IF THERE WAS one player that Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber wouldn’t have wanted to lose more than any other, it was Faf de Klerk.
He has been the chief of their side in recent years in more ways than one. The scrum-half is a tactical leader for the Springboks and though they kicked off out-half Handré Pollard more often in last weekend’s second Test against the Lions, de Klerk is always the key influence in that crucial part of the game.
De Klerk’s passing has occasionally been inaccurate in this series but he is capable of breaking out of the contestable kick tactics and delivering high-quality attacking moments too. He has sharp acceleration and last weekend’s grubber for Lukhanyo Am’s try showed his vision and skill level under pressure.
Add to that the fact that he is the game’s toughest 5ft 7ins enforcer. De Klerk is relentlessly edgy and feisty, hitting much harder than his weight class would suggest is coming. The Sale man is an excellent, inventive, and daring defender.
All of these reasons mean the injury he suffered last weekend while box kicking – and then presumably worsened when box kicking again just moments later – is a huge blow to the Springboks ahead of the deciding third Test against the Lions on Saturday.
Montpellier’s Cobus Reinach comes into the team in the number nine shirt, leapfrogging Herschel Jantjies, who has made appearances off the bench in the first two Tests.
The Springboks clearly believe that Reinach’s skillset is more similar to de Klerk’s, while he is also sightly more experienced than Jantjies, albeit Reinach only has 15 caps at the age of 31.
Reinach’s kicking is considered stronger than Jantjies’ and though he is right-footed – rather than left-footed like de Klerk – the Boks hope he can provide composure and accuracy in that area.
Reinach also has a good understanding of out-half Handré Pollard’s game, having spent the last season with him in Montpellier, even though Pollard was injured for most of the campaign. Reinach is also a major running threat and his support play is superb – something the Lions will need to be aware of.
“Cobus is an experienced player with a calm head who can handle pressure, and we believe he will be able to dictate play well alongside Handré,” said Springboks head coach Nienaber yesterday, while adding that Jantjies offers “spark” off the bench.
The Lions are expecting de Klerk’s absence to result in the Boks kicking off Pollard more often.
“It possibly changes the way we are going to look at things, they might kick more off 10 like they did at the weekend,” said Lions boss Warren Gatland yesterday.
“Pollard kicked a lot more in the second Test so they may revert to that. With Faf’s left -foot game and the way he defends, everything is on the edge with him in the way he plays and he is pretty feisty.”
Having kicked in play only four times in the first Test, Pollard kicked 11 times last weekend in the second Test.
Meanwhile, the Boks will also have to cope without Pieter-Steph du Toit, who was named World Rugby player of the year after their World Cup success in 2019.
Du Toit was forced off with a shoulder injury just 21 minutes into the second Test, having landed awkwardly in a tackle from Lions wing Duhan van der Merwe.
A wonderfully balanced player, du Toit has been a brilliant lock/blindside hybrid for the Springboks in recent years. His physicality and relentless work-rate are matched by excellent lineout, ruck, and handling skills, while he is as quick and agile as many backs.
The Springboks have reacted to this second blow by bringing Lood de Jager into their second row and shifting Franco Mostert to the blindside – as was the case when de Jager came off the bench to make a major impact in the second half last weekend.
It leaves the Boks with a nice balance in their starting pack, the model of three locks maintained, but naturally reduces the strength of their bench as they shift from a 6/2 split to a 5/3 split, with two back row replacements in Marco van Staden and Kwagga Smith.
“They will be two big losses for them, they’re both world-class players and can have a big impact on the game,” said Gatland. “They definitely will be a loss.”
Let’s not forget that World Cup-winning leader and number eight Duane Vermeulen has also been missing and though he returned to the squad this week, the third Test has come too soon.
The Lions, meanwhile, have had good luck with injuries on this tour, even welcoming captain Alun Wyn Jones back from what initially appeared to be a campaign-ending shoulder injury.
Original squad members Justin Tipuric and Andrew Porter are absent due to injury and would definitely have been in the mix for this weekend, but Gatland’s men have managed to avoid any serious issues in South Africa aside from Finn Russell missing the first two Tests.
The Lions boss had a strong hand to choose from for this third Test and while the Boks have depth in their squad, they would love to have de Klerk and du Toit in their starting XV again on Saturday.
Cork are so bad, Lord
Clare to win the all ireland
Is it tidy towns you are on about.
Wolf , donal og cusack was not wrong when he showed the Graf on the Sunday game last year of where cork hurling is at the moment , that was atrocious from a county that has been so resoundingly competitive for years , as we always said in tipp a good year was the hay saved and cork bet , not the case anymore unfortunately from a tipp this sad to see as it is not good for the sport in general
7 points down with 10 mins to go and they’re STILL using a sweeper what are the management thinking!?
Terrible decision to use a sweeper for all the game
The tactic seems to have been to concentrate on keeping the Tipp margin of victory as low as possible..
That way the Cork public might not turn against the County Board.
It’s all about self preservation.
As a Galway man I’m worried how that cork team beat us in the relegation decider.
Not looking good when it looks like Kerry can outplay Cork in both codes.
That was the worst Cork team, led by the worst Cork management in living memory. Not help by having the worst County Board in Ireland.
It’s grand. Frank Murphy et al will have their legacy with the new stadium and that’s what really matters.
Absolutely sickening stuff….
Probably call it ‘Murphy Park!
Cork were terrible, Couldn’t even pass the ball to each other and hit numerous aimless balls down the park.Tipp won the majority of 50/50s and dominated all the scuffles on the park. There’s a long road ahead for Cork hurling as this group of players are not be up to the standard required.
Worst cork performance in my living memory nit one player would get on the the team of 10 years ago
How did we get so bad?
When you depend on decent guys from junior and intermediate clubs your in big trouble the senior clubs in Cork are of such poor standard it’s amazing we can even limit Tipp to 9 points. The upside is we will have a New state of the art stadium for other Munster counties to play in come championship time and we will have plenty stewards . In serious grief at seeing this latest capitulation and no sign of any light for the road ahead
Ye are on a par with Wexford I’m afraid.
On way down in train, Cork have become the “kerry” of Munster hurling
From a Tipp fan – it was a poor match overall. Both teams will have not learned much from today. Limerick will be a different story! !
When you set up your side for damage limitation that is all you will achieve, the sweeper system has hurling destroyed.The 2013 championship was one of the best in living memory but it seems like a lifetime ago now! I can only hope that Limerick will go 15 on 15 in the semi-final and play their natural gung ho shit or bust style because if they don’t another woeful game will drift by.
The sweeper can still be played in a positive and entertaining way but it requires far more tactically than simply pulling a man back. When you play a sweeper you also play against a sweeper, teams need to execute both defensive and offensive sides of the formation. Look at Clare for example, defensively they press hard when not in possession and crowd midfield forcing teams to play long balls up to where they have an extra man who now has more time to get into position to cover. Then in attack they utilise rapid short passing to work the ball past midfield so they can play long forward passes that bypass the sweeper. It can be done well and still be entertaining but the likes of Cork and Limerick are now trying it without any idea of how to play the system and producing dour matches
Is Frank there for life? Is it like being pope?
Frank does what he wants and NO ONE dares question him.
Patrick Horgan with yet another game of no scores from play!
Shocking.. what were they thinking with the sweeper system ??? A draw ???? Short summer ahead..
Cork should enter the Christy ring
Hello Cork, hello Cork, where are ye.?????
Cork were abysmal today it is sad to see how far they have gone back the game needs a competitive cork side
These players have worked as hard as previous teams and the management have worked as hard as previous managers.We are at the low end of the cycle.The wheel will turn in time but let’s not be personally offensive to players or managers and selectors
Your right… I don’t blame the players, management or selectors…
I blame the county board and more importantly the man who has been running it for over 40 years…
William my comment may have came across wrong. I didn’t mean to have a go at Egan or anyone in particular. I just found d whole game v frustrating. Cork are better than that.
I see the blaming of poor auld frank has started as usual…only one thing for it then I suppose another strike
Why on earth would cork change their tactics to one they have never used and try it in their championship opener against Tipp of all teams aswell
Roll on kilkenny to sort them out
It’s all well and good using a sweeper if they know what they doin. Egan was standing there with not a clue what he was supposed to b at. He may as well been up in d stand.
Hope they don’t become as bad as the Kilkenny footballers
On the ball William…We are in a transition with plenty of challenges ahead. This is the right back room crew to get things turned around.
I love your optimism
I took the m
Jesus, are there any hurlers left in Cork?
Can’t believe how much cork hurling has declined this year. Yesterday showed that they’ve no leadership on the pitch and no plans other than using a sweeping system no matter what. JBM was restricted during his time in charge by the power that be (frank murphy) Also the last players strike certainly accomplished nothing but contribute to the demise of cork hurling. It’s a shame, there’s some great young hurlers all over cork county.