How a 2011 lesson has fired up the Tony Brown-inspired Springboks

Gary Gold believes the arrival of Tony Brown as the Springboks attack coach has been crucial in turning the Rugby World Cup champions into an even more dangerous threat, with the painful lessons of 2011 shaping the controversial selection calls made by head coach Rassie Erasmus for their latest match with Australia this Saturday.

Physically dominating opponents and canny use of its bomb squad of forward replacements remain at the heart of South Africa’s tactical plan, but the team is now showing an ability to deliver eye-catching new moves – as showcased last weekend in the thumping 33-7 win over the Wallabies in Brisbane in the opening round of the 2024 Rugby Championship.

Crucially, Erasmus has bolstered his staff with the addition of Kiwi Brown on attack and Ireland’s Jerry Flannery in defence, with the ultimate aim being a third successive World Cup triumph in Australia in 2027.

To achieve that, Erasmus knows – thanks to mistakes made in 2011 – that he has to blood new players while also moving the game plan forward. Against the Wallabies at Suncorp, for instance, the Springboks used winger Cheslin Kolbe at scrum-half to feed the ball into the scrum and also as a lineout thrower, while their double catch lineout trick play delivered a driving maul try from Siya Kolisi, their captain.

The world champions have now made 10 changes for their second game of the Championship in Perth this weekend, which makes the Wallabies’ attempt to bounce back even harder as they must deal with a different line-up, rendering the lessons from Brisbane largely useless. What is more certain is that while the personnel has changed, there will be more innovative attacking plays and switches of position under Erasmus.

Gold was part of the Springboks coaching team under Peter de Villiers that won the 2009 Tri-Nations and the Test series against the touring British and Irish Lions. In the build-up to the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, de Villiers included Erasmus and 2023 Boks head coach Jacques Nienaber as consultants.

For the Tri-Nations that year, de Villiers took a new look squad to Australia, leaving key players behind to work with Erasmus and Nienaber. That decision did not work as the Springboks were beaten 39-20 in Australia, and they manged to only win a single game in the competition before then losing in the World Cup quarter-finals to the Wallabies in New Zealand.

For Gold, the key difference on this occasion is that Erasmus has given himself enough time to introduce new players in a World Cup cycle. He told RugbyPass: “In 2011, we went a bridge too far. I know that Rassie has said that is one of the lessons he learnt because you had a brilliant team on paper but possibly 18 months earlier, younger guys should have been blooded and given enough time to be able to go to a World Cup and feel comfortable.

“While the idea was right the timing wasn’t. We probably should have done it a year earlier. I have no doubt in my mind that is playing a large role in why guys are coming in this weekend. Rassie has interest in the bank (with the fans). Even if he loses a handful of Tests in the next year, people will understand because Rassie is thorough and meticulous in what he wants to do.”

Gold, who was part of the Bulls coaching team last season, worked with Brown when he was a player and is excited about the input he is giving the Springboks. He added: “I worked with Tony when Rassie and I were coaching the Stormers and he was one of our players.

“Even then you could see he was a really good thinker of the game. He has coached in Super Rugby, had a very successful time in Japan and the fit with Rassie is tremendous. After two World Cup cycles, the Boks are a pretty established team and they know where their strengths lie.

“With Rassie, what has always been the Holy Grail is to aspire to a have a team that is difficult to analyse and this team has a lot of strings to its bow. Their fundamentals and foundation is built on physicality, which is a given, but he realises that other teams are physical.

“What is brilliant in terms of the thinking is that he is expanding our supposedly one dimensional game. If you had said to me in 2015 we would have a back three where the tallest player was Willie le Roux with no one weighing over 90 kgs I would have said that is impossible.

“Now we have Willie, Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse and they are brilliant exponents of space. With Tony, we have been a lot better in terms of not just scrumming, mauling and kicking and have played from areas we wouldn’t have in the past.

“Tony is bringing an attacking finesse with the team trying to play a game that sees them tightening up the defence because of good forward momentum and then move it to the quick guys. There will be quite a few tricks up their sleeves.

“For Perth, there are wholesale changes and Rassie wants the opposition to sit down and try and work out what the Springboks will do from a six-man lineout 10 metres from the opposition line. You look at it and it has been different every time!

“For the Tests in 2024 and 2025, Rassie is making a conscious effort to get these younger guys to play in over 30 Tests by the 2027 tournament.”