Springboks might use Call 99 this time around
Roar Pro
By Greg Smith, 20 Jun 2009 The Crowd is a Roar Pro
In South Africa, local fans are literally reliving a siege thanks to touring Brits and Irishmen. The British and Irish Lions and their fans have opened up plenty of wounds, not only of the Great War of 1900, but also of 1997 and 1974, in particular.
Back in ’74, Willie John McBride and his touring Lions bruisers launched the most vicious attack (probably the worst ever seen on a rugby field) when they used the infamous call to arms known famously as Call 99 in the dirtiest game in history, aka the Battle of the Boet.
Since then, South Africans have had to endure a near eternity of “brawl talk” as smug Brits and Irishmen have savoured any and every opportunity to revel in its memory when you’d think most decent fans would hurriedly bury the incident in their skeleton closets.
No chance!
And possibly to add insult, the standard operating procedure for the British & Irish Lions and their fans when in South Africa is to maximize antagonism. Thus, a full military kit is an ever-present reminder of the Empires’ triumphs.
Fans in red coats and pith hats waltz around like they’ve just captured Pretoria.
In 1974, McBride and company claimed that the Springboks threatened them with physical dominance, which resulted in a co-ordinated punch up led by the captain himself.
Now, in 2009, Phil Vickery and his pack of forwards present the same physical menace to the Springboks. And I’d argue that if the Boks were ever entitled to Call 99, this would be it.
Get the brawling out first and put the Lions on the back foot, then start an aggressive game with huge hits.
With a 3-0 series victory on everyone’s lips in South Africa, wouldn’t you consider this route?
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Knives Out said | June 20th 2009 @ 1:55am | Report comment
Do you know what I’ve just noticed, Greg? Bakkies Botha has little hands. How bizarre.
Greg Smith said | June 20th 2009 @ 3:05am | Report comment
@ KO – but never ask him to use his head – reasoning hasn’t worked out very well for him so far …
Knives Out said | June 20th 2009 @ 4:54am | Report comment
That was made abundantly clear when he tried to shirk his SA contract and run off to play in France, Greg.
Viscount Crouchback said | June 20th 2009 @ 4:58am | Report comment
I hope the Boks don’t call ’99′ because the Lions haven’t picked a pack for physical confrontation. In fact, it’s about the softest pack they could have picked.
Knives Out said | June 20th 2009 @ 5:07am | Report comment
I don’t know about that, Viscount. Lee Mears looks a real lunatic. You’d have to be a mad man to wind his clock.
Viscount Crouchback said | June 20th 2009 @ 5:14am | Report comment
The peciliar thing, KO, is the complete about-face by the Lions selectors. Their initial squad was designed to take the Boks on physically; now they’ve decided to out-run them.
I suppose one should congratulate McGeechan for his adaptability, but he did seem to make an awful lot of mistakes with his original selection.
Knives Out said | June 20th 2009 @ 5:22am | Report comment
True. I think this selection could be a mistake, however. As fit as Jenkins and Vickery are they aren’t that powerful or dynamic. Mtawarira and du Plessis are pure power athletes and that may tell at the ruck contest across the hard grounds. The same applies to the second row participants. That said, Jenkins and A.W. Jones fared well against SA in the Autumn so I have hopes of parity being gained. I’m not quite sure why a bigger figure like Hines or Shaw hasn’t been included on the bench. What will O’Callachan achieve if the Lions are on the back foot? I hope that Croft is more involved in the lineout and he jumps at the front as he did versus France, but I doubt he will.
I tend to err on the conservative side, and if possible I would have selected this pack: Sheridan, Mears, Vickery, Hines, O’Connell, Ferris, Wallace, Heaslip. The tour has seen some real selectorial disasters: Ford, O’Connell, Worsley, Blair, Earls, Halfpenny. It would have been nice to have players like Dwayne Peel, Mike Tindall and Rory Best involved. My simple worry is that the pack lacks variety and anger. I’m quite happy with the backs, nonetheless.
Bonza said | June 20th 2009 @ 5:48am | Report comment
KO – an interesting point you make about Botha and his hands. You could probably reason that he does his best work on the field with his teeth and his boots. They rarely use him in the lineout !
I remember Daniel Herbert was deaf in one ear and he played 60 odd tests which would have been interesting from a communication issue. Dan Crowley has his toe amputated so he could play in the RWC – Does anyone know of any other physical limitations that have had to be overcome to be a top rugby player?
Knives Out said | June 20th 2009 @ 5:55am | Report comment
Greg Somerville is missing one of his toes, or part of. Jono Tawake had a finger amputated (Or did he?). Can’t think of anything else, Bonza.
I didn’t know that about Crowley. What’s the story?
Guy Smiley said | June 20th 2009 @ 9:52am | Report comment
Greg I’ve long been a fan of South African rugby but you could not deny they are natural brawlers, and their global reputation is written that way. I played schools rugby against a touring South African team and they were without doubt the dirtiest, most dangerous mob I have ever come up against. Their skills were sublime and their physicality fearsome (which was great) but their appalling conduct in the hidden world of rucks and mauls was shocking. ’99′ was a response to dirty tactics by the Eastern Province at Boet Erasmus, the Lions were sick of cheap shots and thought they would take matters into their own hands. It was simply drawing a line in the sand. Apart from that Greg it’s just another truly bizarre post. Nothing’s changed then.