It was Kenny Rogers who sang: “You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, know when to run”.
Still one of my all-time favourite numbers, The Gambler.
I’m not much of a poker player myself, but I really do hope the Springbok management team has spent some time “on the table” because they’ll need to bluff the All Blacks big time at Twickenham on Friday night.
Look, the match itself doesn’t mean much - it’s a World Cup warm-up gedagte. Yes, the teams will talk about getting momentum blah, blah, blah!
The #Springboks team to face New Zealand at Twickenham tomorrow 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦![CDATA[]]>🏉#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/d1DvyCYT4c
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 24, 2023
Forget about that, this match is not about winning. It’s about finding weaknesses in your opponents’ arsenal, not revealing your hand, while at the same time keeping that ace up your sleeve for the next round.
South Africa and New Zealand could meet in the World Cup quarterfinals next month and it’s with that match in mind that the Boks would want to keep their poker face on in this encounter.
So if they shouldn’t go all-in, what do I want to see from the Boks in this match?
In a nutshell, shut out the All Blacks and nullify their strengths. That’s all.
How do they do that?
The first fix from the last time we faced the All Blacks is the high ball. If you can recall, our back three didn’t enjoy the best of times under the All Blacks’ bombs. This should have been a big work-on ahead of the World Cup and I hope we see some improvement on Friday night from fullback Damian Willemse and his wings Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse.
A rivalry full of memorable moments 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦![CDATA[]]>🇳![CDATA[]]>🇿
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 24, 2023
Twickenham is ready for another historic clash between the #Springboks and #AllBlacks on Friday.#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/vOaemeS9ot
Another big concern to this particular scribe was the inability to slow down the All Blacks’ ball.
Bongi Mbonambi started in place of Malcolm Marx at hooker, while Kwagga Smith wore the No.6 jumper and Jasper Wiese, and not Duane Vermeulen, packed down at No.8.
Now I do believe the personnel picked for Saturday’s match is best suited to combat the All Blacks in this department. And here I expect big things from Marx and Vermeulen as well as loosehead prop Steven Kitshoff up front.
Another worrying factor for me in that 35-20 defeat was the Springboks’ first-time tackline. I remember Shannon Frizell running through them as if it was men against boys.
Here, too, I think the Boks are better equipped having both lock Franco Mostert, who moves from the flank, and flank Pieter-Steph du Toit on the park - you have to go far to find two harder workers on defence than those two.
It will also be a big test for the young Canan Moodie in terms of organising the backline defence from outside centre.
If the Boks can improve on those things, I’d be a happy man on Friday night.
PS: in terms of attack, this time around I want to see scrumhalf Faf de Klerk kick the ball at the All Blacks and then put them under pressure.
No fancy stuff, defend and strangle should be the Boks’ weapons.