It’s now a must: the Springboks simply have to beat the All Blacks. The two great teams of world rugby, a rivalry unmatched for many, meet at Ellis Park tomorrow with pride at stake but, more importantly, also the chance to land a big psychological blow a year out from the World Cup.
The reality is if Heyneke Meyer’s men don’t get the job done tomorrow many of them will enter 2015 not knowing what’s required to beat the best team in the world. They’ll be puzzling over game plans, players and styles, uncertain of their strength, ability and growth – and that just months away from a possible World Cup date.
It’s all good and well to beat Australia, England, France, Wales, Ireland and Argentina – home and away – but not until the Boks beat New Zealand will Meyer and his charges know where they truly stand in the world game.
The Boks have come close to getting the job done since Meyer took over – most recently three weeks ago in Wellington when they fell just short, 14-10 – but that’s never going to be good enough.
The margins between the two sides are tiny, but the reality is the All Blacks are also streets ahead in many areas. It’s something Meyer openly acknowledges – their conditioning, their kicking game, their killer instinct, their ability to win the big moments. But it is now time that the Boks matched them in those areas.
Why shouldn’t we ask why the Boks’ option-taking in the dying moments in Wellington wasn’t good, why they didn’t show composure and why they sometimes need a big fright to spark them into action; like last week against Australia when they really only delivered quality rugby in the final 10 minutes?
Former coaches Jake White and Peter de Villiers went into the World Cups of 2007 and 2011 knowing what it was like to beat New Zealand.
The players had achieved lifelong goals in winning those matches – and they were better off for doing so going into those tournaments.
White went on to win the World Cup, with De Villiers’ charge ended only because of some seriously poor officiating. Many still believe had the Boks pulled through against Australia that day, they’d have gone all the way.
Meyer needs to know what it’s like to beat New Zealand. The players need it too, for it has simply been too long now that the Boks have experienced that high; in 2011 in Port Elizabeth. In fact that is the only Bok victory against the All Blacks in the last 10 meetings, going back to 2010.
It is games such as these that can really hurt one team and boost the other. There may no longer be a trophy at stake, but that takes nothing away from the importance of the match – it’s the Springboks versus All Blacks.
Too often recently the All Blacks have left the field feeling they’ve been in a major battle, but ecstatic about the result.
A powerful Bok performance, and especially a win, tomorrow would perhaps make only a small crack in the New Zealand armour, but it would significantly heighten Meyer’s and his team’s belief that they can beat anyone, anywhere, at next year’s World Cup.
Let’s not forget the All Blacks have won 33 of their last 36 matches since Steve Hansen took charge. They’re a team at the top of their game, but we’ve also seen them struggle when they’re on the back foot and taken out of their comfort zone.
The time’s arrived for the Boks to bring their great rivals down a peg or two – tomorrow provides the perfect opportunity. - The Star