London – The Springbok players have been talking up tonight’s third-place play-off against Argentina as a last hurrah for departing heroes, but there is a lot more to it than that.
If anybody knows what is at stake, it is Heyneke Meyer. The 48-year-old coach has a win ratio of 50 percent in 2015 and while one match should not influence a Saru review committee’s decision on whether or not to renew his coaching contract, a second defeat to Argentina for this year will certainly sway public sentiment.
Meyer has his share of supporters who advocate continuity; he also has plenty of detractors who point out he has won no trophies, has a poor transformation record and has not advanced the Boks’ playing style; and then there are a significant number of fence-sitters who are not sure if a two-point loss to the All Blacks in a World Cup semi-final is a pass mark or not.
It is the latter category that will topple over the fence into a growing army of critics should the Pumas beat the Boks for the second time this year.
A Test match is a Test match, and even more so at a World Cup when a bronze medal is at stake, as is third place on the World Rugby rankings.
It could well be that the players’ primary motivation is to say farewell on the right note to Jean de Villiers, Fourie du Preez and Victor Matfield (they have confirmed their retirement from international rugby), while Schalk Burger, Bryan Habana and Jannie du Plessis are expected to follow suit after this game, and the welfare of the coach is secondary.
If the former motivation does the trick, it could well help Meyer in the process. Whatever the case, Meyer desperately needs to return home on Tuesday morning with a win.
It is also why Meyer’s tune has changed drastically from “meaningless” last Saturday night to “vitally important” in his evaluation of the significance of the match.
Burger, who has said “I hope I have one last good performance in me in a Springbok jersey”, acknowledged that the players could help out the beleaguered coach by winning the match well.
“We as players are not involved in any of the decisions regarding the appointment of coaches,” Burger said. “I am sure there will be hard reviews, there are a lot of stake holders, all we as players can do is try and end on a high for Heyneke ... then we will read the papers on the matter just like everybody else. But maybe we can prove he is worthy of reappointment if we play some good, winning rugby against the Pumas.”
The players will also want to do it for themselves. Habana, for instance, has been a fine servant of Springbok rugby and if this indeed his last match in the green and gold, his teammates would be keen to help him to a couple of records. Just one more try will take him past the World Cup record of 15 he shares with Jonah Lomu and also take him past David Campese in the all time Test try-scoring stakes – they are tied on 64 tries, five behind overall record holder Daisuke Ohata of Japan.
Springboks STARTING XV: Willie le Roux, JP Pietersen, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Bryan Habana, Handré Pollard, Ruan Pienaar, Duane Vermeulen, Schalk Burger, Francois Louw, Victor Matfield (capt), Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bismarck du Plessis, Beast Mtawarira; Replacements: Adriaan Strauss, Trevor Nyakane, Jannie du Plessis, Lood de Jager, Willem Alberts, Rudy Paige, Pat Lambie, Jan Serfontein
Argentina STARTING XV: Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, Santiago Cordero, Matias Moroni, Jeronimo de la Fuente, Horacio Agulla; Nicolás Sánchez (capt), Tomás Cubelli, Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Javier Ortega Desio, Tomás Lavanini, Matias Alemanno, Ramiro Herrera, Julian Montoya, Marcos Ayerza; Replacements: Lucas Noguera, Juan Pablo Orlandi, Juan Figallo, Guido Petti, Facundo Isa, Martin Landajo, Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, Juan Pablo Socino - The Star