This time last year, the only person who had any faith in the Springboks was Jake White. How little has changed in a year.
Then his team — after a poor Super 12, Kamp Staaldraad and the resignations of coach and captain — was written off against the Irish. But when they began their winning streak in that two-Test series it culminated with a Tri-Nations crown, and International Rugby Board (IRB) awards for White and his star player, Schalk Burger.
This year White could be forgiven for putting his faith in pretty much the same players and the same system — but they didn’t get the same results.
We may have the IRB player and coach of the year in our midst, and be Tri-Nations champions, but we certainly aren’t behaving like it. The mighty Bulls pack was pushed off their own ball by the Waratahs in the Super 12 semifinal and the Springboks in the Stormers’ back line were abysmal.
White, thankfully, appears to be immune to the Super 12-induced pessimism about the players’ form, the shoddiness of their skills, and the loss of form of so many of his favourites.
Indeed, some stars may be injured and others may have lost confidence, but White has shown — unlike the two preceding Bok coaches — that consistency and experience are the keys to a winning culture. White’s problem this year is how to reconstitute this formula — not only in his team but in the face of overwhelming public cynicism.
He may be lacking a few hefty tight forwards, but he has an unexpected abundance of flair in his backs — so much so that he can afford to drop six-try wonder Tonderai Chavanga a week after his record-setting debut .
White can still call on Brent Russell, whose skills he must find some way of introducing later in the game, and Bryan Habana on the wing.
It’s pertinent that the Bull’s lost their Super 12 semifinal against the Waratahs in Sydney in the moment that Habana’s magic failed him. Chasing down a chip ahead the ball bounced the wrong way and the mercurial wing just couldn’t score one of his trademark match-turning, team-redeeming tries. It was the pivotal moment that ended their rejuvenation.
In Jaco van der Westhuyzen, the coach has the flyhalf he wants and a reliable enough back-up kicker in Percy Montgomery, who had an off day with his two-step technique last week.
But it is in the midfield that White has some tough choices to make. He faces a similar problem to that of former coach Nick Mallett in choosing between a Bobby Skinstad and a Gary Teichmann.
Do you give up De Wet Barry’s legendary tackling (Teichmann) for Jean de Villier’s flair (Skinstad)?
What many armchair critics overlook is how Barry creates space for those running off him by standing up in the tackle or drawing defenders.
But dropping Teichmann for Skinstad’s flash ultimately led to the 1999 World Cup crash. Experimentation will have to take second place to experience and solidity.
As everyone likes to say about them, including my own French father: ”Who can tell with the French?” They must be considered underdogs, without stalwarts Serge Betsen and Fabien Pelous (the usual skipper) and having had three players withdraw before the tour. Now stand-in captain, scrumhalf and goal kicker Dimitri Yachvili is on the bench, making way for new captain and scrumhalf Jean-Baptiste Elissalde.
In the same way South Africa held its breath on Tuesday afternoon waiting to hear Jacob Zuma’s fate, the rugby public will be holding theirs as the season begins in earnest this weekend against real competition.