The Boks weren’t always bogey team
Just two Englishmen currently playing senior rugby know what it’s like to beat the Springboks. One I will invite you to rack your brains and come up with the answer and the other is 37year-old lock Tom Palmer who is still doing his stuff for Bordeaux Begles after a marathon career which has included distinguished stints at Leeds, Wasps, Gloucester, Stade Francais and Treviso.
Palmer, below, made his home England debut against South Africa in the first Test in 2006 when England won 23-21 and played in the 14-14 draw six years later at Port Elizabeth. In between times he also suffered five defeats against the Boks.
“Looking back the thing about that first Test in 2006 is that we didn’t give any particular thought about it being South Africa at all. South Africa weren’t a bogey team for England. If memory serves England had won the previous six Test against South Africa.
“We were in the middle of a bad trot generally. And that autumn we had already lost to New Zealand and Argentina, when I was on the bench. It was no disgrace losing to New Zealand but we had been expected to beat Argentina even though you can see now they had the basis of their 2007 World Cup team.
“The whole squad was under pressure, the coach Andy Robinson more than anybody and I was just excited and very nervous to be starting my first Test at Twickenham. So, what I’m saying is, that day wasn’t about South Africa at all. It didn’t matter who we were playing, getting a result was the only result on our minds. And that’s a good mindset to have.
“It wasn’t dissimilar when we got the draw in Port Elizabeth. The series was lost, we had injuries and were tired but were just desperate for a result to get something out of the tour because we felt we had played well.
“The 2006 match is a blur. It was physical all right but we just shaded it up front over the 80 minutes. We went 18-6 down but it never felt like we were out of it. Mark Cueto nicked a try back and then Phil Vickery barged over for another. Phil was returning from injury for us and he was full of energy and very motivational. I can’t remember exactly when but Josh Lewsey’s chase back and try-saving tackle on Jean de Villiers was another big moment that lifted us.”
England were full of optimism after the victory but a week later slipped to a 25-14 defeat against the same opponents which was England’s eighth defeat in nine games. It was time for a parting of the ways with Andy Robinson.
Not that England have fared any better against South Africa under a succession of management teams and captains. Robinson, it should be added also secured a win over South Africa with Scotland which some tend to forget
Palmer adds: “My explanation for the bad record? My main thought is a good South Africa side is almost always the mirror image of a good England team. Their strengths are our strengths and they often cancel us out. Sometimes it felt like we needed to hit them with something a bit different, something they weren’t expecting.
“Ironically this time, however, I firmly believe we have the strength and power to dominate anyway.
“The other factor in all this is the mind. You can get into bad runs and slumps and they can be difficult to snap out of. I’m 37 now and in all my time in professional rugby I never experienced an away win at Sale and I was never part of a winning team in a club match in Ireland. Sorry, I tell a lie, we won a pre-season friendly in Connacht once!
“And yet on the flipside when I was at Leeds, and Leicester were absolutely the power in the land, I think I played in four winning games out of five against them at home. When you are on a winning roll you look for reasons why that happens and try not to change them. And when you are on a losing streak you look even harder at what is happening and how you can change it.”
And the second Englishman still playing who has beaten the Boks? Leicester’s Mat Tait who partnered Jamie Noon at centre.