Will We See Springbok Power Again This Weekend?

The Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry test series is locked at one-all, and both Springbok and All Blacks supporters are nervous, excited, and carefully optimistic!

Watching videos and seeing images of both teams’ players sharing a laugh, a joke, a drink, and even embracing each other’s children and family is just beautiful! These 2 teams may be arch rivals on the field and display signs of aggression, pride and an unwavering sense of achievement, but off the field, players can be seen socializing and even sharing podcasts- I’ve seen legends like Dan Carter, Schalk Burger, Bryan Habana and Justin Marshall have a chat and share their thoughts and rugby knowledge with eachother, as we lick our lips every week at the prospects of some more bone-crunching tackles, tactical prowess, silky ball skills and aggressive rucking and malling. These guys even play golf together! It’s great to see!

Now, looking ahead to Saturday’s test at Soweto where these 2 mighty rugby giants will once again lock horns, my mouth is literally salivating at the idea of another Malcolm Marx turnover being won for the Boks… another dominant, rampant scrumming display by Ox Nche as he crunches the opposition’s necks and spines….the dazzling feet and flawless goal kicking from our little magician winger Cheslin Kolbe…the superb finishing from Will Jordan and the inspirational carries from captain Siya Kolisi as he powers through the defences and brushes off another tackle by an All Black defender….but one thing is for sure: with the incredible passing skills and boot that New Zealand flyhalf Ruben Love posseses, and the tactical sniping around the rucks from Cam Roigard, the Springboks have to be very watchful this weekend and keep a leash on the wild-running AB’s in the dying moments of the second half.

All Blacks coach Dave Rennie has proven to be Rassie Erasmus’ greatest competitor, and a real thorn in his flesh, as the 2 play continuous mind games with each other, and especially Rennie is getting under Rassie’s skin a bit. We saw a very irritating display of refereeing take place last week as Aussie Angus Gardner once again stole the show, lecturing the likes of scrumming legends Ox Nche and Malcolm Marx on how to scrum! It was painful to watch! As a spectator, I feel that we deserve better match officiating and less of the childish bickering, Mr Gardner!

To all my fellow Bok supporters: put on those green and gold jerseys this Saturday and let’s hold thumbs, toes and everything else for Siya’s boys to bring it home for us once again- for the Springboks, also known as our Ama-Bokke-Bokke, are the only bright shining lights in our ANC-dominated country of South Africa, where politics destroy everything and cadres try to hide the magic that Rassie, Siya and the boys bring Saturday after Saturday to every fan out there watching….we need our government to learn from our Springboks, but I guess that expecting such a thing, is beyond far-fetched, but hey, I still love my rugby and I cannot wait for this finger-licking battle to kick off sooner rather than later! Go Bokke!!!!