Forward power the answer

rugby365 columnist Robbie Fleck reports back from the World Classics in Bermuda, whilst also looking at the Springbok tour of the United Kingdom.

Hello from Bermuda – where the Elan Springbok Legends have just won their second match of the Bermuda World Classics.

On Sunday, we beat France 12-7 and on Wednesday night (the early hours of Thursday morning SA time) we beat Australia 21-0. As I write this, celebrations are about to begin, so I won’t keep you too long…

We’ve had a good time in Bermuda and have – as always – been looked after really well. We arrived in Bermuda on Friday of last week and got the week off to a great start with a street party to ‘open’ the tournament and there have been a fair few cocktails enjoyed on the beautiful beaches since then, followed by a few more drinks at the various beer tents around here!

The whole vibe here has really been amazing and it’s hard not to have a good time – on the field and in the bars… All the locals want to do is party with us – can you now see why we started to slowly against France?! – and everyone goes all out and dresses up when they come and watch the games.

That is something that we would like achieve at the Cape Town Tens next year; the fancy dress, the party atmosphere, and Bobby and I have taken some notes; as well as signing up guys like former All Blacks Scott ‘Razor’ Robertson and Keith Lowen to come and play in the CT Tens in February 2009.

Our SA Legends coach, the one and only Ian McIntosh, arrived on Sunday evening only, so he missed our first game, but we were quick to tell him how well we did without him! It’s great, however, to have the ‘Master’ in the mix, he just adds so much more to the occasion.

Bob (Skinstad) was another late arrival (due to his LuvSport commitments), but he arrived at our game against France virtually straight off the plane and produced a typically masterful display. I hadn’t played with Bob in quite a while, but I look forward to playing with him again this weekend.

I scored the second of our two tries against France, with Breytie Paulse scoring our first. France took the lead before half-time with a converted try, but my try put us ahead 12-7 at half-time, which ended up being the final score too in quite a heated match, with a few bust-ups along the way… I won’t lie; we were lucky to come away with a win, but we showed typical South African determination – especially as defending champions – to pull through in the end.

Some of us out there might be a bit long in the tooth these days, but this was, in many ways, a typical French-Bok clash; all the French flair was there to be seen, but it was tempered by some pretty simple errors from Les Bleus.

Our game against Australia (who had David Knox and Jeremy Paul in their side) was a fun outing too and we did well to get in with another win. Don’t be fooled by the 21-0 scoreline, it wasn’t an easy as it seems…

Thanks to that victory, we are now into the World Rugby Classic Final, which is not bad for a few old folks trying to recapture their glory days! Our opponents will either the Classic All Blacks or the Classic Lions. (Of bigger consequence, however, to some will be Friday’s World Rugby Classic Golf Tournament!)

Classics Rugby aside, on to more important matters, however, and South Africa’s 20-15 win over Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

It wasn’t the best win ever, but the Springboks, who ran some great lines at the start, just seemed to sit back on their lead once they went up 20-3. Wales, to their credit, fought back strongly and very nearly stole a famous win, but two tries to nil tells the story in the end.

Looking at the major selection gambles in the lead-up to the Wales Test, I thought John Smit – in my humble opinion, as a back! – acquitted himself superbly well at tighthead prop, despite admitting that it is a way tougher position than hooker. It won’t, however, be all moonshine and roses for Smittie all throughout and as I said last week, his true test will come against England in two weeks’ time.

Ruan Pienaar mixed his options up nicely at flyhalf and had a good game overall, but it did help that his pack had the upperhand. Again, the England match will be his acid test in a position that is always dictated by the amount of quality ball your pack is able to secure.

I really think the Bok backs need to control the game more – Pienaar needs to lead the charge here, like a Stephen Larkham of old – and they need to use their forwards to keep them getting over the advantage line. Our pack is our strength and we need to play to it; Peter de Villiers needs to realise this and when he does, we will be unstoppable.

One player that didn’t seem to get the credit he deserved on Saturday was Juan Smith, who got through a mountain of work – especially on defence. In the final analysis, our defence is what won it for us; it looks well-organised and the guys remained calm throughout.

Worryingly, the Welsh did cut our midfield defence apart a few times, with that fullback of theirs, Lee Byrne, especially brutal on attack. I like the way the Welsh backs play the game; they lie flat, on the advantage line and they run excellent lines. It’s very similar to league – the Shaun Edwards influence – and in my opinion it’s the way the modern game should be played. In fact, the Bok backs could learn a thing or two from the way the Welsh backline played.

Looking at Scotland, SA’s opponents this Saturday, they were not impressive at all last weekend as they went down 32-6 to a largely second-string New Zealand team.

Again, the try tally (four-nil to New Zealand) tells a story in itself, but the greater physicality of the All Blacks shone through on the day. The Boks will be fielding a tight five of Beast Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis, John Smit, Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield – can you see Scotland getting the better of them? I think not.

I half-expected Peter de Villiers to give the likes of new caps Heinrich Brüssow and Earl Rose a go against Scotland, but he has done the right thing my maintaining continuity – especially with Pienaar at flyhalf. The more Pienaar plays at flyhalf, the sooner we will know if he is, in fact, the answer in the No.10 shirt.

Bakkies Botha (eye) and Adrian Jacobs (knee) both passed fitness tests after suffering injuries against Wales, but I wonder if De Villiers will give Jaque Fourie some more game time this week with a view to starting him against the more physical Jamie Noon the following Saturday.

Personally, and as well as Jacobs has done this season, I would have started with Fourie at outside centre this weekend – we need his physicality in the midfield; on attack and defence.

Fleckie’s prediction: I can’t see the Boks losing this one – especially given their win over Wales and New Zealand’s annihilation of Scotland. Yes, rugby is not played on paper and I was there when we lost to Scotland in 2002, but I can’t see the same happening in 2008… The Boks to win at a canter.

Until next week,
Robbie

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