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 16/9/07
Friday night was a clash of eras.
Yesterday’s fading men from England, who
will mercifully soon be stripped of a world
champions tag they have held in nothing but
name for four long years, against one of
today’s leading teams and potential 2007
world champions, South Africa.
The history men were consigned to the back
pages by a side that did not need to perform
at its peak but displayed structure enough
to threaten the coronation of the All
Blacks. There is a way to travel, but with
the Springboks in the other side of the
draw, the likelihood of the sport’s two
traditional powers coming together for a
repeat of the 1995 final is gathering
momentum. Like the Titanic and the iceberg,
New Zealand and South Africa look destined
to collide.
Whether the South Africans will sink or be
sunk might depend upon the contribution of
the world’s best scrum-half, Fourie du Preez.
He was majestic on Friday, creating all
three South African tries with a combination
of leg and mind speed that humiliated the
ponderous plodders of Martin Corry’s England
team.
The contrast between the Springbok pivot and
the bedraggled effort of Shaun Perry and
Andy Gomarsall summed up the difference
between today’s and yesterday’s men. Du
Preez is not the servant of the Springbok
pack, but its master. Yes, forwards win
matches, but only when they are directed by
backs. The latter is the part of the
equation widely forgotten.
Du Preez commanded his pack from the first
to the 61st minute, when he sauntered away
from his stroll in the Stade. When Du Preez
wants the ball, he gets it. Always on the
front foot, he was primed to outpace Paul
Sackey, outkick the entire England kicking
team or flash a slick service to the quietly
controlled Butch James.
John Smit is captain, but Du Preez is the
side’s fulcrum. What a desperate contrast
with Perry and his replacement, both of whom
stuttered and stumbled through their lines.
But spare a thought for the England nines.
Whereas the dynamic nature of the South
African game allows for quick and urgent
possession, stodgy England, under their
brave but stolid captain, Corry, treat their
scrum-halves with disdain. The England
half-back gets the ball in the forwards’ own
good time and not a second before. Crash it
up a metre a minute and when the move
(something of a contradiction in terms)
terminates, he can scramble it out with his
feet as opposition defenders line up to make
the tackles.
England win lots of ball, but most of it is
useless ball. Defences truly do win matches
when attacks accept the cramped conditions
imposed by the England set-up. If they are
not trundling aimlessly around, they are
committing so few numbers to the breakdown
that ball is inevitably slowed down.
Du Preez is the best scrum-half in the
tournament, but more people might realise
just how good he is if he were English.
Fortunately for him, he is not and a number
of his allies are of such quality that his
vibrant talents have a great chance to make
it all the way to the final.
The most obvious and talked about of his
colleagues is, of course, Bryan Habana, but
great wing that he has developed into, both
in attack and defence, it is Schalk Burger
who could, alongside Du Preez, hold the key
to the Kiwi lock.
Jake White lost his flanker, harshly banned
for two matches, one of which was Friday’s.
Freshened by the enforced break, the blond
bomber could eclipse the New Zealand back
row with the potency of his play. You may
remember Peter Winterbottom’s reservations
printed on these pages only last week, but
Burger’s devastating game alterations
against Samoa could rip those concerns into
shreds.
From nowhere he is mixing his muscle with
subtle passes as defenders are forced to
think twice about what he will do with the
ball in hand. Eddie Jones, installed as
White’s original thinker, seems to have
worked the oracle and converted a mighty
athlete into a potentially outstanding
international.
Luck is running South Africa’s way. The ban
is working well, and painful as the loss of
Jean de Villiers is for the unfortunate
individual, White may again be indirectly
blessed. Not that the coach does not deserve
some credit for selecting the 20-year-old
prodigy Francois Steyn as his replacement at
inside-centre. A diamond in the process of
being cut, he has everything an
inside-centre needs.
He may not be the organiser that the more
experienced De Villiers is, but he has
softer hands, equally forceful running and a
monstrous kicking game. In addition, he can
drop goals from outrageous distances. On
Friday he looked as if he was growing into
the role, while inside him at fly-half,
James appears infinitely more comfortable
with the booming boot and confidence of the
kid next to him.
Bad luck for De Villiers could be great
fortune for White, but the coach had other
options. The safer one would have been to
opt for South Africa’s usual cover at 12,
Wynand Olivier. The Blue Bull has the
considerable benefit of more experience and
tends to make fewer blunders than the golden
boy of Springbok rugby does.
Had this tournament been held 12 months ago,
White would have taken the route more easily
chosen and stuck with the steady regular,
but there is a new-found confidence in his
beliefs (where again the presence of Jones
looms large).
While the Springboks were making their
positive intentions plain for the England
match with Steyn’s elevation into the XV,
England were retreating further into their
shell of negativity with the recall of Corry
as captain. In the world of former world
champions, nothing is ventured in an attempt
to grind teams into the defensive dust.
But South Africa, bold and believing, have
discovered faith in the powers of flair
mingling among all the might of traditional
hard-hitting forwards. No longer are the
Springboks a one-dimensional side who can be
repelled by sheer determination and tackling
technique. The threats are coming from all
over. The iceberg and Titanic are closing in
on one another.
STUART BARNES |
Times Online | Sunday, 16 September 2007 |
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