No kings for a day

A succession of mismatches and spats between minor nations in the first week of this World Cup has not adequately prepared us for Saturday’s clash at the Subiaco Oval in Perth. South Africa v England has come upon us too soon.

At the very least it should have been the last of the pool matches to be played by these two sides, not the second, since every subsequent game will be an anticlimax and, as the organisers are fast discovering, this tournament has enough anticlimaxes to be going on with already.

Of course there is just an outside chance that this one might also be anti-climactic. The Springboks might suffer from stage fright, and England might play to the best of their prodigious ability: a repeat of the 53-3 humiliation at Twickenham last year could eventuate. But this is a World Cup; reputations (and livelihoods) are at stake and it should be a good deal closer in Perth.

The year has been full of bizarre Springbok selections, so the demotion to the bench of Werner Greeff and the promotion to fullback of Jaco van der Westhuyzen hasn’t done much more than raise a few eyebrows. The familiarity of Straeuli’s philosophical about turns has bred a certain amount of contempt, but this one deserves dwelling on briefly.

Having kept Greeff in cotton wool for far too long, Straeuli was apparently so unimpressed by the Western Province fullback’s run out against Uruguay that he has dropped him. Would this have happened if Greeff had run out for Province against, say, Free State and the Bulls last month? The smokescreen this time is that Greeff’s versatility makes him the ideal bench man. So what has changed?

If we had not become so accustomed to the revolving door selection policy this year we would be more forgiving. Remember how Straeuli pulled a rabbit called de Wet Barry out of a hat to play Australia in Cape Town in July, then lapped up the kudos of the only Tri-Nations win of the season by claiming to have been in close contact with the man of the match for months, despite not inviting him to any training sessions.

In the case of van der Westhuyzen, quite simply he should have been among the first names down on Straeuli’s World Cup list, for he has been head and shoulders above every other South African fullback all season. Instead he had to wait for Gcobani Bobo and Jean de Villiers to get injured to earn an 11th hour call up. Now he’s in the side to play England. Go figure.

The irony of it all, of course, is that thanks to the kind of bizarre plot twists that would have pleased Agatha Christie, the right man for the job has been selected. There are parallels here with the 1999 quarterfinal between the same two sides, when niggling injury relegated Henry Honiball to the bench and Jannie de Beer became king for a day.

Ultimately though, the identity of the Springbok fullback is likely to be irrelevant to the outcome of this game. Straeuli has done some subtle work on the English by suggesting to referee Peter Marshall that the Springboks would like to move the ball quickly away from the breakdowns, but his opposite number Clive Woodward is unlikely to be fooled.

This game will be won and lost among the tight forwards and, to that end, Straeuli has finally reunited the Bulls unit that carried all before it during the Super 12. At loose head Christo Bezuidenhout — at the age of 33 — starts a test match for the first time in place of Lawrence Sephaka.

Mercifully Danie Coetzee has been retained at hooker: his general play in the green and gold this year should have meant that he was never in doubt, but another mothball man, John Smit, nearly ousted him for no good reason at all. If there is a weakness it may loom in the form of Bakkies Botha, an obvious target for some subtle winding up from the English.

The return of Corne Krige from injury and to the scene of the (alleged) crime has captured many column inches, but the most influential Springbok on the field may well be Joost van der Westhuizen.

There have been distinct signs of late that the most capped Springbok of all time is returning to form and if there is any truth in the rumour that Matt Dawson is some distance from true fitness, van der Westhuizen will have him for breakfast. So if the tight five do their job and Joost has a blinder what then? England will still win.

It’s hard to admit this, but every single South African player could have the game of his life on Saturday and still be on the losing side. That’s how good this England side is. Those who perceive Woodward’s team to be paper tigers may care to remind themselves of the day in June when 13 Englishmen repelled 15 All Blacks with something close to impunity.

As was the case with Australia in 1999, England’s success is predicated upon an impregnable defensive wall. De Wet Barry will not run through Mike Tindall the way he did Steve Kefu at Newlands. Crash balls do not work against this England side. Ditto for chips over the top: Jason Robinson, Josh Lewsey and Ben Cohen will run the ball back to the forwards and the 4×4 will grind upfield again.

Jonny Wilkinson will not have an off day, Neil Back and Martin Johnson will not be punished for skulduggery and Louis Koen will not become king for a day. It’s not the end of the world (cup) though. This England team may be impregnable, but the All Blacks sure as hell aren’t.

Teams: