Hosts France fired warning shots into the Rugby World Cup air on Friday night when they dismantled New Zealand in Paris, but the Springboks have a chance to make their own statement of intent when they play Scotland this evening in Marseilles.
It will be baking hot in the south of France (30 degrees is predicted) and the South Africans will feel right at home while the soaring temperatures will hinder Scotland’s mission statement of running the Boks off their feet. The Scots understand that they will come second in a muscular showdown and coach Gregor Townsend has said that his team aims to play “the fastest game the world has seen”.
This is a play taken from the front page of Eddie Jones’ blueprint when Japan shocked the Boks in the first match of the 2015 tournament, at the Brighton soccer stadium in England, but there is zero chance that Rassie Erasmus’s Boks will allow themselves to be led down that garden path.
Erasmus and coach Jacques Nienaber are too shrewd to underestimate the Scots and, in any case, the Tartan Warriors are ranked fifth in the world. They are no mugs and a few weeks ago they came within a few points of beating France on the same Stade de France pitch that hosted Friday’s opening game.
‘You have to fire every single week’
Bok legends Schalk Burger and Jean de Villiers were involved when Japan beat the Boks eight years ago and they said the Boks were once bitten, twice shy.
Burger said: “Siya Kolisi’s Boks know that in a World Cup you need to deliver for two months. It's not just a once-off game, and you have to fire every single week.
“The Boks are in a really good space and if you ask any team who they don’t want to play, they'll probably say the Boks.” Burger continued: “Our point of difference is the way we defend. We have a unique style of playing rugby, we have evolved a little bit and we are playing more attacking rugby.
“I wouldn’t say we are favourites for the title because the draw is brutal. In our pool, we are playing Scotland and then we have to play Ireland and then the quarter-final is France or New Zealand, but we have the firepower to go all the way.”
The Scots have a combative pack but their real threat is in the backline where flyhalf Finn Russell has been nicknamed “the magician” because of his uncanny ability to slip through defensive lines.
Finn Russell
“Finn Russell stands out as the playmaker,” Burger said. “If anyone can unlock the Boks’ defence through taking it to the line, doing something attacking or kicking-wise, it's him. We’ve also seen him go around the corner and run it and then kick it to the winger.”
De Villiers, the Boks captain at the 2015 World Cup, concurred. “Scotland gets momentum through Finn Russell and his decision-making. It's going to be the challenge between him making the right decisions and executing versus the Boks’ defensive system because that is forcing the opposition — the attacking team — to make their decisions quicker and forcing them into mistakes. So whoever wins that will win.”
De Villiers predicted the Bok pack to get on top in Marseilles.
“A number of the forwards are in form, notably Malcolm Marx (he is starting ahead of Bongi Mbonambi). He is right at the top of his game. He has been so impressive and influential, and yes, Bongi is there and he is a fantastic player, but I think Malcolm has made the step up and there is a little bit of a gap now between them.”
Teams
South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Bench: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Duane Vermeulen, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Willie le Roux.
Scotland: Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Jamie Ritchie (captain), 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Bench: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 WP Nel, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 Ali Price, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Ollie Smith.
Kick-off: 5.45pm SA time.