“The best part of Cheslin's piece of magic is that he left the unsporting and ungracious Owen Farrell clutching at straws and eating grass – can't think of anything more fitting to sign off a Volume 19, Number 42 great performance by everyone in a green jersey.” – Dan Retief 08 November 2019 waxing lyrical on Twitter. Register to receive your own free weekly newsletter at www.rugbyrsa.co.za The Spectacular Springboks Do it Again If you’re a rugby fan of any kind, you will already know that the Springboks lifted the Webb Ellis Cup as world champions for the third time last Saturday. It was a fantastic game for many, many reasons. And there were many “firsts” that came with that victory too. It was the first time that a team has lost a pool game at the World Cup and gone on to win the title. This was made clear in a RugbyPass article even before the tournament began. It was also the first time that a single team has won The other two key moments were both in an eight The Rugby Championship (or Tri-Nations) and the minute spell starting just after the clock clicked over World Cup in the same year. South Africa is also the 65 minutes. At the time, the score was 18-12 and it only team that remains unbeaten in Rugby World may still have been anybody’s game but after two Cup finals – and have yet to concede a try in a Rugby quick tries by the two wings – see separate story on World Cup final. the tries of the final – the official engraver got busy with the cup. Another interesting statistic from the World Cup is that, on the way to the final, the Springboks defeated Oom Rugby has broken down ten interesting the Pacific Nations Champions (Japan) and the Six moments that he picked out of the game on SA Nations Champions (Wales). In short, it was a hard- Rugby magazine. And New Zealand’s Ben Smith fought but thoroughly deserved victory. (not the rugby player) has penned a brilliant piece on RugbyPass.com analysing what the Springboks did to Looking back to the game itself, the whingers were dismantle England's attack. always chasing it and at no point did they enjoy a lead. Most commentators agree that there were three One final bit of analysis wasn’t finished yet when we key passages of play, beginning with a period when put these pages to bed but we urge you to check out England was camped in the Springbok red zone and Squidge Rugby until it is published. He promises that went through 24 phases without being able to breach it will be the longest script he’s ever written for a the defence. video. Expect some detail. KEY TOPICS IN THIS NEWSLETTER RWC2019: On the Wings of a Dream Mapimpi is Boks’ Big Success Story All Blacks Demolish Wales for Bronze Can the Boks Win It Again in 2023? A Desire Few Others Can Comprehend New 12-Team Championship Proposed Page 1 RWC2019: On the Wings of a Dream All Blacks Demolish Wales for Bronze We mentioned South Africa’s two tries in the Rugby After the disastrous semifinal against England, in World Cup final on page one and here we go into a which Eddie Jones cleverly outmanoeuvred Steve little more detail. But first some background for those Hansen, New Zealand and New Zealanders were who may be new to the strategies at play in a game of hurting. None more so than the idiot fan who had a rugby. tattoo done before the World Cup (see pic below). In a rugby team, every player has a job to do – or, more accurately, several jobs to do. And when done right, the jobs in the tight exchanges can create just a little bit of space in the wider channels, where most teams have some of their fastest and most agile players. That, right there is where the skill-levels of a Makazole Mapimpi and a Cheslin Kolbe come to the fore. But first the Mapimpi try. It began with a dominant scrum and a quick ball from the base out to Lukhanyo Am who quickly shifted it to Malcolm And the fact Hansen chose to use the 3rd/4th play-off Marx. Marx passed to Mapimpi in space, who match to give the likes of Sonny Bill Williams and chipped it over the approaching defender. Am Ben Smith a swansong, led inevitably to questions chased, caught the ball and used a no-look around- about whether they should have been used more the-corner pass to Mapimpi. Try time. earlier in the tournament. As a result, an All Black rout of Wales last Friday in the bronze medal match Marx and Am were also involved in Kolbe’s try. was always likely to be on the cards. Marx executed the tackle that knocked the ball loose, Am scooped it up and popped it up to Pieter-Steph du Interestingly, there was much grumbling on social Toit, who got it out to Kolbe – albeit far too high for media in the preceding week about this match. The comfort. Kolbe then stepped four defenders to seal general feeling seemed to be that it’s a total waste of the victory. time. Initially we were tending toward that view but when the game started, we very quickly changed our Dan Retief described it well on Twitter: “The best minds. part of Cheslin's piece of magic is that he left the unsporting and ungracious Owen Farrell clutching at The first half was a wonderful festival of running straws and eating grass – can't think of anything rugby, delivering five tries (four for the All Blacks more fitting to sign off a great performance by and one for Wales) for a 28-10 score at the break. everyone in a green jersey.” And the festival continued in the second half with New Zealand dotting down again within two minutes of the restart. It took Wales almost twenty minutes to reply but reply they did, at the end of the third quarter – but it was too little, too late as they still trailed by 18 points. In the end, the All Blacks scored again for a final score of 40-17. You can catch the highlights reel by clicking this link. Page 2 Page 3 A Desire Few Others Can Comprehend Mapimpi is Boks’ Big Success Story Following last weekend’s fantastic Springbok victory On Saturday afternoon, barely minutes after South at the World Cup there have been many tributes Africa had won the Rugby World Cup in Japan, SA written celebrating that result. But one of the most Rugby magazine’s Jon Cardinelli published a piece poignant of these appeared on The Guardian’s sports describing Makazole Mapimpi as the Springboks’ blog – and, yes, that’s an English newspaper. most-improved player over the past two years. The headline, “Springboks’ victory driven by a strain of desire few others can comprehend” probably sums up the mood in the Bok camp leading up to and during this campaign. We’ve extracted a few excerpts but would urge you to click-through and read the whole thing. Written by Andy Bull, it begins thus: “Led by a kid from the townships, South Africa’s triumphant side simply had more to play for than England... “Listening to South Africa’s captain, Siya Kolisi, and coach, Rassie Erasmus, talk about what this victory He wrote: “Siya Kolisi and Rassie Erasmus often go meant in the minutes after they had won it, you began out of their way to remind the media and public about to understand exactly what England were up against how far Mapimpi has come. and the way the Springboks were thinking about it, England had lost the match before it even began.” “Kolisi, whose own rags-to-riches story is well documented, understands how difficult it is to beat And referring to Kyle Sinckler going off after being the system and embrace a completely different knocked out cold trying to tackle Makazole Mapimpi: language and culture. Erasmus, who has over two “In the next 40 minutes, the South Africa pack ate up decades of experience in the South African system as England’s scrum as if it had been charcoal-grilled a player and coach, knows how difficult it is to make and served up in a bun with mustard and fried onions. the step up after the age of 25. England buckled at the first scrum after the restart, “Mapimpi’s rise has been particularly remarkable in where they conceded the first of the six scrum these respects. On Saturday, the former Border centre penalties they gave up in the space of 40 minutes. It became the first South African to score a try in the was a judo move. The Springboks had taken one of World Cup final. That five-pointer boosted his tally England’s biggest strengths and, by attacking it so for the tournament to six.” [We have detailed how ruthlessly, turned it into one of their biggest that try came about on page two – Ed.] weaknesses.” Cardinelli continues: “What was more impressive, and perhaps more significant in terms of the contest, was Mapimpi’s showing under the high ball. “Erasmus reiterated after the game that the wing ‘couldn’t catch a ball’ when he first arrived at the Boks in June 2018. In the 2019 World Cup final, however, Mapimpi’s anticipation and ability to pluck the pill from the sky allowed the Boks to make some important territorial gains." We urge you to click-through to read the full article.