Is you is or is you ain’t a Springbok?

I was watching my son’s rugby team play Kasselsvlei on Saturday morning and so I missed the televised All Black/Springbok Tri-Nations clash at Westpac Park in Wellington. The night before, I had chuckled at a Facebook warning sent to a friend living in New Zealand: “Don’t go near Wellington tomorrow, Rob. They may put you in the Bok team”. Nobody was betting on the Boks.

Standing at the side of the Sahara field in Rondebosch, I received an SMS from my sister: “Yay! Bokke all the way!” which gave me a brief heart flutter until I checked my watch and realised that the match hadn’t started yet. The thing about taping a live game is that you invariably learn the result before you can go home and watch it. There are unavoidable signs. In 2008 when the Boks played the AB’s in Dunedin, I was booked to give a talk at Exclusive Books in Canal Walk. I was determined not to find out the result until I had watched the taped replay on TV.

But in the distance, the oohs and aahs of a gathering at some breakfast joint TV were hard to ignore. When Ricky January chipped ahead, collected and scored, I swear I knew that we had taken the lead. One can discern the different cheers: a break, a try and, most importantly, the final whistle signalling a narrow Bok victory. There was no cheering to be heard on Saturday, and I doubt there was any around the country. It is a sad day for the legend of test rugby when an All Black/Springbok test becomes such a one-sided encounter. I felt great sympathy for the ex-pat now living in Australia whose patriotic sons were mocked with taunts of ‘loser’ after last week’s dismal performance against the Wallabies. In compensation for this gentleman, I suggest some complimentary tickets home to enjoy the latest invective from comrade Julius.

If the Tri-Nations away tour was an excruciating experience for Bok supporters, spare a thought for John Smit and Morne Steyn, two Springbok-greats battling for form and a chance to make the World Cup squad. Rugby can be a cruel game. Just two years ago Steyn kicked the crucial penalty to give South Africa a series win against the British Lions. Ask Springbok survivors of the Lion’s 1974 tour what a win against the Lions is worth.

The real question is have we done ourselves any favours in the crucial defence of our World Cup title? We have certainly given our main rivals some good practice. But we have also allowed a number of key players important recovery time. Tim Noakes will approve. The purpose of this tour should have been to develop genuine future prospects — like Lambie, Aplon, Mvovo, Greyling — in the company of stalwarts such as Smit, CJ van der Linde and Morne Steyn.

Pieter De Villiers is fortunate to retain the nucleus of the victorious 2007 side as his first team. But as important as winning the World Cup in 2011 is, so too is the development of the reserve squad. From their ranks will come the players that meet the challenges of 2012 and onwards. I have highlighted the depth problem before.

The biggest disappointment of the tour was the lack lustre performance of experienced veterans, the likes of John Smit, Morné Steyn, Ruan Pienaar, Danie Rossouw, Wynand Olivier and Adi Jacobs, collectively with over 300 Springbok caps. Why, oh why, was Sarel Pretorious, one of the best South African Super-15 players, not in the mix? I hope that this disastrous tour has clearly identified those who should not be prospects for the future Springbok team.