The Springboks need a double shot of Brannas or Eskom to switch off the All Blacks’ krag when they meet again next month at Twickenham.
That’s the only way they are going to slow down the New Zealand machine that dominated them so mightily in the first 20 minutes of their Rugby Championship clash in Auckland last week.
If you’ve been living under a rugby rock or just haven’t been able to put two and two together, Brannas is Deon Fourie and Eskom is the nickname of Marco van Staden.
Not our night in Auckland as NZ capitalise on a slow start and unnecessary errors by the #Springboks to take the win - congrats @AllBlacks 👏#StrongerTogether #NZLvRSA #Springboks #TRC2023 pic.twitter.com/lFoWEjv7hx
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 15, 2023
So why do the Boks need them? The answer is simply to slow down the All Blacks’ ruck ball and to prevent scrumhalf Aaron Smith from getting his team quick go-forward ball (momentum moet spoed).
After Saturday’s slagting I’ve watched the first quarter of the match again closely and it was clear that the All Blacks had it too easy at the breakdowns. As impressed as I was with the speed at which Brodie Retallick and his pals hit the rucks, I just coudn’t help but wonder if things would have been different had South Africa played with an out-and-out fetcher.
Look, the sixes we use as first-choice, Siya Kolisi and Kwagga Smith, are not genuine fetchers like Fourie and Van Staden.
No.8 Jasper Wiese is also not Duane Vermeulen-like at the breakdowns, therefore I’d consider playing the latter at eight and either Brannas or Eskom at six when we play the All Blacks in the World Cup warmup at Twickenham.
If that means Kolisi has to wear the No.7 jumper, then so be it.
Furthermore, Malcolm Marx is an unmovable force at the breakdown. I just can’t see Scott Barrett pulling him out of the ruck with one hand. I’d like to see him try though.
Therefore, he needs to start as well alongside prop Steven Kitshoff, who is another one of those with the ability to be gevaarlik on the ground.
If the All Blacks are going to start this way, the Boks can’t afford to have their breakdown guns sitting on the bench.
It should be horses for courses and these particular horses seem suited for this particular course.
With nothing to lose at Twickenham and it being a World Cup warmup match, I’d like to see them try at least.
But with Kolisi coming back from injury before the World Cup, he will probably slot straight back into his No.6 jumper.
However, coach Jacques Nienaber please consider easing the captain in off the bench and sending Brannas in for a strong start. If not that, then at least have Eskom introduce the Kiwis to load shedding at Twickenham…