John Drake: Beating Boks becomes big deal

At the beginning of the season I would never have imagined the Tri-Nations series would be so important to our year. All the emphasis was to be on the Lions with the Tri-Nations a pleasant interlude but definitely not the main deal.

Enough has been written about the pathetic Lions - some Northern Hemisphere journalists are still in denial with Sir Clive, but the results don't lie.

Graham Henry stated early that he would be resting key players during the Tri-Nations, again indicating the tournament may not be a top priority.

Henry has also recently been reported as saying the New Zealand rugby public must accept that the All Blacks will not win every time and that we are arrogant in our attitude.

Let's look at each of these matters.

Last year the All Blacks finished last in the competition, we scraped a home win against the Boks with a last-minute try and were beaten comprehensively in South Africa. Smashed, in fact, by more physical and aggressive opponents.

More importantly we were out-thought, with the Boks' attack and defence too hot for the All Blacks to handle.

This loss was very damaging for Henry and his fellow selectors, Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen, and made them rethink their strategy on training, selection and emphasis on building leadership.

Certainly they should be congratulated for reacting and admitting things needed to change, starting with themselves and moving to the team.

All the improvement gained in France at the end of the year and against the Lions will not get the final pass mark until the team can win in South Africa. So the All Black management must now see this test early on Sunday in Cape Town as the most important of the year.

There is general agreement that the strongest team has been selected, injuries accepted.

An area of concern could be the lack of recent matchplay compared with the Springboks'. This can work both ways with modern trainings as hard physically as matches but without the mental testing.

Certainly it has been a long time since the likes of Carl Hayman have played and this may affect the team performance, particularly if the Springboks start with high intensity and passion.

The All Blacks arrived early in the Republic and based themselves away from Cape Town to avoid the hype and fuss common before tests.

Again I wonder if it may have been better to get into the thick of the environment and gain a feel of the local intensity.

In recent years we have seen the All Blacks based in Melbourne for the 2003 World Cup and taking a break in the south of France during the 1999 World Cup. Neither move produced the desired result.

I believe to be involved with the locals can be great motivation before a test. Remember, despite the glories against the Lions we still got stuffed by the Springboks last time out and a few comments from local supporters certainly can sharpen the attitude and improve the motivation.

To win over there, nothing much has changed. Set pieces will be vital.

The Boks crushed the Wallaby scrum - even allowing for the officials trying to keep things even.

In Victor Matfield, South Africa have probably the best lineout player in the world at the moment.

He is particularly dangerous attacking opposition ball. So the quality of the scrum and lineout ball will go a long way to deciding if the All Blacks can succeed.

I expect both sides to kick for territory, particularly to the touchlines, and this will make the lineout battle even more important.

Henry and co may have recognised this by playing Mils Muliaina ahead of Joe Rokocoko, reasoning that while they may lose a little on attack they will be safer under the high ball.

I think we have the ability to beat the South African rushing defensive structure. Byron Kelleher and Daniel Carter will play vital roles by probing with runs and kicks in close, thus negating South Africa's umbrella defence out wide.

I expect a very tight test with Carter, maybe, being the difference. However, as always against South Africa, we must win the battle up front.

Finally Henry's comments about accepting defeat and arrogance. I appreciate the logic that with the number of games and quality of opposition lengthy unbeaten runs will be hard to compile.

However, no player expects to lose and no supporter likes the idea much, nor should we be told to accept it.

The Lions supporters showed us to be graceful in defeat and sometimes we certainly underrate the quality of the opposition.

Rugby is our national game and despite recent failures at World Cup time we are consistently rated as the world's No 1 team.

Players, management, administrators and supporters should expect nothing less than victory every game.

When beaten we should re-evaluate and look to improve rather than seek excuses and blame others.

And isn't this what Henry and co did so successfully after the failure last year against the Springboks?