OPINION: How the Boks Banished France with a Tactical & Mental Masterclass

The Springboks’ extremely narrow yet statement-making 28-29 win over host nation France at the Rugby World Cup quarter-final showcased a South African side that has been slowly growing in stature, maturity, and finesse over the past 12 months; now placing themselves in a position to do something monumental: win a fourth World Cup, and become the first team to do so.

Of course, there’s the challenge of a slippery England side that awaits the Springboks, so before Jacques Nienaber’s side have to take on their northern hemisphere foes, a look at the battle with the French shows a South African team that has enhanced their game in a number of ways.

Since the beginning of the tournament, and arguably beforehand, the Springbok management has been innovating with different combinations on the bench, as well as mixing up a tactical gameplan with a dynamic kicking, running, and power game — with the Boks often reverting to the latter more often than not in the past.

The Springboks have shown glimpses of this all-encompassing approach, with their flamboyant, ambitious attack against Scotland and Romania, their brute force against Tonga, and a little bit of everything against Ireland. While Ireland, Scotland, and Tonga were no easy opponents (and with all due respect to the Romanian side) and the teams did stress and even defeat the Boks, it’s fair to say that the South Africans hadn’t hit 5th gear just yet.

Looking at the intensity and size of the forwards, the sheer flair and speed of the backline — they were doing the job, but not to the potential and capability that even they knew they could. You could see it on their faces and with every inspired Siya Kolisi press conference. “We need to be better,” he continually exclaimed.

There was just something missing the Springboks needed to find that extra momentum needed to really open up, and, as the Boks found out, it was a hostile French crowd and a team who believed they were destined to upset the Springbok steam train.

With both sides essentially World Cup-winning pedigree, the match at Stade De France was all about which team could adapt to the events of the game, and who could deliver monumental individual and team moments.

There was an interesting strategy implemented that seemed to catch the French off-guard. The cross-field bomb-kicks from Manie Libbok were working excellently, with two tries being scored off of them in the opening half courtesy of Damian de Allende and Kurt-Lee Arendse. But, it was the chasing and field-positioning that made it effective, with Pieter-Steph du Toit or Eben Etzebeth and three other players fanned out to their left, right, and behind for when they (most likely) retrieve or slap the ball down from the kick. It was a sublime strategy (and unexpected one) that was putting the French under immense pressure.

Mix this more unconventional approach with a focus on the Springbok scrum, lineouts, and a brutal defence, and you’ve got the recipe for a dynamic and difficult team to play against — with or without the ball. The Springboks’ now-trademark counter-attacking try opportunities are alive and well too, with an outstanding try scored by Cheslin Kolbe thanks to some immense pressure on Antoine Dupont on the breakdown from Eztebeth, which forced a poor pass that was knocked on, pounced on, and capitalised off.

Pepper in some standout individual moments — such as Pollard’s 53-metre penalty, Etzebeth’s try-saver, Kolbe’s charge-down on Ramos’ conversion kick, and Jesse Kriel’s stellar cover defence every time a French player broke the line — and you’ve got some momentum-changing moments.

But, most importantly, the South Africans learnt to chase a game and win it when it mattered. Too often teams are lured into a false sense of confidence and dominance when everything goes right, but what happens when it doesn’t go your way? Do you get rattled when the ref’s call doesn’t favour your team? How do you manage the next ten minutes after a player gets a yellow-card?

Becoming battle-hardened to win those Test matches that you ‘shouldn’t’, where your back is against the wall, you’re facing a feisty crowd, and yet, still being confident going into the changerooms down 2 points at half-time. That’s the muscle memory needed to win the big dance, not scoring 8 tries in the opening 30 minutes. Obviously, the job is not done yet, but the Springboks now know how to do it.

Photo cred: Springboks