The South Africa captain, Siya Kolisi, has revealed his team’s constant focus on tackle technique in guarding against the disciplinary trouble currently being experienced by England.
Steve Borthwick will be prevented from selecting his captain, Owen Farrell, and only specialist No 8, Billy Vunipola, for their pivotal pool opener against Argentina next month after both players were banned for dangerously high tackles during warm-up matches against Wales and Ireland respectively. Farrell is also banned for England’s second pool match, against Japan.
The Springboks are in London to take on New Zealand at a sold-out Twickenham on Friday night – the final warm-up for the world champions before they attempt to defend the World Cup in France. Asked how South Africa succeed in applying such physical intensity in contact while largely avoiding the problems suffered by England, Kolisi said: “We train on that every single time … we work as hard as we can. That’s why when we go out there on the field, we can be as physical as we can, because we’ve trained it over and over into the muscle memory.”
“It’s uncomfortable down there,” Kolisi said of getting in correct position to tackle opponents at a legal height. “It’s not nice, when somebody so big is running at you and you have to get down low. That’s why you have to learn how to meet him, how to work on the foot movement, and [potential] late level changes. Sometimes you get caught out [by committing an illegal tackle], but it’s not a habit … it does take a lot of hard work.”
Having been named player of the match in Cardiff last Saturday after scoring two tries in the 52-16 destruction of Wales, the 20-year-old Canan Moodie switches to outside centre on Friday in what promises to be a fascinating head-to-head against New Zealand’s No 13, Rieko Ioane.
André Esterhuizen of Harlequins is named alongside Moodie at inside centre among eight changes made by the head coach, Jacques Nienaber, with Faf de Klerk coming in at scrum-half. The back three has been freshened up entirely: Damian Willemse starts at full-back with Kurt-Lee Arendse and Makazole Mapimpi on the wings. Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert, meanwhile, come into the second row, Duane Vermeulen starts at No 8 having come off the bench against Wales, with Pieter-Steph du Toit (No 7) and Kolisi (No 6) keeping their starting places.
New Zealand’s lineup is similarly crammed with quality and Ian Foster’s side will aim to pick up where they left off in the Rugby Championship last month when they defeated the Boks 35-20 in Auckland. The openside flanker Sam Cane captains something close to a first-choice XV, with Beauden Barrett at full-back, Richie Mo’unga at fly-half and Jordie Barrett partnering Ioane in midfield.
Kolisi said the Springboks are hoping for an “ugly, tough game, but beautiful at the same time” in front of 82,000 fans in south-west London. Asked if South Africa might hold something back against New Zealand, whom they may face in the quarter-finals in France, the back-rower was emphatic. “We’re not going to hold back at all,” he said. “We’re going to go all out … I don’t think we’ll ever get this opportunity in our lifetime, to play outside the World Cup, in the northern hemisphere in a game like this. We don’t want to disappoint people who paid money to come and see this game.”
Four years ago, in Japan, South Africa lost a compelling pool-stage encounter against the All Blacks in Yokohama but went on to lift the trophy, outclassing England in the final at the same venue several weeks afterwards. Defeat for either side at Twickenham will not, in theory, have much bearing on their respective campaigns, but with Kolisi talking up the fixture as “one of the greatest rivalries in sporting history”, those in attendance will doubtless share his excitement.
