All Blacks hero claims Springboks have a ‘scare factor’ and makes bold ‘big beast’ World Cup prediction
South Africa's captain Siya Kolisi on the charge against New Zealand and ex-All Blacks fly-half Stephen Donald (inset).
Former All Blacks fly-half Stephen Donald has highlighted how the Springboks’ evolution in recent years will make them genuine contenders to win the Rugby World Cup in 2027 again.
Under the guidance of head coach Rassie Erasmus, the Springboks claimed back-to-back World Cup titles in Japan and France in 2019 and 2023 respectively after previous triumphs at the global showpiece in 1995 and 2007.
That means South Africa are the World Cup’s most successful nation as they have lifted the famous Webb Ellis Cup on four occasions, with their closest rivals New Zealand next best with three victories at the famous tournament.
The Boks had their backs to the wall last Saturday as they came into their Rugby Championship clash with the All Blacks at Sky Stadium in Wellington after suffering a 24-17 defeat to their arch rivals in the corresponding fixture at Eden Park in Auckland the previous weekend.
Erasmus‘ troops employed their usual conservative game-plan, which proved so successful during their triumphant 2019 and 2023 World Cup campaigns, in that Eden Park encounter.
However, Erasmus rang the changes for the Wellington fixture as he dropped several of his more experienced players – especially in the backline – and brought in younger replacements while also opting for a more expansive game-plan.
The addition of former All Blacks fly-half Tony Brown to the world champions’ backroom staff as their attack coach has certainly helped with their development while Erasmus also has plenty of depth in his ranks.
And Donald believes the Boks’ depth as well as combining their new approach with their usual physical dominance is a “scary factor” which will make them more dangerous ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
‘Obviously the depth’s great’
“Well, for me, obviously the depth’s great, but there’s a lot of the top nations with depth in some key positions and I know our (New Zealand’s) depth is getting really tested at the moment,” he told The Aftermatch with Kirst & Beav.
“Look, you think about our two top hookers still on the sideline, you think about our top two half-backs on the sideline, our third half-back gets injured.
“So well, we’ve got some depth of our own that’s getting forced to be, created through, I guess, necessity at the moment.
“But now for me, if you’re looking for a scary factor around the Boks and what’s to come, it’s their ability to match the brilliance of that backline with the absolute brutality and power of those forwards and the evolution of some of those forwards.
“And by that, I mean the ball playing of those forwards to compliment those wonderful backs that they’ve got at their disposal.
“Cause when you think about it, if you’re defending and you’re looking up and you’re seeing an Eben (Etzebeth), a (Malcolm) Marx, Pieter-Steph (du Toit), a (Siya) Kolisi, you’re looking up and you go ‘Okay, I’m all in here. If I’m going to stop these guys, I have to be all in physically’.
“Fair enough. So you’re coming up, but now these guys, and it’s certainly been in the last few years, have the ability to pull a ball out the back and pass to someone or tip on to someone.
“I mean for goodness sakes, who would have ever thought the big Ox (Nche) who’s just known as this phenomenal scrummager is running around and doing offloads and little pop passes.”
Donald, who was the All Blacks’ hero when he slotted the match-winning penalty when they beat France in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final, feels combining Brown’s influence with the usual dominant approach will be difficult to stop in two years’ time at the global showpiece in Australia.
“Well, obviously we’d like to take some credit for this, if it is Tony Brown’s great work, but I think it’s a combination of the fact that they had very much a simplistic route that they wanted to play, which was get forward domination and not just domination, smash the opposition to smithereens, and then they’ll get territory and then the forwards will go again and then they’ll get points,” he explained.
“Now, we didn’t know if they could do that back then, as far as the passing and the finesse, they could well have been, but now virtually allowed to, now virtually they are broadening their horizons because I think, coupled with the fact that maybe Brownie’s slowly chipping away at Rassie and saying, we can play with a little bit more creativity, a little bit more width to our game, but also they have got some phenomenal backs to work with now.
‘They’ve always had good backs’
“And they’ve always had good backs, but I think you’re talking about a skill and a speed level that would be ridiculous to ignore.
“Like Cheslin Kolbe’s been standing out there for a long time and they’ve now just realised ‘Right, he’s got to be involved’. Before that, you had guys like (Makazole) Mapimpi, Lukhanyo Arm and the likes for that 2019 World Cup.
“And I remember watching that 2019 World Cup and when the shackles started to break in that final, it was Lukhanyo Am, Mapimpi that were doing the damage.
“And that would have been a little trigger to them thinking ‘Geez, we could actually play for a little bit here, but we’ve got some pretty outstanding individuals out there’.
“And then the evolution, but World Cups, gone back, won another World Cup, essentially the same through that big forward brutality and playing in the right parts of the field.
“But certainly if you’re worried about 2027, or if you’re thinking of a Springbok team in 2027, we could, it could be very similar to a back division we saw out there in Wellington.
“And you couple that with the fact that there’s not going to be too many Wellington weather situations in Brisbane, in Sydney, in October, you’re going to get great weather, great tracks, dry balls.
“It’s going to be a pretty big beast that’s going to roll into Aussie in a couple of years’ time.”
READ MORE: Ex-All Blacks star hails ‘brilliant’ Manie Libbok’s impact in Springboks triumph in Wellington
