Johannesburg - Springbok coach Allister Coetzee will go into his first Rugby Championship carrying with him the burden of erasing a painful bit of history, and also the expectation of bringing back South Africa’s first southern hemisphere silverware since the expansion of the competition to include Argentina four years ago.
The Springboks were last kings of the southern hemisphere in 2009 and they hit a new low in their last Test of the competition on home soil last year when they conceded their first loss to Argentina in Durban.
There was redemption for the Boks a week later when they won in Buenos Aires and followed that with a win at the Rugby World Cup to claim third place.
However, Coetzee will have to rally his troops to closing the chapter of Durban by ensuring they start the competition with victory at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday before their return match against Argentina in Salta a week later.
It will undoubtedly be a nervous start for the Boks even though they have had three Tests under their belt under Coetzee's guidance. But it will be the growing expectation to beat world champions New Zealand and win the competition that will weigh heavily on the team.
“I’m looking at improvement after every Test, even in the first onewhich is the most important one for me. I’m not even looking at New Zealand yet. It is all about Argentina for us. The big thing is improvement all the time, not just in the fundamentals of the game but in the way we want to play and the intensity with which we play,” Coetzee said last week.
Captain Adriaan Strauss, pictured, is fully aware of the disappointment of being part of the team that lost in Durban and finished last in the competition last year and is wary of thinking too far ahead at the risk of stumbling against Argentina again. Strauss has stressed the need for the team to continue to show improvements from their three-Test series against Ireland in June and creating new and happy memories in their encounters against the South Americans on home soil.
“We are desperate to improve on past performances but we are just focusing on Argentina at the moment. We are also focusing on what we did against Ireland and improving on that. Not just decision-making and tactical game-plan but detail is something we could have done a lot better. If we can learn something from how the Lions played it is the tempo of the game. They got quick ball which helps you get over the advantage line and you can get momentum from quick ball,” said Strauss.
With the bulk of Coetzee’s starting line-up probably going to remain the same as that which clinched the series against Ireland in Port Elizabeth, the absence of Duane Vermeulen due to a knee injury will open the door for Warren Whiteley to cement his place at the back of the scrum while Sikhumbuzo Notshe could make his Test debut with the vacancy at blindside flank.
Johan Goosen will in all probability take over the No 15 jersey from Willie Le Roux while Coetzee will want to find places for Juan de Jongh and Francois Hougaard in his match day team.
The Star