Cape Town – Kick, kick, and kick again. That seems to be what the Springbok mantra, but assistant coach Mzwandile Stick is adamant that the players have “all the freedom in the world” when it comes to decision-making.
The South Africans are feeling the heat after going down to Wales in last week’s second Test, which has set up a series decider at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday (5.05pm kickoff).
Coach Jacques Nienaber has been criticised for fielding two almost totally different starting line-ups in the two Tests, which saw the Boks win 32-29 in Pretoria and lose 13-12 in Bloemfontein.
A lot of the frustration from Bok fans stems from the team’s reluctance to hold on to the ball and build phases on attack, as they look to apply pressure through box-kicks and up-and-unders, and hope to launch counter-attacks from turnover ball.
But Stick was encouraged by what he saw from the ‘B team’ at Free State Stadium, and feels that the world champions are expanding their style of play.
“We’ve got our strengths as the Springboks, and it’s something that comes by nature in South Africa – the hardship, we are hard people. We don’t have it easy in South Africa. Everything that you have in South Africa, you have to fight for it, and make sure that you go hard. It comes naturally to us – we are aggressive people,” the former Blitzboks captain said on Friday.
“I don’t think we will ever move away from that. We’ve got physical players who can dominate the collisions.
“When it comes to the style of play, we don’t limit our players when it comes to decision-making. They’ve got all the freedom in the world. If the space is there for them, they can run into spaces.
“They showed you in the second half in Pretoria, and last week, there were a lot of balls where we felt like we had an opportunity to take it wide. The likes of Warrick (Gelant), Kurt-Lee Arendse and (Aphelele) Fassi on the outside had lots of opportunities, but they were not clinical enough to convert those opportunities into points.
“So, it was the first time that they were playing together as a team, so we won’t be as harsh on them and say they don’t have what it takes. We know they’ve got great potential, and we’ve seen what they’ve done for their (franchise) teams.
“We still have room to improve. But we are not going to drift away from our strengths. We will stick to our DNA.”
Stick was also hopeful that flyhalf Handre Pollard will be able to put his best foot forward at Cape Town Stadium.
The Bok pivot was unable to slow a vital penalty in the second half – in addition to a first-half miss – and wasn’t his usual fluent self with ball-in-hand either.
But he will be reunited with fellow World Cup winners Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am alongside him in midfield, and the South Africans should have better rhythm on attack this time around.
“That’s the brutal thing at this level. If you have a kicker with an almost 90 percent record, you have a great chance of winning,” Stick said.
“But Elton (Jantjies) had about 50 minutes of game-time this year, although I don’t want to make excuses – they are professionals.
“Same with Handre Pollard: he had less than 120 minutes so far this season. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do. The best we can do is give them an opportunity to be on the field. We understand that they are not at their best at the moment when it comes to kicking at poles.
“But I can’t wait for when everything goes according to plan. Handre Pollard is a player with confidence. Once he gets it right on the day, he will win you a World Cup.
“I felt Handre had a good start last week until he started cramping, and that’s where he started to drift away in the game. We’ve got a back-up in Damian Willemse who can kick to poles.”
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