plagiarize stuff that is itself already plagiarized. (incidentally
rugbyheaven.co.nz have changed their url back from rugbyhell.co.nz,
which was their immediate reaction to the loss to Les Bleus)
Want to know what the others think of the Boks? Rugbyheaven.co.nz's
Marc Hinton gives his view.
That was how the All Blacks could have played. Should have played. An
exercise in clinical finishing, punishment of opposition errors and
how to play front-running rugby. The Springboks are the team New
Zealand could have been, if they were good enough.
That's the stark realisation that struck me after watching the South
Africans secure their place in next weekend's World Cup final, and
with it, surely, their second global title. Only a rugby god with a
cruel sense of perspective would reward the limited, if gritty,
England side with a second straight crown.
It's been impressive stuff from the Boks, pretty much throughout the
tournament. They made the most emphatic of statements with their 36-0
dismantling of England in pool play, lost concentration a bit with
their second-string outfit against Tonga, took care of the rest easily
enough and then survived a Fijian comeback in the quarter-final and
were good enough to win easing away.
Then, when it really counted, when they were up against a legitimate
threat, which Marcelo Loffreda's Pumas assuredly were, they took their
game up a level. They pounced on two intercepts, punished the
Argentinians for an error in possession for another and put Bryan
Habana into all the space he needed for the fourth. Meanwhile Percy
Montgomery – one of many individual success story in this Boks lineup
– kicked the goals with unerring precision.
The Pumas, like the French, were a team that could have been a real
handful if you let them. But the Boks never let them get a sniff. Each
time they'd look like working their way back into the match, the South
Africans would strike, either with a try or a penalty, and move the
buffer back out. In the end the Argentines were left playing a game of
catchup they were ill at ease with.
It was impressive stuff by the South Africans who I think will win
next weekend's final with some ease. Having spent some time around
them the week of their quarter-final in Marseille, I got a fair sense
of what they're about.
There's a real purpose about these Springboks, a feeling that destiny
is theirs to take. There's a slight inclination to take their eye off
the ball when they sense they don't have to produce their very best
(ie against Fiji) but when they know their A game is required, they're
good enough to deliver it.
I also don't think they've produced anything near their best since
that shutout of the English. Even then their forwards took a bit of a
knock back that day, conceding a couple of tightheads at scrum time
and struggling to impose in their normal physical fashion.
I expect them to respond in style in the final. And if that happens,
with the Boks' ability to finish, and to collect points at regular
intervals, they could pull away from an English side that needs to
keep the score low to have any chance.
There's no doubt that the All Blacks could have cut a similar swathe
through this tournament and, by rights, should have been squaring up
against them in what would have been an epic final next week.
But when it counted the New Zealanders could not put away an inferior
team. They could not make their dominance pay. They couldn't punish an
opponent struggling to stay in the match.
But there are also many more differences. This is a settled Boks
outfit. Graham Henry never gave his men a chance to go anywhere near
that state of comfort.
It's also a match hardened one. Most of these men played the entire
Super 14, the majority right to the very end, where, fittingly, two
South African sides fought out the final. When they needed a little
break to recharge the batteries, it was given them during the
meaningless test season, which was nothing more than a phoney war.
Do these Boks looked tired to you, as Henry insisted his All Blacks
would have been if he'd asked them to play maybe as many as 13 matches
in the Super 14? Like heck they do. There's a spring in their step, as
there should be with a world title right within their grasp.
As mentioned I expect them to win easily in the final. For Os du Randt
who is looking to bookend his remarkable career with World Cup crowns;
for the incomparable Victor Matfield who's off to play his rugby in
France; for Fourie du preez, the most complete halfback of this era;
for Montgomery who has reinvented himself as a classy test fullback;
for that fantastic skipper of theirs, the redoubtable John Smit; and
for young talents such as Bryan Habana, Frans Steyn, JP Pietersen,
Juan Smith and Schalk Burger who deserve the ultimate reward for their
endeavour.
But most of all I expect them to win because they're a balanced,
motivated, hardened, effective rugby team who can play whatever style
they have to in order to win a test match.
The addition of Eddie Jones was also a master stroke that cannot be
overplayed. Not only has the Australian's tactical acumen been vital,
but the pressure he has taken off Jake White as a confidante and
co-conspirator has been immense. The Boks coach, finally given an
offsider he respects, likes and is invigorated by, has been in his
element this World Cup.
Who knows, maybe as New Zealand continues its fruitless search for an
All Blacks coach with the vision and veracity to bring back the World
Cup, they could do worse than cast their net the way of the Boks coach
who will be looking for a new job after this World Cup. Seems to me
like the guy knows his stuff. And apparently he loves the New Zealand
rugby culture.
Won't happen. I know that. Doesn't mean it shouldn't.
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