This tour has negligible relevance to World Cup

Here is a warning: If you are tempted to watch a video recording of the Springbok defeat to Scotland in Murrayfield, resist it at all costs. The second viewing is likely to be even more harrowing than the first.

The rerun of the event just re-emphasises how completely inept the Springboks were. While the control of the Scottish forwards stood out in the live viewing, the recording was a reminder of how rank bad the Boks were when it came to decision-making, handling and catching.

There were several players to blame, but one of the chief culprits was Bolla Conradie, who is singled out because his selection might in part sum up where the Boks have gone wrong on this tour.

The Western Province scrumhalf produced a tactically naive performance in his second game in the Springbok jersey, which was against Wales on a wet Cape Town day back in June. It was proved then that he still had some way to go before he would be a decent wet weather player.

On in his place came Natal scrumhalf Craig Davidson, who is now injured, and voila, the change in tactics brought a change in fortune for the Boks.

There are many things that can be pointed to as reasons for the implosion of the Springboks. But right near the top of the list must be the inability of this Springbok team to adapt to the northern conditions, which were particularly problematic in Edinburgh.

If you consider how dangerous the Springboks were on attack during the Tri-Nations, maybe it is time to accept that rugby may not differ that much from from cricket, where conditions and geographical location have a huge impact on performances.

Anyone who disagrees should take a look at the Sri Lankan performances on their current tour. On the sub-continent, the Proteas really battle to get the Sri Lankans out. When they tour there or other countries on the sub-continent, there always has to be a greater emphasis on spin bowling.

The quicks who trouble the Sri Lankans so much on the faster and bouncier wickets of South Africa and Australia become relatively toothless when playing in Asia. This is why the Indians managed to beat Australia in a three test series in India last year, but a few months earlier they were whitewashed on Australian territory.

The composition of a cricket squad differs widely according to where the matches are being played. On the sub-continent, you take more spinners at the expense of seamers and pacemen. You also select batsmen who might prosper on those wickets. Gary Kirsten is an example of a batsman who has scored a lot of runs in Asia even at times when he has been out of form at other venues.

The current Springbok squad is that it has been selected largely on form shown in matches played in very different conditions to those which pertain at the moment in England and Scotland.

While the All Blacks have been fortunate enough to hit two relatively mild days more conducive to running rugby in their two matches, the opposite has been the case with the Boks. In Marseilles the sky was clear but there was a thick layer of dew on the ground in a game that was played late at night. In Scotland it should have been obvious even to television viewers that it was not a day geared towards attacking rugby.

They were conditions that favoured a team which built its entire approach around the forwards and a kicking flyhalf, which is what the Scots did. The Boks, thanks in part to injury and in part to a mistake in selection, were inexperienced.

Their task at forward was made all the more difficult by the fact that it was a new pack.

It takes a while for a forward unit to gel effectively, and thanks to the coach making 10 changes, the pack has never been given a chance to settle. It may have been a mistake to pick Marco Wentzel, who is essentially a dry weather lock in the Selborne Boome/Albert van den Berg mould, ahead of AJ Venter, Bakkies Botha, or better still, the now retired Mark Andrews.

At least it was a mistake if the Boks were not intending to contest the lineouts, which again appeared to be the case.

But while this might come across as a criticism of the selectors, let's also acknowledge that for the most part South Africans are all dry weather players.

Even those from the Western Cape, which sees more winter rainfall than other parts of the country, tend to prefer playing on dry fields.

This means they need a bit of time to adjust to the northern hemisphere conditions, which explains why their results in tests on this tour do not compare, for example, with the record of Kitch Christie's team that came to Britain in 1994.

It ought to be recalled that when the Boks first arrived on the 1994 tour, they did not play well at all. They struggled against Cardiff, Llanelli and Neath in the initial stages. It was only when they put almost 80 points past Swansea that the 1994 tour finally took off. The Boks took a while to get used to the conditions, but fortunately during those initial stages they were only playing club teams.

By the time the test matches came along, the Boks were acclimatised and the necessary horses for courses selections had been decided. Ironically, one of these saw Rudolf Straeuli preferred at No8 to Tiaan Strauss, a move which in northern conditions proved a master-stroke.

But whereas in 1994 it took a couple of games - remember the defeat to Scotland A in Melrose? - to find their range in the north, the 2002 team does not have that luxury.

It is the same for the northern teams when they come south in the southern hemisphere winter. It takes a while to adapt to faster, quicker fields and the different demands.

This explains why England, when they toured in 2000, were poor initially but then hit the straps when it mattered to win the second test in Bloemfontein.

Incidentally, that victory was one of just two that England have scored against a top team in the southern hemisphere in the last 10 years. Wales, Scotland and Ireland have faired no better on their trips south, and if you take away their win over South Africa in Johannesburg in 2001, the French have also underperformed when on the wrong side of the equator.

This is not to suggest the Boks should be excused for their pitiful performance in Edinburgh. Rather it suggests that instead of regarding the latest results as an indication that South African rugby is in a crisis, we should be looking at the latest tour for what it is - a reminder that trips to the north demand a different approach to both playing and selection strategy.

Seeing the tournament is not being played in the north, this tour's relevance to the World Cup may be neglible.