The Comeback Kings

Well, I have to eat humble pie. I was completely and utterly wrong with my prediction of 0/3 during the away leg of the Trinations. But, I hasten to add, I have never been happier being wrong!

Well done to the Springboks, what a wonderful and well deserved win in Dunedin. They were absolutely awesome and showed tremendous strength of character to come back with 14 men and seize an incredible win. You might say they played like true World Champions...

Ricky January was Man of the Match even before his quite unbelievable solo effort with 5 minutes to go. He played the game of his life. Harrassing around the fringes, putting pressure on his opposite number and Dan Carter, tackling his heart out, winning ball at the breakdown etc etc etc. What an awesome effort! One mistake during the whole game and that was a quick tap gone wrong. I think we can forgive him that.

I thought we had a chance when Ali Williams went off in the 28th minute. Let that be a lesson young man, you bump into the Incredible Schalk at your own peril. That collission probably caused a mini Tsunami! Schalk, got up, dusted himself off and got on with it. Ali though kept looking for the freight train that hit him. I think he is still looking... I digress! With 2 rookie locks on, I thought we could pressurise the AB`s into making mistakes and target the lineout. This we did with great aplomb. It must be said that the scrums were also much better and I believe we had parity in that department.

The test match was really an awesome example of what can be achieved with the ELV`s. Let the Northern Hemisphere clubs watch this game if they have any doubts about the new laws.

A few players stood up today. Schalk Burger, Juan Smith and Big Joe were outstanding as a combination. The frontrow was terrific and Percy brought a calmness that rubbed off on his teammates.

The one blight on the whole day was the yellow card dished out the Victor Matfield. Please explain to me what the difference was between that tackle and the one by Leon Macdonald barely 10 minutes earlier. Matt Goddard could have decided the game there and then if the Boks didn`t have other ideas. It`s time these bloody Aussie refs stop their nonsense and give SA teams a break.

Once again well done to the Bokke! You guys showed tremendous grit and made a country proud. Peter De Villiers, you silenced a lot of doubters today, keep it up!