Chance for Boks to get back on the wave

There’s been a lot of hype around the pressure the Springboks face as they head into a must-win and effective knock-out game against Italy but it is not a new place for many of the players in the South African team.

For the likes of Duane Vermeulen, Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Handre Pollard, Damian de Allende, Tendai Mtawarira and Frans Malherbe, the hype this week will be like grist to the mill for them. This time it is one Pool game being hyped as the game they can’t afford to lose, the players in 2015 went into three of them.

Cast your mind back four years. After the defeat to Japan in Brighton in the opening week it was backs-to-the-wall time, and having lost to Eddie Jones’s team, there was real concern that the disarray in the camp - there was apparently a lot of behind-the-scenes upheaval that week - could lead to a defeat to Samoa in Birmingham in the next game.

After that they were to face Scotland in Newcastle, and those two games together became massive events. The Boks won both of them comfortably, and were particularly good in dispatching a combative Scotland unit, thus laying down a marker and creating the momentum that was only halted by the All Blacks in the semifinal.

The Boks coped with the pressure then by focusing on performance and that is what they are doing again.

“In 2015 every game became a must-win after our loss to Japan,” recalls prop Malherbe.

“We had to win all our games from there to qualify, and that has been the case this year again. This is a similar must-win to what we experienced in 2015 in those three matches and we know we have to win if we want to proceed into the play-offs.

“That means there is pressure as we cannot afford to lose but we are going to approach it like a normal test match. We will go out there to do what we do. We need to execute our plans, we need to focus on the plan and the execution of it rather than the hype around this game.”

RELAXED AND COMPOSED

Those who have been around the camp this week will have noted that the players appear to be in a relaxed and composed space, one that is conducive to putting together the performance that will not only secure the Boks their quarterfinal spot but also inject the momentum that might have been lost by the defeat to the All Blacks in Yokohama. The old saying is that after something bad happens you have to get back on the horse, for the Boks it is about getting back onto the wave they were riding before the tournament.

The Boks have already laid down a marker this year during the Rugby Championship but they still need to do it in the World Cup. Yes, the win over Namibia was comprehensive, but it was by no more than was expected. On Friday in Shizuoka they are presented with a chance to catch the wave that they can ride through to the final.

It’s an important juncture in the tournament for the Boks, and for many reasons. They’ve lost two players to injury since the start. Word from the camp is that both Jesse Kriel and Trevor Nyakane could return as their rehabilitation to the injuries that have forced them out has been quick, but the Boks can’t afford any more injuries to key players without it starting to impact on their chances of going all the way.

There are also the continued rumblings from outside about Eben Etzebeth, and as players these days live on social media, they can’t be oblivious to it. The off-field noise will intensify if the Boks deliver a sub-standard performance, and even if they win while playing poorly, an off-key performance will erode confidence. And confidence is most needed once the play-offs arrive.

THERE SHOULD ONLY BE ONE WINNER

If you look at the respective records of the teams in recent times there should only really be one winner to this game that, even more than usually is the case, will be decided at forward. The Boks won the most recent Rugby Championship, Italy came last in the Six Nations. Yes, Italy did beat the Boks in Italy in 2016, but a year later the Boks avenged that defeat 38-0.

That coach Rassie Erasmus refers to a monkey needing to be removed from the backs is because he chooses to. The monkey was surely off the back the next time the two teams played. But it might suit the Boks to hype this game, just as they did the warm-up fixture against Japan, for it prepares them for what lies ahead.

Not that the players are feeling the pressure, according to scrumhalf Faf de Klerk.

“Going into a test match there is always pressure as you are playing for your country and playing for national pride, you never want to lose, but I wouldn’t say there is more pressure than usual,” said De Klerk.

“There is obviously pressure on us to produce a good performance. If we go in this game and qualify for the play-offs, that will set us up.”

WEATHER SUITS THE BOKS

The conditions have been a leveller at this tournament but as De Klerk says, the wet weather type of rugby being demanded suits South Africa’s strengths.

“The weather changes quite frequently here so we will have to wait until Friday to see what we are presented with, but regardless of whether it rains or not we will go in with the same plan we have been working on. We will play our normal game. Our style of play suits a wet-weather game. If it is wet maybe we will focus more on the aerial battle, but having six forwards on the bench for this game should work in our favour.”

Of course Italy have also gone with a six/two split between forwards and backs on the bench, but there is a significant difference in quality between the benches. It might be tight up to about the 50-minute mark, but expect the Boks to draw away and win comfortably once the bench has given them the chance to make the gear change that will make them impossible for Italy to live with for a full 80 minutes.

Teams

South Africa: Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handre Pollard, Faf de Klerk, Duane Vermeulen, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Beast Mtawarira. Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, RG Snyman, Franco Mostert, Francois Louw, Herschel Jantjies, Frans Steyn.

Italy: Matteo Minozzi, Tommaso Benvenuti, Luca Morisi, Jayden Hayward, Michele Campagnaro, Tommaso Allan, Tito Tebaldi, Sergio Parisse (capt), Jake Polledri, Braam Steyn, Dean Budd, David Sisi, Simone Ferrari, Luca Bigi, Andrea Lovotti. Replacements: Federico Zani, Nicola Quaglio, Marco Riccioni, Alessandro Zanni, Federico Ruzza, Sebastian Negri, Callum Braley, Carlo Canna.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England).

Kick-off: 11.45am SA time.

Prediction: Boks by 15