Braam van Straaten’s kicking was a revelation at Loftus last week
Andy Capostagno
In the bowels of Loftus Versfeld on Saturday evening Harry Viljoen could have been forgiven for starting the press conference by thumbing his nose and saying, “Yah, boo, sucks to the lot of you.”
That he did not suggests both that he is learning how to play the media game and that, a 20-15 victory against the world champions notwithstanding, the Springboks are a long way from the finished article.
This time around, thanks to the inclusion of Braam van Straaten, the Boks kicked their goals. That in itself was the difference between winning and losing against the Wallabies, despite the fact that, as against the All Blacks in Cape Town, South Africa were superior in the set pieces.
Viljoen may look back at the video of the game and conclude that if Matt Burke had not narrowly missed his first two shots at goal, the result might have been reversed. The Springboks successfully shut down George Gregan and slowed down George Smith and therein lay the key to victory.
But the performance was put into perspective at halftime when Murray Mexted, an interested spectator from the land of the long white cloud said: “This is good for world rugby. We need South Africa to be hard and physical and tough to beat at home.”
What did he mean by that? That the Springboks have developed a soft underbelly? That they are no longer tough to beat at home? That they are incapable of playing in as focused a manner in New Zealand and Australia? Whatever. The real point is that you often learn less from victory than you do from defeat. Time will tell whether Viljoen and his staff have drawn the correct conclusions from the game.
The performance of Conrad Jantjes persuaded the coach that he could do without Percy Montgomery for the forthcoming games in the Antipodes. Incredible as it may seem, the squad announced on Tuesday is the first since the British Lions tour to this country in 1997 that has not included Montgomery.
Selected by Carel du Plessis as a centre, moved to fullback by Nick Mallett and shifted between there and flyhalf by Viljoen, Monty the great survivor has been axed after 49 Tests. If history is anything to go by, he will be back, but in the meantime Viljoen’s squad suggests that he is at least thinking about moving Van Straaten back to flyhalf.
The theory goes that since Andre Snyman has been recalled (presumably he was training particularly impressively for the fixtureless Sharks) he will play at outside centre, Robbie Fleck will be moved to inside centre, and Butch James will be benched in order to get a place kicker into the side. It is to be hoped that this theory is hogwash and Snyman’s recall to a squad of 26 is purely to get him back into the Springbok culture, safe in the knowledge that if injuries force him to be called up to the bench he can understudy wing and centre and he won’t let you down.
If winning the Tri-Nations has become more important than building for the next World Cup (and let us all hope that it has) there is no reason to change a winning team, even away from home, at sea level in Perth and Auckland.
Viljoen talks a lot about empowerment and the time has come to empower James. Let him know that, injury permitting, he will play both games come what may. The reason he is there in the first place is that Van Straaten and Montgomery were both tried and found wanting. Let James grow into the role and South Africa will be rewarded tenfold.
Equally, let Van Straaten stay at inside centre, the position he played for more than half of his provincial career. The next two games will not be about attacking from primary ball, they will be about stopping the opposition from playing, something that Van Straaten helped to do so well at Loftus.
A defensive three-quarter line of Van der Westhuizen, James, Van Straaten and Fleck has a steely look to it. Add the codicil that any opponent who steps out of line is likely to cost his team three points and you have the beginnings of a psychological hold developing. It is amazing what one win can achieve.
But in the words of Jerry Garcia, every silver lining has a touch of grey. What message does the non-selection of Montgomery send? Ideally it should be that no one has a God-given right to play for his country. Montgomery was poor in the first Test against France and again in Cape Town against the All Blacks.
But we do not live in an ideal world. Montgomery has been pushed from pillar to post, playing flyhalf one week, fullback the next and then being asked to kick at goal with a better than 80% average. Despite all that has happened, it is hard not to feel sorry for him.
A few of the squad who have been around the block may remember the fallout caused when Mallett dropped Andre Venter, alleging that he was no longer good enough to play flank and had to be made into a lock. Venter was then, and is now, the player’s player and the feeling grew that if he could be dropped no one was safe.
Perhaps in the circumstances it is better to do what the large majority of the South African rugby public has been doing since Saturday: feast on the fine food of victory.