Boks need introspection as they head into Rugby Championship

The Springboks, All Blacks, Wallabies and Los Pumas all emerged from their midyear skirmishes with unwanted scratches, bumps and bruises.

Sure, the Boks and the Pumas eventually emerged victorious from battles with their northern hemisphere opponents but they all have to undergo some introspection before they head into the Rugby Championship starting Saturday week.

The Springboks rolled the dice in selection and got partially scorched by the Welsh Dragons but they insist valuable lessons were learnt. Though they did not articulate any lessons, these should reveal themselves in their selections for their rather pressing Rugby Championship opener against the All Blacks in Mbombela, Mpumalanga.

Director of rugby Rassie Erasmus commended the players after the series and defended the selections made, especially in the second Test when a much changed team was sent into battle. He stressed that they did not learn less from that encounter just because the team lost in the closing minutes, and to a degree he’s right.

Erasmus and Co’s critique, however, should be equally searching of the line-ups they chose for the first and third Tests. They have as much to glean from the stuttering performances of their supposedly full strength line-up.

The series did throw up some interesting ponderables ahead of the Rugby Championship.

Scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse has advanced up the Bok pecking order without setting the world alight. To be fair, pyrotechnics are not part of a modern-day Bok scrumhalf’s job description. Hendrikse was steady and did what was expected of him.

Faf de Klerk, however, did show in the closing minutes of the deciding Test why he has been the long-time occupant of the No 9 jersey. He brought energy and urgency as the Boks distanced themselves from Wales.

Damian Willemse showed his value, particularly in the first Test. There is no doubt that he can operate on the game’s highest peaks, but in which position he settles remains a question.

Cheslin Kolbe’s jaw injury is untimely but Kurt-Lee Arendse proved he is capable of replicating his Bulls form in the Test arena. He was not overawed and looked like he belongs.

The fact that Pieter-Steph du Toit came through the second and third Tests unscathed would have come as huge relief to him and the Bok brains trust. The Boks will hope to add Duane Vermeulen to their back-row mix during the course of the competition.

The All Blacks will have to probe even deeper in their search for answers after their series defeat to Ireland. They will arrive here this week having lost four out of five Tests. Under-fire coach Ian Foster remains in charge, and he largely gave the squad that so underwhelmed against Ireland the thumbs up.

Sam Cane remains captain but prop Ethan de Groot and loose forward Shannon Frizell are in the squad at the expense of Karl Tu’inukuafe and Pita Gus Sowakula.

The untested De Groot’s addition is an interesting development. The All Blacks’ props lack the authority and gravitas of their predecessors and this is a department in which they will have to show marked improvement — soon.

Sam Cane remains captain but prop Ethan de Groot and loose forward Shannon Frizell are in the squad at the expense of Karl Tu’inukuafe and Pita Gus Sowakula

They will also want to interrogate why they were so leaden-footed at the start of all three Tests against Ireland.

Crucially, lock Brodie Retallick, who cracked his cheekbone in the last Test, has been included in the squad.

The All Blacks coaching group will undergo some yet to be disclosed operational changes, but Foster stressed he is still the man in charge.

“There is no doubt I’m under pressure. But I’m always under pressure,” he said when he announced his squad for the Rugby Championship.

The Wallabies too are under the microscope. For all their dynamism and explosiveness in attack, their poor game management continues to drag them under.

To be fair, they suffered a dispiriting number of injuries in their series loss to England, which coach Dave Rennie hopes to address by having their so-called Giteau Law restriction of three overseas-based players in their squad increased to four.

With one of those nominated players, Samu Kerevi, off to the Commonwealth Games, a spot has opened for Rennie to select giant lock Rory Arnold.

The Pumas will draw much from their dramatic last-gasp series win over Scotland. It will give them confidence, as will the return of captain Julian Montoya, Nicolas Sanchez, Tomas Cubelli, Santiago Cordero and Benjamin Urdapilleta.

Los Pumas missed the kicking prowess and decision-making of Cubelli and Sanchez and their return will bolster areas in which the Wallabies were at times found wanting against England.

They are, however, still prone to lapses in composure and coach  Michael Cheika will have his work cut out to eradicate it.

With so many ponderables spread so wide across its combatants, this year’s Rugby Championship is as open as it’s ever been.