All Blacks: Weakened Boks head for showdown

Thanks to the Wallabies and their heroics in Brisbane, the All Blacks have a shot at the Tri-Nations title. Photo / Getty Images

Tri-Nations standings

John Smit is a great warrior, a wonderful man of Springbok rugby whose gifts in sporting excellence, leadership and behaviour have done a great deal to push his nation to the forefront of global sporting supremacy.

The 31-year-old is the most capped leader in world rugby, a captain who led his nation to the last World Cup honours in France and took them to a recent series victory against the Lions.

For the bulk of his celebrated 88-test career he played hooker, where his strong scrummaging, leadership and lineout throwing made him an automatic selection.

Then along came Bismarck du Plessis, a younger version, an even more dynamic player in the loose and someone with crisper athletic skills. Solution? Switch the man with the uncanny resemblance and Barney Rubble nickname to tighthead prop where he had some experience during his younger days.

It worked for a while. Smit's power, experience and survival instincts allowed him to escape too much inspection during the series against the Lions.

He also had the advantage of the behemoth Bakkies Botha as his engine from the secondrow.

But at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday, Smit's scrummaging world started to disintegrate. His technical defects were exposed, even perhaps his conditioning which has not been its sharpest in recent times.

The Wallabies started the process with hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and loosehead prop Benn Robinson spearing in on Smit before Stephen Moore took over when Polota-Nau was hurt.

In a campaign which has often been disappointing this year and in a position which has also brought its share of long-term grief for the Wallabies, the frontrow delivered. Robinson, the 25-year-old, drew plenty of praise from his coach Robbie Deans.

"He's a rock for the group," said Deans. "And he's a rock in many ways. He's surprising with his athleticism - he defends very well and he carries very well, away from his work at the set piece."

Much of the hurt, the pain and damaged pride the Wallabies have endured about the frailty of their scrum in recent years disappeared on Saturday. Certainly for the Wallabies who have endured repeated taunts about that area of their game and even referees' displeasure with props sinbinned for technical failures.

But in the last quarter at Suncorp Stadium it was the Springboks who were popping up in the frontrow or collapsing as the Wallabies grasped their moment.

Those sights would also have been mana to the watching All Black group.

Loosehead prop Tony Woodcock may be an even more crusty scrummager than Robinson and the pack has been strong in that work again this winter.

If Smit starts again at tighthead prop in Hamilton, the All Blacks will sense a crack in the Bok armoury.

From the stability of one Wallaby scrum, their backs were able to send Adam Ashley-Cooper to the line for a telling try, they won a penalty and should have had another in front of the posts when the Boks arched out of a scrum again like thirsty hippos.

The Wallabies' 21-6 victory halted their horror run and the Boks' unbeaten stretch in this year's Tri-Nations. The Wallabies could have won by a much greater margin. Only superb defence and TMO vigilance rubbed out another possible quartet of touchdowns.

A series title which looked a formality a week ago after the Bok domination and Wallaby capitulation in Perth, is still vacant.

Instead of striding to Hamilton as Tri-Nations champions this week, the Boks have dropped their rhythm.

The questions now are whether they have suddenly lost their mojo and whether the All Blacks can expose their lull in momentum. Was the slip-up temporary, a sign of a faltering rugby empire or just the natural mental fatigue of a side which has been under the pump all year?

Not that the test match promoters in Hamilton ever needed to worry. The test was always going to be a sellout, it was just a matter of how quickly the last tickets sold and the Brisbane result should have sorted that out pronto.

What loomed as a dead rubber after the Wallabies played like such dead ducks in Perth, will now be tabled as the Showdown in Cowtown. Suddenly, in the stroke of one good Wallaby performance, these two All Blacks tests to finish their Tri-Nations schedule have gained an extra edge.

The Springboks have the Tri-Nations title to chase and, a week later in Wellington, the Wallabies will sense their chance for redemption, the start of a new era and a chance to gain a victory this year which eluded them at Eden Park.

The Boks will be weary and have decided to rest and recharge on the Gold Coast this week before arriving in Hamilton late on Thursday night.

The Wallabies will have a week to recuperate while the All Blacks, already down to slim numbers in the backline, will be praying for victory and a minimal injury list this weekend.