As Ellis Park shock subsides, a balanced approach in Cape Town is key

As the dust settles and the shock subsides on just how the Springboks turned a 22-0 lead into a 38-22 defeat at Ellis Park on Saturday, the real question now becomes what the response will be going into the next Castle Lager Rugby Championship match in Cape Town this weekend.

The Wallabies deserved their victory - playing more like Springboks than the hosts and the Boks were sucker punched, seduced into playing expansive rugby that more resembled the Wallaby game plan of the past few decades.

Tonyball took a knock, there were some really bruised egos on Saturday night and 51 000 fans were shell shocked after the game.

But as the dust settled, were the Boks that bad?

A closer inspection of all the stats of the game show that the Boks dominated most of it - had more than double the carries and more than double metres made.

The Boks played all the rugby, and the Wallabies feasted off their mistakes. As bad as the scoreline was, the reckless nature of the Bok attack in the second half and their insistence on trying to move everything wide was their downfall.

RUN THEMSELVES OFF THEIR FEET

The Wallabies attacked the breakdown and found space in a tired Springbok side that had literally run themselves off their feet.

There will be more discussions this week if the fitness regime they had after the Georgia test contributed in any way, or why they refused to return to their strengths and persisted with something that was clearly not working in the second half, and hard words will surely follow that defeat at the Monday team review.

But it would also be wrong to say it was a complete failure. Rugby is often about balance and earning the right to go wide.

On Saturday the Boks had neither of these. They never had the scrum platform, their lineouts were problematic and even when they got into the 22m area, they persisted with spreading it wide.

There was not a maul to be seen, neither a pick and go, and their lack of a bomb squad made any physical dominance, and effective tiring of the Wallaby pack, negligible.

The Boks had a script but never had the basics and the management team will be the first to admit that it is so. In the process they made the Wallabies look superhuman, while inviting all sorts of questions about an aging squad that seemed to lose momentum and fight.

THERE IS GOOD NEWS

The good news is that this can be rectified, and a response will be expected from the Boks. The bad news is that there are some real questions that need to be answered about some of the players in the squad.

Perhaps Rassie’s constant tinkering with selection finally caught up with him. What was clear on Saturday is that they never had the balance they needed in attack or defence. And they overdid the Tonyball to such an extent that it cost them a number of tries.

Retrospect is easy, but it started at selection, with the gamble of not having a second flyhalf backfiring on them, while injuries meant two inexperienced props were on the field.

Erasmus admitted after the time that Tony Brown - the former All Black who has been championing the expansive approach - was tearing his hair out in the coaches box.

TONYBALL OVERPLAYED

“Tony was in the coaches box and he was all over saying ‘Jis boys we are overplaying, we are overplaying, we are overplaying,” Erasmus said.

“So it is definitely not Tony’s fault that we overplayed. The guys kept on seeing opportunities. Australia don’t play with a hard defensive system, so the whole time you feel you have opportunities. And you think it's on, but a guy shoots out and Suaalii intercepts, or Andre Esterhuizen is straight through and he just has to offload and they go and score from inside their 22m area.

“That’s 14 points. It’s not wrong to say we overplayed. But Tony did say in the coaches box that we are overplaying.”

That balance will be hammered home this week and the personnel changes that have been mooted - a return for World Cup winners Cheslin Kolbe, Damian de Allende and Handre Pollard for instance - will contribute to this.

As will a few selections and the need to return to their strengths whenever they are under pressure - something they ignored at Ellis Park in favour of playing it wide - will make a huge difference.

FIRST 20 MINUTES CLOSE TO PERFECT

However, the Boks will need to take care not to overcorrect - as their first 20 minutes were as close to perfect as a side has been under Erasmus over the past seven years.

Erasmus will know how to take his side forward, and there will be enough bruised egos to work with to expect a response.

How they respond will determine everything in the faltering defence of their Rugby Championship title.

It will be up to the Boks to prove this was just a blip and not a trend. And they will need to do it fast.

But a more balanced approach, a few more nuanced selections and a lot more attitude in Cape Town this week will be essential to the response.

Or else the pressure on the World Champs will be ramped up ahead of their New Zealand tour.