What will dead rubber achieve?
by Gavin Rich | 02 July 2009 (17:52)
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| Morne Steyn © Gallo Images |
One team has made eight changes, the other has made 10, one gets to play again in a few weeks, the other gets to play again in four years, but it is hard to figure out which team will gain the most from the dead rubber test between the Springboks and the British and Irish Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The last match in the three test series was rendered irrelevant by the late Morne Steyn penalty that sunk the Lions in Pretoria last weekend. At least irrelevant would be the word North Americans would apply to the game, for they do not believe in dead rubbers. In all their competitions and across every code, if it is a best of three contest, and one team wins twice, then that is it, there is no third game.
Of course, it would be almost impossible to introduce such a concept for a series such as this. The red blocks at Loftus Versfeld last week were an indication of the number of fans that flew into South Africa to support the Lions from Britain and Ireland, and they had to make their bookings a long time in advance. While many of them, and also some journalists, have returned to the northern hemisphere prematurely, others, having made their tour bookings a long time ago, have stayed on for the last scheduled match.
The people of Johannesburg also arguably deserve to have a game, although some would argue that the proximity of Pretoria, and the fact that the stadium is yet to be sold out, suggests otherwise.
The Springboks should have more to gain because they go into Tri-Nations action in three weeks time. They face the All Blacks in their first match of the tournament in Bloemfontein at the end of the month.
However, in making 10 changes for this game, it is hard to tell whether Peter de Villiers and his fellow coaches will learn anything from the third test, and maybe it could confuse them. If they win well, does it mean that the new players are the guys who should be fronting the challenge in the Tri-Nations? Or would it just mean that the Lions, having already lost the series, just surrendered on the last day?
In 1997, the last time the Lions were in South Africa, the Springboks easily won the last test. But how many people remember the score, or indeed anything about that game? What is remembered is that the Boks lost the series, and for most, the mind shut down after Jerry Guscott’s drop-goal bisected the uprights to win the second test in Durban.
In actual fact, the Lions lost 35-16 on that early July night 12 years ago, leaving everyone not quite sure what it meant. Regardless of the result, it will probably be the same this time around, and in that sense, it was an odd decision by the South Africans not to select their best team.
By skipper John Smit’s own admission, the Boks “have yet to hit the buttons”, and one would have thought that this was an ideal opportunity for the home team to pick up the momentum they have fallen short of so far ahead of the Tri-Nations.
As it turns out, although there is a mix and match look to the Bok team, with some combinations unlikely to ever play together again at this level, in one crucial area the Boks may be better off than they have been so far in the series.
The reference is to the midfield, where Jaques Fourie is a world class player and should never have been left out for Adrian Jacobs. Jean de Villiers, his regular international midfield partner in 2007, is also a world class player, but he is only just making his way back from an injury lay-off and was not his best in either Durban or Pretoria.
Wynand Olivier, the man who replaces him, was the form South African centre in the Super 14, and deserves to get a game – particularly as he will be playing alongside his inform Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn in the crucial flyhalf/inside centre playmaking axis.
But when will Jongi Nokwe ever get to play in a match that really matters? He scored four tries against Australia at Ellis Park last year, but that was a dead rubber test. He hasn’t played in any test match for the Boks since then, which suggests he is a dead rubber specialist.
The thing about Nokwe is that he is one of the game’s great finishes, and could revel outside Fourie on attack. If the Lions pack, which still retains a lot of grunt, gets onto the front foot, however, his frailties in fielding the kicks could be cruelly exposed by the Lions.
The Lions next go into action in four years time in Australia, and for them, this is just about pride. The pride of saying that while they lost the series, they only lost it 2-1, which given what we have seen so far, would probably be a fair result. A victory in the last game might also just quieten those who believe that these Lions tours are endangered because of the composite team's general inability to return to the northern hemisphere with the spoils.
In a year from now though the last test match is unlikely to be remembered, and it might just as well have ground to a halt, which in reality is what happened in terms of what the Lions came here in search of, at 5pm South African time in Pretoria last Saturday.
Read more on the British & Irish Lions page.
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