Mike Greenaway: Sunshine amid the mayhem

In Springbokland the prelude to the 2005 Tri-Nations has contained the best of times, the worst of times and a whole lot more.

We have had the coach threatening to resign because of meddling bureaucrats, we have players threatening to strike in support of their coach, there was a tragic 134-3 humiliation of Uruguay, a day in which a record five black players started a match for South Africa. There was government outrage when that quota was reduced to two for the next match against France.

There has been a massive row over the identification of the "fifth" Super 14 franchise and rugby was just about on its knees by the time the Government and SA Rugby finally reached an amicable solution although, subsequently, the entire board of the Eastern Province Rugby Union (one of the Super 14 winners) has been sacked for incompetence.

Ho Hum. Never a dull moment in Africa as they say. But it was like this last year as well, and somehow we sneaked in the back door and won the Tri-Nations.

So the international season dawned amid the usual mayhem. The first test against France (the match was drawn) was not inspiring but then Jake White delivered a masterstroke in motivation when he threatened to resign on the morning of the second test because SA Rugby president Brian van Rooyen had been interfering in selection. The unfortunate French took the full broadside of the Springbok fury and they were soundly thrashed.

Which brings us to the Mandela Plate, a home-and-away series with the Australians that was supposed to provide reliable pointers to the Tri-Nations.

After those curious matches, we are back to square one. The Boks can't win in Australia and the Wallabies can't buy a win in South Africa.

It was an extraordinary series, memorable for the appalling fare dished up by the Boks in Sydney only for them to undergo a metamorphoses at Ellis Park and put the Aussies ruthlessly to the sword.

The relevance of that match is that White had reinvented his team, making eight changes, and the new-fangled side blazed away in non-stop action that confirms that the Boks can indeed play the modern game. The Wallabies could not match the Springbok intensity and they had particular difficulty with the new midfield of Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie, who had come in for veterans De Wet Barry and Marius Joubert. De Villiers was full of cut and thrust (where Barry was all about bash and blunder) and the gawky Fourie (he is all arms and legs) ran off him splendidly.

White also fielded a new halfback pairing of Andre Pretorius and Ricky Januarie, both of whom are decidedly more adventurous than the 2004 Tri-Nations pair of Jaco van der Westhuyzen and Fourie du Preez.

The third area where the Boks outplayed the Wallabies was at loose forward. White's new combination of Solly Tyibilika, Joe van Niekerk and Juan Smith clicked perfectly.

For White, the upshot of the second Mandela Plate match is that he now has enlarged his core of reliable, test-proven players. He also has greater options. When the situation requires it, he can play the more conservative players, such as halfback Du Preez and centre Barry, the kind of players that can marshall the defence; and when White wants to attack, he has no shortage of willing youngsters.

The humiliating loss in Sydney in the Mandela Plate has been something of a blessing in disguise. The scale of the defeat forced White to pull apart the Tri-Nations team that he blindly stuck to for so long, so that others could be give a chance.

The Springbok squad of 2005 has emerged from on and off-field chaos as a stronger, more versatile unit.

But it remains to be seen whether they have the mental strength to win in Perth and Dunedin.

The problem of winning away from home has become a major issue with the Boks and this is why they were so distraught when they failed so miserably in Sydney three weeks ago. They honestly believed they were going to win that match.

White has been in charge for 18 tests and while the Boks have not lost in South Africa under him, they have won little of merit outside the Republic - last year they beat Wales, Scotland, Argentina and the Pacific Islands away from home.

The Boks have now failed to win in Australia for a 12th successive time since 1998, which was also the year they last beat the All Blacks in New Zealand.

Last year the Boks won the Tri-Nations without having to win overseas.

They surely will not be as lucky this year and nobody knows whether they have it in them to win in New Zealand and Australia.