The team led by Johan Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber won their two knockout matches thanks to their substitutes and by a small point. And it’s far from being a coincidence.
Somewhere in the middle of the boredom, between the squalls and the drizzle, Willie Le Roux lit up in his own way the pale England-South Africa semi-final (15-16), Saturday October 21. In the 73rd minute, on a harmless volley save like we have seen a thousand others, the full-back did not choose to clear his side. The clock was ticking, the South Africans were trailing but, harangued by his forwards, Le Roux asked for a scrum. The audacity would be enough to make any coach jump. But not the Johan ‘Rassie’ Erasmus-Jacques Nienaber tandem, precisely at the origin of the Trafalgar coup.
This proved to be a winner: the first substitute line of the South Africans broke through the opposing pack. Mentally scarred and physically exhausted, the English forwards faltered in a new scrum four minutes later, offering the winning penalty to Handré Pollard (78th). At 50 meters, the opener executed the sentence and qualified his team for the final against New Zealand, Saturday October 28 at 9 p.m.
This apparent stroke of madness, in fact carefully prepared, perfectly sums up the philosophy of the duo of Boks thinking heads. We don’t really know who, Rassie Erasmus, ex-coach who became director of rugby, or his successor Jacques Nienaber, former defense coach, really has the last word, but the choices always turn out to be winners.
The Boks stand together
Throughout the experiments of the two mad scientists, the statuses do not matter. “There are not many differences between starters and substitutes, we don’t have an A team or a B team.”, deciphered Jacques Nienaber after the half. “No one complains, everyone has their role to play, no matter what it is.”, confirms scrum half Cobus Reinach. Did the Montpellier resident expect to be confronted with this reality? Promoted to the starting quarter and half to everyone’s surprise, he will experience the final in costume in the stands. The same goes for his partner in the hinge Manie Libbok, the duo Faf de Klerk-Handré Pollard taking over their entry rights.
But in the language of Erasmus and Nienaber, sidelining does not rhyme with downgrading. “Those absent are only for tactical reasons.explained the coach, for whom “egos are put aside”. Where the overwhelming majority of staff play the continuity card before a final, the duo does not bother with this type of convention. “That’s what I like about rugby, people try different tactics”commented New Zealand coach Ian Foster.
In a final that we suspect is rather closed, since the rain should be expected, the Eramsus-Nienaber tandem brought out their famous bench in “7-1” (seven forwards, one back). “We have to admit that Rassie has guts, it’s a bit like playing it all out”observes Kieran Read, former captain of the All Blacks.
Something new with just one 9
Used for the first time in preparation… against New Zealand (35-7), this fanciful distribution was one of the sea serpents of this World Cup. Rassie Erasmus even made fun of it on X (ex-Twitter) before the quarter against France, suggesting that his options ranged from 7-1 to 4-4. For this final, the risk-taking is even greater, since no scrum half is on the bench to compensate for a possible problem with Faf de Klerk.
If the composition of the bench is so intriguing – And “takes hours” to be decided –, it is because the Boks have made it a weapon at the base of their success. In the quarter as in the half, South Africa escaped in the last minutes, for a point after running behind the score. Six days apart, this concomitance is not a simple coincidence.
Minesweepers to finish the job
Among the Springboks, “finisher” said to himself “bomb squad”, literally “mining team”. For example, we must see the impact made by the left Viandard pillar Retshegofaditswe Nche (graciously nicknamed “Ox” – “beef” – and for whom to eat salads “does not win a scrum”) or the third line mover Kwagga Smith to be convinced.
Against England, this management was reflected, for example, in the change of opener in the 31st minute – manager Handré Pollard stuck better to this locked match than the whimsical Manie Libbok – or in the early replacement of captain Kolisi (51st ). And it is obviously no coincidence that the only try of the match was scored by substitute RG Snyman (69th). “The most important thing is to finish well”, translated scrum coach Daan Human. The turning point in a Boks match is often around the 50th minute, when the hungry golgoths enter the arena. Only Ireland (13-8 on September 24) was able to contain them.
“Fundamentally, everything depends on the fact that we are a united teamdescribed Pieter-Steph du Toit. We don’t let anything divide us.” And the third line of phosphorus: “We put ourselves in a difficult situation, but we also learned how to get out of it”. These Boks indeed have an immense common experience, since 10 of the 23 finalists of the evening were already in the group in 2015 and 14 played in the final in 2019.