The Springboks sit pretty after winning their series against the All Blacks, with set-piece dominance, secure goal-kicking and an improving defence.
The Springboks celebrate a 3-1 series win over the All Blacks at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Picture: Richard Nichols/NurPhoto via Getty Images
As the Springboks take a short break before facing the Wallabies in two weeks they can savour winning their first full-length All Blacks tour since 1996.
The Springboks showed why they have been the dominant force in rugby in recent years, reclaiming the world No 1 ranking after their defeat at Ellis Park with three consecutive wins in Cape Town, Soweto and Baltimore to win the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series 3-1.
Here are five boxes the South African team ticked during the series.
Scrum dominance
Without doubt, the one department the Springboks have beaten all opposition in in recent years.
As scrum coach Dan Humaan said, the scrum is part of South African rugby culture and so part of its people’s culture.
The Springboks dominated the set-piece in the first Test until one penalty finally went against them, for prop Gerhard Steenekamp “walking around” the scrum. Momentum turned, and the Boks lost that one game in the series.
Controversy followed as a narrative emerged about the Springboks allegedly scrumming illegally, and Angus Gardner simply refused to referee the scrums in the second Test, which the All Blacks collapsed on several occasions.
Referee Nika Amashukeli was less intimidated and refereed the scrums well in the third Test, which All Blacks coach Dave Rennie said were fair, even though the Springboks found dominance, winning many scrum penalties and being awarded a penalty try once.
The scrum dominance continued in the fourth Test.
Supremacy in lineouts
The Springboks got the upper hand in the lineouts from as early as the second Test in Cape Town, and held onto it for the remainder of the series.
It will be a sore point for the All Blacks, who failed to find an answer despite the presence of some experienced and quality hands, and that of last year’s World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the year, lock Fabian Holland.
Test centurion, hooker Codie Taylor, and half-centurion lock Patrick Tuipulotu were even taken out of the matchday 23 altogether, with Holland also moved to the bench, as Rennie desperately sought an answer between Tests two and three.
Goal-kicking
Cheslin Kolbe has become the unlikely hero off the tee this season, slotting all 11 of his kicks in the first two Tests.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Manie Libbok, and even scrumhalf Morné van den Berg stepped up in the third and fourth Tests to provide fairly reliable backup options, even without the presence of 2023 World Cup hero Handré Pollard.
These players, with U20 stars Vusi Moyo and Yaqeen Ahmed in the flanks, bode well ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Breakdowns
The Springboks struggled at the breakdown in the first Test, being surprised by the All Blacks’ tactic of ripping the ball in many of the tackles.
This improved as the series went on, and the Springboks gained better control of the breakdown, even enacting some important turnovers of their own in the latter Tests.
Malcolm Marx remains a key breakdown stealer, but there were other Bok players as well who got in on the act over the series.
Defence
Like the breakdowns, the Springboks struggled in defence in the wide channels, especially in the first Test, but improved as the series progressed.
Still, it was not until the fourth Test that they finally scored more tries than their opponents (six tries to four).
Up until then, the Springboks had lost five tries to one at Ellis Park, won three tries to four in Cape Town and won four Tries apiece in Soweto.
Erasmus was correct when he said scoring tries was not the only way to win matches, but he’ll be glad his side ticked the box in Baltimore in an area they needed to improve urgently.
