Kiwis give Springboks hope that experience still counts

07 August 2011 - 05:00 By LIAM DEL CARME
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Richie McCaw of the All Blacks fends off CJ Van Der Linde of the Springboks during the recent Tri-Nations match at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand. Stats show the All Blacks were on top of everything in this game Picture: PHIL WALTER/GALO IMAGES
Richie McCaw of the All Blacks fends off CJ Van Der Linde of the Springboks during the recent Tri-Nations match at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand. Stats show the All Blacks were on top of everything in this game Picture: PHIL WALTER/GALO IMAGES

The Springboks would have taken great pleasure, unusually, in watching the All Blacks dismantle the Wallabies 30-14 in Auckland.

The so-called World Cup final dress rehearsal found the All Blacks in full garb, while the Aussies fluffed their lines.

The Springboks would have derived particular pleasure from the fact that Test rugby's most experienced team could ascend to the peaks of physical endeavour and lay to waste the challenge of the tyros who now represent Wallaby rugby.

Their collective haul of 766 Test caps made yesterday's All Blacks team the most experienced ever, while the average age around 29 suggests that they will not remain at the peak of their powers much longer.

The Wallabies, with 388 caps and an average age of 24, are already rebuilding, especially now that Nathan Sharpe and Matt Giteau are struggling to make the squad.

The experience of his players has been the bedrock of Peter de Villiers' tenure as coach and his team looks set to celebrate a new milestone next week. The Springboks can recapture the Test cap record if they send a run-on 15 consisting of Frans Steyn, JP Pietersen, Jaque Fourie, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Butch James, Fourie du Preez, Pierre Spies, Danie Rossouw, Jean Deysel (the only fetcher flank Heinrich Brussow had to prove his fitness yesterday), Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Jannie du Plessis, John Smit, Tendai Mtawarira into battle.

That combination has 800 Test caps, but the record will mean little if they don't make their experience count in the way the All Blacks did.

Not that they required additional motivation but the All Blacks may have been fired up in the build-up to the game by former Wallaby number 8 Toutai Kefu's assertion that they are over the hill.

All Blacks coach Graham Henry countered that there was no substitute for experience.

Were De Villiers to go for the above combination the average age in his starting line-up would be just under 29, which puts them in the All Blacks' ball park. He's desperate for comparisons not to end there.

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