The dream final — the single mindedness and skill of=20 the All Blacks against the ‘one team, one nation’=20 determination of South Africa=20
RUGBY: Jon Swift
IT IS fitting, given the World Cup trials and=20 tribulations of Francois Pienaar’s South African side,=20 that the final hurdle should be in the form of this=20 country’s traditional rugby rivals.
The waves of patriotic emotion from the terraces which=20 have carried the one team for this one country this far=20 has only been matched by the steely determination of=20 the squad to reach Ellis Park on June 24.
This determination was voiced by coach Kitch Christie=20 before the first match was played at Newlands a month=20 ago. “We can win it,” was the summation from a man not=20 noted for wild outbursts.
Few outside his squad really gave him credit for the=20 long-range vision Christie has proved to have. But that=20 said, the confident prediction has still to be fully=20 vindicated by Pienaar and his men. Too many empty=20 boasts have washed up on the rocks of the All Black=20 hard men. Witness the confidence England coach Jack=20 Rowell displayed before the Five Nations champions were=20 sunk by a broadside of four Jonah Lomu tries in the=20 Cape Town semifinal.
To England’s credit, they never gave up trying in the=20 crushing 45-29 defeat. To Rowell’s credit, he made no=20 excuses other than to place the predictable=20 “phenomenon” label on Lomu.
In victory, the All Blacks showed all the=20 uncompromising fire that is their trademark, all the=20 steely determination which is the hallmark of the New=20 Zealand game. And in doing so, went a long way towards=20 erasing the 16-6 defeat at the hands of eventual=20 champions Australia last time round in defence of the=20 title the All Blacks had won at home in the inaugural=20 tournament eight years ago.
It is apposite to examine the paths the two finalists=20 have taken before any analysis of the final can be=20 rationally achieved.
For it is the way the respective sides have got to the=20 final which perhaps more than anything else which holds=20 the key to just who will hold the William Web Ellis=20 Trophy aloft in the gathering gloom of a highveld=20
It could be argued that the New Zealanders have had a=20 less rocky path to Ellis Park. They have not lost two=20 players to suspensions as have the South Africans.
They have also not had to face the bare-knuckle=20 barbarity of the Canadians where one feels the reaction=20 from the All Blacks would have been even more basic=20 than that which cost James Dalton and Pieter Hendricks=20 a chance of playing in the final.
Neither have they had to face the fiery head-high=20 insanity which marked the quarterfinal against the=20 Western Samoans which was the lot of the South=20 Africans. And the appalling rain-ravaged sight of=20 King’s Park was reserved for Pienaar’s revamped side=20 rather than Sean Fitzpatrick’s men.
If there has been a difference it has been in the=20 intensity of the two sides. The All Blacks have never=20 relaxed, never let up either in training or on the=20
The New Zealanders were going as hard at Japan in=20 injury time during the 145-17 ravaging of the sons of=20 Nippon as they were from the first kick-off. Both=20 instances resulted in one of the 21 tries they scored=20 against the totally outplayed Japanese. They kept=20 concentration and discipline throughout.
South Africa in contrast allowed their concentration to=20 waver in the 21-8 victory against the Romanians and in=20 the emotional hangover of whipping the Wallabies at=20 Newlands. And then almost lost it completely in the=20 combat zone dictated by Canada in Port Elizabeth.
But against this must be balanced the fact that South=20 Africa allowed the least number of points to be scored=20 against them in the pool stages It was this=20 determination in defence which stood them in such good=20 stead agains the onslaught of the frustrated French in=20 the Durban downpour.
It was the highpoint of the bonding which has indeed=20 produced one team of 26 players — 28 if you count=20 Dalton and Hendricks — which has been such an=20 important part of the South African success.
In contrast, the All Blacks have allowed nearly 60=20 points to be scored against them in their last two=20 games, showing that there are some frailties in their=20 make-up after all.
The insiders would have it that when Christie and his=20 managerial team decided to make the experiment of=20 playing Mark Andrews at No 8 against the Tricolors,=20 everyone who stod to lose a place because of the newly=20 developed pattern was called in and told the reasons=20 why by the coach.
It is an examle of the adult thinking and grassroots=20 logic Christie has applied throughout his reign as=20 South African coach. He demands respect — the players=20 never address him as anyting more familiar than “Coach”=20 — but works on the basis that he is not dealing with=20
The experiment worked at King’s Park. Christie, perhaps=20 typically, is sticking with the valiant semifinal line- up for Ellis Park.
His counterpart Laurie Mains — an abject failure as a=20 place kicker here as one of the 1976 All Blacks — has=20 been taciturn and po-faced when not dealing with his=20 squad, where the tide turns and he is animated and,=20 believe it or not, smiles often.
The differences in approach have shown in the play of=20 the two finalists. The South Africans have shown the=20 nconsistency and weaknesses so inherant in every human=20 being. The All Blacks have shown the type of weaknesses=20 you would expect from a misfire in heavy machinery.
Much has been made of the coming confrontation between=20 Lomu and James Small. True, it is one to await with=20 eager anticipation: the tough, street-smart South=20 African who is every bit as fast as Lomu, against the=20 undoubted media superstar of the tournament.
In over-hyping this aspect, the game and the players=20 involved have been don a disservice. Lomu has yet to be=20 satisfactorily stopped. But Small has yet to be=20 intimidated by anyone, least of all a 20-year-old new=20 kid on the block, no matter how big he is.
There are other intriguing confrontations which loom:=20 the meeting of Chester Williams and Jeff Wilson on the=20 opposite wing is one, the coolly confident Joel=20 Stransky against the silky skills of Andrew Mehrtens at=20 flyhalf is another.
Mehrtens, despite his below par place kicking in the=20 England match, has been one of the standout players in=20 the tournament, destined for greatness should fitness,=20 selectors and the vagaries of the sporting ogds allow.=20 Stransky has been the prism from which much of the=20 South African brilliance has refracted.
There are others. Reuben Kruger v Josh Kronfeld, two=20 rock-hard and etermined flankers of precision and pace.=20 Kruger an ideal foil for the more flowing gifts of=20 Pienaar, Kronfeld the whetstone to give Mike Brewer=20 extra bite.
At fullback there is Andre Joubert, supreme among the=20 wearers of the No 15 jersey in this tournament, even=20 ahead of Scotland’s inspirational Gavin Hastings, and=20 glen Osborne at the back for New Zealand.
Both love to attack and have proved a vital extra part=20 of the aresenals of both teams. Both, on their day, can=20 swing matches.
But above all for South Africa, there is the huge task=20 which has been laid on the ever-willing shoulders of=20 Mark Andrews. He has a dual role. Win lineout ball and=20 contain Zinzan Brooke.
Neither is an easy task. Especially when he has to jump=20 against the other Brooke — Robin of the Brian Moore=20 punch-up — and the elongated Ian Jones. Even with=20 Hannes Strydom and Kobus Wiese to help, this is no walk=20 n the park.
On balance and on recent history, the odds would favour=20 the All blacks. But history has a habit of upsetting=20
The south Africans, psychologically fuelled by=20 Christie, fired by manager Morne du Plessis, led=20 superbly by Pienaar and propeelled ever onwards by the=20 hopes of a nation have surpassed all realistic hopes by=20 getting as far as they have.
And if the final pace does hapen to be a faltering one,=20 it remains to be seen whether this contry can fully=20 accept honour in defeat the way it has embraced each=20 successive victory.
If Christie is right about “winning it” — and along=20 with hm I for one believe this — it is something we=20 will never have to find out.