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The grain of truth buried in rumoured Springboks plot
Tin-foil hats? Check. An evidence board with criss-crossing red strings? Check? A Joe Rogan podcast at the ready? Buckle up Springboks fans. Here comes a wild conspiracy theory.
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Oh, you haven’t heard? Turns out Jacques Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus instructed their players to lose their titanic clash with Ireland last week. Don’t scoff. There’s some logic floating around the filthy pond if you’re willing to stick your hands in and fish it out.
As a consequence of their defeat, their likely opponents in the next round will be France. A difficult proposition given the French are the tournament’s hosts and will be buoyed by a partisan Parisian crowd. But with Antoine Dupont sidelined, or at least encumbered behind an operatic mask, the pre-tournament favourites don’t have the same intimidating aura they possessed before the start of the competition.
Granted, it’s a mind-bending take. Why would any team want to play France now? Besides, how does any team lose a rugby game by five points against the world’s top-ranked side on purpose? Other sports are more easily fixed. But rugby? There’s no way. The sheer threat to a player’s safety means that any half-arsed tackle or ball carry could end in serious bodily harm.
No, it’s just not feasible. There’s no way Nienaber and Erasmus sent their charges out the Stade de France tunnel and instructed them to throw in the towel.
However, there is a strong case to be made that those players were at least hamstrung to some degree. Not to the extent that they weren’t allowed to fire any shots. Or to the extent that their defeat takes anything away from Ireland’s brilliance – at the breakdown, off the kicking tee, through the midfield with a rampaging Bundee Aki – but now that it’s been mentioned, it’s hard not to at least consider the possibility that the Boks’ coaches have kept a few aces up their sleeve for when the stakes are truly raised.
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During the game in the French capital, a thunderous slugfest that would have been a worthy showpiece final event, Faf de Klerk twice attempted to kick a penalty from over 50m. The first, around the 46th minute mark, hit the post. The second, about 20 minutes later, missed altogether.
At the time it seemed like an odd choice. Before the match de Klerk had only slotted 10 of his 16 attempts from the tee since the start of 2022. In that time Manie Libbok, who had missed a conversion and a penalty himself by the time de Klerk lined up his second shot, had a similarly poor record.
For all their strengths elsewhere, the Springboks’ have carried a glaring weakness like some sort of albatross around their necks. Why then would Erasmus flash his colourful lights from the coach’s gantry and urge his players to attempt a difficult kick instead of nudging the penalty into the corner for a line-out close to Ireland’s try-line? Especially when the rolling maul has been a traditional strength of South African rugby since time immemorial. Perhaps there’s more to this than meets the eye?
“Why, with the 7-1 bench split, did we not go to the corner like the Irish went to the corner?” John Dobson, head coach of the Stormers franchise, asked the Off The Ball podcast this week. “Why didn’t we go into the corner with Manie kicking like he is with the 7-1 and take Irish legs in a maul? And rather we went for the distance penalties and twice with Faf [de Klerk], I mean, that is something I would like to know the answer to.”
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Dobson was not the only respected rugby brain posing the question. On X (formerly Twitter) the account by the name of Oom Rugby, with almost 30,000 followers, predicted before the match that the “Boks will hold a few things back”. And in the days following the reverse – the team’s third on the bounce to Ireland and their fifth in seven matches – this argument has gathered pace.
And it makes sense, right? There’s a reason Erasmus worked on a particular move, aptly named, ‘the move,’ in secret before the 2019 World Cup final. Back then he orchestrated a cluster of forwards in the centre of the pitch to swamp England’s defence and force a penalty. A similarly clandestine plan was hatched for a monstrous maul against Japan in the quarterfinals that saw them rumble 50 metres up field and bulldoze over for a try.
Mauls have always been complex and dangerous things. Changes to the laws have helped defending teams stand firm against the tide which has forced attacking pods to find innovative ways of working the space and momentum. It stands to reason that the Springboks are devising some cunning plan and that they didn’t want to empty the chamber just yet.
Still not convinced? That’s alright. Elite sport is a binary beast. Victory cements a coach’s genius. Defeat consigns them to ignominy. These theories will only hold water if the Springboks triumph at the end of it all.
There is at least one positive that can be taken from last week’s defeat and that is the (hopeful) abandonment of the 7-1 split. It always looked like a gimmick. It worked against a New Zealand pack that copped an early red card and was largely filled with youngsters, but against an experienced Irish crop that can no longer be fucked up physically, to steal a famous line from Erasmus, it simply failed to achieve its aims.
A 7-1 split forces wholesale changes when they simply aren’t required. It was telling that the Boks seemed to lose direction once Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth made way for substitutes. Without Duane Vermeulen in the match-day 23, the side lacked leadership on the field.
Apart from telegraphing the plan of attack, the 7-1 bench paints South Africa in a corner and forces them to play only one style of rugby. It excludes playmaking backs from having impact off the bench and places even more pressure on a struggling goal-kicker as there is no viable alternative among the replacements.
Hopefully that is the last we see of it. And if it meant losing to Ireland, whether that was the aim or not, the result can be presented as a positive in the long run.
Only fools lose games on purpose and the Boks ate no fools
The Boks are the most successful nation to win RWC’s away from home. NZ are only one. Maybe we do prefer Ireland in a final though. Let’s see if the depth of Ireland can hold out. It’s always a gamble
Absolutely everyone has missed the point of the article. Not that i believe everything thats written, but no one has said the boks lost the game on purpose, they were trying too hard and definitely wanted to win, all that is said is that maybe they have a few moves that they wanted to save for knock out games and didn't try them in this game. So would just have been a bonus if they still won without trying them. No one purposely missed kicks calm down.
My thoughts were more around exposing known weaknesses to justify ultimate selection to the public and ANC. It’s still a colour thing where we come from. Not suggesting that those of colour are rudderless, it just so happens that the main leaders including kolisi were absent in the second half of the second half. The other weakness being the kicking of course. Pollard’s place in summary (as a kicker and leader) is set as the nr one 10
Note that most of these theories come from the other side. We have accepted that the Boks were beaten by Ireland. Ben Smith most likely started these conspiracy theories when you consider that previous All Black flyhalf Donald also fueled this ridiculous theory. Or was it Nigel and Phil. Just for the record ABs to play in semis.
So the AB’s beat Ireland? That’s a big call !
Because the Boks lost to Ireland, there’s a chance they won’t even make the quarters to face France. They would never put themselves in this position on purpose, the priority would always be to make the knockouts and take it from there.
This is true. The straw reaching here by South African fans is truly a sight to see.
What a load of rubbish... I suppose Faf De Klerk intentionally hit the post and Libbok just shaved it. Clearly, they wanted to lose and were just pretending to try... yeah, right. This is straight out of the Donal Trump school of brainless commentary, devoid of facts and full of speculation, and anyone who falls for it is an even bigger fool. Both teams wanted to win, they maybe have held moves in reserve, but there is no doubting either sides intention.
I would suggest that not revealing all cards and focusing on putting certain unpreferred moves under pressure were potentially more of a priority over winning. The purpose being to save more for the quarters in preparedness and surprise
Why would you reveal all your lineout moves before the quarters? Nothing fishy about it, and its not throwing the game. I hope he was hiding some lineout moves but who knows?
Bundee would have had to be in on it - or rather BOK (ref) as Bundee entered that last maul on Irish try line from the side - and collapsed it - clear evidence of what should have been a penalty try? How did the officials miss it - because it was right before their eyes.
There's no level that Rassie wouldn't stoop to. But France will be big enough, and too clever for the Boks when their reserves come on.
Bang on, from "leaked" video-winges to water boys to traffic lights to 7-1 benches, it's all smoke screens and deflection with old Razzle_Dazzle. You can't take anything he says about the Boks at face value.
Stoop? You condescending arsehole. Who are you to cast aspersions on Rassie?
This theory actually makes sense
When you want to win a battle you kill the captain first. David slew Goliath to win the War.
In this case, the captain is already sidelined or below his optimum strength, this would be the time to take out France in the Quarter finals.
Who would you choose to play NZ or France without their leader. I'd choose France.
NZ will come out all guns blazing after their loss to France in the QF and they'll be stronger now that their team is restored with players returning from injury.
Better to wait for nz to face a stronger team like Ireland and then meet them later down the track
SB's has this covered and done a more sensible thing in my opinion
Loosing the battle to Ireland but winning the War for the World Cup - That's the Bigger picture
hahaha
Simply inconceivable for any side to throw a game of rugby (not that the article suggests it, but many SA fans are starting to wishfully think that way). Bottom line is, the Irish pack were better at the breakdown, that’s what made the difference to me. Could that be the result of the MM absence? Possibly, but hats off to the Irish in that department. So what’s the deal with the penalty kicks from inside our half? My take is that in true Rassie style, he knew that kicking is our weak point, so let’s take the bull by the horns and test the metal of the kickers, as well as give them match practice. In this instance the bull won, but much knowledge was gained, knowing that this game was not crucial to win, so one could argue that some ‘experimentation’ was still an option. Did SA lose on purpose, no. Did they allow for some experimentation / overcoming some weaknesses, yes. In the grand scheme of things, this was a victory.
Oh please anyone who believes this deserves to be taken advantage of. Bok fans hate the boks losing and many springbok coaches have complained that even their families get targeted in the supermarket by irate bok fans - (ask Harry Viljoen - that's the reason he resigned) - so for Rassie and Jacques to plan any loss - just to play France is to risk the absolute ire of the bok fans which he isn't prepared to do - and which is why he apologised to quickly. Ireland deserved there victory - because they took there chances when the boks didn't. Its a simple as that. To say anything else is to take away from Ireland - which would be grossly unfair.
I do agree that the game has been rigged but the main reason is that Rassie and Nienaber both are going to Ireland to further their careers, so why not do their future employers a huge favour and loose the match
Bill Erasmus
That's just so sad. Erasmus has shown the world that he is a clown but even he wouldn't conspire to throw a game.
No way its a conspiracy, we played too hard. The problem with conspiracies it leads you down a rabbit hole. So was the Mt Smarts loss engineered too? So that we could beat the AB's in Twickenham just before the world cup? This is not cricket no match fixing here. Think of the extent of the "rot" if there's any truth to the rumour, Ben O'Keefe would have to be involved too somehow... And Manie and Faf missed on purpose and for month's now to what end? Is there a special move involving Pollard? Maybe he has been practicing this at the Tigers for all this time and Malcolm is not really injured..... Rubbish!!! we were outplayed by a well drilled Ireland and hats off to them for that. Why is it so inconceivable to think that the number 1 seed beat the number 2?
Finally a comment that makes sense.
+ These theories will only hold water if the Springboks triumph at the end of it all +
exactly that .... should the boks repeat their feat of 4yrs ago, then there will be 4yrs time to discuss Rassies ingenious strategies .... up until 28 October, 11PM I don't give much on any of these theories (and should the Boks fail in the QF or SF, then any hidden plans would have been proven futile anyway) .....
Hopefully not the truth, but there is something fishy
Not at all, Ireland destroyed SA at the breakdown and that laid the platform for the win.
This is nonsense. No way that there is any truth in the idea the Boks conspired to not win this game. I cannot believe anyone writes about this.
You clearly didn't read the article.
I think this has more to do with many South African's inability to accept a defeat, but instead of blaming the ref cultivating the belief that it was deliberate instead. I can't imagine even innovativeRassie would propose 'throwing' a game when all it takes next week is the right conditions e.g early red card/injuries to key leaders/losing 50-50 calls and suddenly they finish 3rd.
There's no way Rassie wants to take that risk.
The most important player of this RWC will be Thomas Ramos. He's the guy that makes close victories seem comfortable. When he steps up to the tee, the opponents might just as well start marching back to the halfway line
Apart from his goal kicking prowess, the lad is a very decent fullback. Reads the game well, has some top drawer skills and can tackle. Key to France's chances of going all the way.
We all know that the orange light means: Take the shot at goal and miss.