The Springboks’ 43-17 victory over Six Nations and Triple Crown champions Wales in Bloemfontein last Saturday is certainly reason to celebrate — but to go into complete euphoria and claim that it ushered in a new era of a different brand of South African rugby is perhaps just a bit too much.
It wasn’t a stroke of genius or sign of boldness by Pieter de Villiers to leave virtually all the members of the victorious World Cup team out of the starting line-up for the Test that marked the start of their international season. It was more of a calculated gamble because he was well aware that Wales was rather depleted and under strength compared to the side that came out tops in the European season.
The only good thing about Saturday’s Test was that we won. Other than that it revealed absolutely nothing. There is still no clear indication of what De Villiers’s real plans are and there was definitely no new brand of rugby on display. The glee that greeted Saturday’s victory was a little over the top.
To me, it was reminiscent of the euphoria that erupted after the massive Springbok victories that kicked off the 1999 and 2004 international seasons. The 101-nil victory over Italy (incidentally also in Bloemfontein) and 134-3 win over Uruguay in East London respectively were hailed in blazoned headlines claiming that a new brand of rugby was being played and Springbok rugby was on the “right path” to become world beaters. Sound familiar?
We all know what happened next. The euphoria dissipated and South Africa faced the reality of a long and arduous climb of almost a decade to reach the top again.
On Saturday, the Springboks were fortunate that they had opponents in Wales who seemed hell-bent on self-destruction with poor discipline that created soul-destroying opportunities for Butch James to put points on the scoreboard with his accurate boot. They were also let down by pathetic, unforced handling errors which prevented promising moves from either developing or coming to fruition.
If they eliminate these unnecessary mistakes and display better discipline, they could be a different kettle of fish in the second Test at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Wales were possibly also on the receiving end of one or two raw deals — or omissions — from English referee Dave Pearson who seemed to let some forward passes go unpunished. None was more telling than the one from Springbok captain John Smit to Jean de Villiers which resulted in a try by the latter. This was at a crucial moment in the match and could have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
Then some of the Springboks were allowed — or managed to sneak unnoticed — across the offside line to unfairly smother their opponents’ moves. Two main culprits were De Villiers and Bryan Habana who were often seen sneaking over that offside line. Granted, it was behind Pearson’s back, but what are the linesmen for — or assistant referees as they are now known?
That said, however, the Springboks fully deserved their victory in the first Test. But Wales played much better rugby than the final score would suggest and it will be unwise to underestimate them next weekend.
If they iron out their discipline problems and handling errors next Saturday, a close encounter could be in the offing.
There is, of course, also that much-anticipated clash of speed between Bryan Habana and Shane Williams that never really materialised in the first Test — except for Williams beautifully side-stepping Habana on his way to score that brilliant try under the posts. He also once managing to get around him, only to run out of space and be forced into touch by another Springbok.
On the whole, Saturday’s game produced some positive signs for the Boks. But that’s all. It was a great score but not a great victory. Next Saturday’s should be a more exciting second Test if Wales comes to the party — and hopefully we’ll get a better insight into what Pieter de Villiers really plans for his tenure.
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