Go out and show them

Amid the general doom and gloom about the Springboks’ chances of beating England a significant point, involving an Australian hooker, seems to have been missed.

After the Wallabies had beat England 28-14 at Twickenham last weekend hooker Stephen Moore was named the man of the match; thus turning out to be the individual beneficiary of a commanding performance by the oft-maligned Australian tight forwards.

The Wallaby pack played a significant role in atoning for the humiliation they had suffered in their World Cup quarterfinal in Marseille the year before by following one of Dr Danie Craven’s dictums of taking on their opponents in their area of strength.

So how does that apply to the Springboks who play the English at the same ground this weekend?

Simple really. I’m thinking Coco-Cola Park in August. I’m thinking 53-8.

That’s the score by which the Springboks smashed the Wallabies; largely because the Bok pack wrested complete dominance and laid siege to possession of the ball.

So… if the Wallabies can come out on top, even edge, the England pack surely the Boks should be able to do the same and dig the foundation for a successful end to their first year as World champions while also laying the first bricks of a fortress that will withstand anything the British and Irish Lions invaders can throw at them next year.

Much is made of the threat of England’s loosehead Andrew Sheridan, largely because of the demolition job he did on Matt Dunning in last year’s World Cup quarterfinal, but in two meetings in France BJ Botha and CJ van der Linde, with the help of a concerted effort from their seven teammates, did not have too much bother in standing up to him.

That’s why the introduction of the Boks’ scrum doctor, Jannie du Plessis, is such a blessing for, working in tandem with John Smit, he should provide more stability than Brian Mujati was able to when the South African frontrow had to be re-jigged against the underrated Scots last weekend.

It is also true that scrummaging is no longer as big a factor as it used to be, but I fail to see why a Bok pack also containing the like of Tendai Mtawarira, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Schalk Burger, Juan Smith and Pierre Spies should not be able to come out on top against a set of opponents including unfamiliar names such as Nick Easter, Tom Rees, James Haskell and Tom Palmer.

My one fear would be further injuries, especially as fate has conspired the expose the coach’s gamble in the key areas of frontrow and halfback, but I have great faith that a Bok side bristling with world-class players has too much pride not to strike their best form at least once in three tests.

Smit’s men have one more good performance in their kitbags and I feel they’ll pull it out on Saturday.

Take the backlines: Who would you rather have? A line-up of Fourie du Preez, Ruan Pienaar, Jean de Villiers, Adi Jacobs, Bryan Habana, JP Pietersen and Conrad Jantjes (with Jaque Fourie and Francois Steyn lurking on the bench) or Delon Armitage, Paul Sackey, Jamie Noon, Riki Flutey, Ugo Monye, Danny Cipriani, Danny Care?

The Springboks’ record at Twickenham was significantly turned around ahead of the World Cup in late 2006, reversing a run of six successive defeats at the venue (plus one apiece in Bloemfontein and Perth), with a 25-14 win and since then they have gone on to win four more in a row – two against what was effectively a C side on tour in South Africa and two more at the World Cup.

In the dark years at a ground the English refer to as “HQ” or “Headquarters” the results often went the wrong way for the Boks because they allowed themselves to be outmuscled – hence Jake White’s aggrieved remark in 2004 that “it was like watching standard eights up against matrics.”

But times have changed. The Springboks are the world champions and England are stuck in an overly long re-building period; so here’s a piece of motivation, drawn from the annals, that Peter de Villiers might want to use.

When in 1995 Mike Catt was reported as saying that François Pienaar “is an ordinary player,” Kitch Christie memorably turned it around by telling his team in the dressing room. “These guys think your captain is an ordinary player. Go out and show them.”

That’s all he said. This time we might point out to the Boks that “these guys think you don’t deserve to be world champions. Go out and show them.”