Boks becoming good losers?
Brad Morgan
21 October 2003
So, the day finally rolled around. D-Day: 18 October 2003, South Africa versus England at the Rugby World Cup. The memory of a 53-3 thrashing at Twickenham in November 2002 was still fresh in the minds of players and fans alike. What would the eagerly awaited clash in the biggest tournament of them all produce? A stunning upset by the Springboks? Another crushing victory for England?
Neither actually, although England again won, besting the Boks for the fifth time in succession. It was a hard-fought, closely contested game, dominated by the defences of the two teams and ultimately decided not on a brilliant piece of play, but in favour of the side that made fewer errors.
It was also only the second loss ever for South Africa at the World Cup.
With an all-Blue Bull front five that included a first cap for loosehead prop Christo Bezuidenhout, the Springboks certainly took the game to the English, and Bezuidenhout justified his selection
with some excellent scrummaging.
In fact, if anything, Corne Krige's side shaded the first half, and with the front five doing splendid work, he and his fellow loose forwards, Juan Smith and Joe van Niekerk, were able to turn over ball on a number of occasions and provide the English defenders with plenty to think about.
Below-par
Unfortunately for the Boks, flyhalf Louis Koen had a below-par day with the boot. He succeeded with only two of six shots at goal, although two of those attempts were maybe just out of his range.
Nonetheless, had he succeeded with the other two kicks, which he would have expected to do, South Africa would have led England 12-6 at halftime. As it happened, they were locked up at six-all at the break. It was one of those "what if" situations.
Early in the second half England took the initiative with two early penalties to move 12-6 ahead. The defining moment, though, came when Will Greenwood scored the
only try of the game after Koen had a kick charged down by Josh Lewsey.
That proved to be the only five-pointer of the contest as England took charge from that point on. Jonny Wilkinson then slotted a couple of dropped goals to pull a Jannie de Beer on the Boks as England went on to a 25-6 victory.
So, what is there to make of the result? Well, this was a decent effort by the Springboks against the team ranked number one in the world, and the joint favourites to win the World Cup with New Zealand. The South African forwards showed they can mix it up with anyone, and from a defensive standpoint Rudolf Straeuli's charges exhibited the aggressive tackling that is synonymous with Springbok rugby.
What was missing was a spark in the backline, some sort of flair and pace to open up the England defence, which it must be said is possibly the best in the game. Nonetheless, too often it appeared that the Springbok backline was static when receiving ball; England, on the other
hand, seemed to get greater momentum going when in possession, although great South African tackling often stunted the English attack.
Hougaard's chance
Where to from here, then? Coach Straeuli has opted to include only Joe van Niekerk and Bakkies Botha in the team to face minnows Georgia on 24 October. So, that means a rest for most of the men who did battle against England.
What it also means is that Derick Hougaard gets to start at flyhalf, and this is a move that many South African rugby supporters have been hoping for. They believe Hougaard is the equal of Koen in goal kicking, while possessing better all-round skills. His performance will be the most closely watched one in the game against the Georgians.
Leave the last word on the England-South Africa clash to England coach Clive Woodward. He said he was relieved to come away with a win and termed the Springboks' performance "excellent". He reckons Krige and co. are by no means
out of the World Cup running, and says they have an excellent chance of stopping New Zealand in the quarterfinals.
That contest now becomes the big one. A good losing performance won't be good enough.
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