“A player can tick all the boxes he wants to, but if said boxes don’t amount to the kind of player a coach wants in his team, there’s little anyone can do about it.” – Simnikiwe Xabanisa writing in City Press Volume 1, Number 15 15 November 2018 Register to receive your own free weekly newsletter at www.leopardnewsletters.co.za Chalk One Up in the Win Column Almost without exception, the press coverage since the win against France has been guardedly positive across most local media outlets. The inimitable Tank Lanning (@TankLanning) was perhaps the most accurate when he described the situation thus: “Last week [in London], the Boks were the width of a rugby post away from beating England at Twickenham. This week, they were a layer of dubbin away from losing to the French in Paris.” Indeed, right up the last few minutes at Stade de France, it looked like the Springboks were on for a second narrow defeat in a row. It was just that last- Herman’s third and fourth talking points are the high gasp try (in the 85th minute) by Bongi Mbonambi hit on Kolbe that went unpunished and Faf’s that sealed the win. questionable scrum put-ins, both worthy of discussion. He wraps up his analysis in a manner that Tank’s analysis is typically astute and well worth echoes Tank’s assessment above: “A feel-good Bok reading in full. In a nutshell, he looks at the statistics victory, but...” from the match, finds much about which to be positive and several things that need work. All in all, And over on Rugby365.com, Warren Fortune the whole article is pretty well summed up in his (@FortuneWarren) reckons the Boks suffer from headline: “Bok glass is half full”. 'tunnel vision' and he suggests that they’ll have to be a whole lot smarter in their decision-making against Across on Sport24, Herman Mostert has a piece Scotland this weekend than they were against France. entitled “5 talking points: France v Springboks”, in He has a point: which he picks out five key moments in the match. The first of these is the extra-time try mentioned “The Boks were too predictable for large periods of above. Associated with that is his second talking their 29-26 win against France in Paris last weekend. point: the penalty that Francois Louw won, that led to Their attack was devoid of any creativity and they the line-out and sequence of play that resulted in the seemed intent on employing the box kick with match-winning try. varying degrees of success.” KEY TOPICS IN THIS NEWSLETTER Boks Are Not a Fantasy League Team Blitzbokke Preparation in Final Stretch Rassie’s Murrayfield dilemma The World Record that Wasn’t Saffa Duo May be Key for Scotland Rassie’s Scrumhalf Conundrum Page 1 Boks Are Not a Fantasy League Team A dose of what was probably unwelcome reality was From the outcry on social media, Xabanisa suggests dished out in City Press this past Sunday when that fans appear to be hoping that the sheer weight of Simnikiwe Xabanisa, reminded fans that Springbok their indignation will change Rassie’s decision not to coach and director of rugby at SA Rugby, Rassie pick van der Merwe for the end-of-year tour. In so Erasmus, is not selecting a fantasy rugby team. doing he delves into the interesting factors the coach had to weigh up in the hooker position for the End Of Although writing primarily about Akker van der Year Tour. Merwe fans, his larger point is relevant to all players that fans feel are not selected when they, the fans, For those interested in how he got to the punch line think that they should be selected. (below) click the link above for the full story. For those who want to cut to the chase, he writes: “The bigger point here is that, while being selected is a democratic right, being on form doesn’t turn it into a birthright. A player can tick all the boxes he wants to, but if said boxes don’t amount to the kind of player a coach wants in his team, there’s little anyone can do about it. “In all the time I’ve written about rugby, I’ve never seen a Springbok Fans’ XV trot on to the field to start a test on any given Saturday.” True that. Rassie Alludes to Selection Consistency Vociferous rugby commentator, Mark Keohane, believes that Rassie Erasmus is unlikely to make many changes to his match day squad for Saturday, in an effort to not lose winning momentum. He quotes Erasmus speaking of the “balancing act” he faced in terms of selection. Keohane adds: “While he will be wanting to build depth for the next year’s World Cup, he also faces the statistic of just a 50% win ratio (6 from 12) this year and will want to be trying to build winning momentum leading into next year.” And while he concedes that the Boks will be forcedly without the services of eighth man Warren Whiteley and scrum half Faf De Klerk for Saturday (both reported on elsewhere in this issue), he doesn’t expect Erasmus to make many other changes. Page 2 Page 3 Rassie’s Murrayfield dilemma Writing in SA Rugby magazine, Jon Cardinelli suggests that Rassie Erasmus faces a tough call between managing his top players and fielding a pack that can neutralise Scotland’s breakdown bandits. It’s a good point, especially with the doubt over Warren Whitely's fitness. But what it fails to consider fully is the incredible depth that South Africa has among the loose forwards. Or perhaps not; Cardinelli does note that Erasmus has blooded 19 new caps over the past 12 Tests and experimented with combinations. That said, he does ask a pertinent question: "So, should Erasmus pick As Cardinelli writes: his strongest available side ahead of the matches against Scotland and Wales with a view to banking "And yet his decision may not be so simple when one those results?" considers the bigger picture. Erasmus has promised to give the less experienced players as well as those Most fans would say absolutely: always pick the on the fringes more game time on this tour. He also strongest 22 players available on match day. But that has a responsibility to rest and manage some of the may be a strategy from a bygone era when rugby first-choice stars, though, as they will have key roles tours lasted three months and were only repeated to play at the 2019 World Cup." every decade or so. Saffa Duo May be Key for Scotland Former Scotland and South Africa international player, John Allan, believes that South African-born props Allan Dell and WP Nel will have a key role to play at Murrayfield on Saturday. He spoke to SA Rugby magazine's Dylan Jack. Allan told Jack: "They will give the Boks respect. But sometimes if you give the opposition too much respect, it can work against you." "On the other hand, they will have that extra little bit of motivation because they were born in South Africa, are now Scottish and will want to prove a point. They will Allan adds: "If Scotland matches them upfront and want to prove that if they were still in South Africa, manages to secure ball, I think they have a better they would be there, that they are better than the Boks," attacking backline than the Boks. They also make continued Allan. better decisions. Sometimes the Bok backline kicks the ball away at the wrong time and doesn’t always But the two props are not the only former South convert pressure into points. Africans likely to play for Scotland on Saturday. Former Golden Lions eighth man Josh Strauss is also If I was Rassie Erasmus, I would be telling the likely to be involved. forwards that the game will be won and lost upfront." Page 4 Page 5 Blitzbokke Preparation in Final Stretch The World Record that Wasn’t Tomorrow it will be two weeks until the start of the A piece in last week’s newsletter (second story) 2018/2019 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in highlighted the possibility that one or both of Dubai and the second round follows just a week later Namibia or New Zealand could establish a new world in Cape Town. record for the number of consecutive matches in which they scored four or more tries. Both had The Blitzbokke began final preparations earlier in the equalled the current record (held by New Zealand month after the availability (or not) of key players and accomplished in 2016) of 12 matches. was clarified. The bottom line is that some reshuffling has been necessitated by a number of First up was Nambia, taking on Russia at the Kuban regulars moving to fifteens and some players nursing Stadium in Krasnodar, Russia (about 300km north of injuries. Sochi) and it didn’t go well. At halftime the Namibians were trailing 19-6 and the Russians put the boot in after the break, scoring two quick tries both of which were converted. In the end, Namibia lost the match 47-20 and scored only two tries. Seabelo Senatla, Kwagga Smith, Dylan Sage, Ruhan Nel, Rhyno Smith and Tim Agaba are concentrating on the 15-man game for now, while Cecil Afrika, Stedman Gans and Heino Bezuidenhout have injuries. Shortly thereafter, New Zealand took on England at Twickenham and was also trailing at the break: 15-0.