Ken Borland

Due to their reliance on physicality and aggression, the Springboks have often been regarded as the bad boys of rugby. Which is all well and good when it comes to intimidating the opposition, but not so helpful when, in the eyes of the referees, you are the team who needs to be watched more carefully.

It’s a stereotype of course (which we know all about in this country), but it’s funny how, almost as surely as night follows day, South Africa win a World Cup or are the best team in the world and the narrative from overseas begins that the way they play the game is bad for rugby.

By way of contrast, New Zealand’s All Blacks are the golden child of rugby – everything they do is skilful, dazzling and how the game should be played. Even when they are kicking more than any other team or mastering the dark arts of niggle and consistently killing the ball in their own 22.

South African rugby has, however, gone through phases when it was unacceptably dirty and it is fair to say our natural tendency is towards conservative, defensive, backs-to-the-wall type play rather than embracing risk and flair. As current Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber has pointed out though, it is the differences in style, in the DNA of teams, that makes international competition interesting. It would be really boring if everyone played the same way.

When I was a boy, there were no neutral referees so teams did not worry about the perceptions of the officials. The history books show that overseas teams considered it extremely difficult to win in South Africa, describing the refereeing as rather patriotic.

But now, the referee and his viewpoint are now an important part of an international team’s preparation for a match. And it is probably fair to say the current Springbok team is having a hard time with how referees are perceiving them at the moment, judging by Rassie Erasmus’s notorious video and the number of calls that seem to be going against them at the moment. In the last week we have had Faf de Klerk’s yellow card that set the tone for their poor second Test against Australia now being exposed by no less an authority as Nigel Owens as being a wrong call.

Probably the last time the Springboks faced such a PR crisis was between the 1995 and 2003 World Cups. Prior to 1995, James Small had been the only Springbok ever red-carded, when Ed Morrison sent him off against the Wallabies in Brisbane in 1993. But between 1995 and 2003, another five players were sent to the showers early and there were also numerous yellow cards.

Boy, did South Africa have a problem with discipline no matter how hard the likes of Andre Markgraaff and Rudolf Straeuli try to run the team like an army camp.

So when Jake White took over as Springbok coach in 2004, it was one of the key areas he identified as needing to improve. It was one of the reasons John Smit was appointed as captain, because the hooker was well-liked by referees and had a good ‘bedside manner’ with them.

As Smit built a rapport with the referees around the world and White clamped down hard on any on-field ill-discipline, so the Springboks’ reputation improved and they began to get more of the 50/50 calls. By 2007 they were world champions and the same group of players continued to dominate until the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal when Bryce Lawrence failed to read the script or the law book properly.

But the current Springboks’ issues with officiating and their efforts to get a fair deal are more likely to be resolved through gentle diplomacy than angry videos. Captain Siya Kolisi is one of the most respected people in global rugby, so I would like to see him take a leaf out of John Smit’s book and begin a charm offensive with the referees.

So what if the vanquished Northern Hemisphere teams don’t like the game-plan, but getting on the right side of the officials is a vital part of winning rugby.

Having first met in a Test in Dunedin in 1921, which New Zealand won 13-5, the Springboks and the All Blacks will play their 100th match in the unlikely venue of Townsville, north-eastern Queensland on Saturday. The greatest rivalry in rugby has seen many historic clashes, but these are five memorable ones that perhaps pass under the radar …

August 6, 1994 New Zealand 18 South Africa 18 (Eden Park, Auckland)

The year 1995 is forever embedded in South African history due to the 15-12 triumph over the All Blacks at Ellis Park in the World Cup final, but much of the groundwork for that win was actually laid the year before when the Springboks toured New Zealand.

South Africa’s previous Test against the All Blacks had ended in an 18-18 draw at Eden Park on August 6, 1994, so the Springboks would have believed they could beat their great rivals back at home on the Highveld. Of course the ever-arrogant Louis Luyt was president of the SA Rugby Rugby Football Union then and had coach Ian McIntosh fired, by fax, for his supposed shortcomings after that match.

But the magnitude of the achievement is shown by that fact that, to this day, no visiting team has won a Test against the All Blacks at Eden Park, the 2017 British and Irish Lions coming the closest in a 15-15 draw.

It was only the fourth time since isolation that the Springboks had played the All Blacks and they outscored them two tries to zero as McIntosh’s direct rugby started to reap benefits. Unfortunately, the ill-discipline that plagued the tour cost South Africa a memorable win as they conceded six penalties. New Zealand were able to salvage the draw when hooker and captain Sean Fitzpatrick (who else?), tugged Brendan Venter’s jersey, provoking a wild swing from the fiery centre and the crucial penalty.

August 14, 2004 South Africa 40 New Zealand 26 (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)

Two Springboks have scored hat-tricks against the All Blacks – wing Ray Mordt in 1981 and centre Marius Joubert in 2004, and no New Zealander has returned the favour.

Joubert’s hat-trick came in an epic 40-26 win for South Africa at Ellis Park, Jake White’s team beating New Zealand for the first time in four years in front of a euphoric crowd of more than 60 000 people.

The Springboks started slowly and were 10 points down after the first quarter. But their set-pieces began to exert influence and some magical backline play by Joubert, Jean de Villiers, Breyton Paulse and De Wet Barry, with eighthman Joe van Niekerk producing a classic display of linking rugby, suddenly saw the momentum turned into a deluge of tries. Victory was sealed in the 76^th minute when Joubert jinked through under the poles for his third try. South Africa won the Tri-Nations the next weekend.

August 27, 2005 New Zealand 31 South Africa 27 (Carisbrook, Dunedin)

Since their return from isolation in 1992, the Springboks have only won 16 of the 62 Tests they have played against the All Blacks, so New Zealand’s dominance is clear and the greatest rivalry in rugby has become rather one-sided at times. But it still holds a special place in Kiwi hearts and South Africa still have the greatest winning percentage against the All Blacks of all opponents.

In fact, back in 2005, it was felt that the Springboks, under Jake White and John Smit, had reignited the old rivalry enough for the All Blacks to debut a new haka against them – the Kapa o Pango – rather than against the British & Irish Lions, who were touring that year too.

In a humdinger in Dunedin, South Africa’s hold on the Tri-Nations crown slipped as New Zealand snatched a dramatic 31-27 win. The lead changed hands seven times before another hooker, Keven Mealamu, broke the Springboks’ hearts by crashing over for a try with just four minutes of play left.

August 1, 2009 South Africa 31 New Zealand 19 (Kings Park, Durban)

On August 1, 2009, flyhalf Morne Steyn broke miscellaneous records as he kicked eight penalties and scored a try which he converted, all of South Africa’s points in a 31-19 win over the All Blacks at Kings Park in Durban. A second-half drop goal attempt hit the upright.

It was the first time the Springboks had beaten New Zealand on back-to-back weekends since 1976, following their 28-19 win in Bloemfontein seven days earlier.

John Smit was leading the Springboks for a world record 60^th time that day and the Springbok lineout was utterly dominant and flank Heinrich Brussow cleaned up on the floor. The home side also harangued the All Blacks with a swarming defence and scrummed and mauled superbly.

October 4, 2014 South Africa 27 New Zealand 25 (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)

Pat Lambie’s 55m penalty on full-time to beat the All Blacks 27-25 at Ellis Park in 2014 was a thrilling conclusion to a dazzling Test match that was full of intensity and side-to-side action, ending a 22-match unbeaten run for New Zealand, one short of their own world record, and giving Heyneke Meyer’s Springboks their first win in three years against their great rivals.

It came after a pulsating All Blacks comeback from 11 points down saw them take a 25-24 lead. The Springboks had thrown the ball around in the first half and scored three tries, but New Zealand came roaring back to make for a special Test match which saw South Africa find the balance between structured play and some cracking attacking bursts from turnover ball.

Loose forward Kwagga Smith was bemoaning the Springbok team’s failure to control the momentum of the first Rugby Championship Test against Australia and prop Trevor Nyakane was agreeing with his colleague that momentum is where it all starts, so there is no doubt the South Africans will be looking to hit the Wallabies with a much more ferocious forward effort when they meet again in Brisbane on Saturday morning (SA time).

There has been much talk about the penalties the Springboks conceded or their feelings that they were obstructed in the aerial contests, but those are just symptoms of the underlying cause – their failure to really boss the gainline battles and seize control of the momentum of the game. Coach Jacques Nienaber mentioned this week that “the first-time tackling was not as good as it should have been”.

So the Springbok forwards need to be in Smash mode and Trevor Nyakane, who returns as the starting loosehead prop, said it needs to all start at scrum-time, where they conceded two vital penalties last weekend.

“It starts with momentum and the set-piece is exactly that. We always want to be dominant, even at a scrum on the halfway line, and it hurts us as a pack to see penalties being conceded. Australia have got their way of scrumming that they want to impose on us, and we have to try and figure out a way to counter that. They present a different type of challenge.

“But we don’t train to do anything weird like walking around or scrumming to a specific side. We believe our plan will always allow us to find a way to deal with anything a team can bring. It’s tough when you feel certain things are happening, but if you take it into your own hands then you are going away from the system and that’s when the scrum as a whole gets smashed,” Nyakane said.

For Smith, who is one of three impact loose forwards (Marco van Staden and Jasper Wiese are the others) poised to come off the bench, it is about lifting the tempo and intensity of the game.

“When us three loose forwards get on, we need to bring energy. The players who have started have worked really hard and we need to give them energy. People are looking at what Australia do off the ball to minimise our efforts, but we didn’t stop their momentum. We gave them a lot of front-foot ball and we definitely need to work on getting momentum and stopping their momentum.

“We know that most of the points at the Suncorp Stadium are scored towards the end of the game, so we need to bring energy to the pack, make sure we’re going in hard. We need to work hard in defence and get off the line. We have ball-hunters on the bench so we are set up to make an impact and get possession we can attack from, but also give our defence those extra couple of seconds to set,” Smith said.

Smith knows he is going to be in for a tough head-to-head battle with Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper, a top-class flank who will captain Australia for a record 60^th time on Saturday, surpassing the previous milestone of scrumhalf George Gregan.

“I love playing against Michael, he’s a really good player who has a lot of Test caps [112]. He gives 80 minutes every game and there was one SuperRugby season when he played every minute of every game. So you’ve got to be at your best against him, it’s never going to be easy, but our focus is not on individuals but our system,” Smith said.

DURBAN, KwaZulu-Natal – A golfer who has missed a few cuts never sleeps easy before a tournament, but Merrick Bremner is determined to ensure he enjoys himself when he tees it up in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Mount Edgecombe event from Thursday.

Bremner, a seven-time winner on the Sunshine Tour and a stalwart of the circuit since 2006/7, is currently 83^rd on the order of merit after a fairly wretched winter has seen him miss the last three cuts. So the pressure is on, but the 35-year-old is adamant that his fortunes will only turn if he is having fun out on course and not pushing and grinding too hard.

“I’m hoping to have a lot of fun. Coming from the high pace, quick living of Gauteng, to a very laid-back place like Mount Edgecombe is what I’m looking for. I know it’s not as easy as just saying ‘I’m going to have fun’ and then you play well otherwise I would have a lot more good performances.

“But if you’re not enjoying yourself then you definitely won’t be able to perform at your best, so that’s my focus – just go out there and have some fun. I just remember that life could be worse, I could have a 9-to-5 job, so I am extremely blessed to be playing golf for a living. The key to anyone’s success is that they are enjoying what they do,” Bremner said on Wednesday.

Bremner was born in Durban and feels at home on the North Coast, even though he grew up on the Highveld.

“It’s excellent to be back down here, I’ve always liked the coastal courses and I’ve had a bit of success at Mount Edgecombe Country Club Estate. I like the layout, I love the people and it just feels lekker here – it’s a bit warmer, everything is greener and there’s more grass on the fairways than up in Gauteng right now. So maybe somewhere in there it does feel a bit like home,” Bremner said.

Known as one of the biggest hitters on our, the other excellent news for Bremner is that, judging by his third-place finish in the Pro-Am, the hard work he has been putting into his putting is starting to pay off.

“All aspects of your game need to fire around here, but I have been putting in some proper putting work and I seem to be making some good progress. So I am really looking forward to this tournament,” Bremner said.