Springboks wary of strong South African flavour in Japan coaching ranks, says Bok assistant Stick

Only three current Springboks were involved in the Miracle of Brighton nightmare in 2015. Still, the Boks — despite their best intentions this week — cannot shake off the decade-long hangover from the most humiliating defeat in South African sporting history.

Of the match 23 in action at Wembley tomorrow, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi, and Lood de Jager are the trio who experienced arguably the most depressed Springbok change room ever after that World Cup defeat.

The 2025 Boks are vastly different in just about every regard from Heyneke Meyer’s limited team, but the warning remains — never underestimate anyone and do not deviate from the game plan.

The Boks that day at the Brighton and Hove Stadium did both.

Victor Matfield was the vice-captain that day, and he was one of the leaders who received a roasting from Meyer post-match because the Boks fell into the trap of playing the Japanese at their own, fast-paced game.

How is this for irony? Matfield is on the opposite side of the fence on Saturday — he has been recruited by master coach Eddie Jones to provide insight into the Springboks.

Gary Gold, the Springbok forwards coach from 2008 to 2011, is another who knows the beat to which the Springboks march. He is one of Jones’ assistants on Saturday.

Assistant Mzwandile Stick says the Boks are only too aware of the wealth of intelligence Jones has assembled on the Boks.

“Victor is going to teach them some of the Afrikaans ways, and he played with some of our older guys,” Stick smiled. “Look at their coaching staff — Gary has coached some of our players at the Boks and at the Stormers. They know us.”

Of course, Jones himself assisted Jake White when the Boks won the 2007 World Cup. He took over in that coaching team from Rassie Erasmus (who resigned not long before that World Cup) and has famously said that he learned plenty from Rassie’s laptop.

“Eddie has been involved with the Springboks. He understands our DNA, he knows how we operate,” Stick said.

“He knows the right buttons to press when it comes to motivating his players. We have heard him talking about how a win at Wembley would be special for them and how they must build on Brighton.

“The Japanese guys play for Eddie,” Stick continued. “He is a very experienced coach and a master of the mind games. He knows what to say during the week. We have to be at our best to win this game.”

So, what is it the Boks need to do to ensure they don’t allow the Japanese to become pests?

“We are preparing for Japan just like we would any other team,” Stick promised. “We are paying them the respect they deserve because we saw last week what happened when they played Australia.

“They lost by just four points. They are a very well-organised team. They have a good coaching staff.

“A lot of people focus on their size, but I look at their hearts and how they approach the game, how physical they can be. They don’t stand back for anyone.

“It is key for us to pitch up properly for this game. We want to have a good start to our tour. It is a long, tough tour, but you can’t ask for any better team to start with.”

Stick says it is all about starting strongly and laying a solid foundation for a second-half onslaught.

“We take pride in our set pieces, in our kicking game, and in how we defend, irrespective of who we are playing against.

“That is the good foundation we always look for. We need it to be able to gain opportunities to score tries later in the match. The key focus for us is to start with good intent and to make sure we physically pitch up.”

TEAMS

Springboks – 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.

Bench: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Ruan Nortje, 20 André Esterhuizen, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Manie Libbok.

Japan – 15 Yoshitaka Yazaki, 14 Kippei Ishida, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Charlie Lawrence, 11 Tomoki Osada, 10 Seungsin Lee, 9 Shinobu Fujiwara, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Kanji Shimokawa, 6 Ben Gunter, 5 Warner Dearns (c), 4 Jack Cornelsen, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Kenji Sato, 1 Kenta Kobayashi.

Bench: 16 Shodai Hirao, 17 Ryosuke Iwaihara, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Tyler Paul, 20 Faulua Makisi, 21 Kenta Fukuda, 22 Sam Greene, 23 Tiennan Costley.