Rarely have a Springbok team looked as contented on English soil as Heyneke Meyer’s side this week. The majority of their big men are back fit, their Japanese hiccup is behind them and thousands of expat South Africans are expected to roar them on at Twickenham. One or two are even eagerly anticipating a semi-final against New Zealand next week as if victory over Wales is already a certainty.
Such complacency came back to bite them against Japan in Brighton but Saturday afternoon’s game is the one that will define the Boks’ tournament. Thunder into the last four and no one will fancy playing them; surrender to a Welsh team shorn of numerous key backs and Meyer will be apologising to his nation once again. Nothing in the squad’s body language suggests they are fearing the latter scenario.
Partly it is because they are finally sending out their best available starting XV, give or take Jannie du Plessis’s presence on the bench.
If there is a more dynamic pair of second-row forwards in the tournament than Lood de Jager and Eben Etzebeth they have yet to declare themselves and the reunited back-row combination of Duane Vermeulen, François Louw and Schalk Burger will take some subduing physically. In the centre the combination of Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende offers youthful thrust; further out Bryan Habana and JP Pietersen have 86 Test tries between them.
Habana has already drawn level with Jonah Lomu’s all-time record of 15 Rugby World Cup tries, including five in this tournament, while Pietersen scored three against Samoa at Villa Park. The latter reckons his team-mate is still a bit special – “When we need something big, Bryan Habana always steps up” – and believes South Africa are stronger for their opening weekend defeat to the Brave Blossoms. “It was definitely emotional after the Japan game. We opened up and had a hard session with ourselves and what we did wrong. We let ourselves and our country down. That’s part of rugby, it’s all about testing the character. We’ve played knockout rugby from game two. I think that probably helps a lot with the mental preparation for this stage.”
He did not need to mention that South Africa have reverted to their stock-in trade: steaming hard and straight into the opposition, hammering the gain line and leaving any questions about subtlety until afterwards. The looseness and error count against Japan have been replaced by a narrow-eyed ruthlessness, particularly if any hint of weakness in front of them is discernible. Tyler Morgan may know Kriel and De Allende from his under-20s days but he will not have experienced anything quite like this.
Talk to any Springbok and they will also stress how keen they are to improve on their disappointing 11-9 defeat at this juncture to Australia in Wellington four years ago. The last time they played a knockout game at Twickenham in 1999 they were also narrow extra-time losers, floored by Stephen Larkham’s improbable drop goal.
There is hope in there somewhere for Wales – if the Boks are forced to play at a high tempo for the full 80 minutes their composure can fray – but two wins over South Africa in 30 Tests dating back to 1906 is not an auspicious omen.
Warren Gatland is never to be underestimated, though, and his full-back Gareth Anscombe summed up the cussed Welsh mood neatly before his team were presented with their match jerseys by the comedian Rob Brydon. “We need to front up and stop their ball carriers. If we can do that then we’ll win the game. Hopefully we can get them going backwards at times, put them under pressure and see how they respond to that.”
Time spent on the rollercoaster rides of Thorpe Park this week has left Wales perfectly prepared for the ups and downs of a heavy-duty encounter like this. “We were talking this morning about how none of us want to go home yet,” said Anscombe, who won an Under-20s World Cup title with New Zealand in 2011. Cardiff is hardly a million miles away but Wales have been enjoying their stay in suburban Surrey.
Ultimately much will hinge on the ability of the Welsh scrum to withstand the pressure coming their way; it will rank among Gatland’s finest achievements if his side can reach a second successive World Cup semi-final. Wales’s footballers have shown the way and red-shirted victories at Twickenham are never less than sweet. South Africa, though, seem ominously bright-eyed. It threatens to be a night of celebratory biltong rather than heavenly bread.
