Play ‘em in Perth

I took history as a subject at school. There were only eight of us in the class, the more pragmatic having opted for biology or geography. The teacher’s name was Van der Merwe and he tutored in a high-pitched squeaky voice. But I never regretted his teachings. He taught us that those who ignore history are destined to repeat their mistakes forever.

History tells us that Boks haven’t won a rugby game in Brisbane since 1971, that they’ve only won three away matches in the Tri-Nations in Australia out of 19 since 1996. There was one draw. Without fail the venue was Perth — why do the Ozzies even play us there? The victories came during times when the Boks had a significant ascendancy. What’s everyone complaining about? We were always going to lose on Saturday against the Ozzies in the third Tri-Nations game of 2010. We’ve never even come within seven points in Brisbane.

There’s only one game in town and that’s WC 2011 in New Zealand.

There was a brief moment on Saturday during which I was a rank optimist. With the Springboks training 3-23 , I whispered to a friend at the Western Province Cricket Club: “Here’s the dream. Three converted tries. Boks will win 24-23.” He laughed and sipped on a gigantic Castle bomber. Butch James was on. Wynand Olivier and Morne Steyn were off. The Boks were starting to gain momentum. Try!!! Jacques Fourie wriggled over after sustained pressure. One down, two to go. “It’s happening!” I yelled. I could sense victory, the dejected Suncorp fans trudging home to their unsmiling wives. But then the bearded face of my old history teacher came into vision. He smiled as Ruan Pienaar stepped up to take the conversion. I saw it all before he took the kick. It was merely a question of on which side he was going to miss. Then the Boks did score the second try and Ruan missed again, 13-23 should have been 17-23. Game on!

So Will Genia scored a late try and the final score looked a bit nasty. But if we’d been 17-23 with eight minutes to go in Brisbane, what a finish it would have been.

I would like to have seen Juan de Jongh start. If Jean de Villiers and Jacques Fourie are the World Cup centres then Juan should be back up. If we could get Frans Steyn back at fullback (to kick) then Butch James could start at flyhalf. He immediately added pace and variation to the backline. Someone seems to like Wynand Olivier. He has 32 Test caps, 20 starts and 12 subs, 1 try! Sixteen of those games have been won and 16 lost. If we take out Italy’s and so forth then his Tri-Nations record reads: played 14 (10 starts): won 4, 28.57%. A similar record to De Wet Barry. Jacque Fourie, to compare a successful centre, has scored 29 tries in 60 matches. His Tri-Nations record is 52.38%.

History doesn’t lie. But it’s not all doom and gloom. If we look back to 2006, the year before the 2007 World Cup triumph, the history gods tell a story of woe and despondency. It was the first time the sides played each other three times in the Tri-Nations. Like 2010, the Boks travelled first and lost all three of their away games, the first in Brisbane by 49-0. They even lost their first home game against the All Blacks at Loftus Versveld. They then sneaked home 21-20 and 24-18 in their final two games to prop up the bottom of the table. “White must go!” one headlined screamed. “Play Watson or else!” said another. Ball handling was poor. So was retention of possession. Defences were flimsy.

White prevailed and the Boks won WC 2007. I hate making predictions but I am sure we will do better on the home leg of Tri-Nations 2010. I am not as sure that the De Villiers/Gold/Muir combination has the wherewithal to create the strategy, the systems and the motivation to prepare the team for a successful defence in 2011.