How professional is professional?

So as we have become accustomed, there is always upsets in a sports show piece, at the Fifa 2010 Soccer World Cup Brazil and Argentina’s exit stumped the entire watching and betting community, it happens. It needs to remain part and parcel of the tournaments so as to keep the intrigue alive.

In the RWC 2011, Australia are the first victim with many pundits waxing the cliches saying it won’t be the last upset … somehow I think it just might be. But I am not a genie and cannot predict the future so don’t take my word for it, take my opinion for now. In this upset the ripple effects are rather immense for our own team, the hallowed and much beloved Springboks. Looking at convention (a dangerous thing at these tournaments) the Boks would be predicted to be top of their pool ie D1 and Australia at top of their pool C1, with Ireland in pool C and Wales in pool D filling second position. That would have meant SA vs Ireland in a quarter-final. Ireland are by no means a push-over team but with all due respect to them their RWC record and the head-to-head statistics with the Boks favours the South Africans and it would be “expected” that the Boks would win this.

Now comes Ireland with a burst of planning and energy and messes the whole thing up. Suffocating the Australians and sticking them away 15-6, the same winning margin of the RWC final in 2007. This means that our Springboks will very possibly have to play Australia in a quarter-final with a “predicted” semi-final against the hosts and number one team in the world — the All Blacks. So my question is, how professional is professional?

Should (once) the Boks beat Namibia with a bonus point that takes us to 14, Western Samoa need to play Fiji and let’s say they win that with a bonus point they move to 11 with the match against the Boks pending. OK read closely now, if the Boks lose to Samoa with a bonus point, we go to 15 and they go to 15, but they will go through as they would have beaten the Springboks (rules of the tournament) that means the Boks then will have Ireland in a quarter-final and Samoa would have the Wallabies.

I will very much acknowledge that the word “if” appears many times but again I ask how professional is professional? Should the Boks “throw” the match vs Samoa to set up what is, whichever you look at it, an easier semi-final?

Yes, I know you have to win seven games in seven days to win the William Webb Ellis trophy but compare our route in 2007 to this route … there are easier routes. In 2007 we had Fiji, tough game I know, then Argentina, who were the recipients of lessons learnt from the game before. That passage to the final looks a whole lot better than going up against the Wallabies and the All Blacks. And after beating both of those teams we’d possibly face France, England or Wales … fair to say the current world champions have it all to do!

I am stirring the pot nicely but the question remains worth looking at, albeit I do not believe any Springbok team for any reason would intentionally lose a Test match, well I hope not anyway. Let’s see how it unfolds as I can assure you this much, if the Boks win this tournament they will have every right to declare themselves the undisputed heavyweight champions of world rugby … ke nako Boks!