It’s now just two days away from “high noon” at the AMI Stadium in Christchurch for the under-fire Springboks.
The world champion All Blacks lie in wait, eager to inflict further damage on an already fragile Bok psyche following consecutive defeats to Argentina and Australia in the Rugby Championship.
Steve Hansen’s New Zealand team have won 14 Test matches in a row, and since 2012, they’ve played 60 games and been victorious in 55, with three defeats and two draws. That’s an astonishing 91.7 percent win rate.
So, with the Springboks on the ropes, does coach Allister Coetzee have a “magic wand” to beat the All Blacks in Christchurch on Saturday? He actually might…
Coetzee’s Stormers teams of the past won five out of 12 games in New Zealand between 2010 and 2015, with five of the seven defeats being by seven points or less.
While that can’t compare to the New Zealand teams’ dominance in Super Rugby or the All Blacks’ Test success, it is not a bad outcome for a South African coach.
But while we are trying to assist Bok fans with finding straws to clutch on to for Saturday’s game, Coetzee said in Christchurch on Thursday that he will also be going down memory lane to find inspiration in what seems like a hopeless cause to most observers.
The 53-year-old didn’t taste the same success he had at franchise level in New Zealand when he was the Bok assistant coach during the Jake White era between 2004 and 2007, with the South Africans unable to gain a single away victory.
But there were two close calls against Graham Henry’s All Blacks – a 23-21 loss in 2004 at the old Lancaster Park, which was damaged in the 2011 earthquake, when wing Doug Howlett broke Bok hearts with a last-minute touchdown.
And the next year at the “House of Pain” in Dunedin, hooker Keven Mealamu crashed over from a lineout maul at the death to deny the Boks in a 31-27 defeat.
When asked on Thursday if he will recall any of those experiences in Christchurch on Saturday, Coetzee said: “You have to, you have to. And we’ve spoken about that. With the experience and confidence that New Zealand have at the moment, we’ve got to cut out soft moments in the game. We’ve come close on numerous occasions in New Zealand and lost it – by just falling short, going over the line and not scoring the try, missing a lineout, just a soft moment. And it shows the quality of the All Blacks.
“It’s a great opportunity, that’s how we look at it. Whenever South Africa clash with New Zealand, it is a big battle. The world stops and looks at a match like this. It will be none other than that this weekend, a great encounter that we are looking forward to.
“Traditionally, history tells that it is going to be a physical battle, a battle of attrition, and skill-sets that will be tested when you are playing against the world’s No 1 team. We can test ourselves as a team and see how much progress has been made up until now.”
Is Coetzee clutching at straws, or do the Boks have a genuine chance of causing a massive upset? We’ll find out at 9.35am on Saturday…