Cape Town - Faf de Klerk’s defence is not problematic, and Morné Steyn just needs to repeat his performance from last week if the Springboks hope to topple the All Blacks in Durban on Saturday.
That was the word from coach Allister Coetzee after making just two injury-enforced changes to the team that beat Australia 18-10 in Pretoria last week.
Rudy Paige’s concussion and a groin problem for Jesse Kriel saw De Klerk reinstated at scrumhalf and Damian de Allende at centre despite both men battling with their games in recent Tests.
Apart from being caught at the back of rucks and being indecisive at times, De Klerk was guilty of a number of defensive errors in the 41-13 defeat to the All Blacks in Christchurch, and after starting in all seven Tests in 2016, he was axed for the Wallaby encounter at Loftus Versfeld.
His Lions halfback partner Elton Jantjies also had to make way after another unconvincing performance at No 10, with former and current Bulls Steyn and Paige getting an opportunity.
But after resisting the temptation to move Francois Hougaard from wing to No 9, Coetzee feels De Klerk won’t repeat his mistakes against the All Blacks at Kings Park (5.05pm kickoff), where he will be up against in-form Hurricanes No 9 TJ Perenara, who replaced the suspended Aaron Smith.
“With Rudy Paige concussed and hasn’t made the protocol, I looked to give Faf another opportunity. Of course he’s in my (opinion) a great rugby player. And obviously, he would’ve learned from lessons in the past – he’ll be a better player come this weekend,” the coach said.
“Look, defensively it wasn’t just Faf de Klerk’s problem. It starts at set-piece and they got a good scrum and the left shoulder up.
“We cannot afford to allow that – our flankers… it’s crucial to assist Faf with that. He might be a different scrumhalf to Rudy Paige, but the basics of the game stay the same – he’s got to have accurate service, clean the ball and get it away as quickly as possible to make sure Morné has enough time and space before their rush defence gets to them.”
Steyn, of course, was hailed by the coach for scoring all 18 points with four penalties and two drop goals against Australia. But the reality is that while he kicked well at goal, his tactical kicking left a lot to be desired as a number of aimless kicks just handed possession back to the Wallabies.
The Australians weren’t able to take full advantage of that, although they did score from a bad kick by Bryan Habana, with fullback Israel Folau launching the counter-attack that saw prop Scott Sio falling over the line under the uprights.
The All Black back-three of Ben Smith, Israel Dagg and Waisake Naholo are lethal in space, while flyhalf Beauden Barrett also possesses extreme pace and will test Steyn’s direct defence.
Just kicking goals won’t be enough to beat the world champions, though, and Steyn will need to bring in strike-runners such as Juan de Jongh, Habana and Hougaard out wide.
“Morné Steyn, like I said last week, did a great job for us against Australia. He’s been around the block and he’s an experienced player. We are not going to force Morné Steyn to change his game per se, but he understands what is needed,” Coetzee said.
“He understands that at 10, we need to have sharp decisions, quick decisions, without any other unforced errors in that position, and he’s been doing that.”
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