Yet, nearly two years later, and the Boks have recorded just nine wins in 21 Tests under coach Allister Coetzee.
The Boks lost eight of their 12 Tests to finish the 2016 season with a 33% win-record; their worst return in calendar year during the professional era. That rotten run included inaugural losses to Ireland (at home) and Argentina (away), a first-ever defeat to Italy, as well as record capitulations to New Zealand and Wales.
The Boks, said the laymen and experts alike, had lost their traditional physical aura. During the latter stages of the clash against Wales in Cardiff, commentator Brian Moore described the visiting side as ‘one of the worst Springbok teams’ he had ever seen.
The South African Rugby Union reacted accordingly. Strategy meetings involving coaches from around the country were held. There was an emphasis on conditioning as the respective teams prepared for the 2017 Super Rugby season. However, apart from the Lions, the South African sides failed to make any significant progress. Collectively, they lost 13 out of 15 matches against New Zealand opposition during the regular season – two more than they did in 2016.
Coetzee declared himself satisfied with the national side’s progress following dominant performances across the three-game series against France in June. The Boks carried that form through to the early stages of the Rugby Championship. They thrashed Argentina home and away to extend their winning run to five matches. Fans in South Africa started to believe that the revival was real after the Boks battled their way to a draw against the Wallabies in Perth.
What followed was the mother of all reality checks. The All Blacks scored eight tries en route to a 57-0 win against the Boks in Albany. For the second time in the space of a year, the Boks conceded more than 50 points against the All Blacks. For the second time under Coetzee, they suffered a record defeat at the hand of their traditional foes. The loss in Albany marked the Boks’ heaviest-ever Test loss.
The Boks drew with the Wallabies in Bloemfontein two weeks later. The performance on attack and defence left a lot to be desired, and more and more people began to doubt Coetzee’s claims of progress.
The Boks returned to a more traditional approach in the subsequent clash against the All Blacks at Newlands. They took the fight to the opposition in the trenches and did well to limit the All Blacks’ attacking space. An improved physical and tactical effort was not enough to get the Boks over the line, though. They finished their Rugby Championship campaign with a record of two wins, two draws, and two losses.
Had the Boks truly narrowed the gap between themselves and world’s No 1 side? This was a point of debate in the days that followed. The All Blacks, of course, went into that game at Newlands with the Rugby Championship title already in the bag. Many questioned their desire and motivation ahead of the clash in Cape Town, and the New Zealanders were certainly less than clinical on the day.
Coetzee, however, feels that the Boks’ one-point defeat to the All Blacks showed that the South Africans are on the right track. ‘We’re disappointed with the result. At the same time, we’re proud of the process,’ he said. ‘What happened against the All Blacks in Albany earlier this year was a blip.’
The Bok coach wasn’t as bullish when pushed for comment on the team’s upcoming tour to Europe and the United Kingdom. Several key players have already been ruled out of the tour due to injuries – including captain Warren Whiteley. While Rassie Erasmus will join SA Rugby as the new director of rugby in early November, the Bok coaching staff has been hit by the news that lineout guru Johann van Graan is set to take up a head coach post at Munster.
After battling Ireland, France, and Italy on consecutive weekends, the Boks will play Wales in a game staged outside the World Rugby-sanctioned Test window. Players contracted to European and Japanese clubs will not be available for that game in Cardiff. ‘It’s going be a big challenge for us,’ Coetzee admitted.
The Boks won all three of their Tests in the northern hemisphere in 2013. Subsequent tours, however, have proved less successful.
In 2014, Heyneke Meyer’s charges suffered a heavy defeat to Ireland in Dublin and then a shock loss to Wales in Cardiff. Last year, the Boks drew with the Barbarians and then lost to England (for the first time in 10 years), Italy (for the first time ever) and Wales (for the third time in history).
The pressure is on Coetzee and company to deliver results. They may struggle to realise their objective against an Ireland side stacked with British & Irish Lions in Dublin. They may find a more competitive France side waiting for them in Paris.
It’s hard to talk about them as favourites in a match against Italy in Padua after what transpired last year. The clash against Wales, of course, will present a number of challenges at the end of a long season.
The odds are certainly against the Boks completing this tour to the northern hemisphere with four – or even three – wins.
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