Tri Nations Preview

SPRINGBOKS v ALL BLACKS

When: Saturday August 21
Where: FNB Stadium, Johannesburg
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Head-to-Head: Played 80, All Blacks 44, Wallabies 33, Drawn 3
In Johannesburg: Played 11, Springboks 6 All Blacks 5
Last meeting: July 17, 2010: All Blacks beat Springboks 31-17 at Westpac Stadium, Wellington

THE PHONEY WAR IS OVER
There has been plenty of media fodder in the build-up to this match, but the All Blacks should not be distracted by irrelevant matters as they seek to close out this Tri Nations.
BY CAMPBELL BURNES

There are mixed messages coming out of South Africa and a fair degree of confusion in the lead-up to this vital test.
Before we get to the subject of the Springboks’ game plan, which has seen plenty of air time over the past week, a few words on the venue.
These two great rivals are playing at Johannesburg’s 94,000 capacity FNB Stadium. That was the National Stadium until very recently and before that was Soccer City. It was the venue for the FIFA World Cup final only a matter of weeks ago. To confuse matters further, it has a nickname of ‘The Calabash.’
And yet before the Tri Nations started, the teams were to be clashing at Coca-Cola Park, or Ellis Park, to give it its traditional name. Graham Henry it was who kindly broke the news – before time – that the All Blacks would be appearing at the impressive FNB Stadium for the first time. To clarify, they are not playing at the 40,000 seater Orlando Stadium in Soweto, which was the venue for a Super 14 semifinal and the final this year, as one prominent rugby writer believed last week.
Henry last week, in what may be a cunning ploy, told media the Boks would revert to type as they desperately seek not only their first win of Tri Nations 2010, but their first competition point. That view is at odds with what South Africa media took out of early discussions with Wayne Smith, Tom Donnelly and Jimmy Cowan, who felt the Boks would “try and use the ball a little more.”
Do not be fooled though. This is an afternoon test on the high veldt. Morné Steyn may stand shallower on attack but he will still use his howitzer boot to attain field position and force lineouts, from which the Boks launch so much of their play.
The Boks pack will be bristling after being clearly outpointed on three occasions in Australasia. It will be bolstered by the return of flanker Juan Smith and buoyed by the 100th test of increasingly embattled skipper John Smit. Victor Matfield plays his 99th but will have to wait a while longer for the return of his usual locking partner, the suspended Bakkies Botha. Ryan Kankowski is injured while BJ Botha and ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira both missed the cut. Either Ricky Januarie or Francois Hougaard will have much to prove at halfback. Centre Jaque Fourie is still suspended.
As ever, the Springboks have been mired in controversy since their last test nearly a month ago. Coach Peter de Villiers escaped censure from Sanzar for his, shall we say, puzzling comments about why he thought the All Blacks beat the Boks in New Zealand. Then came a tug of war with French club Racing-Metro over the availability and injury status of the mercurial Frans Steyn. The upshot is that he will not be playing this weekend.
The All Blacks hit town last Sunday in a state of relative serenity, with no injuries and knowing one point is all they need to clinch a 10th Tri Nations. They should, however, be prepared for a physical assault from the bruised, bruising Boks. Do not expect too much tinkering with the tried and true All Blacks XV, especially as they have three weeks before the final match in Sydney.
There was less fluency about the All Blacks attack in Christchurch but their defence marked up. The hard, fast ground should suit their expansive style. There is also the element of revenge after South Africa beat them decisively in both 2009 tests in the Republic.
But the Boks have a winning record in this city against the All Blacks. The last match saw a 40-26 victory for the Tri Nations champion-bound Boks in 2004. Mils Muliaina will have bittersweet memories of that one, scoring a brilliant solo try but seeing his side crumble before a three-try onslaught by centre Marius Joubert.
The All Blacks, it must be said, have a solid record in South Africa, certainly far superior to that of the Wallabies. They can fire everything at this one, knowing they can then put their feet up for three weeks. But they also know the Boks will be a different proposition to the mob that succumbed 32-12 in Auckland and 31-17 in Wellington last month.
All eyes too will be on Welsh whistler Nigel Owens and how he referees the breakdown, where the battle is sure to be torrid and unrelenting.

Tri Nations table