Wales vs South Africa: The one thing England should fear about the Springboks

South Africa’s semi-final victory was built on defence and forward might, and England will have to more than match them in that regard next weekend

It was a World Cup semi-final for the rugby purist. Seldom did the game break from a plodding pace as both sides played their structured, slow games, kicking for territory and content to play one-out rugby more often than not.

Wales and South Africa both possess exceptional defences and forward packs crafted to win with physicality and muscle up front. It was no surprise the game was played in such a manner – both sides backed themselves in a tight contest.

Ultimately, though, South Africa edged it. Wales will agonise over the details, analyse where they went wrong, but they, largely, executed their gameplan exactly to script. Mano-a-mano rugby invites a close contest, and Wales were reluctant to try anything particularly extravagant in attack for fear of losing the game. It was a game that was always likely to be decided by a single score, and Handre Pollard kept his nerve.

While Pollard’s nerveless accuracy from the tee took South Africa to victory, the foundations were laid by the forwards, and, particularly, Jacques Nienaber’s brilliantly built defence.

And if England are to beat South Africa in next weekend’s final, they will have to match the Springboks’ physicality, and break down that defence.

It is a brutal South African pack, one built to dominate the gain line. South Africa’s game plan is predicated on winning collisions in both attack and defence. They are the kings of structured rugby. There is little invention or magic to their attacking phase play – they rely on bringing rather large men around the corner and on hard lines. They want the edge at scrum time, accuracy at the lineout, and chances to build a destructive maul.

They are not a side that over-complicates their play close-in, either. There are few tip-ons from forwards in tight spaces, not a huge amount of layering of potential runners off the distributor. South Africa want to play simple, unstructured rugby, and build around fierce defence.

Their commitment to structure has seen them make a change at hooker in the last few months. Incumbent Malcolm Marx is one of the most purely-talented front rowers South Africa have produced, with ability in the open field, as a ball-handler and at the breakdown to rival the world’s very best hookers.

But Marx has to now be content with his place as an impact substitute, with Bongi Mbonambi preferred. Stylistically, Mbonambi is something of a throwback – he sculpts his game around set-piece accuracy and close-in defence. He is a fine chariot-driver at the back of the maul. He hits almost every throw (something Marx has struggled with at times) and gives nary an inch at the scrum. Unspectacular, but immensely solid.

That is a theme that continues throughout the Springboks’ side. There are many fly-halves with more creativity than Handre Pollard, tens who effervesce in a more obvious manner. But there are few fly-halves who can rival his physicality and grit, particularly in defence. He is not necessarily a player to unlock a defence with sleight of hand or fleetness of foot – but he will grind you down with smart choices in attack and accurate territorial kicking.

In midfield, Damian De Allende and, particularly, Lukhanyo Am employ the blitz defence better than any other side at the tournament with deceptive pace and shrewd decision-making of when to bite in on the second distributor. The pair are reliable metre-makers up the middle – they can set a line off first phase, generate go forward and allow the pack to come around the corner and continue on.

Whereas other sides have committed to a dual openside approach at this tournament – England’s Tom Curry and Sam Underhill; New Zealand’s Sam Cane and Ardie Savea; Australia’s David Pocock and Michael Hooper – South Africa lack a true back-row fetcher. Duane Vermueulen is their best in the starting lineup, and captain Siya Kolisi has developed his game at the breakdown, but compared to the double acts some of the other nations possess, they appear inadequate. Their two best pilferers, hooker Marx and true openside Francois Louw, are both substitutes.

But there is more than one way to skin a cat, or, in this case, build an effective defence. While other sides rely on winning the ball back by pouncing on exposed ball and under-resourced rucks, South Africa look to thump sides back with dominant tackles, force errors with their blitz and throw numbers into hefty counter-rucks.

The blitz forces attackers to make quick decisions, and generally back inside, where those forward thumpers lurk. In Lood De Jager and Eben Etzebeth they possess two thickly-constructed pillars in the second row, with two more in RG Snyman and Franco Mostert on an unbalanced bench. Blindside flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit is a converted second row. They are all men seemingly forged to utterly munch carriers in the tackle and their defensive structure plays precisely to their, and other hitters like Vermeulen and Tendai Mtarawira, strengths.

With forwards like Pieter-Steph du Toit (left) and Lood De Jager (right), South Africa excel at winning collisions (AFP via Getty)

This will test England, who have yet to face a defence built in such a way at this tournament. Eddie Jones’ side have developed their attack in the last year by winning collisions more regularly and thus generating quick breakdown ball and momentum. They use George Ford and Owen Farrell to shift the ball to width quickly, but South Africa are superb at countering pull-back plays and flat miss passes, with Am’s decision making in the 13 channel outstanding.

The only side to have beaten England this year are Wales, and Shaun Edwards’ defence is structured in a similar manner to the South African’s unit, with Jonathan Davies a similarly strong decision maker at 13. South Africa will study the pair’s meetings in Cardiff this year – England were held to 13 points in the Six Nations and just six in the warm-up game at the Millennium Stadium in August.

But England will be confident. They have the ability to shift the point of contact close to the line with fine ball-handling forwards, something South Africa have struggled to defend. In Manu Tuilagi they have the finest ball-carrying centre in rugby – the Springboks have yet to really be tested by a player of his ilk at this tournament, and the not-dissimilar Samu Kerevi threatened to tear them apart at times during the Rugby Championship meeting with Australia.

Much like this semi-final, it will be physical, immensely so, but England have more to their game than Wales, a greater ability to freelance in attack and play out of structure. Ford and Farrell can pick holes, Tuilagi can bust them open.

South Africa’s defence and pack will test Eddie Jones’ side, but England will not fear it, and know that if they can deconstruct the beautifully conceived structures, and knock back the indomitable forwards, South Africa do not have the game to stay with them in attack, and another Rugby World Cup crown will be theirs.