Boks' biggest challenge is themselves

The Springboks face a tough task in Auckland this coming weekend, but the truth of the matter is that the biggest enemy they face is themselves.

This year’s Tri-Nations is probably going to be won or lost in the next two weeks in New Zealand, and the Springbok confident frame of mind will determine just how well they do ahead of next year’s World Cup.

While there are those of us who naturally worry that the Boks may be peaking a year too soon, the counter argument is that they are simply achieving what the All Blacks have done for so many years – consistency in victory.

It could be that we are so used to a post 1992-era where the pendulum swung for and against the Springboks with such gusto that we almost waited for a fall of the Green and Gold.

So often, under so many coaches, this came true, and while the odd victory over New Zealand rallied us together behind the team, the highs were as painful as the lows that followed.

Jake White deserves credit for a World Cup victory, put together by two exceptional Bulls and Sharks teams in 2007. Peter de Villiers and his coaching staff deserve just as much credit for keeping the current crop together, supplementing them with stars like Juan de Jongh, Francois Louw and Heinrich Brussow and others.

To be a successful side at all levels, there has to be a succession plan. Sides like the Crusaders and Bulls endeavour to have two top players in each position that would walk into any side in world rugby. While few teams get this right, this is a place where the Springboks have succeeded so admirably these past few years.

Think about it? Injuries aside, there are few positions where the Boks lack depth. At prop, the return of BJ Botha and CJ van der Linde has added a new dimension, and gives John Smit the luxury to carry on at hooker.

At lock there is a wealth of talent which no other country has right now, while the loose trio is certainly not a place where the Boks lack now or at any stage in the past few years. In fact, the only areas that may be of concern are the back-up positions of hooker, scrumhalf and fullback.

Considering the Super 14 success of the Bulls over the past four years, and this year’s emergence of the Stormers as a top class international side, is it any wonder that Sean Fitzpatrick admits he is scared of this Bok side?

Rightly they have lost their fear of New Zealand, and rightly there is respect, but not awe at the All Blacks they face this weekend. Fitzpatrick might be up to his old tricks of talking up the opposition, but his sentiments are shared across New Zealand.

The Boks are not a flashy team. But they have confidence, experience and a wealth of talent to turn a game. This year’s disjointed test season might not have shown much beyond depth for the national side, but it did show – especially in the French test – that this Bok side has lost little of its passion and pride for the jersey.

On Saturday they face an All Black side hungry for revenge. It will be anything but easy. But this Bok team has won in New Zealand twice in the last two years. They’ve done it consistently in the Super 14 with their franchises and they have the experience to know what is coming.

On Saturday if they play to their ability they could score a massive blow in defending their Tri-Nations crown, and further afield, in the psychological battlefield ahead of next year’s World Cup tournament.

Lock Victor Matfield and his Bulls players are firm believers in controlling their own destiny, dominating and enforcing their game plan upon the opposition. On Saturday if they do this, they have little to fear.

But New Zealand might just have way more to worry about.