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I was going to list a whole bunch of facts and figures but in the end I decided it all boiled down to this: last time New Zealand needed to beat the Springboks this badly, Sidney Holland was Prime Minster, New Zealand won their first ever Test match in cricket, and Opo the friendly dolphin died.
This year’s Tri-Nations may not carry the same hysteria as the 1956 tour to New Zealand, but ask any New Zealander and he’ll tell you: beating the Boks is an absolute must.
If you want an example of how things have changed between New Zealand and South Africa in recent seasons, I’ll give it to you plain and simple.
The All Blacks must win this weekend’s Test match at Eden Park. Then they have to turn around and win the following weekend in Wellington.
If the Boks lose in Auckland, they can try again in Wellington. If they lose both Tests, they can pick up a win in Australia and still theoretically win the Tri-Nations, such is the advantage of being indomitable at home, or at least believing you are.
The fact of the matter is that the All Blacks haven’t been challenged like this for a while. Not since 2002, in fact, when the Wallabies held onto the Bledisloe Cup for the final time.
And they’re certainly not used to this much pressure to win at home.
It’s not such a bad thing, really. In fact, if New Zealand had won a few more World Cups, All Black fans would probably enjoy seeing their team challenged.
But they haven’t and so beating the Boks is huge.
The only question is, how do you do it?
Personally, I’d be weary of pigeonholing the Springboks as a team who will kick and chase, bully the All Blacks in the line outs, and turn turnover ball into penalties.
They may try those things, but they could also surprise the All Blacks by running more, especially under the new interpretations which have seen the likes of Ireland and Wales retain possession against the All Blacks for greater lengths of time than in the past.
In my view, it all comes down to how the All Blacks want to play under the new interpretations versus how they want to play against the Springboks.
The All Blacks have shown a desire to counter attack in recent Tests, but this Saturday they’re up against one of the toughest defenses in world rugby; a defense that has frustrated them since year one of Henry’s reign.
The Boks showed last year that they’re as adept at scramble defense as they are at rush defense. The All Blacks were able to stretch them at times, but the Boks showed an amazing ability to dislodge the ball in the tackle, turning the most promising of line breaks into a knock-on advantage.
The All Blacks will be hoping that the two-man tackling style that the Boks used last year to clog the midfield, force turnover ball and kill the All Blacks’ attacking chances won’t be as effective this year under the new interpretations, which demand that the tackler release the ball carrier and allow for more continuity in attack.
South African rugby, however, was so up to speed with the new law interpretations this season that they blew most Super 14 teams off the park with their ball retention and counter rucking ability.
The All Blacks’ other option is to kick for touch and try to turn territory and possession into points.
The idea being that if they can score a few tries, prevent Morne Steyn from kicking too many penalties, and defend like their lives depend on it, they can win the match.
It’s a conservative approach and not in line with how modern All Black sides like to play, but all anybody will remember about this Test is the result and whether the All Blacks won.
In days gone by, the All Blacks would play conservatively in the second half and apply the blow torch in the second, but to be honest I’m not sure that this All Blacks side is good enough to do that.
If anything, controlling the tempo of the game like that is where this All Black side wants to be in time for that annoying tournament thing that they do every four years.
Whatever the All Blacks decide to do, and the indications are that they’ll try to be more physical up front than they were last year, I just hope that they play smarter than last time.
I’ll be massively disappointed if the All Blacks lose, but simply annoyed if guys play like Weepu and Ranger did in the second Test against Wales.
Now, if you excuse me I’m going to go watch clips of Zinzan Brooke kicking drop goals against South Africa.
Beat the Boks!
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.