Something for us to crow about

There is something about the way the sun pours in through the window when you wake up on a Durban morning. It is invigorating and fills you with the joys of spring, even though it is still July, and the official start to spring is over a month away. Not that Durban really has a winter. A cold day here is like a warm day in Glasgow.

I just thought I better get this column out of the way quickly while everything feels so positive. Next week will find me back in a dark Cape winter, and the flowers might not smell as fresh. The Springboks will also be in the Cape, and while I am hoping their mood won’t be dark, it possibly could be.

As every South African rugby journalist and his parrot has been pointing out for ages, the All Black team that the Boks are playing at the moment are far from the best side to be sent out from the Land of the Long White Cloud. Apart from the stars that are missing and the obvious fact that the Kiwis are rebuilding, to me it is a strangely configured side, with not all the combinations fitting together like pieces of a jigsaw.

But while the All Blacks may be weaker than usual, there is much truth in that old saying that there is no such thing as a really weak All Black side. Just look at the record of their often maligned coach, Graham Henry – just 10 defeats in 68 starts. In this country you are considered to have an okay record if you have been in charge for a quarter that number but lost half as many.

The standards that New Zealanders aspire to are high, perhaps a lot higher than ours, which is why it would not surprise me to see the wounded All Blacks bounce back in a big way this week, perhaps in a similar way to how they did after their thrashing by Australia in Sydney last year.

Which is the reason I have to write this column now, while the sun is pouring through the window, and the Springboks are back where they were at the end of 2007 – in the No1 position on the world rankings.

It is not just the fact the rugby players are ruling the world that is inspiring these feelings of elation. Such is the depth of talent in this country, we should always expect the Boks to be either at No1 or No2, and we should be demanding the standards that New Zealanders do of their team.

What should really make us proud though is that the rugby team is in No1 position (and let’s not forget so are the Sevens team) at the same time as the cricketers are at No1 in the ODI rankings and just a hairs breath away from being No1 in the world at Test level as well.

If the Australia don’t hold onto the Ashes, the Proteas will be back at No1 in what I still think of as the premier form of the sport. In fact, I am told England just need to hold on for a draw in this Ashes series for South Africa to go past Australia.

And if it does transpire that way, it would be deserved for Graeme Smith and his team for their series defeat at home to Australia earlier this year was their first in ages. The Aussies, if they lose the Ashes series, would have lost three out of their last four against major teams – England in England, South Africa in Australia, and India in India.

For me, the Proteas becoming No1 is inevitable – it is a question of when, rather than if. Should they not get there now, they will by beating England later in the year. Rugby, for reasons elaborated on in previous columns, might find it more difficult to hold onto their position, but the Springboks do have the players to sustain it for the foreseeable future.

Being No1 in the world in two of the major Western sports at the same time is not bad for a country still going through the growth pains of a transition period that many thought would see us fall off the planet in the sporting world. It should help salve the wounds caused by our perennial failures at the Olympics.