SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer has been fighting fires recently. Suggestions that the end of the Newscorp contract in 2005 might usher in an era of South African alignment with Europe have been met with a dead bat. But Oberholzer’s pronouncements of Tri-Nations solidarity sit uncomfortably with last week’s events in the Antipodes.
In Wellington last Saturday Australian referee Stuart Dickinson was as one-eyed as Nelson in his interpretations. He ruined the scrums in the first half by demanding that players crouch and hold for five seconds before engaging. This led to the inevitable surge forward before Dickinson was ready, followed by an admonitory free kick. At the lineouts Dickinson positioned himself with his back to the All Blacks, which may explain the try scored by Mark Hammett, where the All Black hooker’s throw quite clearly failed to travel the required five metres.
He found a reason to usher Marius Joubert from the field in the second half, but could find none to penalise a succession of Kiwi indiscretions.
In the circumstances Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli might well have praised his players for their self-denial, for while there were a number of punches thrown, discipline remained high despite the fact that Dickinson was blowing one way for three-quarters of the match.
And then, to add insult to injury, Australian citing commissioner Tim Hardman accused Corné Krige of biting Scott Robertson. This meant that the Springbok captain, coach and manager were unable to travel to Australia with the rest of the team. They stayed behind to defend Krige’s reputation, despite the fact that Robertson and Caleb Ralph (the All Black closest to the incident) sprang to Krige’s defence, saying that no bite had taken place and that no physical marks were present.
So, inevitably, Krige was exonerated, but the damage had already been done. Through the actions of the referee and the citing commissioner the Australians had got their retaliation in first, ahead of this week’s Test match in Brisbane. Now this may seem like insular carping and a refusal to accept that New Zealand won in Wellington because they were the better side, but the broader picture needs to be acknowledged. Familiarity has bred contempt and the status of the Tri-Nations and the Super 12 is under threat.
Shaun Fitzpatrick says that ”you basically live in a cage” in South Africa and whitewashes the reputations of his Under-21 side. The Brumbies come to Cape Town and act like hooligans, Australian officials lie about Ben Tune’s positive drug test and their referees and officials conspire against the Springboks. How long will South Africa put up with this?
It is 10 years since the end of isolation and the time has come to say enough is enough. The fact is that Australia and New Zealand need South Africa more than we need them. The cash cow of the Newscorp deal has a sell-by date of three years from now. Take away the Tri-Nations and Super 12 and the Currie Cup would carry on as before, but Australian rugby would be nowhere.
If South Africa chose to go north for its competitions after 2005 the Wallabies would be back playing the Super Six with New Zealand and a Polynesian island or two. The Bledisloe Cup would be the limit of their annual Test-match ambition. Meanwhile, South Africa would be earning pounds and attracting foreign investment to the country, and bathing in the warm glow of being able to play their rugby in one time zone. The Seven Nations may seem a cumbersome concept, but South Africa has the power to make it happen.
It may be wise for the Springboks to bear that in mind when they run on to Ballymore on Saturday. They may be a young side, but they are the masters of their own destiny. They were guilty of a certain naivety against New Zealand, but they were not outplayed in any important area other than eighth man, where Robertson gave the kind of display that Bob Skinstad can only dream about.
The real bonus lay in the driving display of the Springbok pack, which cut huge swathes through the All Black defence in the first half and allowed Werner Greeff, among others, to receive the ball going forward, not standing still. It may have been this forward dominance that persuaded the referee to go for uncontested scrums, although incompetence might also be an explanation.
Once again there are reasons for this Springbok team to be confident going into the game and once again there is the possibility that they may lose in comprehensive fashion. But one day soon they will get to play on a level playing field and their opponents will learn that what goes around comes around. With a few tweaks here and there this is a team that, whisper it, could win the World Cup next year. All they’re really missing is a bit of attitude, and with the unfair manner in which they are being treated down under that is something that Straeuli won’t have to worry about much longer.