Lions Tour 1st Test: Boks perhaps undercooked and questions over Kwagga, water boy coach and bomb squad
The Springboks were the last team to win a series against the British and Irish Lions, back in 2009.
After having missed out on the year-end tour to Europe of 2019 and the whole of 2020 due to Covid-19, the men in green and gold returned to test rugby against Georgia two weeks ago, giving us a glimpse into their current form.
They’re a bit undercooked, but it’s difficult to tell right now if so much time away from the game will harm or help them.
Whatever the case, the Boks will be hoping to win the series, like they did in 2009.
Since then the Lions have enjoyed success Down Under, beating Australia in 2013 and drawing with back-to-back world champions New Zealand in 2017.
Some will argue, that in terms of figuring out form, a better prediction can be made for the outcome of the upcoming series by analysing the match between the Lions and South Africa A side, which saw over six World Cup winners feature in the side.
With the first test of the 2021 series set to get underway in Cape Town this Saturday (24th), neglecting what we saw against the Georgians and focusing on the A side’s performance would be negligent due to some of the new adaptations and adjustments I saw that were made by the Boks.
The first and most obvious one is that new head coach Jacques Nienaber is more than capable of taking over the reins from his predecessor and current director of SA Rugby, Rassie Erasmus, as they switched roles and Erasmus move to the touch line.
In 2019 the Springboks revolutionised the impact player positions with the introduction of the ‘Bomb Squad’. By using a six-two split (with six forwards and two back on the bench) the team was able to maintain a level of physical output up front in traditional SA rugby ‘kopperstamp‘ style.
Will it be as successful? Have other teams become wise to the strategy? How much energy can the starting front row drain from the Lions pack before the impact players arrive?
I can’t wait to see.
However what’s become more apparent in recent times is the role of the ‘coaching water boy’ that has been used since the 2019 Rugby World Cup (RWC), but was only really brought to our attention recently.
The coaching water boy role allows Erasmus to be on the touch line and give out direct instructions during play, especially during phases of defence.
This directly relates to the role played by the absent Duane Vermeulen.
‘Thor’ plays a massive role when organising the Springbok defence by observing the game and positioning players.
He isn’t the first to shoot up, and allows himself to be positioned right behind the breakdown to watch closely before making a call.
Sometimes these calls are instructions yelled from the touchline by the water boy coach, a role previously played by Nienaber at the RWC.
With Vermeulen currently sitting out with an ankle injury, and still a big doubt in terms of his availability for the second and third tests, Nienaber will look to eighth man replacement Kwagga Smith.
He has proven quite capable of playing the technical role, as mentioned by Erasmus when he explained Smith’s inclusion in the RWC squad.
In the games he’s started, Smith proved he’s not one to be counted out, and he earned his selection over promising newcomer Jasper Wiese.
Kwagga is a very different player to the robust and feared Vermeulen, but his energy, pace and cunning could prove the Boks secret weapon.
British & Irish Lions and Wales coach Warren Gatland has proven he is a formidable opponent, having been the only one to have an answer for the Boks’ tactical eighth man position.
He did this by neutralising Vermeulen in making sure his player ran the ball at him, keeping him too occupied at the breakdown to give out defensive instruction.
The water boy coach position seems to have irked Gatland and he had a few words to say about Erasmus in the post match press conference in the South African A side game.
It will be interesting to see how this all works out.
KICK OFF: 18:00
TEAMS
B & I Lions
15 Stuart Hogg
14 Anthony Watson
13 Elliot Daly
12 Robbie Henshaw
11 Duhan van der Merwe
10 Dan Biggar
9 Ali Price
8 Jack Conan
7 Tom Curry
6 Courtney Lawes
5 Alun Wyn-Jones (c)
4 Maro Itoje
3 Tadhg Furlong
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie
1 Wyn Jones
BENCH:
16 Ken Owens
17 Rory Sutherland
18 Kyle Sinckler
19 Tadhg Beirne
20 Hamish Watson
21 Conor Murray
22 Owen Farrell
23 Liam Williams
SOUTH AFRICA
15 Willie le Roux
14 Cheslin Kolbe
13 Lukhanyo Am
12 Damian de Allende
11 Makazole Mapimpi
10 Handre Pollard
9 Faf de Klerk
8 Kwagga Smith
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit
6 Siya Kolisi (c)
5 Franco Mostert
4 Eben Etzebeth
3 Trevor Nyakane
2 Bongi Mbonambi
1 Ox Nche
BENCH:
16 Malcolm Marx
17 Steven Kitshoff
18 Frans Malherbe
19 Lood de Jager
20 Rynhardt Elstadt
21 Herschel Jantjies
22 Elton Jantjies
23 Damian Willemse
