Rugby Union: Springboks Hope to Spring Tri-nations Surprise As Wallabies Wither

A punter in London this week placed a £150,000 bet at 5-1 on South Africa to win the World Cup. The Tri-Nations series, which starts today in Cape Town, will go some way to determining whether the bookmaker concerned can expect a dip in profits.

The Springboks are seen as the one obstacle in the way of the overwhelming favorites New Zealand, whose only defeats in the past three years have come against South Africa when they have struggled to cope against a blitz defence and a confrontational back row at the breakdown.

The game in South Africa, like that in Wales, has always been overtly political. No matter that the head coach Jake White has turned the Springboks from the boot camp ragtag who turned up at the last World Cup to be beaten by England and New Zealand into a side which, like the All Blacks, is multi-dimensional, he finds himself under constant pressure both from his employers and the government, which believes the sport has been dilatory in ensuring professional squads contain a quota of non-white players.

"The coach of the Springboks is always under pressure," said White, who will probably not hold on to his job even if South Africa win the World Cup after a series of publicised run-ins with his union. "It is simply a reality of rugby here. It does not affect the players and we are ready for the Tri-Nations series, a competition which is more difficult to win than the World Cup because there are no games when you can experiment with combinations and tactics."

Australia have shown no signs this year that they will offer South Africa and New Zealand much threat in the Tri-Nations or the World Cup, blustering their way to unconvincing victories over Wales and Fiji in the past three weeks after tinkering with their starting line-ups. The Wallabies have gone for experience today with George Gregan and Stephen Larkham at half-back and Stirling Mortlock and Lote Tuqiri in the threequarters, but they lack resources at forward and will struggle to make their third World Cup final out of three in the professional era.

Reports in Australia this week suggested that the head coach John Connolly would be sacked if the Tri-Nations campaign went badly, with a caretaker administration put in place for the World Cup. They were denied officially, but they highlighted the sense of frustration and desperation in a country used to sporting success.

Australia have this week reverted to what they are good at: putting pressure on the referee, the 27-year-old Englishman Wayne Barnes who has been rewarded for an excellent season in the Guinness Premiership.

The Wallabies' forwards coach Michael Foley has publicly asked Barnes to scrutinise the scrummaging technique of the South Africa prop BJ Botha.

"Botha never packs square and I just do not understand how referees, game in, game out, ignore it," said Foley. "He is a powerful scrummager, but he breaks the rules." With the Australia center Matt Giteau also sniping at the Springboks, saying that they talk themselves up and do not respect Australia, Barnes is in for the most testing 80 minutes of his career.

New Zealand warm up for their Tri-Nations campaign against Canada today after two victories over France's dirt-trackers and Connolly admits that Australia have ground to make up.

"The All Blacks are the form team in the world at the moment while South Africa are probably the strongest they have been in the professional era, but we have made great strides in the last year," he said. "This tournament will show us where we are."

The key match will be played in Durban next week when the All Blacks face the Springboks. It is then that the countdown to the World Cup will really start.

Tri-Nations fixtures


June 16 South Africa v Australia

Sky Sports Xtra, 2pm (all times BST)

June 23 South Africa v New Zealand

Sky Sports Xtra, 2pm

June 30 Australia v New Zealand

Sky Sports 1, 11.05am

July 7 Australia v South Africa

Sky Sports 2, 11.05am

July 14 New Zealand v South Africa

Sky Sports 2, 8.35am

July 21 New Zealand v Australia

Sky Sports 2, 8.35am