World Cup? The Boks have what it takes
What the Boks did show on Saturday, is that they have the potential to be serious World Cup contenders.
Herschel Jantjies of the Springboks scores during the 2019 Rugby Championship Test Match between New Zealand and South Africa at Westpac Stadium on July 27, 2019 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Mark Tantrum/Getty Images)
It’s hard not to have a semblance of a grin today if you’re a Springbok fan – and you may even have been daring to dream of World Cup glory.
But, nice as the weekend’s Rugby Championship results were, let’s not get carried away. The Boks are top of the Championship table and made Argentina look very ordinary on Saturday in thumping them 46-13 at home.
The Boks showed they can play a good, running game and there were fewer mistakes than usual. At the same time, the Wallabies’ 47-26 scoreline against the All Blacks truly threw the cat among the international rugby pigeons.
The All Blacks, even allowing that they were a man down for most of the match, looked vulnerable. And that is not something anyone has been able to say about them for many a year.
However, Japan is just over five weeks away and the World Cup is a place where everybody can play above their station and bounce back from defeats in warm-up games.
What the Boks did show on Saturday is that they have the potential to be serious World Cup contenders. Now it’s down to the mental game. We – team and fans – have to believe.
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