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A must-win for Boks
Brad Morgan
31 October 2003
South Africa's first "must-win" match of the 2003 Rugby World Cup was its 18 October battle against England. However, it wasn't about needing a win to progress, it was about restoring some Springbok pride after the 53-3 thrashing the Boks suffered at Twickenham in 2003.
Saturday's showdown with Samoa, however, is a true must-win game: defeat would mean South Africa's elimination from the World Cup.
Previously, most rugby fans would have looked at the game as a "gimme", with the result a foregone conclusion. Not any more.
Heading into Saturday's clash, the Springboks have played Samoa three times, winning 60-18 in 2002 and 60-8 and 42-14 in 1995. No close games, just routine and comfortable victories. However, after watching the Samoans push England all the way before succumbing 35-22 in Melbourne, a titanic struggle is in the offing.
During their game against the World Cup favourites, the Samoans became the first team to score a
try against England in the 2003 competition, and arguably pushed Martin Johnson's men harder than the Springboks, who went down 25-6 to the same team the weekend before.
Backline cohesion
To this observer, Samoa exhibited far more cohesion in their backline than the Boks showed against Georgia two days earlier. The South African team that played England showed good defence in the backline, but that outfit - very different from the line-up that faced Georgia – also didn't show up as well as the Samoans with ball in hand.
One of the star performers for Samoa against England was flyhalf Earl Va'a, who did the unthinkable by outplaying English flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson. The number 10 jersey has so far proved to be a bit of a problem for South Africa.
Louis Koen had a sub-standard showing against the English, with his kicking well below his usual very high standard, while Derick Hougaard, given his starting opportunity against minnows
Georgia, failed to put his stamp on the game, especially with his touch kicking. Outside of Hougaard, the backline play was horrible.
The young Blue Bulls flyhalf, though, will start against Samoa.
The Samoans' controlled but heavy tackling against England was most impressive. Usually Semo Setiti's side managed to have more than one player on hand to make the tackle, and they often drove the English back when making contact. This, though, is an area in which South Africa can match and maybe even outdo the Samoans.
With solid tackling the Boks can slow down Samoan ball, and with a sizeable tight five they could suck Samoa's defenders in, thus creating room for the South African loose forwards, who have been very impressive throughout the World Cup. The speedy combination of Juan Smith, Joe van Niekerk and captain Corné Krige have shown up very well so far, and Danie Rossouw, who will be on the bench, has also enjoyed an impressive World Cup.
Front row surprise
It is something of a surprise that coach Straeuli has opted for Faan Rautenbach ahead of Richards Bands at tighthead prop. Rautenbach did not impress against Georgia, while Bands has been one of the Bok finds of the season.
The choice of John Smit at hooker, on the other hand, is an interesting one. He is a solid lineout thrower and will certainly bring excellent leadership skills to the South African side.
Both Samoa and South Africa have faced England, Georgia and Uruguay so far, and the results are remarkably similar: played three, won two, lost one. Samoa: 128 points for and 57 against. South Africa: 124 points for and 50 against. This would suggest that the two teams are pretty close in strength, and that the gap that previously existed between the two (as evidenced in previous results) no longer exists.
According to the International Rugby Board's rankings, South Africa is number six in the world, while Samoa is
number nine. Then again, Wales is ranked number seven, and it's hard to imagine the Welsh pushing England as close as 35-22, noting too that Samoa led 22-20 heading into the final quarter of that game. In fact, Wales hasn't come closer than 17 points' difference against England in its last five meetings, and has averaged a loss of 42-11 in those contests.
It's worth noting, though, that South Africa's last three matches against the English have all ended in big losses: 25-6 in 2003, 53-3 in 2002, and 29-9 in 2001. They have, at least, won once in the last five matches. Mind you, Samoa's 35-22 loss to England was their best result in three outings against the English.
So, read into those statistics what you will, because they will count for nothing on 1 November. What happens on the field on that day is what will count.
Proud history
This much is sure, though. South Africa has a very proud World Cup history. In 1995 the Springboks won
it all. In 1999 the Boks finished third. Missing out on the quarterfinals in 2003 would be considered a disaster. Corné Krige and co will need to bring their A-game to the field in Brisbane on 1 November.
Springbok team to face Samoa:
15 Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Jorrie Muller, 12 De Wet Barry, 11 Thinus Delport, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Joost van der Westhuizen, 8 Juan Smith, 7 Joe van Niekerk, 6 Corné Krige (captain), 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 John Smit, 1 Christo Bezuidenhout.
Replacements: 16 Danie Coetzee, 17 Richard Bands, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Schalk Burger, 20 Neil de Kock, 21 Louis Koen, 22 Jaque Fourie.
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Springbok flyhalf Derick Hougaard (Photo: SA Rugby) |
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Corné, Joost, Victor, Ashwin, Lawrence ... thirty of us. Forty-five million of us. Send the Boks a message of support - SA Rugby will relay your messages to the team every week. We may be the rainbow nation - but from 10 October to 22 November, our blood is green. 
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