Schalk on the Boks

Bok legend Schalk Burger believes that Rassie is failing to find the right balance due to the continual switch in styles and personnel

“I think our biggest worry will be, where’s our balance in the game? We obviously went from a pass to kick ratio of 12 to one, to almost playing like 2019 - one pass and kick, and quite conservative.”

“What we’ve built on with Tony Brown coming in is shape, but that shape disappeared. The problem is if you’re chasing the game and you haven’t run that shape, and you don’t have those options in and around, instead of saying, ‘listen here, let’s run that shape but let’s play the tighter options’, we’ve gone completely the other way.”

The Springboks have struggled to find consistency in 2025, caught between expansive rugby under Tony Brown and a return to the conservative style that delivered two World Cups

Back to back defeats to both the Wallabies and All Blacks have raised questions: has constant switching of styles left the Boks without balance?

I would rather be chopping and changing the team now, with more than two years before the next World Cup.

The Boks have ageing players who have won two World Cups. The problem is Rassie does not know which Springbok greats will be over the hill or not be the next World Cup.

Rassie has at least established that some of these players are past it (e.g. Bongi, Koch).

Rassie must take a development team on the end-of-the-year tour and leave the established players at home. Players like Eztebeth, Steph DuToit, Kwagga, etc could make the next World Cup, especially if they are managed.

Younger players need test time to get experience and establish combinations.

I have never believed in changing out older players who are still performing. Younger players need to be given opportunities in lesser games and off the bench. If there is parity they should perhaps get the nod….but there is also team morale involved.

Remember the implosion in Mallett’s team after Teichman was dropped. He never got the team back to winning ways. It wouldn’t surprise me if the older players are a bit demoralized at the moment….Kriel, Dud, Etzebeth, Pollard, the core of our winning team.

Then there is the playing style. The Boks know how to play traditional Bok rugby, it’s the default tactic. But it needs to be augmented by more modern skills.

South African players can do that…the Bools forwards are excellent at offloading, as were the Sharks under Jake. Other than Sacha and Snyman, who are natural offloaders, I see little evidence of new skill in this department. The only change I see is Dud grubbering.

You need players who are going to bring this to life. We have that player in Esterhozen. Yes he is old and may be past it by the WC, but by then he could have helped the Boks establish more modern backline play. So far he has been wasted playing like a Dud clone.

And rugby primacy isn’t all about WCs. If the ABs win the RC they will be regarded as the best team in rugby today. NZ has lasted so long at the top because they always play to win. Not fielding our best team when the RC is still alive is not what a competitor does.

I still don't get this obsession with the World Cup. There are 4 whole years of rugby in between, but somehow the measure of the best team in the world is being able to win 3 playoff games in a row in a 4-yearly tournament. England, having been nowhere the whole year and coming off a 1 point win over Samoa damn near knocked us out in 2023. NZ got knocked out thanks to a missed forward pass in 2007. You beat the three minnows in your pool and you're through, and even then you might be lucky and get something like Fiji in the quarters, meaning you need to beat two big opponents to be the "world champion".

Tournaments like the RC or 6N is a far better measure, requiring consistency to win year in and year out.

A team needs to win between World Cups, but they need to peak for the World Cup.

The Boks had a very good year last year and finished as the best team in the world.

The problem is that the team will not be around by the World Cup, so the Boks have to experiment and test new players - especially given the B-team tours no longer exist.

Also, if the Boks are going to play Tony-ball, younger and fitter players are needed now.

You can peak all you want. One mistimed hit and you get a red at the start of a playoff and all your peak is fucked. The WC tournament is closer to an entertainment gimmick than an actual measure of excellence.

Well, I am happy with the last 2 World Cups in the trophy cabinet, and starting the next cycle as the top-ranked team in the first year. (he, he).

I am eager to see new players come through, as aside from the World Cup, the Boks need new blood. Some will work, some won't. I want the Boks to establish an improved style that retains traditional strengths, with better creation of space for the backs.

During periods of the first phase and ruck domination, the Boks must put points on the board.

Boks need to know when to kick and when to keep the ball in hand, and how to open up space consistently and convert pressure into points.

Boks were not creative enough in the second half against the All Blacks to claw back to two early tries conceded.

I’m in full agreement with you Pakie. A RWC winner is only champion for a day and even then it’s a debatable term given that it’s a knockout tournament and the winner doesn’t play every team in that time. Continual success is the key. A team consistently at the top during a RWC cycle gets far more kudos in my opinion.

Agreed being the best side in the game is ultimately what counts - trophies is a bonus

In 2024, the Boks were

1. World Champs
2. Top-ranked IRB team in the world.

Basically, the undisputed best team in the world....

All teams need to go through a rebuilding phase at some point or another. Rather, it is between World Cups, so the team can peak for the next World Cup.

Most of the teams that have won previous World Cups were the best teams in the world at that time.

The All Blacks back to back-to-back World Cup wins in 2011 and 2015 were correlated with top IRB rankings.

A RWC winner is only champion for a day and even then it’s a debatable term given that it’s a knockout tournament and the winner doesn’t play every team in that time. Continual success is the key. A team consistently at the top during a RWC cycle gets far more kudos in my opinion.

Spot on moolaa

When we say a rebuilding phase there is the implicit assumption we are going to find a new Kolbe, a new Pollard, a new Ox, a new Etzebeth, and we are struggling to find a new Vermeulen. Replacing a great team isn’t a given.The ABs are nowhere near to replacing their 2015 team….the Wallabies are only just emerging from 14 years of darkness.

And once you start deconstructing these teams the fall can be swift.

I have no problem replacing their centers, because they have always been underperformers. I have no problem replacing the loosies….Vermeulen was the only real pro in that group. But the rest of the team has been golden.

The only player who has truly lost form is Willie, although Marx is beginning to worry me.

We should have been phasing in new players from the beginning of last year in matches we can afford to experiment in….that was almost every match last year except the Irish series and the first AB test when we needed a measure of their strength.

But doing it by building around the core….not playing an untested team in our last chance to possibly win the RC. Rather than building something, this is more likely to destroy something.

"A RWC winner is only champion for a day ..."

Nonsense...4 years...even after we slipped down to 3rd in the rankings, we're still the world champions...not to say that it's OK not to perform in between...how did it feel to be pretty much the number one team in the world for 24 years without being able to win Bill one single time...it stung né?

It doesn’t safeguard you of loosing your number one spot in between World Cups.

It’s already to late for us this season. We are not the world’s best team anymore. So much for winning the WC and we ranked third already….

But if we win tomorrow we go back to number 1

Not only does Rassie have ageing players, but he also has to select players who can combine Tony Ball with traditional Bok rugby. So the Boks are testing new players, but also a completely different game plan.

It is a pity that B-team games are no longer part of the tours.

Disagree Draad. You’re RWC Champion on the day you win the cup and can’t continue to be called World Champions for the next 4 years as the trophy is not played for in that time! The winner should be designated Rugby World Cup holders which would be more accurate.

And I also disagree with the 24 years not winning the cup for the ABs. It’s actually 20 years as they first failed to win it in 1991. Hard to win it between 1987 and 1991 when it wasn’t up for grabs!!

Boks retain the Freedom Cup with an experimental side, and inflict the largest defeat against the All Blacks ever.

I was confident with the team selected, despite so many new combinations. Sasha looked very good, and Libbok was also good in a running game.

The Boks return to the top spot in the world. The defending World Cup Champions, and current IRB ratings leader. It doesn't get much better than that - the undisputed best team in the world.

And they inflicted a record defeat against the All Blacks in their home territory to boot, who went into the game as the IRB ratings leader

"Disagree Draad. You’re RWC Champion on the day you win the cup and can’t continue to be called World Champions for the next 4 years as the trophy is not played for in that time! The winner should be designated Rugby World Cup holders which would be more accurate.

And I also disagree with the 24 years not winning the cup for the ABs. It’s actually 20 years as they first failed to win it in 1991. Hard to win it between 1987 and 1991 when it wasn’t up for grabs!!

I thought they're only world champions on the day...? ;-)