The RWC2019 Debrief: South Africa

Welcome to the RWC2019 Debriefs. The World Cup is now over and a new 4 year cycle begins, but the first stage of any cycle should be looking back at how things went – what went wrong and what went right – before looking on to how things go for the next cycle to ensure qualification to RWC2023 (if they haven’t automatically qualified) and to make sure they enter that tournament in peak form.

As I continue down the list alphabetically, today I will be looking at South Africa.

RWC2019 Qualification

As the team who finished 3ʳᵈ at RWC2015, South Africa automatically qualified for the 2019 tournament.

2019 Form

While things were not looking great earlier in the cycle, the move to get rid of Allister Coetzee and have SARU Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus take over the head coach role started to improve performances and results.

Coming into 2019, South Africa won the shortened Rugby Championship with wins at home to Australia and away to Argentina, to add to a draw in New Zealand. In their final warm-up matches ahead of the World Cup, they managed a victory at home to Argentina and demolished Japan 7-41.

The Debrief

• Pool Stages (2ⁿᵈ in Pool B)
  • New Zealand 23-13 South Africa
  • South Africa 57-3 Namibia
  • South Africa 49-3 Italy
  • South Africa 66-7 Canada
• Quarterfinal
  • Japan 3-26 South Africa
• Semifinal
  • Wales 16-19 South Africa
• Final
  • England 12-32 South Africa

Looking at their pool before the tournament, South Africa would have been confident that they would make it out of their pool, with their opener against New Zealand likely deciding who came first. Despite coming in looking on better form, South Africa came off second best against New Zealand, with their mistakes being punished by a clinical All Blacks side, though there were some very strong performances from winger Cheslin Kolbe and back rowers Duane Vermeulen and Pieter-Steph du Toit.

With the hard match out of the way, the rest of the pool stage was about spreading the minutes throughout the squad to keep everyone fresh while remaining dominant. This chopping and changing of players did lead to some sloppy moments that cost them points, but never enough to put the win at risk. While Faf de Klerk didn’t have the best of pool stages, Herschel Jantjies and Cobus Reinach showed the depth at 9 in this squad, while the pack did an incredible job of dominating at mauls and scrums. Against Italy, this physical advantage was nullified by early Italian injuries resulting in uncontested scrums less than 20 minutes into the match, but a red card for Andrea Lovotti soon after halftime helped the Springboks pull away. They finished off their pool stage with a strong 66-7 win over Canada, but after putting on 40 points in the first 30 minutes, they failed to push on after Josh Larsen’s 36ᵗʰ minute red card.

If there was any worries that this limited second half against Canada hinted at problems to come, the Springboks quickly proved that would not be the case, as they got revenge for Japan’s win in Brighton. The pack was dominant from the first minute and this, combined with some great defence from Lukhanyo Am in midfield, nullified the Japan attack and created an incredible platform to attack off. De Klerk was starting to come back to form by this point and with his job made so easy by the pack, he was able to control the attack and get a try of his own, well playing an important role in the defence.

De Klerk’s game management – along with that of fly half Handré Pollard – proved important in a tight semifinal against Wales. Again, the Springbok pack gained an advantage and the defence held strong to stop the Welsh, while a combination of the halfback’s tactical kicking and Damian de Allende’s hard running (and deserved try) were enough to pull out a narrow victory.

Going into the final with England, we were given a clash of 2 great packs, but the South African forwards earned the dominance and another strong tactical game, with the team eventually breaking down England for a couple of late tries, earning the Springboks their 3ʳᵈ World Cup title to pull level with New Zealand.

Looking Ahead

This is a squad in a very good position. Coming into the tournament, only 7 of the squad were in their 30s, so a very high number should still be available come 2023, while a number of younger players who are maybe on the fringes of the XV and 23 at the moment are set to become regulars over the next few years, such as RG Snyman, Damian Willemse, S’busiso Nkosi, Herschel Jantjies and Kwagga Smith.

The key thing right now is not cutting off any options. A few years ago, the preference was clearly towards players based in South Africa, but so many of the squad and other potential internationals like the du Preez brothers are moving abroad. Players like Faf de Klerk and Cobus Reinach can point to playing abroad as having revitalised their career, so it could be that by allowing other players to move outside of South Africa, it allows them to learn different playing styles while also opening up spots back home for the talent coming through.

Right now, there are a few places that maybe need some attention. In the back row, it Francois Louw and Vermeulen will have both played their last World Cups, while flankers Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit will also both be in their 30s. Kwagga Smith is an incredible talent, great at the breakdown while his 7s background makes him dangerous in the loose. Dan de Preez looked fantastic for the Sharks and has carried that form into his early days at Sale. At 24 years old, this is the perfect time to bring him into the national squad and build him into the next star in the back row. Fly half also needs a look, as Elton Jantjies will be 33 come the next tournament and does not appear international standard to me anyway, while Handré Pollard can be a great player for a defensive territory-focused gameplan, he does not have the same level of expertise when running a more expansive attack. Curwin Bosch and Damian Willemse need to decide now if they want to play fly half or full back internationally and focus on the position, while the next generation of fly halves needs to start making its way through in Super Rugby too.

The other key thing right now is the man in charge. With the World Cup over, Rassie Erasmus has left his role as head coach to focus on his duties as SARU Director of Rugby. We saw in the Allister Coetzee reign just how badly things can go with the wrong man in charge, so the union need to make sure that they get in someone who can build on Erasmus’ good work. Johan Ackermann is a name that has been mentioned and while I completely agree with the quality of his work with the Lions and Gloucester, as a Gloucester fan I hope that the Springboks job will be his in the far future.

Assuming they get the right person in charge, this is a team that will be hard to beat over the coming years.