Two World Cups, a British & Irish Lions series and now the Rugby Championship. South Africa are in possession of every major trophy available to a southern-hemisphere team. Does this put them on par with the all-conquering All Blacks of Richie McCaw and Dan Carter? It is a question best unpacked over a second pint in the pub. That it is worth asking, though, is a testament to the evolution of this team under Rassie Erasmus and the potential heights they may yet reach.
This 48-7 win over Argentina included all the familiar notes of a Springboks classic. Their scrum consumed the Pumas pack with Ox Nché – a man who famously joked that “salads don’t win scrums” – feasting in the set piece, winning a string of first-half penalties seemingly on his own. Eben Etzebeth, now with a record 128 caps for his country, began the day with tears in his eyes and was totemic throughout. Pieter-Steph du Toit, who continues to produce player-of-the-match performances with his father’s hamstring surgically implanted in his left leg, bossed the breakdown and scored two of his team’s seven tries.
But it is what they did in other passages throughout a free-wheeling opening 40 minutes that should raise alarm bells across rugby’s ecosystem. Because unlike previous iterations, where blunt mallets were supplemented by dull sledgehammers, this cohort can cut teams to shreds with scything precision. In their obliteration of an Argentina side that beat New Zealand in Wellington and inflicted a record defeat on Australia, South Africa have laid out their intentions for continued dominance across this next World Cup cycle.
It helps that Cheslin Kolbe prowls the right wing. Perhaps the only player who can challenge Antoine Dupont for the title of best in the world, the diminutive winger with nitroglycerin in his boots is a perennial outlet. Then there is Manie Libbok at fly-half, a liability off the kicking tee but with soft hands and a penchant for no-look cross-field kick-passes he has challenged the parameters of the South African pivot. These were figures that once tormented South Africans while wearing gold, black or white. Now they are mainstays in green.
Admittedly they fell off after the restart. Perhaps a group that won last year’s World Cup with a hat-trick of single-point wins in the knockout stage simply powered down and opted to hold on to what they had. Or perhaps the visitors deserve credit for fighting their way back into the contest. Like the Springboks, the Pumas have undergone something of a transition themselves under Felipe Contepomi, the former playmaker who has instilled a sense of belief in the camp. In years gone by a half-time score of 27-7 would have been the prelude to a landslide. Now the men in blue and white regard adversity as an opportunity as they shift the point of contact and bring in wide runners who cut their teeth on the international sevens circuit.
These are the two primary positives from a tournament with an uncertain future. As New Zealand and South Africa make plans for biennial bilateral series, there are concerns that the Wallabies and Pumas may be cast aside in pursuit of profits. With Australia hosting the Lions next year and then both the men’s and women’s World Cups, and with Argentina finding their feet under their new coach, this is a worrying development for a sport that thrives in too few nations.
South Africa is certainly one of them. Etzebeth, speaking post-match, described rugby as a “religion” in his homeland. It is a place where those who sport the leaping antelope are treated as demigods , where triumphs on the pitch are folded into broader socio-political narratives.
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But winning remains the team’s primary function. As Erasmus once said, they aim to “keep the main thing the main thing”. And with a team that can still grind opposing packs to powder, but is now littered with ballers who can offload, sidestep and distribute with precision, they will likely win a lot more before they disband. A European tour in November awaits. A clean sweep of England, Scotland and Wales will underline their status as the world’s best outfit.
