Dream the Impossible Dream!

It's official, the upset of upsets has ocurred, and you didn't exactly hear it here first, but at least I did say that I would not be surprised to see the upset take place given the All Black confidence, and expectations riding so high. The Springboks wanted the victory more and a few dunderheaded decisions cost the All Blacks highly. Rodney So'oialo will not remember this game fondly, gifting Habana a try after what can only be described as a brain explosion by passing him the ball leaving the try line open, being instrumental in the disallowing of one try, and being involved in giving away the penalty that ultimately cost the All Blacks the game.

But it is not the fault of one man, as any loss rarely is. The All Blacks were weak tonight, the weakest we have seen them all season. Lineout woes returned, and not even Mullet Boy's new mou could save them tonight. How about that? Isn't he the biggest bogun in the game these days? Eaton, what a man! What a fashion statement!

The All Blacks never looked comfortable with the rush defence, and the only kick through (from Mils Muliaina I believe) resulted in an easy try to the flying fijian Joe Rokocoko out on the wing. The All Blacks consistently failed to 'break out' tonight and failed to take opportunities. They will learn much from this loss, and hopefully what they will learn is some humility, as will the New Zealand press. They need look no further for challengers to the World Cup, anyone with a decent lineout can take on this team.

The South Africans failed to capitulate this week. They toughed it out, and showed some discipline and passion in the last moments of the game. They denyied the All Blacks a come from behind victory in the last seconds by stripping captain fantastic of the ball. They consistently managed to slow the game down with well timed injuries and allowed their forwards to suck in some big ones and stay in the game to the end. They did well. They played well, played to a strategy, and stuck with it.

There will be some fallout after this game, as the Africans played a tough test match, and took it to the All Blacks up front. This will be good for African rugby, they have succeeded in avoiding a record 7 defeats in a row for a South African side. Their combinations worked well, and this team may start to play with more confidence against the Wallabies, something that should serve them well.

So, a good result all round. The officials copped a lot of criticism where I watched the game, but truth be told although there were some harsh decisions, the All Blacks were their own worst enemy. The Africans played a good hard test and deserved the win more than New Zealand. Rugby was the winner on the day, it was a game of two halves, and full credit to the Africans (thanks Sean Fitzpatrick (although he would have also thanked the ladies for the fantastic spread). Maybe there is life in this Tri-Nations lark yet!