Faf brings experience as Boks head into defining fortnight

There are two tough games away to France and Ireland to come later on, in fact everything is pretty hard from now on, but it is the way of South African rugby that this will probably be the season defining fortnight of this international season for the Springboks.

How the national team goes against New Zealand has always been a marker of whether they can look back on the year as a success or a failure. Last season the Boks were held to a series draw by Ireland when the visitors won with a late drop-goal in Durban, but it was largely forgotten when they completed a 2-0 whitewash of the All Blacks a few months later.

Even if you go back to 2009, when the Boks under the captaincy of John Smit won a series against the British and Irish Lions, what really stands out from that year? The 2-1 win over the Home Union composite team, or the 3-0 whitewash of the All Blacks en route to a comprehensive Tri-Nations triumph?

There’s been so much focus on Saturday’s first game of the two match visit to New Zealand that it is easy to forget the attempt to make history by winning at Eden Park for the first time since 1937, and thus breaking a 31-year run of success for the All Blacks at that venue, is not the only mission on this trip.

There is another game in Wellington a week later, and although the Argentina win over New Zealand in Buenos Aires on the same day the Boks avenged Johannesburg by beating the Wallabies in Cape Town has eased some of that pressure, the need is still to aim for wins in both games.

Historically a win in Wellington is a lot less onerous a task as winning in Auckland, where the All Blacks haven’t lost since 1994. Apart from the recent Kiwi record at what is now known as Sky Stadium not being particularly good, the Boks have a decent record in the city - they won there in 2018, drew in 2019, and won at the former headquarters of rugby in New Zealand’s capital in 1998 and 1981.

EDEN PARK IS A FRONTIER TO CROSS

Winning at Eden Park is though the main frontier the Boks want to cross, and if they do, and considering that the away game against Argentina in this year’s Championship is in London, they will stand a good chance of retaining the trophy they won in pretty emphatic fashion last year.

It is though going to require a lift in performance from what South African fans have seen from their team in a patchy home season, with the loss to Australia at Emirates Airlines Park just over two weeks ago the obvious low mark, but there was also a torrid second half against Italy in Pretoria and they arguably didn’t dominate Georgia to the extent expected.

There have been injuries that have made it tougher, and those to front-rankers Gerhard Steenekamp and Frans Malherbe plus the decline in form of Bongi Mbonambi have conspired to rend the so-called Bomb Squad less effective than it used to be.

There have also been other injuries, and a return to availability for senior figures Pieter-Steph du Toit and Siya Kolisi will make a big difference to the Bok chances in Auckland, while Jasper Wiese should add depth at No 8 when his suspension is completed and he is in the mix for the Wellington game.

You get the sense that while the Boks need to continue increasing their depth ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, which means the continuation of the rotation in selections which may arguably have contributed to the stuttering form this season, this trip is one where experience needs to be prioritised.

In that sense, the call-up to double World Cup winning scrumhalf Faf de Klerk, who was part o the team that made a breakthrough by winning in Wellington in 2018, may prove fortuitous, even though it is as a replacement of another experienced player, Mbonambi. The hooker has returned to South Africa to attend to a family matter.

AN OPPORTUNITY MAY BECKON FOR WESSELS

The fact a scrumhalf has been called in for a hooker is probably an indicator that Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who at this point looks likely to be the long term successor to Mbonambi as the alternative to Malcolm Marx, is fully fit again and ready to contribute. The versatile Bulls player, who also plays loosehead prop, will be closely watched should he get his opportunity.

Instead of naming the Bok team early in the week, as is usually the case in the Rassie Erasmus era as coach, the team announcement is set for Thursday - which may be an indication that some injury questions need to be answered before then, although with the points of difference in their flyhalves it also makes sense to keep the All Blacks guessing about what they will face.

There is a game against Argentina in Durban to come later this month, but it does get tougher for the Boks now as they prepare to play away games against the other teams with them in the World Rugby top four over the next few months. This New Zealand trip will set the tone.

SPRINGBOK FIXTURES IN NEW ZEALAND

All Blacks (Eden Park, Auckland, Saturday 6 September, 9:05am)

All Blacks (Sky Stadium, Wellington, Saturday 13 September 9:05am)