Endangered species is clawing its way back
As not one, but several assegai-wielding warriors were revving up the Ellis Park faithful on Saturday afternoon, I didn’t quite share the crowd’s excitement as I had grown worried. Seriously worried leading up to the match.
Up until that point the misery for South African rugby – should I say the 15-man code – had been piling up since August. That was the month that should have been scripted as Johan Ackermann’s fairy tale send-off after the Lions raised the bar for local Super Rugby teams to unprecedented levels in 2016 and 2017. But instead, they fell short in the final against the Crusaders and from there things just went pear-shaped for whatev- er combination of South African team and an oval ball, especially our flagship outfit.
After a brief flirtation with success against a tremendously feeble French team, Allister Coetzee extended our misery through the Rugby Championship and yearend tour, recording new record lows along the way and only winning four out of 10 Tests, two of which involved the French again and the mighty Italians.
The new year came along and as the Super Rugby season progressed, the local rugby public had less and less to smile about. The Bulls have been solid but are still building in all fairness, the Stormers can’t win away from home, the Sharks have been shockingly inconsistent and all that seems to remain from the ever-entertaining Lions team from the past few seasons is one that over-relies on scoring tries from lineout mauls. And even more worryingly, despite their stagnation, the Lions are still the best local team by a massive 12 points.
The misery continued with Rassie Erasmus’ dismal debut against Wales on Uncle Sam’s patch, followed by the Junior Springboks getting mauled by the French at the World Championship last Thursday. The young ones did fight back in the end, but guess how they scored all their tries? By rucking and mauling and mauling and rucking. Ag nee, sies man, I thought, has this constant koppestamp and leaky defence become the trademarks of South African rugby?
Trailing by 24-3 against England hardly a quarter into the first Test on Saturday, I was convinced my worst fears had been realised and even thought to myself: Just flippin’ great, all we need now is a consolation try from a maul for good measure.
But almost as gatvol himself of the current state of rugby in South Africa, Faf de Klerk decided it was time for a new script. He burst over for a try that ignited the famous fightback, a well-documented effort that gave battered Bok fans more to cheer about in 60 minutes than they had for almost two years.
The pack went forward, De Klerk got his line away at pace and Willie le Roux joined the backline to wake something up in us that has been asleep for while. That lekker feeling you get when your team is not only playing nicely, but winning too.
Thank you Rassie for restoring my faith not only in the endangered species the Springboks have become, but in rugby as a whole.