Thirty-four years ago England rugby coach Geoff Cooke was asked how much sleep he had lost in leaving talismanic eighth man Dean Richards out of the side for the knockout stages of the 1991 World Cup. His response: “The graveyards are full of indispensable men.”
The philosophy of that line should be exercising the minds of a few “indispensable” Springboks this week. Principal among them will be Handré Pollard, day in and day out the best flyhalf in world rugby for the last decade.
Like the rest of SA rugby fans, Pollard will have revelled in the poise and daring of Sasha Feinberg-Mngomezulu against Argentina. But unlike the rest, in the cold light of Monday morning he may have spent a few hours looking wistfully to his laurels. He will not be alone.
In the rush to laud the Springboks for a stunning performance against the Pumas, few have noted the wholesale change in playing personnel wrought by the coaching staff. Of the 23 players who contested the Rugby World Cup final in Paris less than two years ago, only nine were part of the squad in Durban.
In ascending shirt number order, they were Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph Du Toit, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe and Damian Willemse and — on the bench in Paris — RG Snyman, Kwagga Smith and Jasper Wiese. Of those, Etzebeth and De Allende are aged 33, and Kolisi is 34.
On Wednesday the next Rugby World Cup will be exactly two years away. Anno domini waits for no man.
Time was when this would have been a problem, but under Rassie Erasmus, Springbok rugby has undergone a sea change. As a player Erasmus was a maverick, bold enough to turn down Nick Mallett’s request for him to captain the Springboks. As a coach, Erasmus marries the intellectual grasp of Mallett with the delegation skills of Kitch Christie, and then he adds a touch of magic dust.
— If he stays fit, Feinberg-Mngomezulu will be the man the next Springbok World Cup campaign is built around.
It is a mere six weeks since the Boks lost 38-22 to Australia at Ellis Park. On that day the blame for a scoreless second half was laid at the door of one of Erasmus’ lieutenants, former All Black flyhalf Tony Bown. “Tonyball” was not for us, screamed the critics, as speculative passes were snapped up by the Wallabies. Those same critics have laryngitis today.
What happened at Kings Park last Saturday was a clear passing of the baton. Of course, it is too soon to write off a double World Cup winner, but Feinberg-Mngomezulu combines Pollard’s kicking game with the dextrous skills of Manie Libbok to bring a protean package to the side. If he stays fit, Feinberg-Mngomezulu will be the man the next Springbok World Cup campaign is built around.
To return to its previous iteration, what has happened to so many Springbok stalwarts? Well, Steven Kitshoff and Duane Vermeulen have retired, while long-term injuries have sidelined Frans Malherbe and Trevor Nyakane.
Still available, but not being picked, are Faf de Klerk, Deon Fourie and Jean Kleyn. In the squad, but either injured or overlooked, are Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, Franco Mostert and Willie le Roux. Nche will return as soon as he is fit, and Mostert has not travelled to England due to a family bereavement.
Other nations would give their eyeteeth for the players. Erasmus is in the process of discarding, which goes to emphasise the fact that we are living through a unique period in the history of Springbok rugby. Where are the shock selections, the provincialism, and the merry-go-round in the coaches box? It is a simple truism to state that everyone loves a winner.
Performances such as the one at Kings Park should be relished for their rarity, and yet there is a very real chance that there is more to come. Maybe not at Twickenham on Saturday, far from home against a Pumas side largely resident in Europe. And maybe not on the end-of-year tour, on soft fields against spoiling tactics.
But if the transition from multi-capped legends to wet-behind-the-ears wannabes goes according to plan, the so-called three-peat in Australia in 2027 is a genuine possibility. And it will not be a Springbok side grateful for successive one-point victories in the knockout stages, but one that will change the face of international rugby.
• Capostagno, a veteran sports journalist and commentator, is Toby Shapshak’s weekly emotional (rugby) support person on Spotify’s “Stuff Rugby with Andy Capostagno”.
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