Wellington, New Zealand - Adversity for South African rugby men does not come much bigger than a 40-7 thrashing by their greatest rivals, New Zealand. Inevitably, it was as one-sided a contest as a score line of six tries to one suggests.
The Springboks were out-muscled up front and completely out-paced by a New Zealand team that showed exactly why the host nation will start the Rugby World Cup as clear favourites.
Yet even so, even as the South Africans continued to ship points in the second half, a clear and obvious message could be drawn, albeit from the shambles of this second Tri-Nations defeat. Contrary to the belief of many, including the national coach, South Africa do have players capable of performing under the opportunities afforded by the new law interpretations.
As Peter de Villiers, clearly working on the principle that he had nothing to lose, mixed and matched his makeshift side with all manner of substitutions in the second half, it became clear that the South Africans could, had they wished, built a side long ago based on pace and the ability to adapt to the “new” game and its very different requirements.
Who on earth could say that, between them, players such as Gio Aplon, Lwazi Mvovo, Patrick Lambie, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Juan de Jongh and Ashley Johnson do not have the speed to play modern Test rugby as the new law interpretations offer? Then there are those who stayed at home, such as Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie.
It became increasingly obvious, as De Jongh asked questions of the defence with his fast, straight running, Ralepelle astonished observers with the pace of his surge close to the All Blacks line, Mvovo chased some kicks and Lambie got his backline moving by playing so much flatter than Morné Steyn in Sydney last week, that here was the genesis of a whole new playing philosophy by South African rugby men. Add some forward power and the fantasy could have come to fruition.
Of course, it will have been viewed largely as an irrelevance by the Springbok coach. He set out his stall four years ago in terms of how he wanted the Springboks to play and the personnel he would choose to achieve that. Keeping the ball in hand, basing your philosophy on attack and creativity by means of running rugby played little part in his preferred approach.
He wanted big forwards to bash away up front and a pair of kicking half-backs to keep the ball in front of the overtly physical pack.
In Wellington on Saturday, the two very different paths chosen by these countries were laid bare. But, with a World Cup now just 39 days away, the die is cast. South Africa must stick to the rigid, restrictive gameplan advocated by their coach for the past four years. It is far, far too late to change.
But as a matter of record, what happened in patches in Wellington merits remembering. South African rugby does possess players of attacking creativity, vision and flow. It can produce rugby men other than just great behemoths up front.
The pity is that the eyes of the South African national coaches have been closed to these possibilities and, consequently, a more expansive gameplan. So they must play another World Cup wearing blinkers. - Cape Times