Never mind the nerds, sometimes there's magic

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw scores the winning try during the Rugby Championship match against South Africa. Photo / Getty Images

What a refreshing rugby brew that was at Ellis Park - especially the Richie McCaw try.

Who didn't have a slightly smug smile after that match-clinching move as the noise of protests from South Africa came wailing across the Indian Ocean.

As test rugby has developed in the 20 years since professionalism and the stakes have become far greater, we often see a sport governed by percentages.

But McCaw's inventive try from the stretched lineout was a cracker. It bamboozled the Boks and provoked those law-book nerds into all sorts of quibbling complaints.

Rugby is choking in its complexity and increasingly confusing for many who have spent a lifetime following the sport. They are baffled and exasperated about the game they watch and the way it is refereed.

Moments like Christian Cullen's try against the Wallabies in Wellington in 2000 redress the balance, though, with the planning, deception and execution of a looped run, mini-midfield wall, scissors switch then break from Tana Umaga and finish from the fullback.

That was rugby magic from coaches and players.

Some moves are doomed, such as Danny Cipriani hooking up with Kelly Brook and the infamous "99" warfare call from the Lions.

But someone like former Wallaby coach Daryl Haberecht could bring plenty of tricks to the footy field.

He invented the "ball up the jumper" tap penalty move which enabled Country to beat Sydney 40 years ago, and he also had a crack at a 14-man scrum.

When the touring Lions were giving Country a real touch-up in the scrums in 1989, Haberecht invented a Gallipoli move in which he got a Country wing to run straight across the back of a collapsed scrum.

Peter Thorburn tried all sorts of lineout and maul variations when he was coaching North Harbour, and the 14-man wall he used against the Wallabies at Onewa Domain caused visiting coach Bob Dwyer some apoplexy.

Remember the knee kick used by Carlos Spencer, the now popular cross field kick-pass and the teabag that boiled to perfection for Tony Woodcock and the All Blacks at the 2011 World Cup final.

Those who watched the Maromaku Magic from the Going brothers in the 70's still glow about the triple scissors move they practised in the mists of the family farm and then used to perfection every time they played Auckland at Eden Park.

Moments of spicy adventure are garnish for everyone, but teams like to limit them for crucial occasions. Ellis Park was one of those golden intersections.