Viewers of last year’s Rugby World Cup will know that South Africa are not shy when it comes to mixing up their approaches to conventional elements of the game. Take the 7-1 bench split in the Rugby World Cup final as an example.

That appetite to mix things up has not dimmed in 2024 following the departure of Jacques Nienaber, with Tony Brown’s arrival as attack coach leading to South Africa expanding their repertoire. A couple of tricks in Brisbane either caught the Wallabies out, or left them second-guessing, and led to tries as South Africa coasted to their first win there in over a decade.

Line-out deception

Someone on X joked after South Africa’s first try that new attack coach Brown was now running the line-out, and they might have had a point.

The maul was always going to be a huge weapon for the Springboks, and the Wallabies came prepared to try to stop it, with occasional success. Shifting the point of contact for the Siya Kolisi try was smart, in two ways. With the initial set-up, the Eben Etzebeth pod at the front just looks like a dummy unit. Etzebeth would go on to be main outlet at the front of the lineout for future mauls.

Instead Bongi Mbonambi finds Ben-Jason Dixon in the second pod, who just as Australia’s heads turn towards him passes the ball backwards to Etzebeth’s pod. Etzebeth being lifted into the air means that Australia have to wait for him to hit the ground before engaging, buying more time.

Arguably the smartest part of the whole move is the impact made by the original pod when they join the maul. Compare the starting position below...

...to where the maul ends up when Kolisi scores the try.

Kolbe at scrum-half

Ahead of the first scrum to South Africa around 90 seconds into the game, they set up with scrum-half Cobus Reinach in the backfield, standing between Kurt-Lee Arendse and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

Filling Reinach’s role putting the ball into the scrum was Cheslin Kolbe. Now, Kolbe is no rookie in this area, having previously played as a scrum-half in his early days with Western Province. He was also listed as the scrum-half cover for the Rugby World Cup final, with no recognised No 9 on the bench.

Still, the sight of him there threw everyone off, with early-morning viewers in the UK and South Africa rubbing their eyes to check what they were seeing.

South Africa earn a scrum penalty, the first of many, but the resulting move was a clever one, with Elrigh Louw picking up from No 8 and passing to a looping Kolbe who found a gap to go through, before Feinberg-Mngomezulu sent a clever cross-field kick wide to Jesse Kriel. As opening attacks go, it was an impressive set-up.

Kolbe’s broad skill-set was also a feature later on when Malcolm Marx was in the sin-bin, with Bongi Mbonambi already replaced meaning no hooker was on the field. Kolbe filled in for line-out duty, with South Africa winning that line-out.

Both moves were smart variations from a team who are clearly not afraid to try something new, adding to their already effective template.