Durban — If a headmaster had to give the Springboks a report card at the end of their recent term of five home matches, what would it read?
“Some pleasing work but can do better?” Or how about “Not performing to potential because of lapses in concentration?”
Supporting the Springboks is indeed a love-hate relationship for their fans because if there is one thing you can rely upon with the Boks, it is that they are unreliable.
It is now a wearisome cliché that they play their best when their backs are against the wall and that they tend to lose the big games where they are favourites.
Incidentally, that is why I am certain the Boks will win in Adelaide on Saturday (7.30am kick-off, SA time) because it fits in perfectly with their lose-win-lose-win pattern against the top teams.
Had they beaten the All Blacks back-to-back at Ellis Park I would have been worried about this first Test against the Wallabies but the Boks will bounce back and win fairly comfortably because they left this country under howls of outrage from disappointed fans, and they are a better team than the Wallabies.
The Boks really should have put away a vulnerable All Blacks side in Johannesburg but they did not get their selection right and then were away with the fairies for 10-minute periods at the start and finish of the game. They just weren’t at the races for crucial periods of the game, and champions teams don’t do that.
The worrying thing for the Boks is that if they do not master consistency, then they are going to struggle to defend their crown in France in a year’s time. At a Cup, you need to win seven consecutive games and while I know the Boks bucked the trend in 2019 by bouncing back from a Pool loss to New Zealand to win the final, I highly doubt they will be that fortunate a second time.
Especially not when you consider they are headed for a major quarter-final jam with New Zealand, France and Ireland.
The challenge now for the Boks has to be to win back-to-back games in Australia and put to bed the perennial mental weakness they have when playing there (hence their abysmal record away to the Wallabies) and generate momentum toward what is going to be a mini- Cup of an end-of-year tour — they play France, Ireland, Italy and England on successive weekends.
After these two Tests in Australia, the Boks finish with home and away games against Argentina, so from Saturday they need to pull up their socks and consistently play to their undoubtedly rich potential.
A point of interest, if the Boks lose in Adelaide they are likely to fall in Rugby’s Test rankings.
New Zealand will climb above South Africa into third place if they beat Argentina in Christchurch and the Springboks lose to Australia.
South Africa will, in fact, drop two places if they lose by more than 15 points and New Zealand also beat Argentina.
The Springboks cannot improve on third with victory as they would still trail France above them by at least 0.60 rating points.
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