Cape Town - This coming Friday, the Springboks depart for England on a mission to recapture the Webb Ellis Cup.
The Boks came last in the Rugby Championship, an obvious suggestion that they are hardly the finished article. But Heyneke Meyer reckons the tough preparation against New Zealand, Australia and Argentina was priceless in terms of lessons learned about players and strategy and that with a number of players returning from injury, South Africa will be an entirely different proposition in the tournament proper.
Can the injured veterans go the distance?
On paper, the Boks have a well-balanced squad, with highly-experienced players in most positions, but a number of them have hardly played this year.
So Meyer will be using the four pool games to “warm-up” the likes of Duane Vermeulen, Fourie du Preez, Jean de Villiers, Willem Alberts and Coenie Oosthuizen.
The combative No 8 Vermeulen is crucial to the Bok forward effort, both on attack and in defence, and the plan is for him to play as much rugby as is prudent against Japan, Samoa, the USA and Scotland so that he can be back to his best in the knockout stages.
The same goes for Du Preez. We know Meyer believes the veteran scrumhalf is the general who can guide the Boks all the way to glory, but the 33-year-old has hardly played this year and is notoriously injury-prone.
Du Preez is undoubtedly world-class and Meyer needs the seasoned No 9 to stay clear of the casualty ward. His understudy, Ruan Pienaar, is dependable but not influential, and Rudy Paige is talented but inexperienced.
Will Handré Pollard rise to the occasion?
Meyer began the international season with the 21-year-old at No 10 against the World XV and continued to start him in the three Rugby Championship matches, clearly showing his hand on the flyhalf debate.
For the Durban Test against Argentina, Patrick Lambie was Meyer’s first-choice early in the week. But the coach changed his mind as the pressure mounted on his side to end their losing streak.
Pollard is a match-winner with his ability to take the ball to the line and ask questions of the toughest defences, but he is also prone to making basic errors. If he can mature at the World Cup and realise his potential while cutting down on his mistakes, he could be one of the stars of the World Cup. Alternatively, he could find himself overtaken by the calm and dependable Lambie.
The midfield connundrum
How does three go into two? We are talking about captain De Villiers, Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel. Meyer tried to solve that at Kings Park by moving Kriel out to wing to accommodate the returning skipper, but instead created a political furore by denying a chance to Lwazi Mvovo.
De Villiers will start at the World Cup, without question. But he not only has to overcome yet another injury setback, but must also quickly find the form that made him the SA Player of the Year in 2008 and 2013. Meyer knows that De Allende and Kriel are an in-form combination, but he must back his captain.
The breakdown battle
Meyer has learned the hard way that playing two fetchers might work in fast-paced games against Australian and New Zealand opposition in Super Rugby and the Rugby Championship, but the tighter games of the World Cup playoffs and the heavier conditions of the Northern Hemisphere will demand a greater physical presence at the breakdowns.
The Boks were heavily outmuscled in the collisions by the Pumas at Kings Park, with the South Americans playing the type of forward game the South Africans can expect in England. The Boks had two unbeaten tours of the Northern Hemisphere when they had Vermeulen at No 8 in tandem with flanks Alberts and Francois Louw.
All three were injured in the Championship this year, but if they can stay fit and re-establish their chemistry, they could give the Boks the gain-line advantage so vital to the effectiveness of halfbacks Du Preez and Pollard.
Consistency is key
The Boks have to settle on a game plan that will win them seven games on the trot in England and steer them to ultimate victory at Twickenham.
Meyer has spent almost four years trying to close the gap on the All Blacks and has indeed developed the Boks’ attacking ability significantly.
The coach has also been obsessed with improving the conditioning of his players, who he has repeatedly stated are behind the levels of the Kiwis. A month of intense fitness work in Durban might well have achieved the latter objective, but statistics for the least two seasons reveal that the Boks now kick the least of the Championship teams – and this year that led to them saddled with the wooden spoon.
Meyer has to settle on a game plan that is tactically astute but also allows for his backs to play the attacking game they have developed - should the opportunities arise after initial safety-first tactics.
Weekend Argus
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