Rassie hints at 7/1 split for Ireland clash, but it’s all smoke and mirrors

Caelan Doris of Ireland wins a line out during the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match against Tonga on 16 September 2023 at Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes. (Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images)

By Craig Ray

18 Sep 2023

The mind games leading up to the biggest game of the Rugby World Cup 2023 pool phase — Ireland against South Africa — have already started.

The world’s number one and two teams clashing in a pool game is a neutral’s dream, but an unkind draw for two teams that should have been better rewarded for their recent form.

As an example of how ridiculously early the draw for Rugby World Cup (RWC) 2023 was done (in late 2020), current Bok players Canan Moodie, Manie Libbok, Jean Kleyn and Grant Williams could never have dreamt of playing for South Africa in France at the time.

Three years ago, Moodie was just out of school, Libbok was slipping dangerously into the “journeyman” category and Kleyn still harboured hopes of resurrecting his Ireland Test career, which had stalled after RWC 2019.

Williams was also battling for game time at provincial level after failing to make it at Western Province and having his early years at the Sharks interrupted by injury and Covid.

Yet, here we are. The world’s top two ranked teams meet in a crunch early encounter, which will almost certainly decide the winner of the group.

Grant Williams of South Africa in action during the Rugby World Cup 2023 Pool B match on 17 September 2023 against Romania at Stade de Bordeaux. (Photo: Juan Jose Gasparini / Gallo Images)

Read more in Daily Maverick: Rugby World Cup 2023

Mind games

It’s no wonder then that the mind games have started early. Ireland scrumhalf Conor Murray has warned his teammates of Springbok “tricks”, and the Boks have lived up to Murray’s caution.

Director of rugby Rassie Erasmus answered an Irish journalist when quizzed about more possible Bok innovations, that a seven/one split between forwards and backs was “definitely an option”.

The Boks used the controversial ploy in a pre-tournament game against the All Blacks at Twickenham, which they went on to win 35-7. Whether Erasmus was totally serious was hard to fathom, but it’s precisely the kind of discord he enjoys creating before such a big match.

It’s unlikely the Boks will only have one back in reserve against the world’s No 1 team, but that didn’t stop Erasmus from throwing out the bait.

The actual question was whether the Boks might consider an eight/zero split between back and forwards.

“I don’t think we can go eight/zero, that is a bit extreme,” Erasmus deadpanned. “But seven/one is definitely an option. I think there are a lot of teams doing a lot of innovative things.

“We saw Portugal who did the fantastic front-of-lineout move; sometimes when you do things you did many years back, people see it as innovation but it is just some stuff you remember worked way back.

“The six-two a couple of years back was new to people and now a lot of teams are doing six-two. If you go seven-one, you have to have players like Kwagga Smith, someone that is used to playing at the sevens level against Fiji. Then again, you have guys like Johnny Sexton who can exploit it when you get an injury early in the game.”

Caelan Doris of Ireland wins a line-out during the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match against Tonga on 16 September 2023 at Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes. (Photo: Warren Little / Getty Images)

‘Intimidating Sexton’

Ireland’s talismanic flyhalf, who surpassed Ronan O’Gara’s Irish points-scoring record during his team’s 59-16 victory over Tonga in their Pool B clash at the weekend, is obviously a major threat. And Erasmus heaped praise on him.

“He [Sexton] is vital, in my opinion. When I was at Munster, we beat them [Leinster, where Sexton plays] once. Whenever Johnny is in the team a lot of things happen … not just as a player … I think, the aura around him and his presence.

“For a man at 38 to score tries like he did this weekend... As long as he is physically out there, there is no doubt about [his influence]. The aura he has about him is exceptional, not just for his own team but very intimidating for us as the opposition.”

And on the subject of flyhalves, Erasmus dismissed the notion that Handré Pollard, who joined the squad in France as a replacement for Malcolm Marx, would feature against Ireland.

“Pollard will not be selected unless we have three or four serious injuries this week. He’s just played his first 40 minutes in 15 weeks, which is why we didn’t bring him to the World Cup initially,” Erasmus explained.

“He needs to slot in now and get up to the intensity of our training.”

Erasmus also addressed the issue of calling in a flyhalf to replace a hooker while a genuine hooker (Joseph Dweba) was left sidelined.

“We could have had a group of 22 players on our standby list. When we included Joseph Dweba we always knew Marco [van Staden] was training there,” Erasmus said.

“I spoke to Joseph and he said, ‘Coach, I understand 200%.’ He knew if it was Bongi [Mbonambi] that was out [he would be in], it is a like-for-like replacement — strong ball-carrier, a devastating scrummager, a guy who tackles really hard.

“Then a guy like Malcolm [Marx] brings you a bit of everything. If we weren’t confident Deon [Fourie] and Marco could do it, we’d be really foolish not to get Joseph in.

“At training we know our intensity, how those guys scrum against guys like Bongi and Malcolm, when he was still fit. We are fairly confident they can do the job.

“Also, apart from scrums and lineouts, there are 120 rucks in a game where Deon and Marco bring something different with carries and clean-outs.”

Forwards coach Deon Davids confirmed that Eben Etzebeth would come into the selection discussion after making good progress from a shoulder injury.

“Eben is out for 7-10 days,” Davids said. “He reacted well to his return to training. He will be in contention this week.” DM

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Mind games

‘Intimidating Sexton’