The Welsh call it ”hwyl”, the English ”team spirit” and the Afrikaans version is ”spangees”, but however it’s expressed the fact is that it can’t be bought over the counter. When Rudolf Straeuli sent the Springboks to the Police College in Pretoria, part of his reasoning was that adversity tends to bring people together. Saturday’s win against Wales in Cape Town suggests that he is already reaping the rewards.
When the squad to play Argentina in Springs next week was announced on Tuesday, the same 22 names came out of the coach’s hat, which leads us to conclude that Straeuli was happy with his team’s performance at Newlands. If that is the case it is in contrast to the thoughts of a few critics, but as Brian Cohen once said to Michael Palin’s ex-leper, some people are never satisfied.
There are, of course, plenty of areas requiring improvement, but the coach can permit himself a private smile of satisfaction for three things. Firstly, he had a hunch that Brent Russell could play fullback, secondly he had the courage and the good sense to replace Bolla Conradie with Craig Davidson early in the second half, and thirdly his team is just that, not a motley collection of 15 individuals.
Given the soaking conditions at Newlands, it was hard not to recall the performance of another blond South African fullback in the semi- final of the 1995 World Cup. Against France in Durban Andre Joubert gave the kind of display that defines great players, and he did it with a broken hand.
It is far, far too soon to be calling Russell a great player, but we have endured two years of Springbok rugby where flair was something applied to the team’s formal trousers and ambition, far from vaulting, was more often seen limping. In his short career Russell has been damned with faint praise; a sevens player who could sidestep, but who tended to neglect his inside centre and had no kicking game. After Saturday, when he belted the ball prodigious distances into a howling wind we need to reassess.
Having begun a Test for the first time in the worst possible conditions and come through with flying colours, Russell can now contemplate his next Test with the likelihood of diametrically opposed conditions; no wind, no rain and a playing surface like a cricket pitch. If he is as influential against the Pumas as he was against Wales, it may be some time before the number 15 shirt comes up for grabs again.
As for the scrumhalf berth, Straeuli must be pinching himself. Bolla Conradie was, in the eyes of most unbiased observers, the man of the match in the first Test in Bloemfontein. It is a brave coach who replaces such a man at Newlands, but Straeuli backed a hunch and got Davidson on to the park sooner rather than later. He was rewarded tenfold as Davidson’s probing kicks altered the course of the game.
The point is that Straeuli now knows he has options, and not just among the backs. He has already said in regard to the test against Argentina that he is considering starting Ollie le Roux at hooker in an attempt to counter the powerful scrum of the visitors.
The Pumas no longer use the famed ”bajada” scrumming technique, but the performance of their tight forwards against France in Buenos Aires last week was as convincing as ever.
Consequently Straeuli appreciates that, until Daan Human reproduces his Super 12 form in a Test match, he cannot afford to carry a non-scrumming hooker such as James Dalton against the Pumas. The Le Roux option should ensure him some parity up front with the option of bringing Dalton’s unquestioned commitment to loose play into the mix in the second half.
It may also be time to reunite the Stormers’ second row pairing of Quinton Davids and Hottie Louw. Jannes Labuschagne has done nothing wrong, but the suspicion remains that he lacks the sheer bulk for an international lock forward and that his preferred role might be as an impact player from the bench, especially considering that he can also play anywhere in the back row.
During his short reign Straeuli has been at pains to give a chance to anyone with talent to prove himself, young and old, black and white. At the same time he announced the Springbok squad he also announced an A team that just happens to include the two most-capped players in Springbok history.
Less than 12 months ago Mark Andrews and Joost van der Westhuizen were considered indispensable. Injury removed both from the equation and in their absence Straeuli has found new stars. Both have World Cup winner’s medals, yet the feeling is growing that they want to be Springboks under a coach who was once their team-mate.
That in itself suggests that Straeuli has already restored some pride to our rugby.