Springbok loose forward Evan Roos carries the ball during the second Test against Wales at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday Springbok loose forward Evan Roos carries the ball during the second Test against Wales at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday. Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix
Bloemfontein — After the Boks’ 13-12 defeat to Wales, the crumb of comfort offered by Jacques Nienaber was that he had now received answers on how all 42 of his players would shape up in the white-hot heat of a Test match when there was everything at stake.
Prior to his revamped team playing the second Test, his explanation was that he wanted to see what these guys could do when the series was still alive because a possible dead rubber third Test would not have been as revealing as a game when all was on the line.
To be fair to all of those newcomers, an obvious lack of team synergy was always going to count against them — they did train for two weeks as a team but they had never played a match together. However, the players could still be gauged on their individual contributions and some did better than others.
Also, before we judge too harshly, we must bear in mind that this team lost by a single point to a full-strength, desperate Welsh team, and if one of Handre Pollard’s missed penalties had gone over, or if Gareth Anscombe had missed that touchline conversion, then we would be celebrating Nienaber and Rassie’s Erasmus’s bold strategy, one that had successfully begun the process of building quality depth ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Looking at the backline, the big winner was Kurt-lee Arendse, who had a debut he can be proud of. He did not have that many opportunities but he looked menacing when he did he did get the ball while his defence was exceptional. He punches way above his weight and comparisons with Cheslin Kolbe, the man he was standing in for, are inevitable.
At fullback, Warrick Gelant had a reasonable game but he needs to stop the lateral running and straighten the line when he joins it rather than creeping across the field.
On the other wing, Aphelele Fassi’s defence again proved to be flimsy. It was his weakness with the Sharks in the URC and it continues on the international stage.
Neither of the centres covered themselves in glory. We were all expecting much more from the English Premiership star Andre Esterhuizen and the Welsh certainly had a plan to stop the juggernaut.
I will say one thing in the defence of the midfielders. The slowness of delivery from the scrumhalf meannt play was telegraphed and thus space was quickly cut down for the backs.
Jaden Hendrikse was similarly pedestrian in his clearing from the base for the Sharks and they always play better when the much quicker Grant Williams comes on. In his defence, perhaps it is the conservative game plan that has him taking so long and if the Boks had a more attacking mindset, then he would be quicker.
The Boks need Cobus Reinach to recover from injury asap.
Captain Pollard is not at his best although he got better in the second half after a lukewarm first 40. He will be much better in this weekend’s third Test decider.
The forwards were generally good. Evan Roos had a strong debut, Marcell Coetzee was ever-combative and Pieter-Steph was workmanlike in getting through the entire 80 minutes. The fact that Du Toit got through the game unscathed will be a sigh of relief from the coaches and he will also be better next week.
I think Roos did enough to justify selection for this week’s “final” in front of his home crowd.
Eben Etzebeth was very good for much of the game but criminally gave away three penalties in the final quarter to open the door for the Wales comeback. He will know that he should have been setting the example and been a pillar of composure...
Of the front row, Thomas du Toit was the stand-out. He was impressive in all facets of the game and has confirmed the maturity he showed from the Sharks in the URC.
Probably Springbok line-up for third Test: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Willemse, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
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