This time last year the Clash of the Titans was set up perfectly. Both South Africa and New Zealand could come away with the Rugby Championship title.
For the Springboks, the task was much harder than for the All Blacks, they not only had to win, but win well with at least four tries.
The fact that South Africa scored those four tries was little consolation for some Springbok supporters. They had come close and yet had still ultimately failed.
The Springbok backrow showed adept interplay as well as brute power, Bryan Habana had put on a masterful display before he went off early with a hamstring injury and nobody had a bad word to say about the captain.
And yet the game of the year came away with a bitterly familiar result.
That frustration caused some in South Africa to comment that it would have been preferable to forget about the tournament win and just concentrate on beating New Zealand. What was implied was that South Africa could not beat New Zealand at its own game but New Zealand could be beaten by South Africa’s game.
The former may have secured South Africa a bonus point but the latter could’ve secured something much more important – a win against New Zealand.
In a perverse kind of way, those supporters who advocated a ‘traditional’ approach last year might think that they have had their wish granted, albeit a year too late. For New Zealand’s four-try win against Argentina last weekend means that the tournament is out of the Springboks’ grasp this Saturday.
As a result, out goes the need to score four tries and the game plan that feat suggests. South Africa can now bang over a couple of drop goals if they so desire, provided the total adds up to more than New Zealand’s effort.
In Auckland last year and Wellington this year, South Africa adopted a physical approach to the breakdown and it evidently rattled the All Blacks (it also rattled Dan Carter’s shoulder and Romain Poite’s sense of what can be fairly judged as a high tackle).
This year’s game at Ellis Park need not differ in that regard. Dish up more of the same and fingers crossed Duane Vermuelen, Habana and Brodie Retallick – we want the best to be playing – are passed fit.
We know what New Zealand will bring. They won’t have the pressure of needing to win. They’ll have the luxury of being able to try and play the game the way they want to play it.
Their game works best on a dry deck where Aaron Smith can run his peculiar path to the breakdown and whip the ball away from the contact area. Ben Smith knows you can throw a no-look pass on a dry surface because Israel Dagg can cover that dry ground to catch up with the pass. Jerome Kaino will want to give another impersonation of a gazelle bounding across an open savannah because a firm ground brings out the animal in you.
You might well argue then it is in South Africa’s best interests to go out and negate the New Zealand game plan. Rush up on defence and close down their space in midfield. Get their big locks to meet those Retallick offloads to the front row and make sure they don’t get over the advantage line.
Seize on when New Zealand players are hanging off the rucks and get their backs like Habana or strong men like Vermuelen or Adriaan Strauss standing over the ball and pilfer or spoil. Use your lineout specialists to secure possession and set up a rolling maul or phase play.
These are all things that South Africa did to good effect in Wellington. Why not continue in that manner?
Why not indeed? South Africa should play to its strengths. But why not play to all its strengths? Rather than actively seeking to negate the opposition, Heynecke Meyer should be looking to make the most of his talents.
South Africa are more than the sum of a group of bowling balls looking to scatter the New Zealand pack like bowling pins. The Springbok way is the direct way but that does not mean it’s not without its subtleties.
Meyer saw that Test in Ellis Park last year and knew there was a gap in fitness. South Africa dropped off tackles in that game because they were outside their physical comfort levels. When you’re physically tired, you make bad decisions. Contrast that with the Test last week, where at its critical end South Africa were the ones making all the good decisions.
Furthermore, Meyer is finally seeing the light in a few critical back line decisions. Morne Steyn has made way for Handre Pollard and my only hope is that we are seeing the first stages of Francois Hougaard, Ruan Pienaar or Fourie du Preez (in reverse order of Meyer’s preference) making way for Cobus Reinach.
It’s a similar situation to Victor Matfield. It’s not that those halfbacks are bad players, it’s just that they are getting in the way of the promising younger players and their progression. With Steyn out, Pollard and Patrick Lambie can get some much needed game time. The same principle should apply at halfback.
Meyer does not have to play like New Zealand, but he can make the most of how South Africa can play. Forget about the kicking game as a means of attack. Certainly there is a need to kick but not when you have attacking ball.
In Wellington, Le Roux finally did something right and Habana combined to advance way into the New Zealand half. What does Hougaard do? He treats the ball as if it were a live grenade and boots it as far away as possible from the players lined out to his side.
Forget the Ice Bucket Challenge, Meyer should start the Freezer Infraction. Any time you kick away attacking ball needlessly, you get locked in a freezer. There are players like Le Roux, Cornal Hendricks and Habana who are just as capable of exploiting the open spaces as New Zealand’s back three, yet we have seen them express themselves in that way all too infrequently this year.
There might not be the same skill level in the South African front five at passing but those back row players proved last year they are capable of linking up with their backs to devastating effect. The game has moved on from 2009 when South Africa’s kicking game was the perfect recipe for beating New Zealand.
By all means play to your strengths but utilise all those strengths at your disposal. It’s like owning a fleet of luxury cars and being content to run down to the shops always in your reliable Land Cruiser. No one’s saying you do the shopping in your Ferrari, but taking it out for a spin from time to time certainly would do you the world of good.
It’s tempting for Meyer to go into his shell this weekend and go for the win at all costs. That invariably means a conservative style of play. Go for territory and use the set piece to control the tempo of the game and keep the ball in at close quarters and suffocate the attack of your opposition.
South Africa have more tricks at their disposal and while that does not mean replicating the style in which New Zealand play, it does mean they have to offer up more of a threat on attack and ask questions of the New Zealand defence.
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