Springboks ready for Tri-Nations
by Paki's Corner | 10 July 2009 (07:55)
The last three weeks saw plenty of action on the field but perhaps even more off it. The media definitely played a large part – with both the Springboks and Lions adding their fair share of spice.
The disappointing thing for me was that when South Africa had won the Lions series after two matches, there were more negative comments and reports from the British press than anything else.
There was the Bakkies Botha saga (personally, it was a clean out, a very physical one, but still within the laws). I have to agree with David Campese’s column when he commented on the white armbands that the Springboks wore saying ‘Justice 4’. In today’s game with the strict IRB laws one cannot display a personal or team statement using the test match as a medium. When I played on the IRB World Sevens Circuit we were even told to pull our socks up or the IRB would fine us. We even had a situation where our sponsor was fined for making our IRB logo the wrong size on our jerseys.
What gets me is how the British press harps on the physicality of the Springboks. Yes Schalk Burger’s incident was ridiculous and his banning is well deserved. Besides that, the three Lions matches were extremely intense coat hangers. Both sides gave it their all – and to state the obvious – its rugby so expect it to be physical my friends. Brian O’Driscoll is one of the greatest players of our time, but the Lions center got off very lightly with his offside’s high charge on Springbok Danie Rossow. That incident took Rossow out of the game for three weeks, and I didn’t see a thing about it in the press…
The funny thing is that even though the Springboks are winning, the coach is probably the weakest link in the setup. Peter de Villiers made a rather interesting decision to make ten changes in the final Lions outing. I do understand he probably wanted to rest several players ahead of the Tri-Nations, but this is the Lions series, once every 12 years. It would have been more valuable to sweep the Series 3-0 instead of putting as many second stringers in. The Lions totally outplayed the Springboks on the weekend, and deserved the large victory. It was weird watching the losing team on the day lift the winning trophy, and I know it stung many fans. But all in all it was a superb Series, and the Lions will have to wait another 12 years to make their highlights ‘Living with the Lions’ DVD!
The Tri-Nations will be another sensational tournament, and for the first time New Zealand won’t be starting as favourites. Even though they have tremendous depth, their recent form has been very average. I think Australia will impress, and the series will be a rip snorter.
The Currie Cup starts in a few hours – no rest – not even for the fans!
Cheers
Dallen
