Don’t be surprised if you see the Springboks mauling a bit more on their three-Test tour of the United Kingdom this month.
Add in fit-again locks RG Snyman and Franco Mostert, and it would make total sense for the world champions to keep things tight at times against Scotland, England and Wales.
The Boks have worked hard on adding more strings to their attacking bow since winning the 2019 World Cup and the 2021 British and Irish Lions series.
The growth on attack took a big step forward on the 2022 end-of-year tour, especially against France, and we saw the full output of that effort in the 35-7 demolition of the All Blacks at Twickenham before last year’s World Cup.
When the crunch time came in France last October, though, the South Africans had to rely on the outstanding goal-kicking of Handré Pollard to sneak them through the quarter-final, semi-final and final by a single point respectively.
There is no doubt that the Bok attack has gone to another level under the watch of new assistant coach Tony Brown this year, which has seen some terrific tries being scored and less reliance on the scrums and mauls.
But it’s normally wet and slippery in the UK in November, and making greater use of their forwards through lineout drives can be mightily effective, starting with next Sunday’s Test against Scotland at Murrayfield.
“Our reasoning behind that (not mauling often) is that teams know that mauling is one of our strengths,” Bok forwards coach Deon Davids said yesterday from Jersey, where the team have been in camp this week before travelling to Edinburgh tomorrow.
After two intense training days, the #Springboks had time to meet some local kids from the Jersey RFC and explore the sights and sounds of Jersey on Thursday 🤩#ForeverGreenForeverGold @VisitJerseyCI pic.twitter.com/JQnVbCu3ij
— Springboks (@Springboks) October 31, 2024
“It’s something that’s part of our DNA and what we want to be good at, and it will never disappear or be used less in a Springbok environment.
“But over the years, we have been facing different challenges, with the way teams evolve with their maul defence.
“We just found it necessary, in order to assist us in being better in what we do, that we also need to look at different ways to outsmart the opposition – which can assist us to use the maul effectively when we choose to do that.
“I just think that is part of the bigger plan. We work very hard on our mauling, and it will play a very big part in the next three weeks, as part of our plan going forward.
“But we are also trying to evolve as a team, with the way the game evolves – try to adapt to certain strategies and the way we want to do things.
“It’s good to have variety in terms of how we do stuff, as that just puts us in a different space and create different challenges for the opposition.”
Snyman and Mostert’s returns from injury will provide the Boks with a different dynamic due to their skills, work-rate and experience compared to the Rugby Championship, where Ruan Nortjé and even Pieter-Steph du Toit had to step up to the second row.
“From a lineout point of view, it’s enormous to have them back. We know that they are quality and experienced players who bring a lot to the team environment,” Davids said.
“But when they were not in the team, we also had an opportunity to give young guys like Ruan a chance, and also utilise the versatility of Pieter-Steph as a lock and flank.
“It’s good for us to build depth like that, with an eye on the next World Cup.
“But it’s fantastic to have them back. They are very supportive in the team and also leaders, and we will need them over the next three weeks against quality opposition.”
Scotland ended fourth in the Six Nations this year – with wins over Wales (27-26) and England (30-21), and narrow defeats to France (20-16), Italy (31-29) and Ireland (17-13) – and will face Fiji tonight in Edinburgh.
They will be determined to overturn their 18-3 defeat to the Boks at last year’s World Cup, while Glasgow’s United Rugby Championship triumph last season would also have given their Test players real confidence that they could topple the world champions next weekend.
“I don’t think that there is an easy Test. We are playing against a very good Scottish team,” Davids said.
“If you think back to the World Cup, it was a very tough match. It was something where we had to fight for our path to open for long periods in that game, if you look at the score.
“Many of them play for Glasgow, who were successful in the URC. They did well this year in the Six Nations, and they are a well-coached team with excellent players like Finn Russell, Duhan van der Merwe and many more.
“The manner in which they play, using the width of the field and the tempo with which they play, with their attacking ability, they will pose us with major challenges in the game.”