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Sooner or later, generally sooner but in this case later, the All Blacks will wreck their revenge on any team that dare to humiliate them on the rugby field.
Back in 1928 in the first Test of a historic first-ever series of All Black-Springboks matches in South Africa, the home side played the All Blacks off the park recording one of the biggest victories against the New Zealanders 17 -0.
Eighty years later that defeat was avenged in one of the great rugby Tests at Cape Town 19 – 0. This triumph represents the first time in Springboks – All Blacks Test in South Africa the home side has failed to get any points. It also represents on the biggest defeats the All Blacks have imposed on the Springboks in a series where the average difference between the sides is around four to five points.
Despite the blow-out of points by the end, the Test was a close-run thing for the first 70 minutes. In the seventh minute of the Test the All Blacks forced a well-taken try by Conrad Smith, who followed up a left-footed grubber kick from Richie McCaw.
Is there anything McCaw can’t do on a rugby field? He single-handedly out-played the previously impressive Springboks back row. So effective was his digging for the ball after making the tackle, his lineout catching, his mauling, his tackling and his running that Schalk Burger was replaced with 20 minutes left to play. Burger looked morose and defeated (as well he might have been) sitting with the substitutes.
Not once was McCaw penalised, a tribute to his foraging skills and an indication that at least one referee (Matt Goddard) has finally worked out that McCaw’s genius allows him to make plays at the break-down that are beyond other players, with the exception perhaps of George Smith on one of his great days.
The newish Springboks coach, the verbose and overly-emotional Peter de Villiers (an Eddie Jones clone in many ways), has tried to develop the expansive, running game of the Springboks. This is a good thing as with the pace the side has with its loose forwards (especially Pierre Spies, the best athlete playing rugby?) and on the wing with J.P.Pietersen and Bryan Habana, the Springboks have the potential to be the most lethal of all counter-attacking sides.
But. De Villiers has overlooked the necessity, when he plays his tall, fast backrow of Spiers, Burger and Juan Smith, of getting players to the breakdown to re-cycle the ball to the fast forwards and backs standing out wide.
It’s a bit like opening instructions in the ancient recipe for rabbit stew: ‘First catch your rabbit.’ If you want to play the expansive game you first have to control the ball on your phases. This means putting players into the rucks and mauls, if the opposition is contesting them and if one of the opposition is Richie McCaw. The All Blacks won 12 turnovers, and forced four long arm penalties for shots at goal when the out-numbered and over-whelmed Springbok tried to kill the ball that McCaw had grabbed in the tackle.
As it happened Daniel Carter missed all four penalties in the swirly, flukey Cape Town breeze. Percy Mongomery also missed two very kickable penalties, even though Newlands is his home ground.
Without going into another debate about the experimental laws variation, these events proved that there are long arm penalties under the ELVs: that the ball is in play for incredibly long periods of time making that play as exciting as it is possible to imagine: that the skills of all the players have to be of the highest quality with props tackling wingers and making breaks along with the loose forwards: that Test rugby as a physical contest is enhanced by the stresses of having to play more rugby in the 80 minutes: and that control of scrums and lineouts remains a paramount need for a team to be successful.
In the foreplay before the Test I got the sense that the South African authorities were revving up the emotions of the crowd and their players in an attempt to ensure that Percy Mongomery’s 100th Test (the ninth centenary of Tests by any player and the first by a Springbok) was a memorable and winning occasion.
As the television pictures came up (mercifully from NZ television) you could hear the ground announcer coaching the crowd to use their drums to disconcert the All Blacks and encourage the Springboks. Then there were shots of the Springboks in a long, prayerful huddle in their dressing room (Peter FitzSimons who dislikes sportsmen calling on God to help their cause has another arrow to fire against this practice now).
Then the Springboks kept the All Blacks waiting on the field. Then Percy Montgomery came out alone to roars that people said exceeded anything Newlands has ever heard. Then they turned off the mikes for the All Blacks haka so that it looked as if the NZers were lip-synching their ritual.
All this psychological pressure is fine – if it affects your opponents rather than the perpetrators. Unfortunately for the Springboks, it affected them more than the All Blacks, who seemed to revel in their ‘unsmiling giants’ role.
In the first few minutes of the Test then the Springboks made three unforced errors which, in the hindsight of the early try, probably sealed the outcome of the Test. First, Butch James kicked off out on the full. Second, Fourie du Preez, the world’s best halfback who was over-shadowed on the day by Jimmie Cowan and his Stan Laurel looks, kicked out on the full under pressure. Third Bryan Habana, South Africa’s best on the day, took a quick throw-in on his 5m mark and the Springboks were forced to clear from behind their tryline.
The next series of phases led to the crucial first phases.
Later in the Test Francois Steyn failed to find touch from a defensive full-arm penalty. Several phases later Carter, in a quick silver dash like a kingfisher diving for its prey, scored the important second try by the posts, and converted to record 800 points in Test rugby.
The All Blacks victory has opened up the Tri-Nations. They have now played 5 and won 3. The Springboks have played 4 and won 1. The Wallabies have played 3 and won 2.
There are three more Tests to play. Two of these Tests are Springboks – Wallabies in South Africa (at Durban on August 23 and Johannesburg on August 30.)
The 2008 Tri-Nations final Test, Wallabies – All Blacks at Brisbane on September 13 could well be the match that decides who wins the trophy.