Nick Mallett reveals why other Test teams are in ‘serious trouble’ against the Springboks
Former Springboks head coach Nick Mallett (inset) and the Boks celebrate their win over Argentina.
Nick Mallett believes the versatility of several players in the Springboks squad is one of the core reasons for their current success and feels they have one hand on the Rugby Championship title.
South Africa moved to the top of the prestigious Southern Hemisphere tournament’s standings after delivering an outstanding all-round performance in their 67-30 victory over Argentina in Durban on Saturday.
The Springboks have amassed 15 points after five rounds of action, one clear of the All Blacks, who are in second place, and four more than the Wallabies, while Los Pumas are propping up the table on nine points.
Although the Boks cruised to a comfortable victory over Argentina in the end, it wasn’t always plain sailing as the visitors held the lead for most of the first half before some brilliance from the home side’s fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu just before half-time gave his side a 25-23 lead at the interval.
Still dominated despite having a numerical disadvantage
The Boks were under the cosh just before the break when Malcolm Marx was yellow-carded for illegally collapsing a maul close to his try-line, for which they were also punished with a penalty try, but despite having a numerical disadvantage, they finished the half stronger thanks to the versatility of some of their players.
With Marx off the field, Boks boss Rassie Erasmus made some tactical changes in which Siya Kolisi and Thomas du Toit were replaced by Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Wilco Louw, respectively, and then a seven-man Boks scrum demolished their opponents before they were awarded a penalty.
The world champions continued to dominate in the second half, and Mallett was full of praise for how certain Boks’ players were able to do a job when switching positions – something which they have also done in other Tests this year.
“It’s a wonderful thing,” he told the Talking Boks podcast with Brenden Nel. “We’re in a situation now where players like Sacha goes from fly-half to full-back, Manie comes on, it is just as good as when Sacha was fly-half and Damian (Willemse) was at full-back.
“You had Wessels come on at hooker at one scrum, and then Boan Venter, and then Wessels went to loosehead, and then Marx came back on. I mean, it’s incredible.
“The machine keeps on going, you know? And I think that is what is so laudable about this Springbok squad, that they have bought into the fact that they have to be able to play, if they can, in more than one position to help the team out.
“And secondly, (they) don’t panic. If we’re down to 14, it’s not the end of the world. Or if we’ve lost Kolbe and then Kwagga (comes in) on the wing, it’s not the end of the world.
“We’re still gonna be able to fight, and Kolbe’s played scrum-half in the past, popped in there and played a bit of scrum-half.
“We’ve had Grant Williams play on the wing, and I could go on and on. Esterhuizen at the flank. So it hasn’t stopped us from being and getting better and better.
‘These last two games have been very good’
“I think there were worse games this season, quite frankly, where Italy or Georgia, the first game against Australia. You know, we weren’t so good, obviously, in Cape Town, and I think we missed an opportunity to win in Eden Park. But these last two games have been very good.
“And going into, you asked me a question about being coach. I mean, Felipe Contepomi’s an outstanding coach. But you can do nothing if you don’t stop us on the gainline, if you don’t stop us from getting momentum.
“The moment this Bok team gets momentum, we have so many options, and the options are not just passing. We pass with kick passes, you know? The accuracy of our kick passes is so good. We see, if we have a fly-half, we see space like Sacha or Manie.”
Mallett feels the way the Boks are currently playing few teams at international level can match them and said they are overwhelming favourites to retain their Rugby Championship title when they face Argentina in Saturday’s rematch at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
“Any opposition is in serious trouble when we get front-foot ball. So, I can’t see (other teams winning against the Boks). France, perhaps. I personally don’t think Ireland are going to be able to match us at this level,” he said.
“And at the moment, New Zealand haven’t got the players. Australia have improved. But this competition is ours to throw away now.
“The match at Twickenham next week is going to be played in front of 30 to 40,000 South Africans who are going to come flooding into that game.
“And I can’t see how Argentina are going to pick themselves up because they played quite well in that first half (in Durban). And it was 24-22 (25-23 at half-time).
“And we were leading, having not played well. So, it’s going to be tough for them.”