Cape Town: The most prolific lock-tandem in the history of Test rugby, Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha will jog onto the field together for the last time as the Springboks begin their season with a depth-finding mission against the World XV at Newlands today (kick-off 5pm).
“I’m just sorry Bakkies is on the other side, hopefully he won’t be too angry,” Bok captain Victor Matfield joked yesterday.
“Victor and I are on opposite sides,” said Botha, the retired 85-cap veteran who will lead the star-studded exhibition side.
“It’s going to be awesome to see him again and we’ll shake hands when we’re doing the toss …”
The 63-Test Matfield-Botha combination is a world record. Matfield has had front-row seats to a 13-season wrecking-ball career that Botha spent inflicting pain at every collision and generating a maelstrom of chaos at the point of contact.
This match marks the first time since 1999 that the two heavies will go head to head.
“The last time I played against Bakkies, he was 19 and I was 21,” said Matfield.
“He was a 105kg No7 flank for the Falcons and I was a big, solid 120kg lock for Griquas. Those roles have changed now.”
The Falcons won that Vodacom Cup match 37-13 in Brakpan, and Matfield was holding thumbs that Botha’s unprecedented success over the past 16 years would see a less brutal combatant released into the historic Cape Town arena today.
“The way I know Bakkies, he’s going to go out to enjoy it,” said South Africa’s most-capped player. “He’s still a proud guy and he’ll want to play good rugby, but he’s achieved everything in world rugby and he’s got nothing left to prove.”
Matfield’s team has everything to prove. With less than 10 weeks to go before the Boks kick off their World Cup campaign against Japan in Brighton, this match represents their first opportunity to make amends for last year’s 2-2 European tour, which ended with a 12-6 loss against Wales in Cardiff.
“For us, the focus (this week) has been on what we want to achieve, so it’s probably been more intense at the Springboks whereas (for the World XV) it’s been more about them wanting to enjoy it and make sure there aren’t any surprises,” added Matfield. “We want to see where we are precisely (as a team), in terms of fitness and also to see whether one or two of the structures we’ve tweaked works.
“And then it’s also about building confidence after (a disappointing) Super Rugby (season for South African teams). We need to build team confidence and continuity to prepare for the Rugby Championship.”
The drive to achieve both objectives has been disrupted by long-term injuries to back-row stalwarts such as Duane Vermeulen and Willem Alberts and the bizarre withdrawal of Bulls enforcer lock Flip van der Merwe from Bok contention.
A rejigged loose trio will feature fetchers Francois Louw and Marcell Coetzee on the flanks, with athletic Lions captain Warren Whiteley making his starting debut at No8, while Cheetahs blindside flanker Oupa Mohoje has been tasked with covering the dynamic second-row duo of Matfield and Eben Etzebeth.
The selection of a back row that is heavy on ground skills and light on set-piece proficiency, coupled with the presence of Van der Merwe on the World XV bench, will present the Boks with a stiff challenge at the line-out, even for maestro Matfield. “It’s always very difficult when it comes to games like this because we don’t know what they’ll throw at us,” he said. “They’ve got Bakkies and Flip who know our structures very well. Bakkies can just look at me and he knows where I’m going to jump and Flip worked with me at the Bulls so he knows exactly how I do things.”
Matfield lauded Mohoje’s jumping ability but did not rule out switching to short line-outs.
Jesse Kriel will make his Test debut at outside centre in a young, but exciting, 10-12-13 axis rounded out by flyhalf Handré Pollard and Damian de Allende. “Jesse Kriel is a special player. He’s one of the few South African guys that can break a line and do something special for a team. Hopefully he can come through nicely.
“They are a very young combination, but luckily they’ve got (veteran) guys around them like Ruan Pienaar, Bryan Habana, JP Pietersen and Willie le Roux.
“I’ve also been fortunate to work with Handré (at the Bulls) and, although he’s only 21, he’s very mature in his thinking and very good at making decisions.”
Newlands hero and Jean de Villiers will add the experience of 106 Tests to the backline when he steps off the bench to make his much-anticipated comeback from a long-term knee injury.
“I get goose bumps just thinking about it,” said Matfield, who has assumed the captaincy in De Villiers’ absence. “It’s amazing… we all thought he might just make it in time to go to the World Cup. We just want to see him get through 20 minutes and get his confidence back. He’s a very important part of our team and our campaign.” - Saturday Star