The curtain dropped on Saturday night on the 10th Rugby World Cup in Paris — and on an era in Springbok rugby.
Outgoing head coach Jacques Nienaber this week noted the significance of again playing in the RWC final for the Bok brand. “I think this group will never happen in our lifetime again,” he said about the Class of ’23.
Nienaber and assistant coach Felix Jones will now depart the scene, as will influential No 8 Duane Vermeulen. Other Boks who are no spring chickens — like Deon Fourie, Trevor Nyakane and Willie le Roux — would have played their last RWC, while a considerable band in their early 30s are unlikely to join the chorus for the next instalment of the tournament in Australia in four years.
Some will argue this squad was six years in the making when then head coach Rassie Erasmus and Nienaber quickly had to develop a turnaround strategy at the end of 2017.
The Boks were a beleaguered bunch when the pair took over. The team had won just two of their last eight Tests in 2017. The reality is a large chunk of the group, who are now in their early 30s, emerged from Erasmus and Nienaber’s tutelage as juniors.
Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi and Steven Kitshoff were exposed to their ways, with Kolisi crediting Nienaber as the coach that taught him to tackle.
I think this group will never happen in our lifetime again
— Jacques Nienaber, outgoing Springbok coach
Nienaber, as high performance manager at SA Rugby, also helped refine the skills of Damian Willemse, Manie Libbok, Jessie Kriel and Malcolm Marx.
By the time Erasmus and Nienaber took over the Boks, the core of the 2023 squad had been established. “It was never a secret, if you look back from 2018 our focus was always on 2023,” reminded assistant coach Mzwandile Stick, who is a prime candidate to eventually take over from Nienaber.
“A miracle happened in Japan but it was always part of the plan to make sure we performed at our peak in this World Cup,” said Stick.
Four years on, and the Boks have steadily built on the foundations of 2019. Though 2020 was lost to the pandemic, the world champions won the tightly contested series against the British & Irish Lions in 2021.
A win over the All Blacks in Gold Coast followed, as well as a first win in a decade at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
Some of the All Blacks’ vulnerabilities were laid bare in a stunning win in Mbombela last year, while a first triumph against the Wallabies on Australian soil in nine years followed in Sydney, as well as an eight-year drought-breaking win against England in London.
There were setbacks but they mostly occurred as game time was spread across a wider pool of players.
This RWC remained the clear objective. “As a team we are in a good space and a lot of credit must go to these two gentlemen,” said Stick of Nienaber and Jones.
Jones, in some ways the troubleshooting minister without portfolio, will leave a considerable gap in the Bok coaching ranks. “Slotting in was very straightforward and, from there, because it has been over four years now, I think it’s naturally taking on other responsibilities,” he said. “Trying to figure out what is actually going ... to make the team operate better.”
Jones said what made him most proud was how the Boks stuck together. “On-field and off-field, every team faces challenges and sometimes you come out the right side of the result. But there’s been many games where we’ve lost via the last kick of the game or in the dying minutes, but I’ve never seen us giving up. Off-field, there are so many challenges in general in South Africa but, for the guys, it just makes them tighter.”
Naturally the player losses will be keenly felt, perhaps no more so than the enduring excellence of Vermeulen.
“What a legend,” enthused Stick. “He’s a very, very special guy who has made a lot of sacrifices in his career. Duane, he is definitely going to leave the jersey in a better place. He has really put dignity in that jersey.”
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