Boks to run riot over Romania

The Springboks will have fun against Romania — and they will score plenty of tries. They will play with freedom against a team whose players wouldn’t win a match in the Varsity Shield.

But this is not how the Boks will beat Ireland next weekend, and what you will see later today is not the formula the Boks will use to win three successive play-off matches in defending the World Cup title they won in Japan in 2019.

The Boks, like hosts France, know their own respective strengths. These include a power pack and an aggressive defence. They also have attacking players good enough to punish turnovers, regardless of field position.

Ireland are ranked No 1, marginally ahead of the Boks, who edge France into third place. If you were talking about league play and consistency in wins, then Ireland would justify that ranking, but in one-off knockout matches it is South Africa and France who are the best. It is because of the nature of their approach, their game management and the make-up of their first-choice match-day 23s. 

France, with Fabian Galthie the lead strategist and Shaun Edwards the defensive mastermind, play winning rugby. It is so unlike the romance historically associated with a free-flowing France, but it is proving more effective than at any stage for them since the game went professional in 1996.

The Springboks’ suffocation of Scotland was beautifully brutal

Galthie’s France kick more than any team in international rugby. This effective in-field kicking game from No 9, No 10 and No 15, allows France to dictate field position and tempo. 

France captain and No 9 Anton Dupont is the most influential player currently in the game, and he is the key to any French ambitions of a first ever World Cup title.

France, under Galthie, have a similar mindset to the Springboks under Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber. Both teams put a premium on set piece control, defence and on kicking for field position and building scoreboard pressure. 

France, with former Springbok Vlok Cilliers as their kicking coach, have been more successful off the kicking tee, and more consistent in their line kicking. The Boks have been more imposing and destructive with their set pieces, courtesy of their six power forward replacements, who are as good as the six starters they replace.

The Springboks’ suffocation of Scotland was beautifully brutal. 

The Scots are the All Blacks of the northern hemisphere, in terms of an attacking mindset  and ability to score tries. They were smothered and bullied in every contact situation last Sunday. On the odd occasion that they beat the Boks’ rush defence with speed of hand and a pass, the Boks’ scramble defence won the day.

Manie Libbok’s turn, chase and tackle on Scotland winger Darcy Graham was textbook-like in the definition of “scramble defence”.

When the All Blacks pummelled the Wallabies 33-9 in the Bledisloe Cup/Rugby Championship in Melbourne a few months ago, the ball was in play for 40 minutes. It was exhibition rugby. It looked wonderful, but against teams like South Africa and France, the All Blacks, given their all-out ball-in-hand attacking philosophy, were always going to be vulnerable.

In the World Cup tournament opener in Paris the ball was in play for 27 minutes. The French kicked deep and with precision, and easily isolated the All Blacks attacking runners. Their set piece was strong, and their kick-chase was even stronger, and they forced the All Blacks into playing in their own red zone.

This led to All Blacks mistakes  and French penalties and points. The Boks did a similar thing to Scotland. 

Many bemoaned the lack of tries from France and South Africa but, for me, it was a different kind of rugby poetry, and one that I have always associated with those teams who have won every World Cup. 

Defence is the most potent attack at World Cups and effective line and goal kicking will bring greater reward than the pursuit of attacking extravagance and long-range tries.