The Springboks’ emphatic 27-13 victory over England was a statement of intent less than a year before the Rugby World Cup, a tournament that is possibly the most open in its 36-year history.
The win, the Boks’ first at Twickenham in eight years, completed a year that had challenges on and off the field. The quality of the performance — unrelenting power combined with adventurous attack — highlighted a team of world-class potential. The Boks pushed Ireland and France close in the first two tour fixtures, and then blew Italy and England away.
Results aside, they discovered valuable answers to some problems and identified their options for various positions. Playing in front of 80,000 people at Twickenham, fourth-choice flyhalf Damian Willemse proved his worth as a game manager and Kurt-Lee Arendse — elevated in the absence of star players Cheslin Kolbe and Sbu Nkosi — took every attacking chance on tour.
A makeshift back row, with lock Franco Mostert on the flank and the 22-year-old Evan Roos at No 8, bullied their England counterparts. Flyhalf Manie Libbok had an outstanding debut tour with the Boks and should be considered for the 33-man World Cup team bound for France next October.
Up front the Boks delivered on their promise as the best set-piece side in the world. Behind that pack, Willemse, Arendse and Willie le Roux ran from within their own 22. The Bok team at Twickenham varied their approach. In future, opponents should expect them to pose more than just a forward threat.
While the Boks won well at Twickenham, they finished the season with eight wins from 13 matches (62%). In World Rugby rankings, Ireland, France and the All Blacks finished the year ahead of South Africa, but the Boks can look back on a few results with regret. Had they delivered a sharper showing in one or two matches, they would have ended the season at the top of the Test pyramid for the fourth year in a row.
Their inconsistency in the earlier stages of the championship cost them the southern hemisphere title by the smallest of margins
Coach Jacques Nienaber gambled with 14 changes to his starting XV from the first Test against Wales in Pretoria for the second in Bloemfontein. The Boks appeared to be on track for a victory, before they lost control in the latter stages and slumped to their first defeat by the Dragons on home soil.
They hit back to beat Wales 30-14 in the series decider in Cape Town, and were dominant in the Rugby Championship opener against the All Blacks, winning 26-10. Over the next two weeks, however, they crashed to a 12-point defeat by the All Blacks in Joburg, and lost by eight points against the Wallabies in Adelaide.
With their backs to the wall, they rallied to beat the Wallabies by 16 points in Sydney — their first win against the Wallabies in Australia since 2013. They thrashed Argentina by 16 points in Buenos Aires, and by 17 in Durban.
Their inconsistency in the earlier stages of the championship, however, cost them the southern hemisphere title by the smallest of margins — the All Blacks winning because of a superior points difference over six rounds.
Elton Jantjies left the team after allegations of an affair with a member of the management team emerged in the media. A week later, a South African website made unsubstantiated claims about recreational drug use in the team. The Boks arrived in Europe under a cloud, and the weather didn’t improve after director of rugby Rassie Erasmus was banned for two matches for criticising officials in the wake of the defeats by Ireland and France.
The Boks came within a score of winning in Dublin and Marseille. The latter performance was especially impressive, considering they played the bulk of the match with 14 men after Pieter-Steph du Toit’s red card in the 12th minute.
Had the Boks shown more consistency and application in Dublin, and had they been more disciplined and accurate in Marseille, they may have slain the biggest beasts in Test rugby and assumed the mantle of best team in the world. As things stand, they are ranked alongside New Zealand in the “best of the rest” category.
The Tests played in November gave an idea of what to expect at the 2023 World Cup. Ireland and France are the form teams and favoured to win the title. History, however, shows these sides have a habit of bombing at global tournaments.
New Zealand endured one of their least successful seasons in the professional era yet still won the Rugby Championship title and finished their November tour undefeated. They will be a threat at the World Cup. And yet, all three of those Test giants should be wary of the Boks, who underwent a significant transformation in their last two Test matches in Europe. Nienaber’s team looks set to travel to France as a more rounded side, one with a much improved chance of winning another World Cup.
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