RWC 2015 South Africa vs New Zealand: Schalk Burger and Richie McCaw set to renew rivalry in fierce semi-final

South African flanker sees possibilities for his side as he resumes battle with McCaw, who knows a fierce test awaits

South Africa flanker Schalk Burger (Getty Images)

It would be stretching a point to suggest that Schalk Burger’s recovery from bacterial meningitis in 2013 was driven by his desperation to take one last shot at the All Blacks on the grandest of rugby stages. Springbok forwards down the ages have gone to ludicrous lengths to take the field against New Zealand, but the flanker’s only concern during his illness was staying alive. Yes, it was that serious.

Yet the way he told it yesterday, on the eve of a first World Cup semi-final between the sport’s traditional titans, the prospect of a climactic test of mind, body and soul in the claustrophobic company of his great rival Richie McCaw certainly sharpened his appetite for the game during the long months of rehabilitation.

“A couple of years ago, I had no chance of getting back into the Boks team,” he reflected, “so it’s lovely to be here again, even though it’s pretty hard to play against guys who never seem to lose.”

In truth, it was not the words that struck home so much as the expression on his beaten-up face, which was a battleground of conflicting emotions: pre-match excitement, big-game nerves, a hint of fear, a touch of serenity, a smattering of self-satisfaction at participating in a fourth World Cup – and at its business end, too – against all medical logic. In short, Burger painted the most vivid picture of what it means to be involved in one of these contests.

The Burger-McCaw rivalry, stretching back to 2003, is the essence of the Springbok-All Black relationship writ small. There have been dozens of these individual battles over the 94 years since the two countries first met in the Test arena and some of them have been bitter indeed: only a very brave man or a complete idiot would have relished getting up close and personal with Jaap Bekker and Kevin Skinner in 1956, or James Small and Jonah Lomu in 1995, or Colin Meads and just about any South African in a green jersey at any point in the 1960s. If there is less open violence in the game nowadays, it still has its brutal dimension. Burger, nobody’s idea of a pacifist, sees himself as part of the great continuum.

Speaking just a couple of days after his own coach, Heyneke Meyer, had described these current All Blacks as the best side ever to play the sport, the Western Province forward went some of the way down the same road but stopped short of completing the journey. “The big thing about the All Blacks is their attacking game,” he acknowledged. “That’s phenomenal. They back their execution and they put you under more pressure than any other team: whenever we’ve beaten them it’s started with our defence.

“But because of the way they play, there are usually turnover possibilities hanging around. If we do get opportunities, we have to take them. If there are seven chances, we need to finish all seven. They’re a great side and they’re not easy to contain, but I hope we can do something special here.”

There was nothing pie in the sky about that declaration of ambition: the Boks understand precisely how the reigning champions can be subdued, even if they have not managed it terribly often of late. (Two victories in the last dozen attempts tells its own sad story from the South African perspective).

The likelihood must be that the bookmakers, running for the hills as the punters pile money on McCaw and his countrymen, will see their worst fears realised, but the idea that this is a foregone conclusion is for the birds.No one knows that better than McCaw.

“The personal match-ups against the Boks are among the toughest you can experience: Schalk epitomises what they bring to the field in terms of physicality,” said the All Black leader. “And given what’s at stake, this game will signal another step up in intensity. If we get the job done, I’ll happily take any scar that comes with it.”

Back in the day, the Boks slept easy in their beds in the knowledge that if all else failed, they would duff up the New Zealanders at the scrum and break them with the accuracy of their goalkicking. Neither of those advantages is guaranteed to be in evidence today: the South African set-piece is a veritable pussy cat compared to the tigerish units of old and there is no obvious prospect of their young outside-half, Handré Pollard, out-performing the wondrous Daniel Carter from the tee.

However, the deeply combative Pollard could easily tip the balance towards the underdogs if he is given more sightings of the sticks – something that is not out of the question. The Boks are every bit as strong as the Blacks in the back five of the scrum, and they have something of a guiding light in the scrum-half Fourie du Preez. As the assistant coach Johann van Graan said of the current captain: “A talent can hit a target no one else can hit; a genius can hit a target no one else can see.”

Du Preez is up against a gifted opposite number in Aaron Smith, but the man from Palmerston North has not quite touched the heights in this tournament. The same might be said of the high- calibre No 8 Kieran Read, despite his influential role in the All Blacks’ opening-round victory over Argentina, and the blind-side flanker Jerome Kaino, who has seemed just a little indecisive by his own forthright standards.


 New Zealand captain Richie McCaw
 (Getty Images)

This being the case, it is possible to think the Boks will tie up the champions in a tactical straitjacket at various stages of the contest. The problem will come when the New Zealanders wriggle free for 10 minutes or so.

This is when the two other Smiths, full-back Ben and centre Conrad, are likely to scare the South Africans witless; when the free-scoring wings Julian Savea and Nehe Milner-Skudder will burn people alive in open field.

What we will not see, assuming the available evidence is reliable, is an All Black blank on the try front. They are surely too good with ball in hand not to find a way through or round or over the Springbok barricades: this is 2015, not 1995, and they have learnt a thing or two over the last 20 years. But as Burger indicated, as much in expectation as in hope, the South Africans are not completely bereft themselves when it comes to the attacking virtues. Their wing Bryan Habana, one touchdown away from an all-time World Cup record, will tell you that much.