Mike Greenaway: Forged in rugby hell - a steel will to crush England's dream

COMMENT

Who said this: "I have always said I want to be judged on the World Cup"?

If you are a South African, the first name to spring to mind is the man who has set a record for the number of times he said it in a year, mostly as a defence after yet another sad setback for the Springboks.

But the quote is also attributable to Clive Woodward, and the English coach has said it almost as often as Rudolf Straeuli - the difference being that he has said it to bring victorious England players and supporters back down to Earth.

The scary thing about Woodward is the fanaticism with which he has planned, plotted and left absolutely no stone unturned, or any expense spared, to bring the Webb Ellis Cup to the country that gave birth to the sport.

The Springboks have an ironic role in the birth of this English quest for the Holy Grail.

Almost four years ago, on a freezing afternoon in Paris, vows were made by the broken-hearted Woodward as he watched the Boks chair Jannie de Beer off the field after his drop-goal heroics during the 44-21 quarter-final victory.

Woodward and his players have never forgotten the agony of that day, and as the coach says, "Everything we have done over the last four years has been geared towards winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup".

"Saturday is the most important match for England in four years," echoed Woodward's chief lieutenant, Martin Johnson, which is a heck of a statement considering the success enjoyed by the Red Rose army since 1999.

We need not go into the incredible list of battles won by Johnson's men on their imperious march to the summit of world rugby, but the point is that as far as they are concerned, they have not yet won the war.

Twelve of the English squad who lost in Paris in 99 will play at the Subiaco Oval early tomorrow.

Most are forwards - Lawrence Dallaglio, who is now 31, Johnson, 33, Jason Leonard, 35, Phil Vickery, 27, Richard Hill, 30, Martin Corry, 30, and Dorian West, 36.

Not one of the Springbok pack survives. Joost van der Westhuizen is the only remaining player to have faced the English that day.

This England team have won 10 matches in a row against Tri-Nations opposition; the Boks have lost their last four matches to England, the Wallabies their last three.

Woodward is quick to say that all this will count for nothing tomorrow.

That is stuff and nonsense. England need to reproduce their form to win, but how can you discount the incredible wealth of experience, skill, know-how and street-wisdom grimly accumulated by Johnson's single-minded crusaders?

That mental toughness and physical resilience, which can be formed only in the white-hot crucible of battle, was never more evident than when a six-man England pack resisted the full might of the All Blacks in Wellington in June.

With Dallaglio and Neil Back in the sin-bin, they fought off the New Zealand side for 10 long minutes to secure the spoils.

Enough about the pack. Let's get to wily Matt Dawson and the David Beckham of rugby, Jonny Wilkinson. The halfback pair played in that'99 match, although Wilkinson came on as a substitute.

"I have put my whole life into winning this World Cup," says Wilkinson.

Enough said.

But what about the Springboks?

They have been through rugby hell in the past 12 months, and have emerged with a will to win that has to be seen to be believed.

A month ago, they were banished to the bush for a four-day survival camp during which former security policemen put them through such horrors that they have sworn life-long secrecy.

And they have been put through a fitness regime that has players complaining that their clothes no longer fit them.

Sure, talk is cheap, but the rhetoric coming from the Springboks this week has been heartfelt and genuine.

Captain Corne Krige has stood out proud and tall. He has spoken of the need for "fire in the heart and ice in the brain", of leaving "blood, soul and heart" on the field.

The players are superbly conditioned. They have pledged to play an up-tempo brand of rugby that will rattle the English and make their supporters proud.

Hunger for victory is etched on their faces as they wait around the hotel for kick-off to approach.

On paper, they have no chance, but they were written off in 1999 as well - as the English cannot forget.

"Yes, it will take something special for us to win," admits Straeuli.

"But this has become a special team over the last few months. We have been through a lot. It is the South African way to bond closely in the face of adversity. We could not have prepared better.

"To topple the best team in the world we have to be at our very best, and maybe we need a bit of luck as well."

Luck has been in short supply for the Boks this year, but surely this has to change some time ...

* Mike Greenaway is rugby writer for the Natal Mercury.