So, the All Black squad has been selected now and this time next week the calm before the storm will be over and we will be feeling the excitement of the buildup week to the opening Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour game against the DHL Stormers in Cape Town.
The tour matches against the Stormers, Hollywoodbets Sharks, the Vodacom Bulls, and ADT Fidelity Lions were a big part of the initial planning for the RGR concept, which was inspired by a perception that the rugby public wants the return of not just the old traditional series between rugby’s global super-powers, the Springboks and the All Blacks, but also the old fashioned tour.
My first exposure to such a tour was the 1976 visit by Andy Leslie’s All Blacks. Morne du Plessis’ Boks scraped a series win, but those months when they Kiwis were in the country were about so much more than just the test matches.
There were some riveting tour games, which were listened to in those days as much on the radio as watched on television, with Western Province beating the All Blacks at Newlands with a last gasp conversion from Robbie Blair.
Free State and Northern Transvaal also won their games, while there was a memorable midweek game that was particularly enthralling against the Quagga Barbarians. Played at Ellis Park, the Barbarians led for most of the way before the Kiwis came back to steal it at the death, 32-31.
PROFESSIONAL RUGBY PRECLUDES TOUR GAMES BEING A BOK TRIAL
Maybe some invitational games like that should have been scheduled for this tour because, as has been evidenced by the last two British and Irish Lions tours here, 2009 and 2021, there are factors that come into play now that rugby is professional that weren’t there when the tour games were effectively seen as a Bok trial opportunity for local players.
Large national squads now prepare for the test series while the tour games are being played, which means the franchises/provinces/clubs play the tourists without their best players.
It is fanciful to think the teams can challenge an international team without star quality players, and the 2009 and 2021 tours proved that, with the 2021 tour games being particularly farcical both because of their one-sidedness and the fact they were played in empty stadiums because of the Covid pandemic.
Naturally it drew sharp criticism from the travelling UK and Irish media, and rightly so. Their argument was that if Lions tours are to survive, there should be a clause written into the tour agreement that Springboks (or Wallabies or All Blacks when the tours are to those countries) be released to play for their provinces.
A DOUBLE CATCH TO BEST AVAILABLE TEAM AGREEMENT
There was an agreement reached ahead of this forthcoming tour that the local URC franchises field their “best available” teams against the All Blacks - but there is a double catch.
Firstly, the best available means the available players who are not Boks, because the Boks will all be in camp and not available to play for their teams. And secondly, and this is no fault of anyone, the way the South African rugby seasons are now set up means the best available players will be underdone.
Back when the 1976 All Blacks were here, the tour coincided with the local season. The teams that played the New Zealanders were battle hardened from playing in what in those days was a very tough Currie Cup competition. In the weeks before and after their tour games against the All Blacks, they were in Currie Cup action.
That is not the case now because we are in the off-season for the URC/EPCR aligned franchises. When the All Blacks face the Stormers, and assuming the Stormers go full strength, they will be playing against players who have not played an official game since they lost the URC final to Leinster on 6 June. Yes, a full two months earlier.
The rank and file Stormers players, meaning those not called up by the Boks, went into a five week mandatory rest after that game and did what players should do at that time of year - they went on holiday. Those who follow social media might have spotted photos of the Bulls’ Marcel Coetzee in the game reserve, or Stormers stalwart Neethling Fouche, once he was released by the Boks, on holiday in New York.
THREE WEEKS TRAINING IS NOT ENOUGH PREP FOR AN ALL BLACK GAME
The conditioning stage of the pre-season for the URC teams has just started and the players have reported back to work, but by the time the Stormers face the All Blacks next Friday they would only have been in training for three weeks. They will be facing an All Black team which has just played three test matches together.
The Stormers do intend going all in against the tourists, as do the Sharks, who play them in Durban in a midweek game four days later, while given the prices of tickets for the games, which are not set by the unions, it would be hoped the Bulls will be at full strength too when they host the All Blacks at Loftus for what should amount to a final dress rehearsal for the test series.
But three weeks is not enough time to do the technical work needed to play against an international team, particularly not one of the quality of the All Blacks, and the players will be a long way from battle hardened. On top of that, their star players will be with the Boks.
There was a thought that maybe the franchises should play their Currie Cup teams against the All Blacks, for that competition is being played during the off-season, but anyone who saw the Stormers XXIII lost 41-3 to Boland on Sunday, or the Bulls XV and Sharks XV get outplayed by Griquas and the Cheetahs respectively, will know what a laughable suggestion that is.
POTENTIAL DAMAGE TO URC CAMPAIGNS CREATES A QUANDARY
No, the full strength teams must play, as per the tour agreement, but they are going to be hopelessly underdone and the results could give a false impression of the real strength of South African rugby. On top of that, fielding players at a stage of the buildup to a new season where they normally are several weeks away from even a low key warmup game runs the risk of injury.
It is a catch 22 for the local coaches, who know the standing of their brand is going to go on show and will also be driven by pride to prepare their teams to produce their best performances in a showpiece game watched by a global television audience, but who also know that playing them now could undermine the URC campaigns that are only set to begin at the end of September.
There won’t be this problem for the New Zealand provinces/franchises when the Boks go there for the return series four years hence because those teams will be playing the tour games in the midst of their regular season.
For now though, when the All Blacks come here, South Africa’s commitment to the northern season at franchise level will be a massive stumbling block for those who believe only competitive games will make the initial tour fixtures relevant plus justify the pricing.
On that last point, the cheapest ticket for the Stormers/All Blacks game is apparently more expensive than the most expensive Stormers ticket for a URC game when the Stormers bosses are in control of the pricing.
It is not surprising to learn then that they aren’t selling well and at this point that first game is in danger of being an underwhelming start to the tour on several different levels.