The Lions squad has its flaws but the team isn’t clawless and there is no room for Springbok complacency
RUGBY:Steve Morris
SOMEHOW, in the next six or seven weeks, this country has to shake off the complacency that is starting to echo around the prospect of the arrival of the British Lions. There is the same almost gloating atmosphere which pervaded the preparations for Willie-John McBride’s tourists 23 years ago.
We are, it is true, the world champions. It is equally evident that, having survived the troughs of beatings in the tri-nation Sanzar series and losing a home series to the All Blacks for the first time in history, Springbok rugby does indeed live, breathe and continue to be a watchword for the world.
But then we believed all this in 1974, conveniently forgetting that the arrogance of the selectors in those years had caused a Springbok side under the great Piet Greyling to bow the knee to a mediocre England side – and it must be admitted the boot of the late Sam Doble – in a one-off Test at Ellis Park just two years earlier.
This is not to say that the Lions are not vulnerable. Enough has already been said about their apparent weakness at flyhalf and fullback for this not to be true. Equally, it is worthy of mention that the four nations who make up the Lions have struggled to fully come to terms with the speed and fluidity of the expansive southern hemisphere game. But it is a facet that they have worked hard on and the sure footing of the hard South African grounds will flatten this learning curve at an advanced rate of knots.
The Lions also come under rookie captain Martin Johnson, a lock forward not without respect among the veterans of the Springbok squad, but not necessarily a man calculated to strike fear into the hearts of his opponents. Johnson’s contributions will be vital.
For this, it is essential to examine the record of the last Lions team to visit this country, the 1981 tourists under England’s Billy Beaumont. The big man led a tour riddled with injury, which did not particularly help the Lions’ cause. Like Johnson, he was a lock. And it could be argued that – despite Beaumont having led England to Five Nations honours – the tourists would have been better served by a strategist who did not have his head buried honestly and honourably in the second row.
To a degree, the 3-1 series victory the Springboks rattled out against Beaumont’s men was revenge of sorts for the devastation of South African pride wrought by McBride.
And yet it did not tell the full story. The composition of a Lions side has ever been a hotbed of national intrigue and not always representative of the best that the divergent natures of British and Irish temperaments and talents have to offer the game.
No other side can pick and choose from a very minimum of 60 Test-hardened players; no other set of selectors the luxury of at least four internationals vying for every position. It is, arithmetically at least, a huge advantage.
They seldom manage to get the mix just right. Under the captaincy of Ireland’s legendary McBride, they did, swopping players from lock to flank and from fullback to wing to empower a combination that was among the finest sides the game of rugby has ever seen.
There are hints that the selections manager Fran Cotton has insisted on – the omission of Mike Catt and the inclusion of the uncapped Will Greenwood are just two examples – are aimed towards giving this tour a common base with the raw material McBride had at his disposal. And it must not be forgotten that Cotton served in the front row under both McBride and Beaumont. The lessons of both tours serve him as more than ample experience.
Cotton has also plumped – wherever possible – for the hard men who have served their time in the cauldron of rugby league before re-crossing the bridge that has lately been re-opened by the advent of professionalism. Simply put, the Lions will not arrive with the intention of lying down.
Against this background, there is no cause for Springbok complacency. We have more than enough problems of our own. The bastion of strength many believe our game to be is not without some creaky gates. It only takes a fleeting glance at recent Super 12 games to establish that we are vulnerable.
Northern Transvaal are a side divided against the administration and on a losing streak, which has led to the senior players being hauled before the executive. Gauteng surrendered home advantage to Wellington and lost their exalted status on top of the Super 12 log, and Natal have beeen unconvincing in their last two outings. And all this before Gauteng and Natal have to travel to Australia and New Zealand as Northerns have already done.
Free State have, in patches, shown what is possible, recording a massive 49-12 win over Otago at Invercagill, but then failing dismally against the ACT Brumbies. It is an apparent pattern of inconsistency that must worry recently installed Springbok coach Carel du Plessis far more than any deficiencies in individual positions.
Du Plessis has some deep soul-searching and late nights ahead. From his own perspective, he cannot, as one of the disgraced Andre Markgraaff’s acolytes, turn completely away from what his seemingly racially bigoted predecessor set in motion. Nor can he hastily abandon some of Markgraaff’s less inspired selections.
He is stuck, very largely, with what he has inherited and the fear is that he will have to grow into the job of a flawed and unstable base, made even more rickety by the interference from on high that is always a part of Springbok team selection.
Given that the bulk of the South African squad will be drawn from the Super 12 provinces, Du Plessis has some sleepless night ahead.
There is also the problem of contenders from Western Province having been left out of the Super 12 and playing in the less demanding Nite League for him to focus on. The chasm between the demands of this provincial competition and the intensity of Super 12 is vast and not truly the breeding ground for match readiness against the Lions.
On an individual basis, Du Plessis has other problems, which, in many respects, echo those which confront Cotton. A prime case is at fullback. The immaculate Andre Joubert is recovering from injury and not close to resuming his No 15 jersey for Natal. Only the terminally demented would question Joubert’s abilities, but you could forgive them some doubts on his match-fitness.
James Small, who deputised for him in more than adequate fashion in the Sanzar series before his night-clubbing got in the way, is languishing in the Cape out of the hurly burly of Super 12, and the other prime candidate on form, Gavin Lawless, the top points scorer in the competition thus far, was not considered good enough by Markgraaff to be included among the top six fullbacks in this country last season.
Another area where South Africa and the Lions share common cause is at flyhalf. Henry Honiball is the man in the chair and, given our driving style of play, rightly so. But he has no automatic back-up.
World Cup pivot Joel Stransky lost favour with Markgraaff to such a degree that he joined his sacked captain Francois Pienaar in England, opting to play his rugby for the Leicester Tigers and escape the pressures of a selection panel who regarded his huge talents so lightly. The other prime candidate is Hennie le Roux. But he is a first choice to partner Japie Mulder at centre for the national team, and Du Plessis would doubtless be hesitant about splitting the pair who have meshed so often and so well.
So, no! Du Plessis cannot afford to take the Lions as just another touring team. In the long term, he has his own job as coach and the looming prospect of defending the World Cup in Wales in 1999 hanging over him.
But more immediately, losing the series to Johnson’s tourists would mean a massive dent in the ascendancy of South African rugby and, indeed, the game in the whole of the southern hemisphere.