As a Springbok supporter it was disappointing to read the article “All Blacks: Team of the Decade”
The Springboks currently sit on top of the Rugby World as World Champions, Tri-Nation champions and IRB team of the year for 2009, yet it is probably a fair reflection of the pecking order in the International Rugby World if EVERY game is taken into consideration. I still maintain the World Cup is the holy grail, and it’s prize is the most valuable in World Rugby. Like and Olympic gold, it is the measure of true champions. Every game is important, but some are more important than others!
It is interesting to look at some of the stats from the last decade however. The All Blacks have the highest winning percentage during this time (82%). However the Springboks only rank 5th during this period, with a winning percentage of 60.8%. Sure there were some very bad years (between 2000 and 2003 the win record was 50%, and in 2006 42%), but that is not good enough for a side with arguably the most talent in the world. Interestingly Ireland have the second best win percentage, Australia third and France fourth.
On average the All Blacks won 10 of their 12.2 tests per year, whilst South Africa only 7.6 of their 12.5 tests per year. Those 2-3 extra victories often occurred in clashes between the 2 sides and on the end of year tours. The All Blacks won 16 of their 24 matches with the Springboks for a 67% winning record to the All Blacks and only 33% win record for the Springboks. That is a disgrace given the past history between the 2 sides.
Looking back at the decade whenever the Boks have had a good year, they’ve never backed it up the following season (a trend evident since readmission in 1992).
2000 – The end of the Nick Mallet reign and the start of Harry Viljoen. Whoever appointed Viljoen should be shot!
2001 – A very poor year as Harry Viljoen lost the plot and resigned
2002 – The Boks showed signs of promise, scoring some great tries in the Tri-Nations
2003 – A year of disaster on and off the field and our worst World Cup ever
2004 – A great rebuilding year and our second Tri-Nations title
2005 – Unable to repeat the heroics of the previous year
2006 – One of our worst years ever (again!) as we lost 5 tests in a row
2007 – Not a great Tri-Nations, but we won the World Cup making it all worthwhile
2008 – With an experienced side we fail to deliver when we should have been dominating
2009 – A great winter season, but ominous signs on the end of year tour. I hope it was just a blip on the radar
We need to exhibit greater ruthlessness and keep winning even when we don’t play our best, have injuries and need to blood new players. The All Blacks rarely lose more than 2-3 tests a year, and never produce a bad side. I can’t think of the All Blacks having had too many bad Northern Hemisphere tours, yet we’ve often gone of the rails losing to the likes of Ireland, England, France, Scotland and Wales. Our back-up players need to step up and display greater pride and passion in the jersey and their performance. It is not acceptable to lose so often to weaker nations.
New Zealand also scored the highest number of tries per test (4.3) followed by Australia (3.2) and the Springboks average 3.1. It highlights one of the major differences between the sides, and indicates an area we need to keep working on.
Since the IRB World Rankings came into effect the All Blacks have dominated them too. The challenge is out to South Africa to resume number 1 position, and when we do not take top spot, we must surely not slip below second!
The Super 14 competition has produced similar results as the International arena. The Crusaders and Hurricanes for New Zealand and the Waratahs for Australia have consistently been good. The Bulls have been great over the past 4-5 seasons except for a hiccup in 2008, but the other South African franchises have been extremely poor. The Sharks have conspired to shoot themselves in the foot, the Stormers can never win games they need to, whilst the Lions and Cheetahs are a joke.
There is no reason why South African rugby cannot dominate internationally over the next decade. We have the raw talent. Greater pride in performance, better mental application and smarter coaching is needed to ensure we remain at the top and produce the results needed to keep us supporters satisfied!
