We came, we saw, we silenced

The Springboks kicked sand in the faces of all their many critics around the world and in South Africa by beating the AB’s in the last Test match ever to be played at Carisbrooke. Yep, apparently the Kiwi’s are taking this loss so badly, they have decided to tear down the stadium. The Springboks defended with everything they had, kept going at the All Blacks and stayed in the match, before a piece of individual brilliance by Ricky January after some sustained pressure, brought the Boks their match winning try. The other points for the Boks came courtesy of a JP Pietersen try in the first half where the 22 year old had to catch the ball and fall in order to score. That was probably just what was needed to get JP back in form. He will get back to his best, it will just take a bit of time. The penalties and conversions were shared by Percy, Butch and Frans Steyn, the latter kicking the final conversion and correcting his 2007 Super 14 mistake where he took the conversion so quickly, the Bulls had more time available to get a try. This time he used the whole minute and kicked the ball high and handsome to give the Boks their lead and final score.

It’s unfair to single out a few of the players, but Schalk Burger apparently made 22 tackles. And the most important one was the defensive headbutt on Ali Williams, which saw the All Black lock leave the field. Gurthro made 18 tackles. The whole pack made a telling contribution. The biggest point I took out of this match was that as soon as our scrum is solid, our loose forwards – and what a bunch they are – are no longer back-peddling and can do the job they are there to do. Joe was freed up so he could be the link between the pack and the backs. Juan Smith did all the hard work and slowed up the ball for the New Zealanders and Schalk was available to fly into tackles and rucks with as much enthusiasm as he wanted to. The solid scrum and the brilliance of Matfield in the lineout – where we used the tactic of short lineouts which caught the AB’s by surprise – set up everything for us on attack and defence. On the subject of the scrum… After last week PdV claimed that the All Blacks used illegal tactics and walked around the scrum in the 1^st Test. Everyone knows all the commotion that came about after that. Peter the Puppet was allowed to talk the Australian referee before the 2^nd Test, as was Graham Henry. Of course, the All Blacks would never cheat. How do we dare imply something like that? Every game that the All Blacks have ever played in has been refereed straight down the middle and they have never cheated. It’s just a coincidence that Richie McCaw is never penalised, while Schalk is sent off every third game. Well, after old Puppet had his chat with the Ref, and was assured that the scrum and our suspicions will be closely monitored, we dominated the All Black scrum. We didn’t compete, we shoved them backwards from the first scrum. So what now? Does this mean that they did cheat in Dunedin? Cheat as much as you can get away with, but don’t call our coach a Puppet and our captain a “whinger” when they are giving their opinions. We’ve got the World Cup and we’ve got your House of Pain now too.

Ricky January’s mother woke up this morning and walked down the main road for her weekly shopping trip to the Hopefield Spar. After being told by the owner that her money was no good there, she could just as well have continued her walk down to the local ANC office to submit her son as a new presidential candidate for the next election. Ricky was the toast of South Africa on Saturday night. So, so often games such as these have a way of going against us and it seemed that this one was going down an all too familiar route. But cometh the hour, cometh the Bok no. 9. The dummy he sold to Kevin Mealamu and Neemia Tialata was brilliant. Tialata was left standing like a cat looking at pigeons flying over it’s head the way he followed the “pass”. What should from now on be labeled as “THE chip-kick” will go down into the annals of Springbok rugby.

The lack of respect that the All Blacks had for us, has been rectified. No longer will they be able to say that the standard of rugby at last year’s World Cup was below par. You weren’t good enough to win it!! You weren’t even good enough to reach the semi’s. Craig Dowd’s opinion has been proven to be worth a couple of Zim dollars. I disagree that we have proven to be World Cup champions. We have been champions for 6 months. We want to be Tri Nations champions now!! Dan Carter claims he is glad the brutal Boks are leaving and that’s the way it should be. Adi Jacobs must weigh 243 kg’s after he touched Carter and Dan the Man fell over. You’re a diver and a show pony. If you can’t stand the heat, go play rugby in the Northern Hemisphere.

And more on the lack of respect aimed towards us. Now the Australian hooker has claimed that this weekend’s match will show who has the best line out in the world. Stephen Moore, you can try your best. Personally I’ve never even heard of you in my life. We’ve dominated the lineout against everyone for years and it’s a reputation we’ve worked very hard to achieve. One match won’t make you the best in the world. Still, you have to try match us first before you can say that. Apparently they had better lineout stats than we did in the World Cup. We played two more games than you did in the World Cup. Typical convict mentality to try and steal this title from us.

Furthermore, after Bismarck has been given a 3 week suspension, Oregan Hoskins has stated that he will take up the unfair sentences of Springbok players at the next SANZAR meeting. This is long overdue and should prove significant in the future. Brad Thorne’s unsporting act as they put it, received a one week ban. His offence didn’t even occur during play. Bismarck was found guilty of making contact with the eye area with his knuckles… He scraped his eyes. We all know that. So ban him if you want. But just have the same rules applicable for Australian and New Zealand players.

The Tri-Nations is wide open and there for the Springboks to take. If they can beat the Wallabies this weekend in the South African town of Perth, they will be established as firm favourites and it will become very difficult for one of the also-ran rugby nations to take it away from the Boks in The Country of Pain. Waltzing Matilda, the Springboks are coming at you at a hundred miles an hour.

For more articles… http://blogofbam.wordpress.com/