Boks in 2022: Some slewing … but still on the scenic road

 News24 Sport chief writer    

If the “little picture” by the Springboks (five blemishes in the 2022 calendar year) flattered just a bit to deceive, the bigger one at least hung onto its genuine potential for critical acclaim in all-important 2023. 

South Africa ended their year with a win percentage of 61.5, which looks humdrum when you measure it against, for example, France … Les Bleus earned a rare, perfect 10/10 record which is a great mental device to carry into a year where they will host the World Cup. 

But there were a few “softer” opponents in there – the French midyear series was a lean, relatively undemanding two-Test one in Japan – while the European heavyweights so nearly crashed at home to the Wallabies before notching a heart-stopping 30-29 outcome in November. 

Most other nations had some pronounced ups and down during 2022, lending ballast to the widely-held view that RWC 2023 will be extremely open. 

The Boks still instinctively measure themselves, for instance, against the All Blacks … and they won an identical, moderate eight of their 13 Tests. 

A more accurate (and favourable) measure of Jacques Nienaber’s charges, maybe, would be to examine some of their setbacks: one came at home against Wales with a highly experimental Bok combination fielded, while both end-of-year losses in keynote games in Dublin and Marseille respectively could well have gone the other way with slightly better fortune. 

In that sense, the results against Ireland (16-19) and France (26-30) respectively were open to interpretation as effective “wins” in psychological terms for RWC purposes … especially the French game, which the Boks played hampered by a red-carding for a remarkable 68 minutes. 

There is also a case for arguing, with