OWN CORRESPONDENT, London | Tuesday 9.20am.
SPRINGBOK rugby coach Nick Mallett believes that if his team can set a world record of 18 consecutive Test wins with victory over England on Saturday, the landmark will stand for ever.
The Springboks equalled New Zealand’s record of 17 triumphs, set over four years from 1967, when Mallett’s side won in Ireland on Saturday to complete the third leg of their grand slam bid over the home nations.
“I can’t see a country going through 17 or 18 Tests unbeaten in the future,” said Mallett. “I did not expect to be 100% in our Tri-Nations matches against New Zealand and Australia earlier this year — we should always be as good as level with each other.
“But already I am detecting an improvement in northern hemisphere rugby after our games against Wales, Scotland and Ireland. This time last season our visit coincided with one of the weakest periods of rugby in Britain and Ireland … The opposition from the Welsh, Scottish and Irish has given us at least 40 minutes’ rugby in each game when we’re simply dedicating ourselves to keeping them out.”
Mallett acknowledges the obvious point that England will be the hardest tour opponents. England have dominated the other home nations, remaining unbeaten themselves in Triple Crown combat since 1994. And South Africa are completing a seemingly endless round of Tests.
“England are clearly the best side on this grand slam experience. The most recent evidence is that they made a fine side like Australia look ordinary when they lost by a late penalty,” Mallett added. “The Australians won easily in Paris earlier this month, but England made the Wallabies look poor and to block out Australia for a nil try-count was tremendous credit to England’s defence.
“As far as the readiness for a major Test is concerned, England are in a far better state than us. There is an inevitable fatigue factor for us after 11 months’ rugby. England were able to rest some important, experienced players during the summer and have realistically focused on the Test against Australia and us in these two weeks.” — AFP
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