Cape Town – Vincent Koch was on the pitch when the Springboks conceded the match-deciding late penalty that Quade Cooper slotted for a 28-26 Wallaby victory on the Gold Coast last year.
Koch had already made a massive second-half impact at Robina Stadium, and the Boks had actually claimed a 26-25 lead with a few minutes to go following Malcolm Marx’s maul try.
But then the Australians pulled out one of their infamous scrum “tricks” that saw English referee Luke Pearce award a controversial penalty.
The home team loaded the right-hand side of the front row, where tighthead Taniela Tupou clearly scrummed in on Bok loosehead Ox Nche. It was so bad that Marx didn’t get an opportunity to hook the ball to the SA side, and Pearce penalised Kwagga Smith – who picked up the ball and was stopped by Nic White – for holding on.
Koch and the rest of the “Bomb Squad” will have taken a good look at that moment again this week ahead of Saturday’s Rugby Championship showdown at the Adelaide Oval to ensure that it doesn’t happen again – especially with a different referee in New Zealand’s Paul Williams holding the whistle this time around.
“We learnt quite a lot out of that. It was the last scrum of the game, which unfortunately cost us the Test. We know what they are going to bring. I think Australia have got a really good pack. They have a good front row on the bench as well, so of course it’s going to be challenging for us,” Koch said..
“We want to get better ourselves as well. The majority of this week, we just focused on what we can do better, and I think if we do that, it will definitely pay off on the field on Saturday.
“But our focus is mainly on us and what we can do better … What we learnt from the Test against New Zealand, and where we can improve.
“Our main focus is to actually deliver what we trained. But we know that they’ve got a good pack of forwards as well. It’s going to be a nice battle for the two packs.”
The Bok “Bomb Squad” weren’t able to maintain their intensity right to the end of the 35-23 loss to the All Blacks at Ellis Park, and perhaps it was down to Marx, Steven Kitshoff and Jasper Wiese coming on before halftime for Joseph Dweba, Nche and Duane Vermeulen respectively.
Coach Jacques Nienaber has opted for a five-three bench split, with one less forward from the usual six-two configuration, but Koch is confident that it won’t affect the Boks negatively in the second half in Adelaide.
“I can’t really give you an answer for that. But we had a look at that and where we can be better. We looked at our own performance and where you can be better as a player,” he said.
“That is what we have to do ahead of this weekend’s game and the rest of the games going forward … where you personally can be better, and for the team. We learnt lessons out of that, and we trained hard this week to make things right.
“I don’t think it has a massive impact. Each one in the ‘Bomb Squad’ has a certain role, so if it’s a 6-2 split or a 5-3, we all know what to do when we get onto the field. So, I don’t think the dynamics will change much.
“Once we get a chance to go onto the pitch, we just have to perform and keep the intensity where the starters left it off. We pride ourselves actually to make a big impact when we get a chance to go onto the field. We have taken a good look at ourselves and seen where we can improve as a ‘Bomb Squad’ and individual as well.
“I think it’s going to be very important in the next few games that we keep that intensity right up there, and we want to continue where the starters left off.
“It’s a big role to finish games and win them, so it’s going to be a massive role for us, and we all know what’s expected of us. Hopefully we can deliver it on the field.”
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