Stormers sensation Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was the biggest winner in the Springboks Test series against Ireland.
The drawn home series was not lost — which was some solace for the Boks — and when the dimming light of a two-nil series win was snuffed out with a remarkable Ireland drop goal with the last kick of the game, there was a moon-like glow around Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Ireland will feel they have the bragging rights, having drawn a series in South Africa, with only their second Test victory in the Republic. It also meant Rassie Erasmus — in six years and four Tests against Ireland — is one win from four.
At least there remains a challenge for the Bok coach, whose Test coaching CV includes successive World Cup titles in 2019 and 2023, a 2-1 series win against the British & Irish Lions in 2021, a Rugby Championship title, a win in New Zealand and Australia, and victories against every nation the Boks have played since he returned from Ireland in 2017.
After the second World Cup win, Erasmus called for greater consistency in results, and spoke of the squad’s ambition to be as good in between World Cups as they were at the 2019 and 2023 World Cups. He also said, before the start of the international season, that 2024 would be an international year of transition and opportunity for new players, for fringe players who had been in the system and for the squad when it came to an attacking mindset.
Erasmus, as he has consistently shown in his coaching career, has never been influenced by age, whether 19 or 38. If he has felt a player adds value to the Springboks, he has picked the player
The Boks, in the one-off Test win against Wales at Twickenham, and in the two Tests against Ireland looked like a team in transition, showing glimpses of a new attacking mindset and structure, while also showing just enough mongrel and physicality to give comfort that the natural rugby playing DNA of the Boks would not be forsaken for the idealism of chasing the complete game.
The Wallabies, in Australia, will provide a different type of challenge and, by the time the All Blacks arrive in South Africa for successive Tests at the end of August, both the Boks and the All Blacks will be squads with more of an identity than was showcased in the opening month of the Test season.
Erasmus, as he has consistently shown in his coaching career, has never been influenced by age, whether 19 or 38. If he has felt a player adds value to the Springboks, he has picked the player.
He invested in veteran hooker Schalk Brits to do a specific playing and mentoring role at the 2019 World Cup, and he did the same with Deon Fourie at the 2023 World Cup. Fourie, a loose-forward who had started his career at hooker, became the oldest Springbok in history to debut and played the final 77 minutes of the World Cup at hooker because of an injury to Bongi Mbonambi. He captained the Boks in the dramatic final few minutes against the All Blacks.
Erasmus gave Canan Moodie his debut against Australia, when the Bulls winger was just 19 years old. He picked Manie Libbok to start at flyhalf, had no hesitation in acting on what he had seen in Kurt-Lee Arendse as a Test winger and showed faith in rejuvenating Jesse Kriel’s international career as a starting option.
He has also seen a Test-type mentality in Stormers loose-forward BJ Dixon and the leadership qualities of Stormers lock and captain Salman Moerat, who became the first Muslim to lead the Springboks in yesterday’s Test against Portugal.
Rassie also did not hesitate to give Siya Kolisi the Springboks captaincy in 2018, another historic moment for South Africa, and in the next few months there will be more individual positives than stumbles, the most notable of these being the magical carpet ride of utility back Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
