Faf de Klerk: Springboks ‘dominated’ All Blacks in 2022 but ‘still managed to lose’
Faf de Klerk believes that Rassie Erasmus will not let the Springboks forget the 2022 Rugby Championship defeat to the All Blacks.
Scrum-half Faf de Klerk believes that Rassie Erasmus will not let the Springboks forget about the Rugby Championship defeat to the All Blacks at Ellis Park in 2022.
De Klerk will miss the back-to-back Test matches against New Zealand through injury but believes the team will take lessons from the clashes against their fiercest foe from two years ago.
The double World Cup winner has also weighed in on the impact of Tony Brown on the Springboks‘ attack and whether it still suits his style of play.
Going back-to-back against the All Blacks
Much like the 2024 Rugby Championship, the 2022 edition of the tournament saw the All Blacks tackle the Boks in successive Test matches in South Africa.
The Boks came out firing in the opening game of the tournament, defeating an under-the-pump All Blacks team 26-10 in Nelspruit.
At the time, Ian Foster was under pressure with New Zealand Rugby reportedly holding talks with Scott Robertson to potentially take over as head coach after the All Blacks lost the Test series to Ireland in New Zealand.
Then Bok head coach Jacques Nienaber made several changes to his starting XV for the second Test match at Ellis Park with a fired-up All Blacks team claiming a 35-23 victory.
De Klerk says that Erasmus will be reminding the current squad of those set of results as a wounded All Blacks team arrives in South Africa after losing their first game of the tournament to Argentina before an emphatic response against the same team.
“They’re definitely going to speak about how we were dominant in that whole game and still managed to lose at the end,” De Klerk told reporters at a Castle Lager event.
“The chat will be around not letting the pressure off them at all and just sticking to what we do well but it’s going to be tough now no matter where you play them and how you play them.
“But I feel we are also at that stage where we can also come back from behind, so on the day it’s who’s willing to keep fighting.”
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Tony Brown’s influence and how De Klerk fits in
The Test match at Ellis Park will be the first time that New Zealander Brown will go up against his fellow countryman in his new role as the Springboks’ attack coach.
The ex-All Blacks fly-half has made a telling contribution to South Africa’s attacking patterns but the emphasis on getting width on the ball quicker and a less kick-heavy approach has many questioning De Klerk’s role in the squad.
However, the double World Cup winner is not too concerned as he believes the main pillars of the Springboks game remain the same and that Brown’s tactics are not foreign to him.
“I wouldn’t say that (the kicking game has become less important), I actually really enjoy what Tony is bringing forth, it’s sort of similar to the way I used play back at the Lions,” he explained.
“It’s something I’m really enjoying, there are a lot of things, small little details that we need to sort out to really make it flow well but I think our main pillars are still the same, our scrum, maul, our physicality and kicking game is always going to be massive.
“No matter who we play or where we play that’s always going to remain as our big strengths.”
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Competition in the Springboks squad
With De Klerk sidelined Erasmus has recalled Jaden Hendrikse to the Springboks squad, who takes the place of Morne van den Berg while Grant Williams and Cobus Reinach remain regular fixtures.
The veteran nine is enjoying the competition in the squad and is happy to step aside if he is being outperformed by one of his teammates, but that does not mean he is giving over the jersey easily.
“Obviously, you still want to get that starting position every week so you doing everything you can in training to stand out or do the things that you should do well or that they’re asking from you,” De Klerk added.
“But working with a guy like Morne van den Berg and Grant Williams – when he was newer to the group – it’s great to work with them if they play better than me or perform better than me, I’m happy for them to do it.
“If they perform well for the Springboks and we win, I’ll grant them that opportunity, I’ve had opportunities in my life where I’ve been granted them, sometimes taken, sometimes not but for now if I’m in the group obviously going to go for that starting position but I definitely, if they have questions or where they can help me then 100% I’m giving it.”
