Opinion: I’m a Pom and even I am beginning to like the Springboks
Split with the Springboks lifting the Freedom Cup and Rassie Erasmus.
Being one of four Pommy journalists amongst three rather chirpy South African colleagues within the seven-man Planet Rugby team is an unenviable task.
We spend our time trying to talk the Saffers down, to keep them onside, attempting to manage down the euphoria and hyperbole of our colleagues Jared, Dylan and Skip, and to rebalance the narrative of Planet Rugby into the fair and reasonable voice of the rugby world.
Alas, I realised on Saturday evening that my attempts are futile. The reason? Well, I have come to accept that in my 18 years of rugby journalism, and my 39 years of involvement in the sport as player, coach and writer, I don’t think I’ve seen a more intelligent and adaptable team than the current 2024 iteration of South Africa.
In 2019, I might have argued that there was little to choose between New Zealand, England and the Springboks, other than the mighty scrum of SA, which gave them a massive edge in the final.
In 2023, I would certainly have claimed that there was nothing more than a refereeing call between France and the Boks, and that both New Zealand and Ireland were in the conversation, and that I have still never seen a better performance in attack than Les Bleus produced for 60 minutes in the quarter -final.
But come 2024, my arguments are, rather depressingly, spent.
I have nothing to offer in terms of comparison, no equivalence to give in terms of sides at the same level, (with due respect to both Ireland and France, who are still both outstanding teams) and no reference points that would support any conversation that claimed there was a better side in the world right now, or at any historical point in the modern game.
Setting Your Own Standards
Why, I hear you ask? What’s changed to drive you to this conclusion?
Well, it is the sheer adaptability and ambition of Rassie Erasmus and his leadership group that is taking this team to heights almost unheard of in the sport. Sure, measured objectively, you can’t argue with back-to-back World Cups – and, at the time of writing, you’d be well within your rights to put your house on the Boks repeating the feat for a hat-trick of wins in 2027.
But it’s not about the objective measurement – it’s about the subjective nature of how South Africa are obsessed with becoming better. It might be the historical criticism of conservative rugby – ‘well, it’s all about their set-piece – they bully teams but lack attacking ambition’ is a consistent trope fired towards the men in green and gold. However, the class of 2024 are making an absolute mockery of those criticisms.
If you go back to the dominance of the Australian cricket team in the ’90s and ’00s, when Steve Waugh took over the leadership he, rather punchily, announced to his charges that the only side that could beat Australia was Australia A. He told the players he was setting performances bars that extended the team internally. If you were a top five batter, you needed to score at 60 runs per 100 balls. He said that Australia would bat first every time if he won the toss, come what may. And that the target was to win by an innings, 10 wickets or by 200 runs – and should the players not subscribe to his vision then they were out.
It proved prophetic – Australia hit standards hitherto unseen in cricket and, until their team grew old together, they maintained those standards for almost 18 seasons, smashing any team that came their way with aggression and attacking brilliance.
Adaptation and intellect
For South Africa, Rassie Erasmus and his leadership are adopting precisely the same approach as Waugh did, and it is taking the team to worrying new heights of rugby performance.
There’s no doubt that the South Africans produce huge physical specimens that offer an advantage on the rugby pitch, but it’s almost as if Rassie is programming the players with his own rugby version of AI – let’s call it RI – to inspire them to new heights.
The training regime is incredibly focused; word from the Bok camp tells us that the team practices tackle height for hours on end to remain as legal as they can. The lineout work has demonstrated some amazing innovation this season – from pod switches to front peels off double pods and much more. And, stung by words about relying on bullying sides, Erasmus has developed a crop of upskilled and pacy attacking players who simply want to entertain with ball in hand, showing that transformation has already succeeded as a queue of brilliant young talents from the ethnic areas of South Africa keep arriving at the Bok HQ.
With role models like Cheslin Kolbe and Siya Kolisi, all of the communities of the Republic are bonded by the culture of the Boks. We are seeing talent after talent arriving on the pitches of South Africa – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (SFM), Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie and many others just keep coming, whilst the traditional crops of locks and back-rows like Ruan Nortije and Elrigh Louw show no signs of wilting.
And these guys want to take the shirt to an even better place – SFM is changing the way the Boks play, bringing ambition, pace and intelligence (RI again) to the usual Bok DNA. Erasmus has developed a squad of immense depth as a result; there’s at least 30 players currently that you could say, hand on heart, are close to the world class mark as Test performers – and rather worryingly, there’s probably another 30 that could step up around the franchises should the national team need it.
Degree in people
At the heart of this transformation and continuance is Rassie Erasmus.
To continue the cricketing analogy, former Aussie fast bowler Rodney Hogg once said of one of England’s finest skippers, Mike Brearley that ‘the bugger has a degree in people’. With Erasmus he not only has the same degree but he also has a master’s in South African culture and a PhD in rugby coaching, just about.
He understands the emotions of his fanatical fans, he tracks the arguments on social media and he understands the criticism of his team from other quarters. Like a master chef, he then takes these three ingredients, blends them with exceptional player talent and he steers his team to new heights.
Given where South Africa are now, their potential development ceiling is huge over the next two or three seasons as RWC 2027 approaches. Sure, there’s a few road bumps – winning the three Tests are key targets during the November Tests and those matches will be epic to watch, but other than perhaps England, with a following wind and a lot of luck, is there really going to be a realistic physical challenge from either Wales or Scotland?
Nonetheless, you can only play what’s in front of you and, whilst there’s a tinge of disappointment that we won’t see South Africa play France or Ireland until at least 2025, that wait serves only to whet the anticipation for when those games finally come around.
But for now, you have to sit back and admire what we are seeing from the Springboks. We know it comes with a degree of….well shall we say confidence?…from the Bok fanbase, but, rather begrudgingly, even the most doughty of Pommy and Kiwi journalists have to now admit we are seeing one of the greatest teams in the history of the sport developing themselves to even new heights.
Sure, it means I have to put up with the endless hours of banter and ribbing from the men on our desk, Dylan, Jared and Skip, but somehow I’ve learned to celebrate this journey with them and I find myself absorbed by the excellence of the world champions.
After all, if you’re a genuine person of rugby, whatever nation you come from, how could you not be in awe of what we are seeing?
