IT was an almost eerily subdued arrival for the Springboks in Sydney on Sunday, with barely a soul acknowledging their presence at the arrivals hall when in previous years the full-strength Boks have been accustomed to being trumpeted onto the bus to the tune of Sarie Marais by a Cape-style band, while thronged by autograph-hunting, homesick green-and-gold clad expats.
Maybe the day lost to the recalcitrant Engine No 3 on Friday’s QF 64 spoiled the planning party, and the total no-show of Aussie reporters (not one – never mind the usual TV crews) at the arrivals press opportunity was mostly because of the Test match against Samoa that had ended not long before the Boks landed at about 8pm local time.
“Where is everybody?” captain John Smit smiled rhetorically. “Ah well, I guess they are not excepting too much from us but for the life of me I don’t know why. But I reckon we can be very assured that this loss to Samoa we have just heard about is going to shake things up a bit this week and I think we might see the heat being taken off us being the ones accused of fielding a second-strong side ...”
Smit, though, was not overly surprised to hear that Samoa, the 10th-ranked team in the world, had registered their first-ever win over Australia.”Look, I would not have predicted this result but I think it is indicative of what you could see over the six weeks building up to the World Cup as teams look to win but at the same time have a focus on ensuring their squad arrives in New Zealand in the best possible shape.”
Of course, he could be talking about the Springboks.
“And the other side of the coin is that we are going to get a good indication of how teams are placed before the World Cup,” Smit continued. “This result sends a big warning to us that our Pool (which includes Samoa and Fiji) is going to be very competitive.
“If you look at the Samoans, they have got plenty good professional rugby players in the Northern Hemisphere, and the big thing for them is being able to get their combinations right given that they they do not often play together,” Smit said. “I always thought this would be a tricky game for Robbie Deans because he had to rest players that played in last week’s Super Rugby final (for the Reds) while a warm-up game against Samoa always had the threat of being an ambush.”
Deans called it a “big wake-up call” while stony-faced captain Rocky Elsom growled: “Just not good enough – it is hard to find positives in that.”
Nevertheless, Deans will recall half a dozen-first choice players for the Tri-Nations opener against the Boks at the same venue, the ANZ Stadium on the outskirts of Sydney in the old Olympic precinct.
Notably, Reds half-backs Will Genia and Quade Cooper will return for disappointing debutant (Nick Phipps) and Matt Giteau (who will move to 12). Western Force Flanker David Pocock will return from injury, as will wing James O’Connor and Reds captain and second row James Horwill.
A place will also be found for Reds No 8 Scott Higganbotham and it should also be noted that star Waratahs loose forward Wycliff Palu is only a week or so away from a return from injury.
The Boks, meanwhile, have settled into the famous Intercontentinal Hotel at Sydney Harbour’s Circular Quay, a stone’s throw (perish the thought) from the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.
They will travel across that world-renowned landmark each day to the North Sydney Oval for their daily training sessions.