Johannesburg – Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett believes hosting the 2023 Rugby World Cup would be a “fantastic thing” for South Africa and the country would afford tourists from all over the world an incredible welcome.

READ: Top 10 must-read Springbok articles 

Mallett, who is an analyst on SuperSport these days, said he was definitely behind South Africa’s bid when the voting process takes place on Wednesday to appoint the host of the showpiece tournament.

South Africa are up against France and Ireland, who have been doing a lot of last minute lobbying to try and change the minds of delegates.

Mallett said South Africans should be celebrating the fact that an independent committee rated its bid as the preferred one, a recommendation that should, given the transparency, give the bid an advantage at Wednesday’s vote.

“I think South Africans should all be celebrating the fact that we have come out on top of the initial selection process. We’re hoping like anything that all the other unions that vote, will take cognisance of the fact that an independent objective selection process put us out ahead of Ireland and France.

“That’s the first thing, but secondly from a South African perspective we’ve done big tournaments like this very well. We’ve hosted the 2010 Fifa World Cup, and obviously we did a magnificent 1995 tournament that was a very special event.

“We have the Lions coming out in 2021 and we will have the World Cup in 2023. Those are also a fantastic couple of occasions to look forward to.”

As a country, we are excellently positioned to produce an incredible Rugby World Cup in 2023. We have so many advantages. First of all, the Rand is generally weak against other currencies. For people coming to tour here it is a fantastic holiday.

“We have some of the most unbelievable places to visit, apart from rugby fields. We have beautiful beaches, beautiful mountains and beautiful game parks and I think the country warms to tourists when they come out here.

“Everyone was very happy about the Soccer World Cup and it is about time for us now to have another major event. I mean 1995, then 2010 and now 2023, there has been 10/15 years between each one and I think the country will rally round.”

“South Africa is a remarkable place as the 1995 World Cup, the 1996 African Cup of Nations and 2010 Fifa World Cup showed. The country hosted successful tournaments and was overcome by a magical feeling of unity as it showcased some of its best aspects to an adoring world audience.

“That is why Ireland and France are so disappointed at not getting it. They know what it would do for their country and how they can show off their country. Both would have gone out of their way to make people incredibly welcome there and there is no difference whatsoever in South Africa.

“I think that every touring side in history has always said it is one of the greatest tours you can go on – to South Africa. The people are just incredibly warm and welcoming. The Euro, Dollar, Pound and Yen are expensive currencies for South Africans so for those people to come here on holiday, it is much cheaper.”

READ: RWC 2023: Propaganda aside, WHY SA was deemed superior

Mallett praised Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Minister of Sport and Recreation Thulas Nxesi for their support and said it made a big difference for the bid presentation

“It goes without saying that sport needs the support of Government. What people have to understand is that the whole Mandela experience was a very powerful one. I was in London and it was the same time that we did our bid presentation along with France and Ireland.

“I was there the day after everyone had done their presentations. What was astounding was how impressive we were. Bill Beaumont said the most impressive person who presented out of everyone was Cyril Ramaphosa. I don’t think South Africans are aware of how much that matters to World Rugby. That the government is behind and supports the bid.

“That is probably one of the reasons we sneaked ahead of France and Ireland, just on the presentation, professionalism and on the fact he and our Minister of Sport made a visible support and contribution to the bid.”

Wednesday’s vote will take place as follows. The vote will be live on SuperSport from 14:30.

Read the story on SuperSport.com

Cape Town – Springbok prop Coenie Oosthuizen will return home from Dublin after he suffered a knee injury against Ireland on Saturday evening.

READ: DON’T WRITE OFF BOKS YET – SCHMIDT

READ: WE HAVE TO FIGHT BACK – COETZEE

Oosthuizen left the field in the opening stages of the match and was replaced by Wilco Louw, who played in only his second international for the Springboks. Oosthuizen will first undergo a scan in Dublin before flying home to Durban.

A decision on a replacement will be made shortly.

Loose forward Pieter-Steph du Toit sustained concussion in the closing minutes of the match and he will be managed accordingly in the coming week.

Meanwhile, Springbok coach Allister Coetzee said his team has to rectify matters in their next tour match against France following their disappointing 38-3 loss in Dublin against Ireland on Saturday night.

Coetzee said his side was outsmarted by Ireland, who was tactically better than the tourists. The match in Dublin was the team’s first of four matches on their month-long Castle Lager Outgoing tour, which also includes matches against France, Italy and Wales in the next couple of weeks.

“It was a disappointing defeat and as a group we take full responsibility for it. We let ourselves down and our supporters,” said Coetzee.

“We have three games left on tour and we have to fight our way back. I have to give credit to Ireland, they played tactically very well.”

According to the Springbok coach, his side must learn the lessons from their Dublin experience.

“We lacked patience in our build up and got off to a terrible start when we lost Coenie Oosthuizen in the first minute of the game, and then conceded two penalties at the set piece.”

Coetzee was furthermore disappointed with the penalties they conceded, which allowed the Irish to keep on building pressure as the match progressed.

“Our discipline let us down, it allowed them to build scoreboard pressure and then it becomes difficult to play catch up rugby. We created chances but our execution was not good while Ireland were clinical,” added Coetzee.

“We must now focus on France and work hard in the coming week to rectify things.”

The Springboks travel to Paris on Sunday afternoon and will start with their match preparations on Monday in the French capital.

Cape Town – Hopefully Allister Coetzee will be primed to give “decorum” over the use of his Springbok bench a reasonably wide berth if necessary against Ireland on Saturday.

Generally, it is still seen by onlookers as something not far off humiliation if a starting player, not impeded by injury, is yanked off before, say, the 45-minute mark, and it still doesn’t happen too often in Test matches.

The more traditional “avalanche” of changes, if you like, tends to come on the hour or thereabouts as some legs and lungs recede in their effectiveness at the outset of the key final quarter.

Substitutions during the first half itself?

Not entirely unheard of: then-Bok coach Rudolf Straeuli once ruffled feathers, inevitably involving transformation-linked sensitivities as well, when he hauled off starting prop Lawrence Sephaka just before the half-hour point in a 2002 Test against New Zealand in Wellington.

It was clear that the admittedly struggling, then fairly rookie loose-head – replaced by Ollie le Roux – wasn’t crocked, and it was later explained as a “tactical” subbing; the Boks ended up crashing 41-20 anyway.

But the current Springboks, who revealed their match-day 23 for Saturday’s Aviva Stadium showdown on Thursday, are in a situation where several positions are unusually closely contested – a hallmark that is obviously healthy in some instances – and hotly debated.

Coetzee dropped few bombshells, considering the overall resources at his disposal on tour, with his selection, involving just three changes to his starting XV – one enforced by midfielder Jan Serfontein’s absence from the trip – from the line-up which put up such a plucky showing before being pipped by one point by the All Blacks at Newlands a month ago.

But there were some desperately close, contentious calls in some areas, and most notably at prop where changes are made on both sides of the boiler room.

Now there is a forceful case for saying that, on a day when the Bok pack did a lot more than just hold its own against the world champions in a widely-acclaimed thriller, the two props who most excelled for the home cause were Steven Kitshoff, finally earning his first start, and debutant sub Wilco Louw, who got a maiden cap in the 50th minute.

Yet neither starts in Dublin, and there is something just a little jarring about that.

Kitshoff was firm at scrum-time and thunderous in open play for a generous 78 minutes on that prior occasion, whilst Louw looked anything but overawed when he assumed the anchor-man role from penalty-prone (and now slipping on the pecking order) Ruan Dreyer at tighthead for the last half an hour of the breathless duel.

The WP strongman then also produced a gargantuan Currie Cup final, playing a major role with his set-piece power in the mildly upset triumph by the away team over the Sharks in Durban.

Still, at least for time being, and rightly or wrongly depending on your point of view, Coetzee has restored to his “first team” the two props who were unavailable at Newlands: veteran Tendai Mtawarira and Coenie Oosthuizen.

In his defence – and it isn’t a bad one, either – both the “Beast” and Big Coenie had previously been pulling their weight commendably in 2017, Mtawarira not taking noticeable backward steps in the scrums and Oosthuizen confirming that he is really learning the ropes much better now since his permanent conversion from loose-head to the tricky, demanding No 3 spot.

The last-named player will also come in handy in mauling initiatives and with his potential for rib-shaking hits on enemy ball-carriers, where he puts his 130kg frame to great use – an attribute especially handy on the slow pitches of Europe where close quarters is where so many games are won at.

All that said, Coetzee may wish to drum into his starting props that it will be no disgrace if they go more or less “fifty-fifty” on Saturday with the hungry young Kitshoff and Louw for game-time.

It would be particularly understandable if Oosthuizen got just the first half or only a fraction more, as he has not started a rugby match of any kind for more than two months since his broken-arm mishap in the Rugby Championship stalemate with Australia in Perth – in the interim, the equally strapping Louw has found possibly the form of his life.

Then again, both starting props knowing that there is such quality breathing down their necks from the “splinters” ought to also serve as extra motivation to put themselves about vigorously in whatever time they do eventually get against the combative, slight-favourite Irish.

Two others who will be feeling additional heat in Dublin, given the eagerness of Rudy Paige and Handre Pollard to enter the fray as subs, are the initial pairing at nine and ten of Ross Cronje and Elton Jantjies; the Lions duo are yet to persuade all observers that they are the longer-term real deal for the Boks in their critical berths.

Just for example, if the Boks happen to be under the cosh and the gifted but hard-to-predict Jantjies is struggling to impose himself, perhaps taking the ball too deep in the pocket and broadly having one of his “uncertain” days, coach Coetzee should not be shy to change up his battle-plan significantly and bring the more direct qualities of Pollard into operation with some swiftness and decisiveness.

This really could be one of those days where imaginative use of the entire 23, rather than just start-out 15, holds the key to a precious Bok triumph in their game-one toughie …

 *Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing

Fixtures

Saturday, 11 November 2017
Georgia v Canada, Tbilisi 16:00
Italy v Fiji, Catania 16:00
Scotland v Samoa, Edinburgh 16:30
England v Argentina, Twickenham 16:30
Wales v Australia, Principality Stadium 19:15
Ireland v South Africa, Dublin 19:30
France v New Zealand, Paris 21:45
Saturday, 18 November 2017
Italy v Argentina, Florence 15:00
Romania v Samoa, Bucuresti 15:00
Wales v Georgia, Principality Stadium 16:30
England v Australia, Twickenham 16:30
Japan v Tonga, Toulouse 18:15
Scotland v New Zealand, BT Murrayfield 19:15
Ireland v Fiji, Aviva Stadium 19:30
France v South Africa, Saint Denis 21:45
Saturday, 25 November 2017
Italy v South Africa, Padova 15:00
England v Samoa, Twickenham 16:00
Scotland v Australia, Edinburgh 16:30
Wales v New Zealand, Principality Stadium 19:15
Ireland v Argentina, Aviva Stadium 19:30
France v Japan, Nanterre 20:45
Saturday, 02 December 2017
Wales v South Africa, Cardiff 16:30

London – New Zealand coach Steve Hansen suggested referee Nigel Owens had not been as “focused” as he would have been for a test match after the world champions launched their tour of Europe with a 31-22 win over the Barbarians at Twickenham on Saturday.

Hansen deliberately fielded an unfamiliar-looking All Blacks team, with flyhalf Beauden Barrett captaining the side in place of the rested Kieran Read.

Regular skipper Read found himself reduced to the role of ‘water boy’ for this non-cap international and, with decisions going the Barbarians way (they were 17-5 up in the first half), Owens, one of the world’s top officials, jokingly told him he would also be in charge for the All Blacks’ tour finale against Wales in Cardiff later this month – an impossibility given Owens is Welsh.

Hansen, however, had a quick-witted reply of his own when told of that remark by Owens, who was also the referee when New Zealand beat Australia in the 2015 World Cup final at Twickenham, during a post-match news conference.

“Most of the banter came from Nigel,” said Hansen. “It would’ve been good if he’d have reffed this one (match against the Barbarians).”

Hansen, quickly clarifying a comment that might otherwise land him in trouble with World Rugby chiefs, added: “It was a festival game, wasn’t it? And he (Owens) is like the rest of us, he’s fallen into the trap of doing it.

“He did a good job, I’m not saying that he didn’t, but there’s no doubt in my mind that he wasn’t as focused as he would be if it was a test match…It’s difficult for a player to get their head around that and it’s also difficult for the ref.”

Meanwhile Barbarians coach Robbie Deans, told of compatriot Hansen’s comments regarding Owens, said: “I agree, I think we got the rub of the green.”