Boks still a work in progress

There was some similarity between South Africa’s drought-breaking victory in Perth this past weekend and their last win at the same venue seven years ago.

In 1998 the general feeling was also that the hosts had given it away as opposed to the Boks really going out there and doing it themselves. The game was played on a wet afternoon, and Matt Burke, the Australian goalkicker and fullback, missed some sitters and experienced an allround shocker.

But that doesn’t seem to matter now that we look back at that result in the pages of history. The general consensus about that Bok team of 1998 was that it was a great side that we could be immensely proud of.

Remember that it was on the back of that Tri-Nations victory that the South Africans, led by Gary Teichmann and coached by Nick Mallett, were installed as favourites to win the World Cup a year later.

That they didn’t was chiefly because they were not a team in the making, like the current one is, but one in which several players were coming to the end of their careers. Mallett knew several sell-by dates were near at hand, which is why he then went on to confound critics by dropping Gary Teichmann and ignoring some other established players.

At the time a lot of us said he was wrong, and he has subsequently admitted his culpability in the disaster. But was he really wrong? We will never know. Had he played at the World Cup, Teichmann may well have ended up being a passenger, and no-one can say otherwise with any degree of certainty.

The point though is that because they won their matches, Teichmann's 1998 team has been remembered for these past seven years as a great one. What we forget is that apart from narrow escape in Perth, the win the following week in Wellington was built around nothing more than the most stupendous defensive effort you could ever imagine.

The All Blacks had all the game in the first half, but they just couldn’t score, and the Boks were also helped by some odd selections on the part of All Black coach John Hart, who battled to settle on his flyhalf/centre combination.

This led the All Blacks to experience one of their least successful seasons. They didn’t win a single Tri-Nations game. But while the Boks ended up winning that Tri-Nations quite easily with an impressive win over Australia at Ellis Park, it was only really a freaky last 12 minutes, in which they recovered from a 23-5 deficit to win, that saved the Boks from what would have been a quite comprehensive defeat to the same All Black side in Durban a week earlier.

I remind readers of all this because I keep hearing people say that the Boks got out of jail in Perth, and I keep hearing people complaining that they didn’t score four tries, and that they still don’t look the part of a complete team.

The first point is bunk if you consider the number of points that were left on the table by the Boks in the first half. Apart from the several kicks missed by Percy Montgomery, the Boks should have scored at least one more try when Andre Pretorius made the wrong decision by throwing out a long pass when there was a massive advantage in numbers to be exploited by a more temperate, short passing approach.

As for the four tries, my personal view is that the bonus point system is questionable in the first place. In a test match four tries should not be the objective. What happens to the poor team that one day gets to play all its matches in wet weather? Say they win those games playing the right rugby for those conditions. Do they then get penalised for it?

The Wallaby defence was always too watertight to really make a haul of four tries a possibility. So the All Blacks might score four this week or next. Good luck to them, that is the way the system works. But the side that runs onto the field in a test at this level looking to score four is in big trouble.

As for the last point, I am in full accord. While the Boks defensive effort was outstanding, other aspects of their game were woeful. For instance, the ball retention was way behind the Wallabies, which was the single biggest reason that the Boks had to make three times as many tackles as their opponents.

The South Africans also make far too many elementary errors, and if you tally them up, it is a miracle that they keep winning. Among these errors are included fumbles around the fringes of the scrum, and even the lineouts, which are supposed to be a strength, are too often botched by what can only be described as poor service to the scrumhalf.

When the Aussies play off the top they do so far more efficiently than the Boks do. So while it may be true that the Boks win the lineout battles in most tests, we perhaps should take a closer look at what happens to that ball and how quickly and efficiently it is put to use.

All of this though may not be so relevant when you consider the youth of this Bok side. The real problem besetting the current Bok side is that they tend to panic on attack, and thus rush things. This is why they may be more dangerous when their opportunities come in their own half.

This is not a problem that will stay with them forever. At least not if the team is kept together. They have plenty of time to learn, and unlike Teichmann’s team there is no question of sell-by dates arriving any time soon.

What is important is that they are picking up a winning habit, and have now crossed that important psychological line which comes with winning a big test overseas. Bet against them doing the same in Dunedin next weekend at your peril.

This team may have large quantities of guts and their defensive system to thank for the miracle worked by Jake White, but they also have a lot to look forward to. And future opponents have a heck of a lot to fear…