Ireland, it’s not a train smash. But I could see his face after the game: Rassie was pissed,’ he said.
Erasmus unloaded on his players and staff that Monday.
‘Let’s prepare ourselves for some honesty, guys, management and players,’ he said.
‘Next week, we might all fly home. All of us. Just because maybe you or me, Rassie, were totally wrong because nobody pulled me up and said, “Hey, Rassie, you’re wrong”.
‘You’re not f**king clowns, you’re grown men with children … For f**k’s sake, we could be No 1 in the world. What the f**k is wrong with you? What’s wrong with you? Have you become bigger than the game?
‘I promise you, Siya Kolisi is not the biggest thing in South Africa. South Africa is the biggest thing in South Africa.
‘It’s not because we lost, it’s because it’s been brewing and brewing and brewing. All the beautiful songs that you sing – Afrikaans, English, Xhosa, it doesn’t matter – but you’re false. You pretend that you will die for your country, but you will not.’
Clearly for Erasmus, this one will be personal, as it will be for the players, who let their coach down.
The senior Springboks have already started stoking the fire for the series, with Eben Etzebeth firing an early shot at Ireland.
During an appearance on The Rugby Pod with Jim Hamilton, Etzebeth jabbed Ireland for their reaction to beating the Boks at the World Cup.
‘After the game, you shake the guys’ hands and probably 12 out of the 23 told me, “See you guys in the final,”’ Etzebeth said. ‘Because of the way the logs worked, we were going to play France and they were going to play New Zealand. My immediate thought was, “Are these guys seriously not even thinking about the All Blacks in a World Cup quarter-final, playing against them?”
‘That remark that they made, “see you guys in the final,” I just thought these guys were making a big mistake to look past probably the most dominant team in the last 20 to 30 years of Test rugby. Surely, they can’t.
‘We would never say that because we knew we’ve got the host nation and we were going to have to pitch up to beat France in their backyard.
‘It just felt like they were just so confident saying things like that when you know you’ve got the mighty All Blacks coming up in a World Cup quarter-final.
‘I think Frans Malherbe was with me and I said, “Í don’t know if these guys are riding a bit high,”’ Etzebeth added. ‘Obviously, it is good to be confident, but you can never be arrogant in this game.
‘You can have the best season and you can have one slip-up or one missed tackle and a guy puts you on your arse. That’s the beauty of this game, you are never on top forever.’
While Etzebeth’s comments generated outrage in the north, it’s his final point that will resonate most strongly with his fellow Springboks.
Despite boasting a squad that has been there and won it all, the Boks will be wary of an Ireland side that has based most of their success on their smart recruitment from New Zealand.
From Whangarei native Andy Ward blazing the trail in 1998, to Isaac Boss, Rodney Ah You, Nathan White and, more recently, Bundee Aki, Ireland have enjoyed the fruits of New Zealand’s labour, pouncing on players who have narrowly missed the All Blacks boat.
Scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park and wing James Lowe are two of the latest success stories of a production line that has existed for as long as professional rugby. Since making their respective Test debut for their adopted nation in 2020, Gibson-Park and Lowe have grown into leading players in their positions, driving Ireland into a golden era under English head coach Andy Farrell.
Gibson-Park’s rapid development put him in the same area code as Antoine Dupont in the conversation about the best scrumhalf in the world, a debate that was probably settled when the Frenchman played a key role in helping Toulouse beat Leinster in the Champions Cup final.
Equally, Lowe is not only one of the best finishers in the game, but also has a rocket of a left boot that is key to Farrell’s game plan.
While the Springboks take plenty of pride in their ability to drag their opponents ‘off the dance floor and into the gutters’, Ireland have a very different mentality. Instead, the Emerald Greens look to outsmart their opponents and get plenty of confidence from when one of their pre-planned tactics comes off.
This was something that Erasmus highlighted in his pre-match planning with his coaches before the World Cup clash between the two nations.
‘They get so much satisfaction out of, “We’re clever, we’re clever” and they are clever,’ he said to his fellow coaches.
‘It’s almost that which lifts them, when something spectacular works out like a move of six different f**king lines, they feel, “Now we’re clever, now we’re clever. Now we’ve f**king got them!”
‘They’re very sharp, got a physical edge. Their plays, they have the right guys in the right spot every single time; the right guy, at the right ruck, the inside pass, the guys who run the perfect line.’
A perfect record at the 2023 World Cup is what the Springboks gave up in the loss against Ireland at the Stade de France, and redemption will be top of mind when the kings of Europe square up against the world champions at Loftus Versfeld and Kings Park in July.
– This article first appeared in the August 2024 issue of SA Rugby magazine.
Photo: Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images
The post It’s payback time for Springboks appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
