Big venues need big teams

There was some bemusement in the Springbok camp last week at the poor turn-out and apparent lack of atmosphere at last week’s opening test against Scotland in Durban.

Those who are used to seeing the Sharks at Absa Stadium might have felt they were in a different venue. Whereas normally the place crackles with electricity, there were times during this match where the silence and lack of passion among supporters in the stands made it all seem quite surreal and even more empty than it really was.

It was a similar story last year when the Boks played France. Not only was the stadium not full on that occasion too, but the supporters again seemed to sit in polite silence. The referee must have felt that he was officiating at a game between two Sunday School teams.

There was none of the booing and cat-calling that opposition players and refs are subjected to when the Sharks are playing in the Super 14 or in the Currie Cup. Last year’s Absa Stadium match played out to a draw, but there was never a time when you could really feel the tension.

With two consecutive games turning out this way in Durban, there have been suggestions that maybe the Boks should avoid the city because they don’t get the same level of support as they might get elsewhere.

Even if this was feasible, however, it would be the wrong way to go. Durbanites do support the Boks, and they do it very passionately. But for goodness sake, give them test matches against the All Blacks and Australia to do it in.

The legend that Durban is an easier venue for visiting teams to play in than Ellis Park and some other upcountry stadiums belongs in the realm of myth and not fact. Those who argue that the Boks should always play on the highveld don’t have the facts at their finger-tips.

And they have also clearly forgotten that it was in Durban that the Springboks clinched the 2004 Tri-Nations against Australia. That was the last big match played in the city, for down in Sharks country they don’t really consider R350 a ticket to be worth it when the opposition are lowly Scotland.

The reason there was no atmosphere in Durban was because the fans always knew the Boks were going to win. And if they weren’t going to win, it would mean they were playing badly, as they did when they played the Scots at Absa Stadium in 2003.

If there was some advice to be given to the South African Rugby Union on this matter, it would surely be that they should either drop the price of their tickets for matches against Scotland and the other Home Unions, except England, or play all those games in areas which are starved of rugby.

Last year’s second test against France in Port Elizabeth was a massive occasion. Bok coach Jake White remembers it well, which is why he told local newspapers on his arrival in the city this week that he really likes it here.

But this was because it had been a long time since fans in the Eastern Cape had had a big game to support. And let’s face it, with all the shenanigans going on at Eastern Province, most rugby lovers would only really want to visit the EPRFU Stadium when the Boks are in town.

Last week’s match against Scotland should not have been played in Durban. It should have been played in Rustenberg, where the Boks are scheduled to meet the All Blacks later in the season.

Just how Rustenberg is seen as a home venue for the Boks is difficult to understand. Most of the players have probably never been into the stadium, let alone played there. Durban, by contrast, has been the host venue for some epic test matches against New Zealand.

Those who want to deny it on the grounds that it is a coastal venue should engage their memory to as recently as 2002. That was the Dave McHugh/Piet van Zyl test. The Boks, urged on by a passionate and, at times, volatile crowd, should have won that game, and this was at a time when they were not particularly competitive.

A couple of years prior to that, in 1998, Durban was the venue for one of the biggest comebacks in modern test rugby. The Boks recovered from a 23-5 deficit to win 24-23 in the last quarter of the match. And even the previous post-isolation test, when the Boks lost narrowly in the lost series to Sean Fitzpatrick’s team, the Boks were far more competitive in Durban than they were at other venues.

Durban, when the crowd is behind you, is every bit as intimidating as most of the other venues in the country for a visiting team. Just ask the players who have faced the Sharks at Kings Park when they are on form.

Contrast this with the Bok record at the highveld against the All Blacks and you will see that taking the game to the interior is not always a benefit to the hosts. For instance, I cannot recall the Boks beating the All Blacks at Loftus in the post-isolation era. All I can remember is the record defeat suffered there in 2003, when the All Blacks scored more than 50 points.

It might not be surprising why this is so, either, for while the altitude might be a factor in these games, the hard, firm conditions at a place like Loftus would also play into the hands of the All Black running game.

Ellis Park does seem to have the wood over the All Blacks, but you cannot play all the Bok matches in one stadium. This is a much bigger country than England, and if you want the Springbok emblem to belong to the nation, and to be supported by the entire nation, you need to take it and the players to the nation. The nation is not Johannesburg.

And when it comes to this, a big Durban test match against New Zealand, Australia or England (when they finally come this way again), is as great an occasion as any in rugby.