Boks should follow England coach's lead

With the Springboks, Australia, New Zealand and France all battling at various stages in recent matches, finding a happy coach among the top five rugby nations is becoming exceedingly difficult.

Sure, Rudolf Straeuli's men are young and they showed plenty of potential in the series win over Wales. But I don't know if what he has seen so far will be enough to make him confident of beating New Zealand or Australia, who at the moment are reported to be more worried about each other than the Boks.

Although the two Antipodean nations bounced back with good wins this past weekend, they were made to look vulnerable the previous week. As for France, in just a fortnight they have lost much of the aura that they built up in winning the Six Nations and completing a Grand Slam.

For all four teams much work still remains to be done before the targets for this season or the more long-term goal of winning Rugby World Cup 2003 can be met.

Yet there may be one top coach who can afford himself a self satisfied smile at the moment.

Like Naas Botha, I was also hoping deep down that Argentina would give England a big klap to show Clive Woodward that you cannot send under-strength teams on overseas tours and expect to get away with it.

But by the end of this past weekend's game I was marvelling at what can only be described as a Woodward masterstroke. Unlike France and to an extent Ireland, both of whom have looked fatigued at various stages of their tours, England were energetic and hungry.

They played with a zip missing from their fellow northern hemisphere teams and duly got the result that they were looking for. After the heady achievement of beating France the previous week, defeat to an under-strength England was a big come-down for the Pumas.

It was the exact opposite for Woodward and his charges, who returned to England more certain than ever of the talent coming through and the depth available for the World Cup challenge.

More specifically, those old hands who remained at home know now that there is fierce competition for their places and that none of them are completely indispensible.

It was not of course the first time that Woodward has taken an under-strength team overseas. And the fact that Woodward is the most experienced international coach on the circuit may explain why he understands better than most why such a policy is necessary.

Back in 1998 it did not work as well as this time. What amounted to an England second string copped big defeats to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Yet Woodward would not have forgotten how his side improved with every game on that tour and how the trip benefitted him in the long-run.

Several of his current stalwarts, such as Vickery and Danny Grewcock, made their names on that tour.

In time Woodward should reap the benefits of his decision to blood the likes of Geoff Appleford and give Charlie Hodgson a full run in a top test match at flyhalf.

The message to be taken from the Argentina is a clear one - there are times when it is better to go with young and hungry rather than old and fatigued.

As I have argued before, maybe the Springboks should do the same when they go on the northern hemisphere tours that most of the senior players need like they need a hole in the head.

In my view the 1999 Springbok challenge at the World Cup actually died the previous year when Nick Mallett took his all-conquering Tri-Nations winners on what was supposed to be a record breaking Grand Slam tour of Britain and Ireland.

Several of the players who were pivotal to the Tri-Nations triumph and should have been important performers at the World Cup were out on their feet on that tour. Instead of resting like they should have, the likes of Henry Honiball and Gary Teichmann embarked on one tour too many.

The irony is that Mallett ended up experimenting at the start of the following international season, when he really should have been doing it on the British tour.

Harry Viljoen made a big mistake last year when he took a bunch of donkeys with him to Europe on the basis that experience and forward power was what was needed against England and France on their fields.

He should have been using that trip to bring through the new game plan that he spoke so much about but which we saw so little of.

Of course, such a policy would mean that the South African public might have to be less result orientated when it comes to end of year tours. A shift in mind- set might be necessary. It was interesting to note that the English commentator appeared to regard Argentina as favourites in this weekend's match. The win was a pleasant surprise for both him and no doubt the English supporters present.

If you agree with Prof Tim Noakes' view that almost all the players who have played a full season of international rugby are dead wood by the time the end of year tour arrives, then you would probably agree that the Boks are more or less doomed to defeat against France and England anyway.

Giving young, hungry guys a chance in those matches would not set South African rugby back and might just spark one giant step forward.