THE English media and Saracens’ management should get over themselves. They may have emerged victorious against the Springbok dirt-trackers team, b ut the team were far from the “world champions” they claim they have beaten.
If they had thumped a team bolstered by John Smit, Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Fourie du Preez, Bryan Habana and Pierre Spies, there would have been substance to their claims.
But a few bench-warmers such as Wynand Olivier, Odwa Ndungane and Jongi Nokwe, including a couple of talented youngsters such as Jean Deysel, Francois Hougaard and Juan de Jongh does not make the B team a Springbok team.
Perhaps national coach Peter de Villiers contributed to these claims given his insistence before the tour that the dirt- trackers were a “full-on Springbok team”, not a B team.
Knowing De Villiers, this was probably intended to make the new players feel part of the group. But the team should have been called the Springbok XV to prevent the Springboks’ name being dragged through the mud.
The arrogant bunch up north spoke up the win against the “Springboks” so much that one of the stories hitting the news agencies yesterday said: “A Saracens outfit including 10 South Africans handed the world champion Springboks the third straight defeat of their rugby tour by 24-23 at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday.”
Saracens also milked it for all it was worth, with the story on the website boasting the headline: “Saracens beat the World Champions”.
The introduction was equally cotchworthy. “It was a night that will long live in the memory of Saracens players, coaches and supporters alike — the night that they beat the World Champions 24-23 at Wembley Stadium.”
This was supported by exaggerated comments by Saracens director of rugby Brendan Venter, who raved as though his team had won the Webb Ellis trophy.
“I am so proud of my players,” said Venter. “I have said to them all season that rugby is about creating memories as a group and tonight we have done that. You can win trophies in sport, but they take them back after a year. The memories we leave at the stadium tonight cannot be taken away from us.”
Venter was spot on with his comments that it took a brave effort for his team to bounce back from 18-3 down. But a few Guinness Premiership teams could have put up an equally good fight and the achievement would not have been ranked so highly on his list of accolades.
What many of these people forget is that the dirt-trackers team was formed with the purpose of giving a few talented players a chance to show whether they have the goods to make the step up to international level in the next few years and to give a few bench players game time.
The team had less than a week to prepare for the clash against Leicester, as the squad gathered on a Monday morning and played on the Friday night — they also had a trip to London in between. But, as expected of the English folk, these facts were overlooked so their egos could be stroked.
On a different note, De Villiers has reason to feel optimistic about transformation in the next few years following the encouraging performances on tour by centre Juan de Jongh, scrumhalf Heini Adams, No8 Ashley Johnson and even fullback Earl Rose.
Love him or hate him, but Rose probably had his two best games this year against Leicester and Saracens, despite being the victim of many vicious remarks over his inclusion in the touring squad.
Adams also proved that he has the potential to be a much better scrumhalf replacement than Ricky Januarie thanks to his effective distribution and high work rate everywhere on the park.
With regular game time, coaches who know how to get the best out of these players consistently, and more exposure at Super 14 and Currie Cup rugby, these players could earn higher honours.
isaacsz@bdfm.co.za