The Springboks have long been known as one of the more conservative international rugby teams, both in the way they play and think about the game, but the selection for Sunday’s massive quarterfinal against France in Paris has confirmed that is no longer the case.

While it is true that experience has been an important factor in the selection of the matchday squad for the Stade de France clash, it is also true that this time last year you would have been prepared to bet your house against Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber coming up with a team that featured Cobus Reinach and Manie Libbok as the halfbacks.

This time 12 months ago, Libbok had yet to play for his country, and the two men who make up the Bok brains trust were still making a habit of talking up the experience of the flyhalf and game-driver as a key factor in any quest for World Cup success. Back then the Boks were still being criticised for being predictable and, while this was always an exaggeration, also one-dimensional.

Indeed, they took that reputation and approach into their 2022 end-of-year tour, and while it was their kicking from the tee that really cost them in a close game against Ireland in Dublin, they were also accused in some quarters of lacking ambition with ball in hand.

IT ALL CHANGED IN MARSEILLE LAST NOVEMBER

Where it all changed was in Marseille a week later. There is a perception they might have arrived on it by accident due to the early red card to Pieter-Steph du Toit that left them chasing the game and having to chance their arm, but their intention to run back kick receipt and engage the French defence by running at them was telegraphed in what was said in the buildup.

Although Damian Willemse was the flyhalf then, what was significant about that game was that it saw the introduction of Libbok for the first time. He played off the bench. As he did in the other two games on tour, against Italy and then England.

Libbok has struggled at times with his place-kicking (it hasn’t been all the time), but he has grown immeasurably as a flyhalf, bringing a different and much-needed dimension to the South African attacking game. The extent of that growth can be underlined by the fact that it wasn’t until the Loftus clash with Australia that started this World Cup year that Libbok got to wear the Bok No 10 for the first time.

Granted, the man with the experience, 2019 World Cup winner Handre Pollard, has been out injured for a long time and that would have come into the selection thinking. But would the Bok coaches have imagined a year ago they would be backing Libbok, who even at franchise level has carried a reputation for having the potential to bottle a big occasion, after just a few months in the saddle? It’s hard to imagine, but Erasmus in particular has a reputation for thinking outside the box.

TELEGRAPHED INTENTION TO CONTINUE WITH ATTACKING STYLE

The selection for this game does telegraph an intention to continue with a more possession-orientated approach, with Reinach’s snappiness and pace being backed along with Libbok’s ambidextrousness and the X-factor he brings with both his passing and his running. Actually, let’s not forget his kicking either - his role in that regard is not just limited to what he does from the tee, his line kicking at this World Cup has been astoundingly good.

Indeed, it appeared to start on the night the Boks emphatically outplayed the All Blacks in their final warmup game, when Libbok was asked to kick for the corner rather than at posts. It worked, and clearly the Bok coaches have decided that approach should be adopted again, although that is not to say that Libbok won’t kick for posts - it did appear that he had made procedural adjustments to his place-kicking when he came on as a replacement against Tonga.

There will doubtless be some who will criticise Erasmus and Nienaber for opting for a flyhalf who looked distinctly like he might be choking under the pressure playing for the DHL Stormers in a Vodacom United Rugby Championship semifinal against Ulster last year. But that was before he kicked the winning conversion from the touchline amidst the most unbearable tension.

That showed massive BMT, and the coaches took note, just as they have probably noted that, unlike some players, and here the younger version of Ruan Pienaar springs to mind, Libbok is not one of those place-kickers who allow his performance from the tee to impact his all-round game. Not anymore anyway. He tends to park his failures in general play, though admittedly it does sometimes appear they remain with him the next time he kicks for posts.

BETTER TEAM THAN FOR IRELAND GAME

The team for this game, with Duane Vermeulen’s playing-over-the-ball abilities being reintroduced at No 8, looks a better one than the one that started against Ireland. Malcolm Marx is still missed, and his absence is a massive dent to the Bok chances of actually winning the World Cup, but with Lukhanyo Am not having played for a while, this is South Africa’s best selection from what is available.

Another departure from the norm for the Boks, and again an indication that they are prepared to change, is the five/three split on the bench. So no Bomb Squad this time, and if that is not an indicator that the Boks of 2023 are looking at different ways to win than they did in Japan in 2019, then I don’t know what is.

France and Ireland are much better teams than the England side the Boks beat to win in 2019, and there has been enough talk about the statistics from the tournament so far that suggest France have more than just their home-ground advantage as a justification for being seen as favourites in this game.

BOKS POSE DIFFERENT QUESTIONS FOR FRANCE

But statistics don’t tell you how a team is going to react when they confront something they haven’t been exposed to at any other stage of this World Cup, namely the Bok physicality. And most of all, they also don’t tell you about the massive weapon that South African rugby players have when they get to this stage of a World Cup - their nationalism and psyche.

A Bok team in a World Cup playoff game is not just a group of individuals going into a sporting event. They are more akin in preparation, intent and willingness to sacrifice themselves for the cause of their country to a commando unit tasked with saving a nation.

This time around they are having to take on that attitude earlier, and if they win on Sunday, we have another two fraught weeks to look forward to. But if they take onto the field the same steely determination and refusal to give ground to opponents and frantic refusal to allow them to cross the line as if the lives of their parents or children are at stake, as they did in the 2019 decider in Yokohama, then France’s home ground advantage might not mean as much as we expect it to.

Teams

France: Thomas Ramos, Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, Jonathan Danty, Louis Bielle-Biarry, Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine DuPont (captain), Gregory Alldritt, Charles Ollivon, Anthony Jelonch, Thibaud Flament, Cameron Woki, Uini Atonio, Peato Mauvaka, Cyril Baille.

Replacements: Pierre Bougart, Reda Wardi, Dorian Aldegehri, Romain Taqfifenua, Francois Cros, Sekou Macalou, Mixme Lucu, Yoram Moefana.

South Africa: Damian Willemse, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe, Manie Libbok, Cobus Reinach, Duane Vermeulen, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff.

Replacements: Deon Fourie, Ox Nche, Vincent Koch, RG Snyman, Kwagga Smith, Faf de Klerk, Handre Pollard, Willie le Roux.

Referee: Ben O’Keefe (New Zealand)

Kick-off: 9pm Sunday

Prediction: It’s 50/50 but France’s home advantage may give it to them by 5