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Bok forward skillset gains are the point of difference

football29 September 2025 06:00| © SuperSport
By:Gavin Rich
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The rugby world was understandably agog at the individual brilliance of match-winner and record breaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at the weekend, but there are significant other aspects of the momentum the Springboks have found that probably warrant more discussion.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu had already announced himself on the world stage when after just a clutch of international games he produced a commanding performance in South Africa’s close win over New Zealand in last year’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship game in Johannesburg.

The critics felt that the then 22-year-old had been thrown to the wolves, but it turned out that coach Rassie Erasmus knew how talented he was and backed it.

But it wasn’t until the Hollywoodbets Kings Park game in the penultimate round of this edition of the Championship that Feinberg-Mngomezulu did what South Africans who have seen him play at all levels knew he could do - he took the game by the scruff.

During a sloppy period where the Boks gifted Argentina 14 points, it was as if Feinberg-Mngomezulu decided “To hell with this, I am not going to let these guys beat us”.

And with that he produced several moments of individual brilliance as he completed a hat-trick of tries, a rare thing for a flyhalf, as well as featuring strongly with what in soccer parlance would be known as assists.

The prime example being the perfectly directed kick that enabled Cheslin Kolbe to save his own blushes and run in a superb try that pretty much settled the game with 37 minutes to go as the Pumas were always going to be in trouble if they let the hosts get more than a score ahead.

INFUSED CONFIDENCE

It was Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s brilliance that infused the Boks with the confidence they needed to get their game on track. More than that, it was as if Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s inherent self-confidence, something that in time could make him an excellent Bok captain, spread to his teammates. Suddenly every pass stuck, every offload, or almost every one, came off, and the Boks made metres and metres every time they got hold of the ball.

Which once the statement scrum had taken place, a habit now for the Boks early in the second half of games, was often. The reference being to the seven man scrum, with Malcolm Marx off the field, that devastated Argentina just after Wilco Louw came onto the field.

People ask why Erasmus leaves Louw’s introduction until the second half? The answer might just be in what he delivers as an impact player time and again, and Jan-Hendrik Wessels too.

VERSATILITY MEANS BOMB SQUAD SPLIT IS LESS NECESSARY

Which cues one of the things that has changed about the Boks that used to be criticised roundly overseas but is now being roundly overlooked in reviews of their games. The Bok ‘Bomb Squad’ setup is seldom what it used to be.

The five/three split between forwards and backs is becoming more prevalent than the six/two split that powered the two successive World Cup wins in 2019 and 2023.

It helps that the Boks have been the forerunners when it comes to the introduction of hybrid players. Erasmus has the comfort of knowing that Andre Esterhuizen, who is now showing the form at international level that for so long made him such a formidable and feared club player, can be used at flank if the situation requires it. Conversely Kwagga Smith frequently pops up at centre and runs like one.

Then there’s Wessels. He’s not the first player to be able to swap front row positions, but that is usually a prop who can move between loosehead and tighthead. Wessels roves between hooker and loosehead, and he is equally as good in both positions.

To me he is the obvious successor to Marx, who has carried a heavy load recently during the form slump of Bongi Mbonambi, who apparently is working hard on his fitness, and the wait for Wessels to properly establish himself.

But that does not mean that it still won’t be useful to have him capable of slotting into the No 1 jersey when needed, or more pertinently perhaps moving between the positions during the game. With him there, someone like Marco van Staden can take up the role of replacement hooker in an emergency without there necessarily being an expectation that he will have to play there.

FORWARDS ARE NOW UP TO SPEED

As well as his power, Wessels is a mobile player too, although these days you can start saying that about just about every Bok forward. While a few weeks ago there was a high error rate and everyone focused on that, the one big positive aspect of attack coach Tony Brown’s input is how suddenly there’s evidence of the huge strides the big men have made when it comes to skill-set.

Brown told us in an interview that became a supersport.com feature last month that it might surprise people to know that he works more with the forwards as attack coach than he does with the backs.

Well, there’s clearly nothing wrong with the backs, and if it were not for Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s sublime performance we would today be talking up the huge progress being made by Canan Moodie, and another generational talent Damian Willemse was man of the match in the previous game.

Kolbe was embarrassed by his little brain fart that gifted seven points but he more than made up for that with his all-round performance.

But the point of difference between this Springbok team and previous Bok teams is in the skill-set that has been developed in the forwards and perhaps there’s been a fitness gain that has happened over a period of months too that might explain why there were vulnerabilities earlier whereas now it just tends to be one way traffic for the Boks later in games.

Remember back to a few weeks ago when we tabulated the points scored against the Boks in the second half at altitude? It was well over 50 points conceded after halftime in the games against Italy and Australia in Pretoria and Johannesburg respectively.

Now that figure has been completely reversed - 36 in Wellington and 42 in Durban makes it 78 in 80 second half minutes. With just Saturday’s Tomas Albornoz try in response.

That’s just ridiculous and the contrast between those two games and the other two perhaps an indication that, if you will excuse the pun, it takes time to get up to speed. The Bok forwards are up to speed now, and they have eroded the old point of difference between New Zealand and South Africa.

It used to be the case that the All Black advantage wasn’t just at the back but with the superior handling skill set of their forwards.

That is no longer the case and as former Bok coach Nick Mallett said in a Youtube podcast at the weekend, “the soft skills of the Bok forwards will now be the envy of other nations, including New Zealand.”

THEY WON BUT KIWIS REMAIN UNDERWHELMING

The upshot of the past two bonus point wins is that the Boks have completely turned around what had started out as a patchy Championship campaign and they are now on the cusp of winning it. Just a win will be enough in the return game against Argentina in London at the weekend, and there’s a good chance they may not even need that as the Wallabies have a good chance of turning the tables on the All Blacks in the earlier game in Perth.

A win with a bonus point for the Wallabies would leave the Boks needing to get one log point, but while after the first Bledisloe Cup game in Auckland the impression was given that the Aussies should start as favourites on their own territory, for New Zealand were far from convincing at their Eden Park fortress, a three try advantage for the Wallabies would seem unlikely.

Anyway, it shouldn’t matter, for the Boks showed in the Durban game that what they did in the first 20 minutes against Australia at Emirates Airlines Park, in the last 50 minutes in Wellington, is now their standard.

It is a frightening thought for future opponents what they might be capable of if they ever produce an 80 minute performance, something they were still short of against the Pumas as in the first half there were too many soft moments.

Weekend Castle Lager Rugby Championship results

New Zealand 33 Australia 24

South Africa 67 Argentina 30

Castle Lager Rugby Championship log positions - 1. South Africa 15 points (three wins, two losses); 2. New Zealand 14 points (three wins, two losses); 3. Australia 11 (two wins, three losses); 4. Argentina 9 (two wins, three losses).

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