By Lucky Maree
With one master stroke, Jacques Nienaber (with the help of Rassie Erasmus) has swung the outcome of Saturday’s game against Ireland in favour of the Springboks.
Bringing Cheslin Kolbe back into the team was always on the cards, but placing him at fullback is a great decision.
No doubt, the South African coaches have spent a lot of time looking for a way to counter Irish flyhalf Johnny Sexton, because he is the key player in that team.
Abrasive, obnoxious and downright dislikeable, the Irish captain is without doubt one of the best flyhalves in the world today. If the Springboks can control him, their chances improve dramatically.
Quoted on PlanetRugby, Sexton said: “When you have a couple of results like we did in the summer, teams start to look at you and they go, ‘how are we going to mess up this Ireland team?’ ”
You have your answer, Mr Sexton. The challenge is clear. When you play your famous kicks that place your team on the front foot, they’d better be perfect – because the man with number 15 on his back is Cheslin Kolbe, one of the world’s great open-play rugby players.
Making the challenge even more juicy for Sexton, are Kurt-Lee Arendse and Makazole Mapimpi on the wings. If the Irish strategy is to keep the ball away from the South African forwards, they will have to deal with a backline as good as South Africa has had in a long time. In the midfield, Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende can be counted on to make the tackles and the halfbacks of Jaden Hendrikse and Damian Willemse are clicking into top gear at just the right time.
The forwards too, finally free of the ghost of Joseph Dweba, can be expected to do more than just hold their own. The rolling maul will still be South Africa’s primary method of attack and the front eight will be very difficult to stop from crossing the line for 80 minutes. In addition, the bench with the six forwards and the two backs, leaves the backline vulnerable, but it certainly strengthens the forwards.
While the Johnny Sexton-problem may be largely taken care of, there are still a few questions that can only be answered after the match has started.
Willie le Roux is certainly a competent all-rounder. But jacks of all trades are often masters of none. Cheslin Kolbe can move into flyhalf if needed, but that would bring Le Roux into fullback. A big ask.
And the second, and maybe the toughest challenge for the Springboks is the weather.
We have seen in the URC that bad weather has left some South African players a little lacklustre if not downright rattled. The forecast for Dublin on Saturday at 7.30pm (SA time) certainly speaks of the luck of the Irish. A maximum of 14 degrees, going down to about 11 as the afternoon progresses. Rain is forecast under a cloudy sky without any prospect of sunshine, and the wind should average out at about 23kph.
Dealing with Johnny Sexton is one thing, but is Irish weather the most foul? We’ll see.
South Africa: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Deon Fourie, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Faf de Klerk, 23 Willie le Roux
Pictured above: Cheslin Kolbe
Image source: @TheIrishTimes
