Australia’s visit to Newlands on Saturday for the opening match of the Tri-Nations series seems to have uncovered the dark side of the South African psyche. There is something very wrong when a Springbok Test match is looked upon by the public with trepidation rather than anticipation.
Not even the palpable truth that this Wallaby side is not within a country mile of some of its predecessors is capable of lifting the pall. It’s not a question of who will win, but of by how much South Africa will lose. Given that the Wallabies have won only one Tri-Nations match in this country (and that by a one-point margin) such pessimism seems ill-founded.
After all, Newlands was the venue for the opening game of the 1995 Rugby World Cup and South Africa were given no hope of beating the 1991 champions. They did, though, and with some scintillating rugby.
Rudolf Straeuli, a journeyman number eight capable of transcendent
moments, played in that game. He had been carefully eased into Kitch Christie’s side during the previous year’s tour to the northern hemisphere, a tour that had crystallised the coach’s thoughts on who should play where.
Christie was not one to throw the baby out with the bathwater. He was conservative in his selections and fiercely loyal to players who had
succeeded for him in the past. Consequently his decision to drop Straeuli for the last two games of the tournament was not taken lightly.
The question to be asked now is whether Straeuli learned anything from those far off days? Far from hazarding a new prop here and a new wing there, he has created 70 new Springboks in 14 Test matches since taking over from Harry Viljoen 15 months ago. Not all of those 70 have been centres, but sometimes it feels like it.
The latest shock is the pairing of De Wet Barry and Marius Joubert for Saturday’s game. It shouldn’t be a shock, because these two played together in last year’s Tri-Nations and grew up together at Paarl Gym. But it is a shock
because Barry’s name has been conspicuous by its absence from any
of Straeuli’s squads this year.
He will take over the inside centre berth from Gcobani Bobo, who in turn inherited it from Trevor Halstead. Straeuli and his predecessor, Viljoen, have searched in vain for an inside centre, with the same attention to detail that Ian McIntosh used a decade ago in his search for a number seven flank who could win ball at the tail of the lineout.
The moral of the story is that sometimes it’s important to take a step back and ask why the search is so important. For McIntosh it had little to do with the traditional blind side flank role and everything to do with the fact that he couldn’t find two locks who could dominate in the lineouts. For Straeuli the constant shuffling at 12 and 13 is based upon a fallacy, namely that you can build a team around the flyhalf play of Louis Koen.
The Wallabies probably can’t believe their luck. When they saw Koen make his Test debut in 2000 they must have assumed — as did most of us — that they would never see him again.
Instead he has beaten back the challenges from Andre Pretorius, Brent Russell and Derrick Hougaard by the old expedient of being fit to play on a regular basis.
It can be safely assumed that South Africa has never had a more static halfback partnership than Koen and Joost van der Westhuizen. It can also be safely assumed that if Michael du Plessis and Danie Craven were available and at the peak of their powers, they too would look terrible outside the Bulls partnership.
Sadly, there are cogent arguments to be made both for and against everyone in the backline.
Stefan Terblanche, like Koen, survives because he’s fit, not because he’s the best wing in the country, while Thinus Delport apparently owes his position on the left wing to SA Rugby’s erroneous estimation of his worth.
Up front Bakkies Botha gets another chance at the expense of the infinitely more gifted Geo Cronje, while Cobus Visagie and AJ Venter, despite much evidence of a return to form, have been sent home with fleas in their ears. Venter has already been linked to a move to England based upon a breakdown in relations with Straeuli. It need hardly be said that this is far from being a perfect build-up to the Tri-Nations.
And yet, if you scratch the surface of both the Wallabies and All Blacks some universal truths appear. Firstly the myth of godlike status being
bestowed by Australians upon their sporting sons and daughters is just that. Australians are not motivated by the Olympian ideal; they are only interested in winning. Take that away and the cracks appear quickly.
Secondly, the Wallabies believe in the old dictum: don’t hold on to the ball any longer than you have to. That simple rule seems to have escaped South African scrumhalves and flyhalves, who perpetually run sideways across the field cutting down space for the outside backs.
Amid all the talk of the Boks raising their game to compete with Australia, we seem to have lost sight of the fact that the Wallabies have also been known to be dragged down to the level of their opponents. Both coaches have the perfect excuse at the post-match press conference to say that defeat means nothing, because this is a World Cup year.
They won’t necessarily be believed by anyone, but crumbs of comfort will probably be needed by the lorry load from now on. Straeuli’s dilemma will be that if his team manages to defy the odds and win he won’t be able to make the requisite eight changes per Test match. Cross your fingers.