Africa-Press – South-Africa. The new look Springbok backline has been the focus of the most debate among South African fans before the Rugby Championship Test against the All Blacks in Wellington on Saturday.
Captain Siya Kolisi, however, knows it is the forwards who first have to answer the questions thrown at them by the New Zealand pack in last weekend’s Eden Park defeat.
Cheslin Kolbe on the right wing is the only survivor of the starting backline that, with the forwards, frittered away numerous opportunities inside the All Blacks’ 22 in the frustrating 24-17 defeat in Auckland. Ethan Hooker makes his first start on the other wing, while Damian Willemse and Canan Moodie are untried as a centre combination.
Coach Rassie Erasmus has also changed his starting half-back pairing, with veteran scrumhalf Cobus Reinach teaming up with the mercurial young talent Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Grant Williams and Manie Libbok supply even more pace and flair on the bench.
But while a lack of a clinical cutting edge was one of the features of the Springbok play last weekend, their problems started at forward.
The line-out was a shambles, preventing them from launching from that platform and they were bested at the breakdowns, with the All Blacks often counter-rucking them off the ball.
The return of the explosive Jasper Wiese at eighthman means the back row is arguably South Africa’s only first-choice combination, with Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit on the flanks. But leaving out one of the world’s best locks in Eben Etzebeth, especially after the line-out chaos of last week and the lack of beef on the gain line, is a gamble as huge as the backline selection.
The likes of Du Toit and hooker Malcolm Marx will have to considerably increase their physicality from last week, as well as the accuracy of their softer skills.
Kolisi gave a strong defence of the backline on Friday, disagreeing that Erasmus has rolled the dice for such an important game against the Springboks’ greatest rivals with the Rugby Championship and Freedom Cup on the line.
“A lot of people are saying the backline is full of youngsters, but a lot of them have played and won here before. Some of them are two-time World Cup winners such as Damian Willemse,” he said.
“They are experienced at this level. It just seems like a new backline because people do not see these names in the team regularly.
“Yes, this game is important and we’re not just throwing guys in to learn — we want to win and stay in the Rugby Championship and there’s the Freedom Cup as well. But the backline can only do what they do if we as the pack give them front-foot ball and good line-out ball.
“We learnt from last week and we have made plans, we will be ready. It is good to have Jasper back. On most of our exits last week they came in hard at the breakdown, so we have worked on that.
“They also have backs who can counter-ruck. Now Leroy Carter has been brought in on the wing and he’s from the Sevens, where they counter-ruck a lot. So it’s not just the forwards who have to look after that but also the backline.”
If the Springboks can paint the same picture as last week at scrum time then they may earn better reward from Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli. But using the 22-entries that often follow will be crucial.
It is difficult to foresee the Springboks running away with the game, however exciting their backs are, though. The last four meetings between these great rivals have been decided by one score; an aggregate difference of 18 points.
When it does become a tight contest, who is going to provide the visionary game management, the control of territory, for the Springboks?
In terms of selection, this team has a similar feel to the one that fired spectacularly for the first 20 minutes at Ellis Park against the Wallabies and then fizzled out and suffered a humiliating defeat.
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