12 August 2019, by: Quintin van Jaarsveld

RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 3 – BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS

The biggest takeaways from round three of the Rugby Championship, according to Quintin van Jaarsveld.

A maiden Rugby Championship crown symbolises the fruit of inspired labour from a Springbok side reborn under Rassie Erasmus.

Saturday’s 46-13 annihilation of Argentina in Salta saw South Africa cement themselves as legitimate World Cup contenders as they ended a 10-year trophy drought. It was vital for Rassie Erasmus and his men to finish the job in Argentina after having walloped the Wallabies in Johannesburg and played to a thrilling draw with the All Blacks in Wellington. That they did it in such emphatic fashion (the biggest winning margin of the Erasmus era) put a bow on a brilliant, unbeaten campaign, and confirmed above all else that the Boks are back.

South Africa made more strides in the truncated tournament than they did in many full seasons over the past couple of years. Erasmus deserves enormous credit for the team’s resurgence, taking a back to the future approach by basing his game plan on the Boks’ traditional strengths while adding new pages to the playbook.

He had a clear vision and plan since day one, the direction the Boks had long lacked. He immediately put structures in place, regularly met with Super Rugby coaches to ensure everyone’s on the same page to best benefit South African rugby, and made significant changes to the squad to best suit his style of play.

1998 ✅
2004 ✅
2009 ✅
2019 ✅@Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus was there as a player when South Africa won their first Tri-Nations tournament in 1998, he’s here 21 years later and wins it as the coach ??? pic.twitter.com/wMsyT7dBFr

— SuperSport (@SuperSportTV) August 10, 2019

The two-team system he used in the Rugby Championship proved to be a masterstroke, and the decision to press pause on said approach and select a strong side to a secure the silverware at the weekend was spot on. Phase one of his master plan is now complete, with the Boks returning to South Africa with a new trophy to add to their collection.

In Salta, the Boks got better as the game went on. They weren’t accurate in the early going; they slipped a few tackles, conceded a try and made a couple of basic mistakes. More importantly, their tactical kicking wasn’t up to par. Faf de Klerk had a rare off day with his box kicking, which meant the Boks were unable to build momentum. That they were able to work around that was a good sign heading into the World Cup.

Once the Boks found their rhythm, they imposed their will on the Pumas and dictated terms. They played it smart by targeting the Pumas’ weak scrum and building scoreboard pressure through Handré Pollard’s boot, and rallied well to shutout the hosts during the 10 minutes De Klerk spent in the bin. It’s also during this period that Cheslin Kolbe provided an extra nugget of information with a promising cameo as acting scrumhalf.

Most notably, the Bok pack roared once more – the sign of a flourishing South African side. They dominated at scrum time, mauled the Pumas into submission and overpowered the hosts at the gainline. In the end, it was a clinical performance and a triumphant campaign in which the Boks ticked all the boxes ahead of the World Cup.

Scott Barrett’s red card just before half-time marred the match in Perth. It was a brave call by French referee Jérôme Garcès, and also the correct one. Player safety is paramount and whether intended or not, it was a dangerous shoulder charge by the All Blacks lock to the head and neck of Wallaby captain Michael Hooper.

The only true debate about the decision is whether it would’ve been uniformly handed down or if some officials would’ve opted for a less-disruptive yellow card. Garcès should not be viewed as the villain for performing his primary duty. Instead, it’s the red card system that should be questioned, as it does kill contests like it did Bledisloe I.

The red card, however, shouldn’t overshadow the fact that it was another substandard showing by the All Blacks. The aura of invincibility that’s long both powered them and struck fear into the opposition is nowhere to be seen this year, mostly due to Steve Hansen experimenting with selections ahead of the World Cup. As a result, the All Blacks have appeared vulnerable, stripped of the confidence that comes with continuity and operating like a well-oiled machine.

Given the circumstances at the weekend, one can only judge them on their first-half performance, and for the third time in a row, they looked anything but the world’s leading side. They got off to another slow start and found themselves trailing 10-0 after as many minutes.

While they held out the hosts in the red zone, their defence in open play was shocking. They missed a whopping 20 tackles in the first 40 – that’s unheard of for an All Blacks team. They scrambled well to restrict the Wallabies to a single try (16 points overall) during this period, but the mounting pressure resulted in them being stuck in their half and boiled over into seven penalties. The only silver lining was that they were able to score two tries (which put them in the lead momentarily) despite having just 26% of the possession before the break.

Aside from the obvious leaks in the defence due to being a man down, there were more positives to take out of their second-half effort. Like it often does, the numerical disadvantage galvanised the New Zealanders; they never gave up and closed the gap to just seven when Beauden Barrett scored in the 56th minute.

That, however, doesn’t change the fact that they endured a 47-26 hammering and seem to have achieved very little in their troublesome campaign. Has the Rugby Championship given Hansen more clarity on his best matchday 23? The Richie Mo’unga-Barrett experiment worked better against the Wallabies than it did against the Boks, but it was nevertheless Australia who controlled the game.

It’s not the 1-1-1 record and the relinquishment of the crown that will bother Hansen so much as the stuttering performances and little insight he gained over the three Tests. What is clear is that the current crop of All Blacks are far less settled than their predecessors who won the last two World Cups.

MORE RUGBY