Scotty Stevenson: Rugby's star-war of contrasting styles

Ruan Pienaar's prodigious kicking highlights a flaw in the Springbok rugby mindset. Photo / AP

Forget what you think about this test match. There is so much more riding on tomorrow night's capital contest than a handful of competition points. This is a battle between total rugby and totalitarian rugby, a stylistic skirmish between one team that enjoys the sweet freedom of expression and another which squirms in the grip of moderation's gorilla mitt.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen calls South Africa "our greatest foe", and statistically speaking it's an assertion that cannot be argued against.

They have the best record of any nation against New Zealand hell it was only 18 years ago that the All Blacks managed to win a test series on South African soil and they remain the real test of All Black strength.

The Springboks have always brought the best out in the All Blacks, so the question is this: when are they going to bring the best out in themselves? That this team has one date to savour in the last nine meetings of world rugby's current No1 and No2 says plenty. Victory against the All Blacks: from regularity to rarity.

To put the importance of this test in perspective, New Zealand lines up tomorrow night looking, for just the second time in the history of this great rugby rivalry, to post a fifth consecutive win against South Africa. Not since a remarkable three-year period at the turn of the century in which the All Blacks won nine straight matches, has one side so clearly dominated this match-up.

And it is a domination of the worst type - South Africa keeps bringing cannons to the knife fight and the All Blacks keep driving in the dagger. After an unconvincing series sweep of Argentina and an agonising loss against Australia (and, let's be honest, referee George Clancy was kind enough to play the scapegoat last week), South African fans aren't just demanding a win against the All Blacks, they are obsessed with the notion.

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has indicated that he wants to bring something "unconventional" to the match and holds up, as exhibits A and B in his case for innovation, his selection of 20-year-old first five-eighth Handre Pollard and 21-year-old centre Jan Serfontein.

There is no doubt Pollard is a talent, but Meyer's implication that his selection will lead to a ball-in-hand gameplan is a smokescreen.

May I introduce Exhibits C and D: Ruan Pienaar and Willie Le Roux, who between them have unleashed 77 kicks in three matches. Not even the great Steyn can compete with those outlandish numbers.

And then there's Serfontein, who can't possibly have been given the nod for his offensive output.

Oh, he can play, but he is there because he's made 18 tackles and hasn't missed one. Meyer has chosen the 21-year-old not to fire the shots, but to take the hits.

This test presents a conundrum for the South Africans. They can persist with a power game that revolves around the lineout and seeks to win the penalty count (though as was shown last week against the Wallabies, you can't rely on a referee blowing his whistle when you need him to) because that's what they know best. Or they can find a way to expand on their powers, to break the shackles of conservatism and build sustained periods of pressure on the All Blacks defence.

They have the talent for this. Duane Vermeulen is a destructive force on attack, and is allowed to be through the defensive work of the tireless Francois Louw and Marcell Coetzee, Bryan Habana is one of the great wingers, Cornall Hendricks is worth more than 11 touches in 240 minutes of match time, Willie Le Roux is better with both feet so why rely so heavily on one?

Meyer says he wants to play attractive rugby. He told reporters this week he was hoping for a dry track "so we can play some attacking rugby". But surely this side is capable of playing attacking rugby rain, hail or shine.

I asked one former All Blacks coach this week about his approach to wet-weather rugby.

He said: "Most people call the rain a leveller, I think it's the other way around. That's when the team with the best skillset has the advantage."

Or maybe the advantage lies with the team that believes it has those skills in the first place.