One coach makes eight changes and confidently expects to win, the other makes five changes and hopes not to lose by too many. There will come a time when Graham Henry’s attempt to introduce the squad system at international level will come a cropper, but this Saturday is not that moment.
The melancholy fact of the matter is that against Jake White’s current Springboks, the All Black coach could probably pick a third team and win, but even Henry is not that callous. Instead he has spent the week assuring the world that the Boks are still a good team despite being lucky to score nil in Brisbane last week.
Yet when the score-line reads 49-0 it is impossible to do what Henry has suggested, and write it off as a particularly bad day at the office. It was, after all, the worst defeat in the history of South Africa’s contests with Australia, a history that stretches back to 1933.
It was certainly in the top three worst performances since readmission. Some will suggest the bottom of the pile was the so-called ”Jan van Riebeeck Test” at Loftus in 2003, when the Boks lost 16-52 to the All Blacks. But those who were underprivileged to be at both will cite the 53-3 debacle against England at Twickenham in 2002.
In the latter game Jannes Labuschagne was sent off in the 14th minute for a callous late tackle on Jonny Wilkinson, and only a certain amount of forbearance from referee Paddy O’Brien allowed South Africa to finish the game with 14 men.
It was a day capped ultimately the South Africans’ unfortunate remark at the post-match press conference. Asked about the incipient violence by an irate English journalist, they suggested that it takes two to tango and that flyhalf Andre Pretorius had not ”knocked himself out”. Indeed not, a Krige haymaker intended for an Englishman had felled him.
It so happens that the Test match in question was the last time Butch James appeared in a Springbok jersey. Four years and two knee operations later he is back, flown in from South Africa as a replacement for the injured Danie Rossouw.
Given that James played inside centre against England at Twickenham, it might seem logical for him to fill the Pretoria lock’s shoes in the set pieces. After all, he’s only about 8kg lighter than Rossouw’s genuine replacement, Albert van den Berg.
But no. Butch is back to shore up the flyhalf channel after Jaco van der Westhuyzen’s attempt to combine the tackling ability of a revolving door with the prehensile dexterity of a pair of well-greased braai tongs finally convinced White to dispense with his services.
Lest we forget, by the way, James returned from a year-long absence in the penultimate round of the Super 14 and, after playing in the first two Currie Cup matches of the season, has sat out the past fortnight as Sharks coach Dick Muir, emulating Henry, fielded his ”B squad”. Far from being at the top of his game, James is feeling his way back into provincial rugby.
By contrast, Henry has recalled Anton Oliver to the hooker’s berth in order to ”rest” Keven Mealamu. The latter, it may be remembered, scored two tries against Australia in the opening match of the Tri-Nations and put down his marker to be considered the best in the business. His replacement is, of course, a former All Black captain. Whose job would you rather have: Henry’s or White’s?
What does the latter say now to Joe van Niekerk? Having kept him in the mix when most would have told him to go back and get fit playing provincial rugby, White gave Van Niekerk a hospital pass of monumental proportions by asking him to take over the role of the injured Schalk Burger. Hindsight may be an exact science, but in the circumstances it seems more than a little disingenuous of White to criticise the provincial unions for playing his Springboks out of position.
Ultimately, the slaughter at Suncorp may have the desired purgative effect both on White’s ideas and personnel, although it has happened uncomfortably close to next year’s World Cup. He now needs to prove that he is more than a one-trick pony.
Sapient coaching teams in the Antipodes have successfully countered White’s much-vaunted ”rush defence”. His pack has been neutered by the absence of Burger and his backs have been shown up as one-dimensional without Jean de Villiers in the mix. He is now reduced to lamenting the absence of both Western Province men, together with Bakkies Botha and Andre Pretorius.
It is a long-standing South African failing to assume that present pain can be alleviated by future finesse. White needs to step out of his comfort zone and admit a few home truths. Percy Montgomery is too old, Ricky Januarie is not fit, Wynand Olivier is not good enough and the Springbok captain needs to be able to do a little more than endorse products and speak eloquently at press conferences.
White has a keen sense of history and likes to inspire his players with the deeds of previous generations. Now is not the time, then, to remind his charges that the past 40 years have seen the Springboks manage a grand total of two wins and one draw in New Zealand. Not the time at all.