A training venue changed two hours prior to arrival, self-inflicted wounds in practice and an Australian journalist comparing a press conference to a Marx Brothers movie. Ho hum. Just another week in the life of the Springboks on tour. This week the circus rolls into Sydney and on Saturday night, win or lose, a whole squad of homesick South Africans will emit a sigh of relief that the nightmare is over.
There has been a lot of understandable revisionist talk about this particular Tri-Nations trip. Referee Paul Honiss did not allow the Springboks to scrum a month ago in Brisbane, allowing the physically intimidated Wallabies to avoid the tight exchanges and run riot.
A couple of kicks that failed to find touch proved to be the only difference between South Africa and New Zealand in Wellington a fortnight ago. The Boks may have lost, but they scored two tries. The Wallabies, on the other hand, managed just three penalties last week against the All Blacks.
Add it all up and no way will we see another 49-0 in Sydney this week. Believe that and you’ll believe that Chiliboy Ralapele will make a difference if allowed on for five minutes at the end of the game. If nothing else the boy wonder will be fresh; he hasn’t played a match since the Under-21 World Cup final, six weeks ago.
For the record, coach Jake White has made two changes from the side that lost 35-17 to New Zealand. Akona Ndungane returns from injury to replace Breyton Paulse and Johan Muller replaces Albert van den Berg at lock. Springbok tactics will once again revolve around the tight exchanges and Australia’s coach, John Connolly, has beefed up his pack. Oh, and just by the way, the Wallabies have five black players in their starting 15. South Africa has three.
South Africans have been waiting in vain for most of this millennium, it seems, for some Australian institutions to close down. In cricket it is Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, in rugby, George Gregan and Stephen Larkham.
In Brisbane White selected Ricky Januarie to ”do a job” on Larkham, remembering the way his scrumhalf disrupted the Wallaby flyhalf at Ellis Park last year. Larkham waltzed away with the rematch. Official records won’t admit it, but Januarie is now 5kg heavier and commensurately slower.
Januarie is a White favourite and remains on the bench, but things may change when the squad returns home. As things stand, however, Januarie might be dropped from the Tri-Nations squad, but barred from representing his union, the Golden Lions, in the Currie Cup.
As for Gregan, he seems to inhabit a parallel universe to our own Luke Watson. If you believe the media, the whole of Australia wants Gregan out, while the whole of South Africa wants Watson in. This week the referee is Joel Jutge and the vibe is good, because Jutge is a Frenchman and the French understand scrumming. It was, after all, the French pack that exposed the cracks in the Springbok armour at Newlands in June. Who are we trying to kid? The Boks could scrum the Wallabies into the ground and still be defeated, because they will lose the battle for the loose ball.
Australia lost against New Zealand because Richie McCaw stood in their way at every breakdown. They built no momentum and could not force the All Blacks to give away sufficient kickable penalties to win the game. South Africa does not own a McCaw and not one member of their pack prefers winning the ball to carrying it.
The best that can be hoped for, once again, is damage limitation. There are too many areas of the team in need of radical remedial action to expect any better. Half an hour of big hits followed by 50 minutes of forlorn gatherings behind the uprights and then the highlight: the arrivals lounge at OR Tambo Airport.