Much has been spoken about the upcoming test series. The visitors, winning 6 from 6, causing the British media, in their usual fashion, to hail their team as world-beaters. They fail, however, to look at the facts and do proper analyses on the strength and skill of the current crop of Springboks. The only world class player in the Lions side, someone who will go down in history as one of the great players is their second in command Brian O’Driscoll, but even his star has waned lately, the epitome of this came when he was hunted down against the Golden Lions. With their only truly classy player over the hill already it is going to take a committed team effort from the visitors and it is this quality that the hosts need to find, and quickly! They (the Bokke) might posses star footballers like Fourie Du Preez, Victor Matfield and Bryan Habbana, who have all played at the very highest level for a long time now. Their confidence at an all time high with Currie Cup, Super 14, Tri-Nations and World Cup trophies in their cabinets; over confidence and a lack of cohesion being the only things standing in the way of a 3-0 whitewash.
But how can the Lions win? And I do believe they have a chance; coach always told me its just 15 men against 15 men…simple. I believe teams that take on SA physically usually just end up tiring themselves out the exception here being the New Zealanders and to a far lesser extent a fired up French pack. Australia have beaten SA on many occasions, not by dominating us, but by playing quicker and smarter rugby than us. Sa likes to play slowly; our bull’s style of play is suited to patience and territory. When teams like Australia run the ball and use clever inside passes they have a 50/50 chance of beating the Boks. Warning: even if you play expansively you might not win. By this I mean that taking on the Boks physically is silly for the lions but running the ball and playing quickly could lead to an upset win or a loss by 50 points, high risk high reward. If they choose to play it tight South Africa will grind them into dust in the first half and blow them away like cremated lion ashes in the wind The odds are stacked in SA’s favour and this is why they must produce the goods.
It’s been twelve long years and everyone involved in SA rugby remembers who won the last game. We can’t call it revenge. That is simply a headline, a hollow piece of rhetoric used to sell newspapers. The Boks have to win because anything else just isn’t good enough for the calibre of layers we have playing in the country at the moment. In terms of history we are under pressure to reposition ourselves as the pinnacle of world rugby. If you want something in life you have to take it, it doesn’t matter what you deserve, what matters is getting out there and scoring more points than the opposition, playing to your potential and not accepting anything except your best. The next 80 minutes become the most important thing in the world. Because once you win, no matter how much pain you went through, 50 years from now, a thousand years from now no one could ever dispute the fact that you will always be a Lion tamer or a Springbok hunter.
And so as the whistle blows for the start of a game every Springbok fan has been waiting 12 years for be assured that the first hit, the first ruck, the first scrum and the first run will be history in the making and set the tone for what promises the be a feast of high class rugby…enjoy!
sgr
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