Brutal Boks now a giant roadblock to AB dream

Reuters

STATEMENT OF INTENT: The Springboks, here being cheered off by England after their 36-0 shutout, have sent out a clear message that they have some lofty ambitions at this World Cup.

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Marc Hinton

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Someone turn off the heart- rate monitor. The World Cup has a pulse. In fact it's positively alive and kicking after Jake White's Springboks on Saturday provided the rugby equivalent of the kiss of life to a tournament threatening to suffocate on its own lack of interest.

Let's put things in perspective. Until the Springboks served up their dose of ignominy to the defending champions at Stade de France – finally, something for the French to cheer about – what had been the major talking points at the sport's global showcase?

Were the IRB ruining the tournament with their sledgehammer approach to foul play? Could Portugal's amateur players actually be in mortal danger against the All Blacks in Lyon? Were the minnows getting a fair go? Should they even be there in the first place? Is Bernard Laporte's political career over before it has even started? And will the northern hemisphere countries ever learn that their preoccupation with players from our part of the world is actually doing irreparable harm to their game?

(OK, I just added that last one off my own bat, but it's deserving of consideration. Stephen Jones never tires of telling us how wonderful their game is up north, yet, if that is the case, how is it their national teams look like they might find Horowhenua-Kapiti a tough challenge?)

Anyway, it's no stretch to say everything but the standard of rugby has been dominating the water-cooler conversation. Sure, the big three from the Tri Nations had all laid down their early markers, but it had been against Italy, Samoa and Japan.

But now we do have a performance to sit up and take notice of.

Indeed, now we may very well have a real tournament. South Africa, courtesy of their 36-0 shutout of a stage-struck England, have announced themselves as legitimate contenders.

They now stand ominously between the All Blacks and their Holy Grail, and have set up the possibility of an intriguing reincarnation of the epic 1995 world cup final next month in Paris.

One of the first things I asked myself after I'd digested a Springboks; display as good as I've seen in the modern era (almost certainly their finest on foreign fields in recent years) is: What would All Blacks coach Graham Henry make of it all?

First I pictured Henry's furrowed unibrow as he watched the Springboks dismantle a gloriously inept England side.

Concern would have turned to consternation as the South Africans picked apart the defending champions with the sort of ease that suggests the All Blacks are no longer the lay- down misere many have painted them to be at this event. (Now, ain't that a familiar tune?)

In fact, if anything, the Boks are now in the tournament's box seat, with a route to the final likely to consist of Wales in the quarter-final and Argentina or Ireland in the semifinal.

Contrast that with the very real possibility New Zealand may have to knock off France and Australia even to reach the title match and you figure the odds-makers must have had their calculators working furiously overnight.

Then I figured maybe that is how Henry wants it. Maybe he's not as worried as the rest of us, after viewing the definitive world cup performance thus far.

Maybe he realises that now, officially, this is a title that doesn't just have to be won, but is actually worth winning as well.

Sometimes in sport the most meaningful victories are the hardest ones.

There is almost no doubt now that to claim this world cup the All Blacks are going to have to not just exorcise their Wallaby semifinal demons, but conquer a confident Boks side in the final.

It's a mighty double, worthy of anyone wanting to call themselves the best in the world.

So what to make of the Boks? Were they as good as they appeared? Possibly. Probably, even. But there remains an asterisk next to this performance for the simple reason that England were so ineptly bad, utterly gormless on attack in particular, that I would have expected half of the Air New Zealand Cup sides to have claimed their scalp on this day.

Still, I was impressed by Jake White's men. They were clinical in their approach and calculating in their attack. They played solid defence, took their chances to strike from deep and collected points whenever they presented themselves. It's a style that has world cup- winning stamped all over it.

Moreover, they unearthed the early individual star of this world cup. Fourie du Preez's performance at halfback was excellent, exhilarating and exemplary. The Boks forwards won every contest but the scrum one, their wings attacked with real menace and the midfield of Jaque Fourie and stand-in Francois Steyn played their set- up roles splendidly. To think they'll still have a Schalk Burger to add to the mix is indeed ominous.

It has been all fun and games for the All Blacks so far. I get a feeling the serious button just got depressed.