OPINION: How Springboks Got Back to Their Brutal Brilliance

The Springboks bounced back from their loss in Johannesburg to deliver a far more comprehensive performance at Soccer City in Johannesburg, which for most of the game, looked like a return to the brutal brutality that made them World Champions. In the opening two rounds of the Greatest Rivalry tour, the Boks seemed to have slipped off the intensity of the physicalilty that's become synonymous with South African rugby, allowing the All Blacks to edge their way into that side of the game, while still delivering their trademark Kiwi running game. It's a dangerous combination. However, the Boks going back to the basics of their set-piece superiority, and just ensuring that they are doing everything just a little bit better, harder, faster, and more aggressively than their counterparts is what made the difference. That extra 10 percent in the scrum effort, lineout contesting, counter-rucking, jackling and ball-carrying just caused a bit of hesitation by the All Blacks. The 'Death by 1,000 cuts' approach works best against the All Blacks — you don't have to 'outplay' them with running rugby; you just have to be a bit better than them in every other facet of the game. It's a tall order, but a requirement to overcome Dave Rennie's men. On top of blasting defenders out of rucks, some great fending and physicality when the Springboks did run the ball (Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel's efforts were great examples of this) was shown when moving the ball around. Jasper Wiese's phenomneal break through two tackles and subsequent offload to Ox Nche, who then regathered a trick pass to put Manie Libbok into some space, just highlights these 'soft skills' of the Springbok forwards too. Yes, they can be bruising brutes, but the ability to ballplay is there too, making them an even more dangerous threat as they can turn the physical, defender-bashing moments into try-scoring opprotunities courtesy of an offload or pass. And this is something often overlooked by pundits. Yes, the Springboks are physically powerful, but it's also a mindset and confidence in one's technical abilities. You look at someone like Malcolm Marx. Yes, he's a big man, but not so much more than any other international hooker out there. It's his technical ability to identify when to attempt a steal at the breakdown, pinpoint lineout throwing, or his management and patience at the base of a maul to roll it 10+ metres, is what makes him special. And this applies to every player on the field: there's a renewed confidence in what their roles are. There was a very noticable shift in direction when Manie Libbok and Morne van den Berg paired up at flyhalf and scrumhalf, with the two pinning the All Blacks in their own half with high-contestable kicks and far-ranging touch-finders. Van den Berg's ability to execute long kicks under pressure from looming forwards has to be appreciated, along with his feisty defence. Utlimately, the Soccer City clash saw the Springboks not thinking that they could overpower the All Blacks, but knowing it. Backing their set-piece dominance once again, throwing their ball-carriers in-between defenders shoulders rather than directly at them, and keeping the scoreboard ticking by kicking penalty opportunities and suffocating the All Blacks with kicks to force them to play from deep in their own half.