OPINION: Bok Generals to Make the Difference Against All Blacks

The big final dance in France is upon us, with the 2023 Rugby World Cup final pitting the Springboks against their southern hemisphere rivals, the All Blacks, in what feels like a fitting outcome for a tournament that has been filled with some incredible matches.

There’s no disputing that both the Boks and All Blacks are deserved finalists, with both sides having eliminated frontrunners leading up to this point. We were witness to South Africa dispatching France and the New Zealanders taking care of Ireland in the quarter-finals, both extremely tight encounters.

The All Blacks will definitely take away less from their emphatic win over Argentina in the semi-final, as Los Pumas (who have been admittedly underwhelming all tournament), didn’t offer much opposition to a rampant New Zealand running game. South Africa, on the other hand, managed to pull off an escape artist-level win over a clever England side who implemented a momentum-killing tactical kicking game that suffocated the Boks’ chances. However, South Africa will no doubt have learnt a lot from that game, understand where their deficiencies lie, and take some confidence in executing a late-game comeback — something many teams struggle to do.

Nienaber’s selection for the final speaks volumes about the goodwill earned by some of the key players throughout this World Cup, and the 7-1 split is a direct throwback to the game at Twickenham in the lead-up to the tournament. As they say: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

The All Blacks now know what’s coming, but one notable change to that squad that played the 35-7 scoreline warm-up is, of course, Handre Pollard at flyhalf over Manie Libbok, with the Stormers playmaker falling out of the matchday squad altogether. It’s a bold call by the Springbok management team, but not one without its reasoning.

Libbok has been sensational all World Cup, helping evolve and speed up the Springbok attack. His omission is not reflective of his form or abilities, but Pollard’s inclusion is more one made out of experience.

It’s become increasingly evident that the way in which the Springboks operate is one of understanding. Each player seems to understand what their role is, and furthermore, understands why certain players are picked for certain jobs. There will always be internal competition between players, which is good for the overall quality of a squad, but also a trust and ‘greater good’ attitude. It takes 30-odd men to win a World Cup, and everyone in the Springbok set-up seems to understand that.

Just looking at the Manie vs. Pollard debate, trying to find the superior seems futile — each has their own key abilities and they are admittedly very different players. Libbok is an extremely creative rugby player and his distribution and general playmaking are sublime from a technical perspective. Pollard brings those elements to the game, but in a different way, and offers a more tactical and conservative approach.

The semi-final against England required a big personality with a loud voice, and Pollard is that player. While he may not be able to pull off some of the skills a player like Libbok can, teams often need experienced players on the field to talk and organise, which are extremely underrated traits in today’s game. You could see from the moment Pollard came on, he was pointing, organising, communicating with the backs and forwards, and setting up everything that was to come.

The same goes for Willie le Roux, who seems to face criticism despite his statistics and performances proving time and time again that he is invaluable to the Springboks. I believe more and more his involvement at this stage is a) attacking vision if the opportunity presents itself and b) more importantly, rallying players around him and organising defence and attack.

Having these two individuals on the field will be a game-changing factor in favour of the Springboks on Saturday night. While the ball bounces as it does, and often things don’t go your way, the one thing you’re guaranteed to get from Pollard and Le Roux is enthusiasm, experience, and leadership.

These are the intangibles; the smaller things that other teams have lacked leading up to this point; because being able to rack up 30-odd phases against the All Blacks is one thing (just look at Ireland), but having leaders on the field who understand those around them, speak well to them, and take control of the situation, is as important as anything.

And for these types of do-or-die games, that’s the difference

Photo cred: Springboks / Facebook