After months of fervent anticipation, the 2023 Rugby World Cup is finally upon us!
While North Coast residents have quietly stockpiled their reserves of biltong, brandewyn and braaivleis in preparation, the Courier has instead sought tactical insight from local ex-Boks to keep you abreast of what to expect.
And who better to speak on what it is like to play World Cup rugby than Sheffield’s Adrian Garvey, a veteran of two campaigns with two separate countries.
Garvey turned out as a tighthead prop for his home nation of Zimbabwe in 1991 and as a naturalised citizen of South Africa in 1999.
He is one of a select few players to represent multiple countries in the sport’s biggest showcase and also featured in 16 out of the 17 games in South Africa’s record winning streak between 1997 and 1998.
“Playing in a World Cup was a massive privilege for me as it is for any player. There is of course a pressure that comes with being a Springbok and one of the favourites for the World Cup, but at the end of the day a test match is a test match,” said Garvey.
“Rassie Erasmus is a clever coach and I am sure he will be finding ways to ease the pressure on the players along with Jacques Nienaber.”
Garvey played with Erasmus during his time with the Springboks and says it was always clear that coaching was in his future.
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“If Rassie wasn’t sleeping or training, you could find him in the team room analysing our past performances and our next opponent. I think a lot of that team’s success was from the input he gave to Nick Mallett and the coaching staff,” he said.
One tactical move recently made by Erasmus and Nienaber was to go with a 7-1 split (seven forwards, one backline player) on the bench in the Springboks’ dominant win against New Zealand two weeks ago.
It has been controversially received in rugby circles worldwide, with some people calling for a ban on overloading the bench with forwards.
“I think the proof of whether it works was shown in that performance versus the All Blacks. We breed big strong men in South Africa and it makes sense to capitalise on that.”
“The back row are so athletic that they could probably put in a shift in the backline anyway.”
When asked who he thought South Africa’s most important player would be in France, Garvey replied as any previous front-rower should.
“The most important player on a rugby field is the tighthead prop, and the second most is the tighthead prop on the bench!
Our starting front row and bomb squad are so good, it just makes me glad to not have to scrum against them.”
Catch the Springboks in action for their first group game against Scotland on Sunday at 5.45pm.
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