Foreign Policy Blogs

All Blacks v. Springboks: The Haka Wins Round One

The Gods of sport can be cruel; they surely have a well-developed sense of timing. A week after South Africa came from behind to beat a surprisingly game Australia team in their first meeting in this year's rugby Tri-Nations competition, the Springboks succumbed to a resilient New Zealand All Blacks squad, which scored two tries in two minutes late in the game to win by a final tally of 26-21. The Springboks missed some opportunities to put the game away early (a trend that almost cost them last week as well) and ran out of steam at the end, and while South African optimism coming into the match may have proven premature, observers still have found some positives and room for optimism for the away legs of the Tri Nations. This South African squad will not be afraid to play in hostile environments, and the team and its supporters need to take a long-range view. The Tri Nations is still up for grabs, albeit with New Zealand in control of their own fate, but more importantly, South Africa continues to be on pace to contend in France later this year.