Boks face baptism by fire

We all know that the real adversary to the Springboks, are the All Blacks. Games in between serve as preparation for the clash of the two titans of international rugby.

Peter de Villiers will no doubt use Saturday’s game against Wales and then Italy next week at Newlands, to run various combinations in his backs and forwards, on attack and defence, to see how they will ultimately stand up to the All Blacks powerhouse in 14 days.

That Springbok touring side will be announced after the Italy warm-up.

In exactly 14 days, John Smit will be completing his captain’s run at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand, to prepare for the first of three Tests against the Silver Ferns this year — all within five weeks of each other.

There can be a no more potent baptism by fire than this gruelling six-week schedule for the Springboks.

All the their strengths and weaknesses will be revealed in a relentlessly fast-paced schedule that will require them to go into combat each week and recover within 24 hours before the next onslaught of either the All Blacks or the Wallabies.

In the meantime, New Zealand have their own challenges and preparation before they meet Peter de Villiers’s team on the fifth of July. The Kiwis play England on Saturday and this could soften the beach before the landing of the Springboks in New Zealand in 10 days.

The English rugby scribes have picked up on the crisis that has hit New Zealand rugby. This holds grave concerns for rugby-mad nation of New Zealand, if England can upset the All Blacks in Auckland on Saturday.

With a large English press contingent gathered in Auckland for the two-Test series between the All Blacks and England, the British media have explained at length all of the problems surrounding New Zealand rugby since the All Blacks’s disastrous exit from last year’s World Cup. They have delved into everything from the public resentment of the reappointment of coach Graham Henry to the overseas player drain and the “Carter clause”.

“New Zealand rugby is at a crossroads,” wrote Alistair Eykyn of the BBC. “The credibility of their national game is at stake. Defeat to England at Eden Park on Saturday night and the All Blacks may well consider themselves at crisis point.”

Eykyn goes on to say that New Zealand has fallen out of love with “their sport”, questioning their commitment to the game and to the All Blacks.

This is a good thing for Peter de Villiers’s touring group, as this will shake the confidence of the All Blacks and Henry, but, it will also make them an extremely dangerous and wounded adversary. They’ll be wanting to set the record straight and prove at home, in Wellington, that they can dethrone the World Cup champions and become number one.

If the All Blacks demolish England, who have made 14 changes to their World Cup final team, we are in for a humdinger of round number one, of the clash of the rugby heavyweights.