Boks need to rediscover ruthless RWC edge

OPINION: The Springboks failed to live up to their own high standards in a drawn series to Ireland that felt more like a loss, writes @rugby365com contributor Jon Cardinelli.

The Boks showed ambition and character at Loftus Versfeld, but weren’t as clinical or ruthless at Kings Park.

Ireland were the better side in the decider, and showed greater composure during the latter stages of what was truly a landmark series in a burgeoning rivalry.

Despite what many shouty social media accounts would have you believe, this isn’t a multiple choice scenario, and your opinion needn’t be limited to just one of the above.

Indeed, it’s possible for all of these things to be true at the same time.

Bok reaction spoke volumes

The demeanour of the players and coaches in the immediate aftermath of the thriller in Durban summed up the series in its entirety.

While the Ireland players leapt into each another’s arms and celebrated as if they had won the World Cup itself, the Boks reacted as if the series had been lost rather than drawn.

Again, it’s possible to acknowledge what the Boks have achieved as back-to-back World Cup champions, and to simultaneously decry their lack of accuracy and composure that was shown in a marquee series staged on home soil.

The team that took the stage last Saturday wasn’t the motley crew of 2016, or even the plucky battlers of 2018 and 2019. It was the most experienced Bok team in history, and arguably the most decorated. It was a polished and settled unit playing in familiar home conditions in front of partisan crowds of more than 50,000.

It’s stating the obvious, but the Boks are the best team in the world, and should be held to a higher standard.

Nobody went easy on the great All Blacks side of the 2010s whenever they lost a game, and Ireland were similarly panned whenever they dropped the ball during a two-year period of global dominance. It comes with the territory.

In sport, you win some and you lose some. Rassie Erasmus knows what it’s like to be on the other side of a close finish, having presided over three one-point wins in the 2023 World Cup play-offs.

Perhaps Ireland had more luck in the second Test, and perhaps they showed more composure at the crucial moment. Replacement flyhalf Ciaran Frawley provided the spark for a linebreak, grubber and drop goal that won the game and levelled the series.

And yet, Erasmus was visibly disappointed at the post-match press conference, as was captain Siya Kolisi. Both pushed the ‘live to fight another day’ narrative, as you’d expect in that setting, but their body language suggested that they were anything but satisfied with the outcome.

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Losing the big moments

On another day, that series-defining passage of play may have panned out differently, and Frawley may never have had the chance to line up a drop attempt.

Camped deep in the Ireland half, the Boks scrum may have attacked their Irish counterparts, as they had all game, to win yet another penalty at this set piece. That would have allowed them to shoot for goal, or kick for the corner and run down the clock.

Failing that, they may have taken different decisions in the wider channels, and neutralised the move to prevent a linebreak and ultimately a successful Ireland exit.

In every game, there are small moments that shape the outcome, and the better and more experienced sides win these mini-battles more often than not.

The Boks weren’t the quickest or most enterprising team at the 2023 World Cup, but as the results suggest, they were the most ruthless in the dying stages.

Few outside of South Africa gave them a chance of winning that tournament, but in the aftermath, even their fiercest critics were forced to concede that they cracked the code for winning big tournaments.

Based on the showing in France, the Boks’ record in South Africa, and Ireland’s losses in personal, the hosts were rightly touted as favourites to win the two-match series against Andy Farrell’s side.

The Boks went into this series without first-choice players like fullback Damian Willemse and No.8 Jasper Wiese, but they had the depth to mitigate those absences. At no point in this series were they anything other than favourites to win both matches.

Ireland were always going to be underdogs. Apart from the Lions, no Northern Hemisphere team has managed to win a series in South Africa during the professional era, and prior to Saturday, Ireland had recorded a solitary victory in the Republic.

The loss of key players such as Jamison Gibson-Park, Mack Hansen, Hugo Keenan and Jack Conan ahead of the tour was seen as a hammer blow to their chances, and subsequent injury setbacks to Dan Sheehan and Bundee Aki further diluted the experience and quality in their ranks.

An Ireland team missing so many stars, and playing in South Africa, should have been there for the taking. The series may have been fiercely contested and highly entertaining, but at the end of the day, the Boks blew a golden opportunity.

You had to be at Kings Park on Saturday, you had to see the contrasting expressions on the coaches and players’ faces in the aftermath to understand that – in spite of the official result – there was a winner and a loser.

The Boks will have plenty of soul-searching to do ahead of the Rugby Championship, which kicks off on 10 August.

Execution a concern ahead of Rugby Champs

There’s good reason to feel excited about the one-off against Portugal this week, as it will provide Erasmus with the chance to blood new players and combinations with the 2027 World Cup in mind.

Indeed, the Boks coaches have been open and honest about their plans to rotate the squad and give younger players experience over the past six years.

This is why there will be relatively few calls for a full-strength combination to front Portugal, even after such a disappointing defeat to Ireland.

The Boks aren’t going to atone for a missed opportunity in the Ireland series with a resounding win over Portugal. You can’t blame Erasmus for backing the younger players in this game.

That’s not to say that the pressure has lifted. It’s in the subsequent Rugby Championship games where the senior team will have a chance to show whether they have progressed or stagnated.

There was a lot of criticism of the Bok tactics across the Irish series, and a lot of it was unfair. Less has been made of the poor finishing and game management, which cost the team dearly in Durban.

Poor goal-kicking may have cost the side in past meetings with Ireland, but on this occasion, Handré Pollard held his nerve to slot eight out of eight. It was a determined and clinical display that contrasted South Africa’s performance in other areas of the game.

The Boks made eight entries into the Ireland 22m area, and came away with points on two occasions (six, via two penalties). Ireland managed five 22m entries, but picked up points (10) in two instances. Clearly one side was more clinical than the other in this part of the field.

Silver lining of Durban’s dark clouds

The Boks missed an opportunity to seal the series, but some good may come of that result, if they address their shortcomings over the next month and go on to win the Rugby Championship.

They have no reason to be complacent against the Wallabies, even if the Aussies are in a rebuilding phase under new coach Joe Schmidt.

They will have everything to play for in the mini-series against the All Blacks later this year, given that they last won the Freedom Cup back in 2009.

Come October, we will know how much this Bok side is progressed.

Erasmus plans to use specific matches – like the next fixture against Portugal – to rotate the squad and bolster the side’s depth. In big matches, however, the Boks will chase results, and their win-loss record in these matches will reveal where they stand in relation to other top teams.

The Boks have drawn a series with Ireland, and if they drop a game in Australia, draw or lose the double-header against New Zealand, and fall short of their Rugby Championship goal, they will drop down the rankings.

But if they crack on to win those matches, and claim that elusive Southern Hemisphere title, don’t be surprised if they cite this setback against Ireland as a wake-up call.

Photo: @Springboks/X