July 9th, 2008 | by keo | www.keo.co.za
Cowboys don’t cry. For God’s sake stop it boys.
From where I am sitting, admittedly 12 000 miles away, it seems a media shambles within the Springbok camp - a shambles to which those World Cup winners of 2007 should be having no part of.
But it appears they are right in the middle.
John Smit’s interaction with the media since arriving in New Zealand has been so out of character, so unlike Smit and so wrong.
Smit previously would never have condemned a former team-mate and Bok captain as he did when Corné Krige voiced an opinion. Smit, in his five years of leading the Springboks, has always shown calmness on the field and when fronting the media and that is one of the reasons he is regarded the best captain in world rugby. He is the most composed player in front of a camera you will find.
The frustration he has felt in the past has always been dealt with internally and he has always turned those frustrations into a positive when motivating his players to do their talking on the field and in big competitions, like the Tri Nations or World Cup.
To hear Smitty have a crack at the Kiwis means he is getting no guidance from his management, be it the manager or coaches. To hear Smitty moan is sad because he is bigger than a whinge, no matter how justified it is. If it is a team tactic then whoever is advising the Bok captain doesn’t understand the New Zealand media, player and public psyche. Kiwis respect a bloke who takes it on the chin and moves on.
The Kiwis know Brad Thorn got off easily and should have been binned for the spear tackle on Smit and when he didn’t he should have got more than a one match suspension. Let the Kiwis write about that and let them condemn Stuart Dickinson, the Australian referee who got so much wrong on both sides in the first Test in Wellington.
Anyone advising Smit on media would have told him not to mention Richie McCaw’s name in this instance because the counter would be Lote Tuqiri’s spear tackle on McCaw two years ago which was as dangerous as the one put in on Smit by Thorn. Tuqiri was penalised and also given no card and later suspended for a couple of Test matches. No preferential treatment there.
The All Blacks do get away with more than any other team, especially in New Zealand. Then again the Springboks get away with more at home than they do away from home.
Smit may have felt it appropriate to give it to the Kiwis from the heart, but it was inappropriate in the context of the series. You don’t bleat when you lose. If you are going to have a pop, have one when you have just won because then it can’t be construed as sour grapes.
Bok coach Peter de Villiers has also been playing a media game he is ill-equipped to do. He is out of his league when it comes to taking on All Blacks coach Graham Henry in the media because he is too inexperienced and not articulate enough in English to get his point across.
To say that the Boks will take matters into their own hands if the referee can’t sort out the perceived illegal scrumming is not only childish but naive. It is putting more pressure on the Boks in Dunedin, especially at scrum time.
The Boks have a team good enough to beat an All Blacks side that is in its infancy and not on par with that which dominated the game in the last three years.
I had become accustomed to the Boks saying the right things in 2007 and doing most of their talking on the field. The respect that there was for the squad in Paris was greater than I had experienced in 15 years of covering Bok rugby.
The Kiwis have got under our skin now and Smit’s comments will only confirm this to them. They sense insecurity about the Boks and desperation and South Africa should never be in that position.
The only way to shut the Kiwis up is to belt them on Saturday, be it by a point or 10. Once the Boks have done that then tell them New Zealand how brave their All Blacks are, how good this young team will become and how much talent there is in New Zealand rugby. Do it on the day you have beaten them.
Don’t forget boys, you have something they would kill for, which is that little yellow cup and you have won it twice in four attempts, whereas they have won it once in six. You have won it home and away and they have blown every away tournament.
New Zealand’s rugby players are precious, but they get found out every four years when it counts most. For four years, referees, media, the public and especially a section of the Cape coloured community puts these guys on a pedestal and reckons they are untouchable. To those unpatriotic South Africans (read that section of Cape coloureds who are in awe of the All Blacks) the All Blacks are as mortal as you and me. Their crap stinks as much and they have as many vulnerabilities.
But the only way to get under New Zealand’s skin is to beat their beloved All Blacks - and not to whinge about them the week after they’ve thumped you.
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