Willie draws the line

"In this team we defend as if we're defending our own homes. You defend the tryline as if it is your own family standing behind it."

If you had even the slightest doubt that the Springboks mean business at this year's Rugby World Cup, then the often enigmatic Willie le Roux just gave you a straight answer.

Savagely defend the team's ground as if it is your own house being attacked; your own family in danger. For anyone wanting the team culture of the Springbok class of 2019 put into words, Willie's utterance is as close as you're likely to get.

And it's not a self-centred answer given by a player often (wrongly) criticised for being too individualistic on the field. He immediately follows it up with: "That is what we tell each other all the time". He is speaking not as a prodigy, but as a brother.

The Boks are in a space where if one of them talks about "your own family" being attacked, they almost certainly include the other 14 men stuck between four lines wearing a particular shade of green and gold that offers a bond that no one individual dares to break. Not this year.

The statistics back that statement completely.

Since the end of the 2015 World Cup until the end of the 2018 international season, the Springboks conceded an average of 25 points and 2.78 tries per match. This year that has dropped drastically to only 16 points and 1.5 tries per match.

"Defence is a difficult thing to master, but if you get it right it always works wonders," says Le Roux.

Quite.

"We’re doing the right things now and we must continue doing it," he continues.

You better, yes.

More than one World Cup final has been won by an average attack, not a single one by an average defence.

'BREAK DOWN THE WALL'

Not that the Boks aim to be below par whenever they gain possession of the ball in Japan in the coming months. Willie cracks a smile when he is quizzed on the subject.

"A lot of people will call us boring, but at the end of the day you have to break down the wall first before you can start scoring in the last 20 minutes.

"It is a very basic game plan in general, but if you see some space in front of you no-one is going to hold it against you if you go for it. Even if it's from your own goal-line, no-one in this team will ever tell you that you're not allowed to run. That is exactly how I like it.

"We (Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard) have played together since Rassie (Erasmus) took over and we understand each other quite well now. If anyone sees anything noteworthy on the field, we'll talk. If I see space at the back I'll immediately tell Faf where to kick, or Handre, if it had to come off him.

"We enjoy each other and we enjoy playing together," he says with the air of a man who knows that the house-robber has not yet seen the Rottweiler hiding around the corner.

No-one can blame a Springbok fan if he starts pinching himself right about now.