With the opening match against the formidable Australians=20 less than a week away, the South=20 African team is buckling down to the task ahead
RUGBY: Jon Swift
IT is ironic that a game which was for so long considered a=20 symbol of the repression of the aspirations of this=20 country’s citizens should have assumed such an importance=20 for all of South Africa.
Rugby World Cup 95 is less than a week away. And it is=20 ironic too that Chester Williams, the man who perhaps more=20 than anyone has lent truth to the South African side’s “One=20 team, one country” ethic, will be missing.
It is a mark of the progress that the game — and along=20 with it the country — has made that it was Williams=20 himself who made the decision to opt out of the=20 consideration for the 15 men who will contest the vital=20 opening game against Australia at Newlands next Thursday.
“Chessie” will be missed by both the fans worldwide and the=20 side of which he has become such a popular and integral=20 part. But he remains the official reserve — his damaged=20 hamstring willing — should either James Small or Pieter=20 Hendricks be forced out.
The rationalisation Williams used was that Hendricks — the=20 Transvaal flyer is a tested and tailor-made replacement –=20 needed time to settle into the squad and that it would=20 have been unfair to delay the decision. More than anything,=20 Williams wants the team to come out on top.
It is an indication that national considerations are indeed=20 starting to override the narrower thinking of the dark days=20 of our recent history. And fully in line with the way the=20 South Africans are approaching the build-up to this=20 country’s first World Cup appearance.
National coach Kitch Christie has concentrated purely on=20 centreing the squad on the task ahead since their final=20 workout at Rand Afrikaans University on Thursday, working=20 on establishing a rigid daily routine, working on tactics=20 and easing the players into a single-minded focus. A=20 toenadering of intent if you will.
“It’s important we have a routine,” says the no-nonsense=20 Christie. “It means everyone — and I mean everyone –=20 getting up at the same time, going to breakfast at the same=20 time. Moving about together.
“From now until the game, they must concentrate on being a=20 unit and on doing the job they’re here for.”
It is an eminently reasoned approach to the match against=20 Australia. A match that will surely set the tone — and=20 doubtless also affect the odds — for the whole tournament.
It is a match which Christie, in his understated way,=20 typifies as “important”. Indeed it is. A loss in the=20 opening game against the Wallabies leaves South Africa=20 facing the prospect of having to face England in the=20
The withdrawal of the South African players from general=20 circulation is aimed at avoiding this prospect. For while=20 there is evidence — from the 27-9 victory at Newlands=20 after a crushing 32-15 humiliation at Loftus Versfeld –=20 that England can be beaten on South African soil, meeting=20 Argentina, as the probable runners-up in Pool B England,=20 provides a much more secure route to the semifinals.
It also has the effect of distancing players from the=20 seemingly endless wrangles about what Louis Luyt has or=20 hasn’t said about the World Cup organisers, the shambles=20 which has developed over a half a million unsold seats=20 suddenly dumped back on the South African public, and the=20 pressure which literally oozes from an expectant nation.
Christie believes his charges can win the William Web Ellis=20 trophy. The bookmakers would tend to take his side. But he=20 has other problems right now.
Os du Randt, the inspirational selection at loosehead prop,=20 is struggling to find the full fitness and a return to his=20 sparkling best and, perhaps more importantly, skipper=20 Francois Pienaar is still not 100 percent fit.
In the light of South Africa’s previous meeting with the=20 Wallabies, after having newly shaken off the shackles of=20 isolation in 1992, ending in a humiliating 26-3 defeat in=20 the mud and rain of the ground they play on next Thursday.=20 This time though South Africa are a different side=20 altogether. The management has worked hard to drag the=20 national team away from the schisms that the provincialism=20 of isolation had wrought.
South Africa can count victories over Australia, England,=20 Argentina — four times — Scotland, Wales and Western=20 Samoa in the 24 months since Pienaar started as captain.
It has taken time to mould the side and let the realisation=20 that the game had moved apace from the dog-eat-dog of=20 Currie Cup competition while this country was playing in=20 what amounted to a rugby void.
But it is working. There is a feeling now that there is=20 front row which can be relied on to dish it out as well as=20 take it in the nether world of the scrum’s engine room. And=20 a sense that our locks — led by the towering figures of=20 Mark Andrews and Kobus Wiese — will not automaticaly=20 concede the ball to the opposition jumpers each time the=20 ball comes in at the line-out.
Our backs too — even without the chunky slab of Williams=20 quicksilver — have what it takes in most departments.
Christie concedes that there are areas that need fine=20 tuning before the opening whistle. He would be foolish not=20 to when the flyhalf and centres are still not heading=20 directly for the gain line on attack.
But in essence the selectors have assembled a squad of 15=20 forwards and 11 backs — in contrast to the Walaby=20 preference for the extra threequarter — which has=20 developed the tools of the trade the hard way … by=20 tasting the bitter experience of defeat.
But then they have used that experience to good effect, and=20 under the guidance of Christie and Pienaar built a=20 combination which justifies the hesitancy of the bookmakers=20 to give reasonable odds against this country not making the=20
The route there — given that Australia and potentially=20 England stand in the way — leads to the strong likelihood=20 of South Africa facing the All Blacks in a June 18=20 semifinal, back at Newlands where it all starts. But first=20 England should we lose the opening encounter to the=20
Christie has consistently expressed his belief that the=20 South Africans can beat England. He bases this on a simple=20 and logical premise. Knock the big loose forwards back=20 before they get going and the England machine grates out of=20 gear. The proof of this will only be in the testing of the=20
And then it is New Zealand. It is this prospect which=20 Christie seems to find more daunting than Michael Lynagh,=20 John Eales, David Campese et al in the line-up the reigning=20 world champions will field at Newlands next Thursday.
And this despite the fact that Sean Fitzpatrick — the man=20 whose ear Johan le Roux rearranged — and his New=20 Zealanders have arrived with Zinzan Brooke still suffering=20 from a torn calf muscle and a largely inexperienced set of=20
“Never underestimate the All Blacks,” says Christie. “You=20 can never discount them … ever.”
And there can be little doubt that Pienaar would like to=20 see off the men from the Land of the Great White Cloud=20 more than any other side in the competition. It was the All=20 Blacks who returned Pienaar to South Africa after last=20 year’s tour of New Zealand as the only captain not to win a=20 Test on tour after losing 22-14 in Dundedin, 13-9 in=20 Wellington and then drawing 18-18 in the final Test at=20
Intriguingly, a win over New Zealand in the semifinals=20 could bring the wheel full turn should Australia see off=20 France — the other side likely to make the last four — in=20 the semifinal scheduled for Durban on June 17.
And this would perhaps be the most fitting finale of all:=20 the hosts versus the holders. Surely it would be the one=20 Chester Williams, the rest of the South African squad he=20 was forced to opt out of, and the one country behind its=20 one team will be dreaming about all the way through to the=20 June 24 final.