Fourteen – Nine - Thought Leader

The Wallabies don’t often win in South Africa, but Durban must be their favourite city. Three of their only four away Tri-Nations victories against South Africa have been played at this venue.

Fourteen-Nine. The Kings Park clash was a low-scoring, tight affair, two closely matched sides slugging it out for honours. What a pity that as tourists on the recent tour, albeit with a weakened side, the Springboks didn’t match the intensity that the Australians brought to Saturday’s encounter. Clearly the Australians were not taking the match lightly, nor reserving their strength for future matches. It will be interesting to see what the All Blacks bring to next Saturday’s party.

The Aussies deserved to win, but I didn’t see the game that Liam del Carme reported in yesterday’s Sunday Times: “ageing cap heavy hosts”, “ponderous and predictable”, “sterile”, “bellicose intent”. If the Springboks can be that bad and only lose by a score, it doesn’t say much for the opposition.

The crucial turning point in the match came in the 74th minute, SA trailing 9-11 and the three wise men rolling the dice on substitutions. The Springboks packed down for a defensive scrum just outside their 22 with a reshaped front row of John Smit, Bismarck du Plessis and Guthro Steenkamp. The result was pulverisation, the Bok scrum shunted backwards at such velocity, one wondered whether the Aussies had been holding back for this key moment. How often in the recent past has our scrum’s vulnerability cost the Boks (see Scrumboks)? The resultant penalty gave the Aussies a crucial five-point buffer, which with hindsight of the frantic last minutes, allowed the Aussies to escape certain retribution at the boot of Morne Steyn. It seemed fitting that Danie Rossouw, who was ponderous throughout, would spill the final pass to end the last hopes of a late Bok victory.

So where do we stand, what does this mean?

The Australian team that came to South Africa are a force to be reckoned with. They beat the most capped international side in history on their home ground.

But the Boks will get better and a reversal in Port Elizabeth against the All Blacks, though below full strength, will erase traces of pessimism going into the 2011 RWC.

With a few exceptions, I don’t think we are far off the best possible Bok side. In 2003 Danie Rossouw’s selection for the Bok team to face the All Blacks in the WC quarter-final was greeted with celebrations by Kiwi halfbacks Justin Marshall and Carlos Spencer. Seems like the lesson has not been learnt, hopefully Schalk Burger and Juan Smith will be back soon. Francois Steyn looks like he’s been training for the WWF wrestling championship — Patrick Lambie is a better bet.

Butch James missed a crucial penalty and drop goal when the Boks had ascendancy in the first half.On the positive, a number of senior players showed glimpses of their former glory: Bryan Habana may have lost the killer speed that made him such a dangerous player, but he was full of energy. Pierre Spies had his best game in years and Tendai Mtawarira was, for me, the best Springbok on the field. Du Plessis made a telling impact off the bench.If all goes according to plan the Boks will meet the All Blacks in the semi-final in Auckland on October 16.

This week’s showdown in Port Elizabeth should be viewed as a curtain raiser to that match. Unlike the Australians penchant for Durban, the windy city is no happy hunting ground for the New Zealanders. Okay we’ve only ever played them twice in PE — in 1960 and 1970! After three defeats in a row, including a rare home loss against the Wallabies, a win against the All Blacks is now mandatory. Perhaps we should have chosen to play them in Rustenberg?