‘Genuine antagonism’ from England towards Springboks is music to South African ears

Rassie Erasmus has some sympathy for English counterpart Steve Borthwick. (Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

By Craig Ray

15 Nov 2024

England and the Springboks clash in London on Saturday, 16 November, their first meeting since a spiteful Rugby World Cup 2023 semifinal in Paris last October.

The Springboks’ showdown against England at Twickenham on Saturday, 16 November, is the literal and figurative centrepiece of their northern hemisphere tour.

It sits between clashes against Scotland (the Boks won 32-15) and Wales next week, but it’s really the most important game of the tour.

Bok coach Rassie Erasmus admitted the team for this encounter had been selected “three weeks ago”, confirming the depth of planning that’s gone into this one.

There are many underlying reasons why this game is so big for the Boks.

For a start, it’s England. That’s enough to get any Springbok player’s dander up. It’s one of those games that South African players loathe to lose; a mindset which is laced with all sorts of collective and individual motivations.

And it’s also about acknowledging that England, regardless of form, are a very good side and are therefore a very big scalp to take – especially away from home.

‘Kantgate’ revisited

This one promises to have even more edge to it than usual. The infamous Tom Curry/Bongi Mbonambi ‘kantgate’ scandal from last year’s RWC semi-final has cropped up. Curry isn’t playing because of concussion, but it hasn’t stopped column inches in the UK press devoted to raking over old coals without adding anything new.

Former England captain Courtney Lawes used his column in the Times to revisit the alleged racist comment by Mbonambi towards Curry.

“There is genuine antagonism between the two sets of players and for some of our lads it will be very personal after last year’s World Cup semifinal defeat,” Lawes, a fine lock/flank, wrote.

“I know he (Tom Curry) is injured this week but his brother, Ben, could well be playing (he is not) and there will be plenty of other lads in the England team who will use what happened last year to take their emotional state to another level.”

That will be music to the Boks’ ears. If opponents are in a heightened “emotional state” it usually leads to mistakes and loss of control.

Read more: Springbok hooker Mbonambi slams ‘unprofessional’ England in aftermath of RWC ‘racial slur’ row

South African rugby knows this all too well. It was at Twickenham in 2002 that the Boks lost all self-control in 80 minutes of mayhem on a day of shame. There was a red card for lock Jannes Labuschagne (under today’s laws there might have been many more) and a lowlight reel of shame for skipper Corné Krige, who was on a rampage. The Boks lost 53-3.

Those days are thankfully gone, yet this generation of Boks still brings wincing physicality and a tungsten-hard edge to the game. It’s controlled aggression though, wrapped in exceptional skills and crystal clear planning.

There will be emotion – rugby is a game of passion and physical courage – but it is focused and channelled towards positive outcomes.

Freddie Steward of England during the international Test between the All Blacks and England at Eden Park on 13 July 2024 in Auckland. (Photo: Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Forward planning

To that end, Bok coach Rassie Erasmus has again confounded expectations by shelving the bomb squad this week, picking a backline primed to attack and gone with a traditional 5/3 split on the bench.

Clearly the Boks want to score in increments of five points and not three. But with a massive pack in which locks RG Snyman and Eben Etzebeth start together for the first time, they have the tools to do the job multiple ways.

The forecast is for rain during the match, which has Manie Libbok haters in a toestand, given his well-documented struggles in damp conditions in Paris last year.

Read more: Twickenham clash will reveal whether Boks are strong enough to wear rugby’s crown

What tends to be overlooked, based on that one poor game, is that Libbok’s tactical kicking is one of the strengths of his game. In difficult conditions, which might require a slightly tactical tweak by the Boks, Libbok can put a lot of pressure on England’s back three with accurate kicks.

It’s little surprise then, that under-pressure England head coach Steve Borthwick turned to Freddie Steward as fullback. Steward did not feature for the Roses against New Zealand and Australia, but he was excellent in the RWC semifinal. Erasmus predicted England would select Steward.

Which hints that the Boks, having planned for England turning to the reliable safety net of Steward at the expense of the elusive and creative George Furbank, have other ideas.

Libbok, Grant Williams at scrumhalf, Aphelele Fassi at fullback, Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse on the wings and the brilliant Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel in the midfield provide options.

Steward is not nimble and not as quick as Furbank. Against the more predictable style of Handré Pollard (who is on the bench), the selection makes sense.

Against the deft dinks and chinks from Libbok’s boot, with Kolbe and Arendse primed to chase and harass, could Steward’s lack of agility and speed be exploited?

And regardless of the weather, Libbok should at least be operating behind a pack on the front foot. He already sees things a split second quicker than most. If the pack buys him a further split second, who knows what problems he could cause.

“[Steward’s] training has been exceptional,” Borthwick said. “His attitude has been brilliant and the team that kicks more contestable kicks than anybody in the world is South Africa.

“Everything shows they’re head and shoulders above everybody in terms of the number of times they kick contestable. That means that anyone who has strengths in that area is going to be very important in this game.”

Breakdown battle

Last week the Boks were sloppy at the breakdown against Scotland, and scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse struggled as a consequence. It’s crucial they tidy that up to allow the halfbacks to play on their terms, or for the defence to set properly.

The Bok pack has been bolstered with Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese in the back row, and the scavenging skills of De Allende in the midfield.

Rassie Erasmus has some sympathy for English counterpart Steve Borthwick. (Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

The Boks have a more menacing presence when it comes to the breakdown and that will be critical.

Steward of course, brings a decent kicking game of his own and in scrumhalf Jack van Poortvliet, England’s box kicks will ask some tough questions of the Boks.

“We very much expect them to try to squeeze us with the kicking game,” Erasmus said.

“We need to make sure we can handle their kicking game, which seems to be something that they really fall back on, and their rush defence, which will certainly have a heavy toll on our backs.

“That’s why we went with a 5-3 split. And then hopefully our forwards are still fresh because they didn’t all play the full 80 minutes.”

England are in a tough place in terms of results, but all their recent defeats have been by one score. They are not as bad as some have made out.

Borthwick is under increasing pressure, which makes his side more dangerous. The England coach deflected questions about pressure following four straight defeats against the All Blacks and Wallabies.

“When you are coaching England, there are always things on the outside,” Borthwick said.

“It is one of my strengths that I just focus and compartmentalise pretty well. My job is to coach this team. I love coaching this team. I am loyal to this group of players, and we’ve got to do things better than what we have.

“We are frustrated we haven’t got wins, we intend to get wins, and it’s a brilliant challenge for us this weekend.”

Erasmus, who has been in situations where the Boks are on losing streaks, issued a warning.

“If you have the right players and the right management, it can galvanise the team, especially if you have two close games like that,” Erasmus said.

“Our reality is we are playing England, who we seldom beat here. We are expecting a team that will be really tight and will play for their coaching staff. They believe fully they can beat us.

“England come off some narrow defeats, but the quality of their performances was good in both matches, so we know the size of the challenge.

“We lost narrowly to Ireland and France in back-to-back matches in 2022 and a year later were world champions, so we know we shouldn’t read anything into the last two results.”

The Boks are clearly not emotional. DM

Teams:

England

15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George (captain), 1 Ellis Genge. Reserves: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Harry Randall, 22 George Ford, 23 Tom Roebuck.

Springboks

15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 RG Snyman, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nché.

Reserves: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Elrigh Louw, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Lukhanyo Am.

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

Kick-off: 7.40pm (Supersport)

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