Has the balance of power in rugby shifted to the northern hemisphere with the Springboks, All Blacks and Australia losing to Six Nations opposition last weekend?
In short, the answer is no.
But I do believe that the scales are balanced out now and that neither the Springboks nor the All Blacks have the aura their fans so dearly want them to have.
Kom ons vee eers skoon op ons eie voorstoep before looking at others.
For years South Africa’s fear factor on the rugby field has been our big boys and the physical presence they bring.
South Africa’s pack of forwards, in particular, have always looked like a hele pak kaarte van net Jokers. Doesn’t matter who you play, they don’t have an equal.
But in the first 20 minutes of the match against England, I felt the opposition had absolutely zero respect for this particular strength of ours and actually went out to bully the “bullies”. England’s Maro Itoje deserves credit for his role in this.
Anyway, I sensed a change in mindset from the teams in the north, it’s like they now believe they can compete with the Boks physically. Man of the Match in that clash Freddie Steward is a great example of how teams will come up with ways to combat the Boks and that will be the blueprint going forward.
The 20-year-old fullback is 1.96m tall and weighs 107kg. Combine this with good catching and jumping skills and you have the perfect weapon to counter SA’s attacking kicking game. Of course Eddie Jones knew this and prepped the youngster to be that guy.
England also proved that the Bok defence is breakable with a high intensity, in-your-face approach. A taste of your own medicine if you like.
The tries they scored were well-planned. The fact that the Boks lost five Tests in 13 this year prove that they are beatable. And perhaps they were not as invincible as the All Blacks of years gone by.
But I believe daai wiel het ook stadig maar seker gedraai.
Trust me when I say that I’m not surprised that teams are no longer fearing New Zealand.
I’ve written about this in the past and people thought I was just saying it to get under the skins of New Zealand fans. The warning signs were there and yet All Blacks fans were not willing to open their eyes to the fact.
I’m not one of those mense who get lekker watching others suffer, also not one for the ‘my-team, your-team’ banter, I prefer instead to ‘banter’ about tactics and that sort of thing.
So no, I’m not just saying this to roer die potjie.
Thing about New Zealand, I believe, is that they need that big star to drive home fear in the opposition.
Beauden Barrett has lost a bit of his fear factor somewhat and I think that’s possibly the problem. Not to say they are a one-man band - by all means they’re not, but I’m talking about fear factor here.
Facing Richie McCaw, Zinzan Brooke, Jonah Lomu, Tana Umaga, Sonny Bill Williamsor any of the pin-up boys in years gone by, always gave them that edge.
As good as he is, Richie Mo’Unga doesn’t have that star quality. Brodie Retallick is now the poster boy, but he’s probably more of a SA-type grafter.
I do think there is an answer to New Zealand’s problems and his name is Scott Robertson.
Look at what he’s done with a Crusaders team that didn’t exactly have that star quality to them. But a better rugby machine you won’t find easily.
Anyway, I also believe that the end of the southern hemisphere’s dominance was inevitable with the amount of southern stars plying their trade in the UK and France.
Getting to rub shoulders with Eben Etzebeth and playing with and against him on a weekly basis creates familiarity. With that you get a sense of how the man goes about things, you get to learn how he psyches himself up and you lose that fear of the unknown.
Eben is just one example of many.
The fear of the unknown gets lost and truth be told, it was a big weapon for the southern hemisphere teams.
SA franchise teams playing abroad and possibly not doing well will further diminish the fear factor, while I also think that not playing their domestic rugby against South African teams will do the All Blacks game harm in the long run.
Having said that, I still believe the southern hemisphere teams are a kort koppie voor die ouens from the north.
The bewyse are in the world rankings.
But Clive Woodward’s wish for four northern hemisphere teams in the World Cup semis is perhaps not as far-fetched in years to come.