The Springboks and the Wallabies disappeared beneath the radar on Tuesday as they continued their preparations for Saturday’s opening Vodacom Tri-Nations encounter at Newlands.
The two southern hemisphere protagonists, each looking to continue winning after successful starts to their 2007 international campaigns, held closed practice sessions in Cape Town as the heavy rains that have been commonplace in recent weeks subsided to allow the sun a share of the limelight.
It was a day of drama in the Bok camp with the news that Bob Skinstad had been ruled out of the Test due to a shoulder strain, putting paid to the former darling of Newlands’ return to his old stomping ground.
Skinstad is expected to be available for the next Tri-Nations match against New Zealand in Durban. Danie Rossouw is also in doubt with a quadricep strain. Bok coach Jake White will confirm the match 22 on Wednesday, with Pierre Spies likely to start at number eight.
Off the field of play, the presidents’ council stepped in to halt White’s scheduled meeting with President Thabo Mbeki, saying that incorrect procedure was followed in setting up the meeting.
In a short statement, the South African Rugby Union (Saru) said: ”[We have] advised Springbok coach Jake White to cancel his meeting with President Thabo Mbeki due to the fact that internal protocol was not followed.
”Given this bold step that has been taken by the Springbok coach, Saru realises that Mr White has issues that are unresolved between himself and his leadership. The leadership would therefore like to afford Mr White an opportunity to discuss his concerns internally before he can take any issues to an external audience.”
The Wallabies, meanwhile, were weighing up their chances as they go in search of their first win on South African soil since 2000.
Commenting on the Boks’ winning start in 2007, which has included a series win over England and the defeat of Samoa, stalwart flyhalf Stephen Larkham said that the Springboks’ recent success could play in Australia’s favour.
Larkham said that situation suited the Wallabies, adding that analysis of their opponents had revealed ”weaknesses in the Springbok game”.
”It’s good that they have most of the attention on them going into this match and we are pretty heavy underdogs. We seem to play well as underdogs,” he said.
”There are certainly weaknesses in the Springbok game that we have spotted on video and we will be studying it even more over the next couple of days.”
Co-captain Stirling Mortlock added that a win on the weekend would ”mean a great deal” to the Wallabies and would be the perfect way to open their Tri-Nations season.
The Australians last won in South Africa when a Mortlock penalty gave them a narrow victory in injury time in the last game of the 2000 Tri-Nations.
”We have lost a lot of games in this country, but a lot of those have just been by a couple of points,” Mortlock told the South African Press Association. ”The Boks are a different proposition at home. They lift themselves quite significantly and in their games against us they often get a head start. Our task must be to match them from the outset.”
Meanwhile, the game is expected to be a sell-out, with less than 400 seated tickets still available by close of business on Tuesday.
Western Province’s general manager of marketing, Gavin Lewis, told the Cape Argus that tickets sales had gone exceptionally well.
Lewis said the Boks’ good form, coupled with this being the first match of the Tri-Nations, and in a World Cup year, all contributed to the excellent ticket sales. — Sapa