Publications
Partners
The naysayers may grumble and say it was only a win against Argentina, but the Springboks’ Rugby Championship opener confirmed the idea that they most definitely are better than they were last year.
Given that they lost eight of their 12 tests last season, the only way the Boks could have gone this year was up, but it still took them quelling an Argentina rebellion in the second half – and picking up a head of steam themselves – for them to make an emphatic point of their improvement.
After a nervy first half in which the Boks struggled to reproduced the synergy they had in the series against France, the hosts turned up the heat in the second half thanks to impact off the bench (take a bow, Jean-Luc du Preez, Steven Kitshoff, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Francois Hougaaard).
Du Preez, a man child with nothing but bad intentions, was the most destructive of the lot when he came on, his explosiveness sowing all kinds of discord in the visitors’ defence and suggesting once and for all that the Bok loose trio is more balanced with him in it than not.
The result was an encouraging performance in which they initially struggled to breach a stubborn Argentina defence, but still went on to put four tries past them as the game wore on, a testament to their determination and conditioning.
Both sides’ performance seemed to take its cue from the cold and windy conditions in Port Elizabeth, with the initial input in the first half bubbling under surface with intent, but never quite coming to the boil.
During that period, the Boks had the upper hand in territory, possession and intent. But just because they had more time with ball in hand didn’t mean the visitors would fold like the French almost always did when the phases numbered more than five.
An example was in the first two minutes of the game, when the Boks, having kicked off, turned the ball over and held on to the ball for over 15 phases. The catch was they were about 10 metres behind where they started when Coenie Oosthuizen was penalised for holding on.
The frustration for the Boks would have been that they held the upper hand in the scrums, the line-out (after a blip with their very first) and looked organised at ruck time.
Yet, all they had to show for that period were two Elton Jantjies penalties because they kept undermining all that good work with either a spot of bad luck, turnover ball or a lack of composure.
A case in point of the bad luck was when Jan Serfontein’s attempted grubber was collected by the visitors from their own 22-metre line and ended up with scrum half Martin Landajo outpacing Raymond Rhule to score what was very much a try against the run of play.
But when the Boks did get it right, like the 37th minute when a neat interplay by Serfontein and Jantjies freed up Courtnall Skosan with an inside pass to score his first test try in four matches, there were signs of what could be.
It is at this juncture that some due praise should be given to Jantjies for his game management.
Too often in the last two seasons the Boks have lost all composure when the opposition don’t go away when they huff and puff.
But Jantjies, with no little help from his half-back partner Ross Cronje, kept that in check by kicking all seven of his kicks at goal for 17 points in the match, making sure that he found the touchline, being a real threat to the defensive line with his flat play and putting his body on the line.
