20 December 2019, by: Quintin van Jaarsveld

Springbok Decade Series: 2016

The past decade saw the Springboks rise from record lows to ultimate triumph, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.

The Springboks’ journey over the past 10 years, rising from the ashes to World Cup glory in 2019, is akin to climbing Everest. The very reputation of Springbok rugby hung in the balance after the men in Green and Gold plummeted to unprecedented lows. Record losses equalled red alert and avalanche after avalanche threatened to bury the Boks for good.

With true South African grit, however, the men in Green and Gold persevered. Problems persisted, but every time they got knocked down, they picked themselves up and dusted themselves off. Instead of waning, they grew stronger and eventually turned the corner. Emerging from the shadows, there was hope once more, the summit in sight, albeit from afar.

Hope inspired heroics, and with Rassie Erasmus and Siya Kolisi leading the way, the Springboks scaled the peak in remarkable fashion. Overcoming the odds, the class of 2019 clinched the coveted Webb Ellis Cup, planting their flag atop rugby’s Everest and breathing the rarefied air reserved for world champions.

On the doorstep of a new dawn, we take a trip down memory lane in a 10-part series chronicling the decade that was for Springbok rugby.

After the Heyneke Meyer era flattered to deceive, Allister Coetzee was called upon to pilot Air Force Springbok to the Promised Land. Instead, the plane never took off. Coetzee’s appointment wasn’t as widely welcomed as that of Meyer, even though he was a vastly experienced coach who had quite a résumé.

Coetzee had won the Currie Cup twice with Western Province and guided the Stormers to three South African Conference titles. His critics pointed out that the Cape side couldn’t make the vital step-up to seriously contest for the Super Rugby crown, reaching the final just once and falling short against the Bulls (25-17) in Soweto in 2010.

Experience wise, Coetzee was unrivalled. He’d been involvement in 66 matches in the Springbok backroom in 2000 and between 2004 and 2007, culminating with a World Cup winner’s medal as one of Jake White’s assistants. Now was the time for Coetzee to create his own Springbok legacy, but as destiny would cruelly have it, he was dead on arrival.

He had his work cut out for him. A number of veterans had retired, including three of the previous year’s four captains – Jean de Villiers, Victor Matfield and Fourie du Preez. Without the luxury of being able to select overseas-based South African players, Coetzee was limited and named nine uncapped players in his first squad for the Incoming Tour against Ireland.

The newcomers were Garth April, Ruan Combrinck, Faf de Klerk, Nic Groom, Steven Kitshoff, Jaco Kriel, Bongi Mbonambi, Sikhumbuzo Notshe and Scarra Ntubeni, while Coetzee also recalled Elton Jantjies, Warren Whiteley, Julian Redelinghuys and Lionel Mapoe, who hadn’t featured at the 2015 World Cup. As for the captaincy, Coetzee mulled it over until the week of the season-opening clash in his familiar surroundings of Cape Town, when he announced hooker Adriaan Strauss, with 55 Tests to his name, as the new skipper.

With SA Rugby having left Coetzee’s appointment until April, the new-look squad had little time to prepare and it showed in their first foray at Newlands. In what would foreshadow the struggles to come, the Coetzee era kicked off with an ugly 26-20 loss – the first against the Irish at home – which also marked the debut of De Klerk in the No.9 jersey.

To their credit, the men in Green and Gold fought back to win the three-match series. The highlight of the year came in the must-win second showdown at Ellis Park, where they came back from 16 points down with a fantastic final-quarter effort to seal a 32-26 win. The following week, they completed the comeback with a series-clinching 19-13 victory in Port Elizabeth, sparking optimism for the future.

The momentum continued as they started the Rugby Championship with a 30-23 win over the Pumas in Nelspruit, and then the wheels came off. They crashed down to earth in Salta, suffering a 26-24 defeat – just the second-ever against Argentina – and won just one of their eight remaining fixtures, an 18-10 victory over the Wallabies in Pretoria. The next week, they endured a humiliating 57-15 mauling by the All Blacks in Durban – the worst defeat in South African rugby history.

The 37-21 loss to England the next time out stung as well, as did the 27-13 defeat to Wales in the season finale, however, nothing compared to the catastrophe that was the first-ever loss to Italy sandwiched in between those end-of-year reverses. The historically mighty Springboks losing to the lowly Azzurri had been unthinkable, but on that fateful day – one of the darkest in Springbok history – Italy were indeed the better team and came away with a shock 20-18 triumph in Florence.

Combing through the carnage, the post mortem showed a meagre four wins out of 12 for a shocking 33% win rate. The season turned out to be one of the worst in Springbok history, leaving the two-time World Cup winners in dire straits and Coetzee’s future uncertain.

South Africa 20-26 Ireland
South Africa 32-26 Ireland
South Africa 19-13 Ireland
South Africa 30-23 Argentina
South Africa 24-26 Argentina
South Africa 17-23 Australia
South Africa 13-41 New Zealand
South Africa 18-10 Australia
South Africa 15-57 New Zealand
South Africa 21-37 England
South Africa 18-20 Italy
South Africa 13-27 Wales

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