Some people are never happy, as Brian Cohen once remarked about an ex-leper. The Springboks have won all three of their home Tests against northern-hemisphere opposition, scoring 13 tries in the process, and yet everyone is queuing up to remind them that the All Blacks and the Wallabies are waiting around the corner, coshes and knuckle dusters at the ready.
Less than a month ago it was fashionable to say that Ireland, holders of the Triple Crown, were far too strong for a South African side long on ambition and short on experience. It is probably fair to say that if the boot had been on the other foot, with Ireland at home and the Springboks out of season, the results of the two-Test series may have been reversed. But history will record the score, not the subtext.
Last week Wales were expected to lose. They had been softened up with two Tests against Argentina and, like Ireland, had never won a Test in this country. Yet they had won the second Test against the Pumas, run them ragged in the final quarter of the first and had proved at the World Cup that they were on the way up, rather than down.
So how come a 50-point win for the Boks is not being shouted from the rooftops? How come all the talk is of wrong options at flyhalf, ragged passing among the backs, missed tackles and missed opportunities? Have we forgotten so soon the shambles that was season 2003, when the Boks were outplayed by Scotland twice and had to rely on a dodgy penalty in injury time and the boot of Louis Koen to overcome a far superior Argentinian side?
There’s no game this weekend, so do yourself a favour; sit down in a comfortable chair, bask in the warm glow of success and drink a toast to Jake White. You can only beat the team that turns up to fulfil the fixture and that the Springboks did with vigour, cohesion and no little panache.
It is specious in the extreme to overlook all that has been achieved merely to focus on the apparently insurmountable hurdles ahead. During the past three weeks of inconspicuous Springbok success, the other two members of the Tri-Nations tournament have put the world champions to the sword.
Only now it is becoming apparent that England’s annexation of the Webb-Ellis Trophy was the end of an era, not the beginning of one. They were derided as a team of old men before the tournament, but had enough left in the tank to win the big one before going the way of all flesh.
Take players of the calibre of Martin Johnson, Neil Back, Jason Leonard and Jonny Wilkinson out of any side and they would suffer, something that South Africa may find out once they have to go into a game without Schalk Burger, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha and Os du Randt.
Which brings us to the crux of the matter. Du Randt does not turn 32 until September, yet his teammates call him ‘Oupaâ€. To put that in perspective, if he’d played for England last year he’d probably have been known as ‘Juniorâ€. This Springbok team is good and it’s going to get a lot better because more than half the side probably gets homesick every time they pass a crèche.
England won the World Cup on the platform of an inexorable pack and a reliable place kicker. South Africa can win the Tri-Nations this year upon the platform of similar assets and the bulletproof psyche of youth. Against all odds Percy Montgomery has fulfilled all the expectations placed on him by White and the pack has gelled into a thing of beauty in no time at all.
Two years ago the Wallabies and All Blacks were worried about the threat posed by the Springbok back line. This time around it’s the pack that will be giving Eddie Jones and Graham Henry sleepless nights. There was a key moment at the end of last week’s Test between New Zealand and Argentina, when a soundly beaten Puma team decided to make a large psychological point.
With no prospect of winning and little point in throwing the ball around in a vain search for a try, the Pumas finished the game with five successive scrums 5m from the All Black line. The All Blacks were punished soundly in each and the Pumas, or eight of them at least, left the field with heads up, beaten but unbowed.
When White looks at the tape of those last five minutes he will know that these All Blacks are a long way from the terrifying megalith that some South Africans would like to make them out to be. As ever they have a magnificent back line, but that’s irrelevant if the ball is never allowed beyond the scrumhalf.
That goes in spades for Australia, seven characters in search of a scrum. In a combined Springbok/ Wallaby side only Phil Waugh and/or George Smith would make it into the forwards, although admittedly it would be difficult to imagine any Springbok earning a place in the back line. And the moral of this story is a little like the cure for arachnophobia: always remember that they are far more scared of you than you are of them.