Photo: It is fitting that Danie Gerber was the first Springbok to score a five-point try. (Photo: Getty Images)
DAN RETIEF takes a stroll down memory lane, and examines how points tally changes in the history of rugby would have affected some games more than others.
It might have been the braai smoke starting to waft around on Heritage Day or the first sip of a nice sauvignon blanc but I have realised that I just might be the Springboks’ lucky charm.
This is not the kind of unexpected twist in the plot you might expect in a Stephen King novel or the meandering of a mind still trying to make sense of what happened against Japan. No, it is a real fact that came to me while poring over the stats to back up the original theme of this column.
In recent years there have been a couple of Springbok disasters. Most recently of course there was the team committing hara-kiri in Brighton but there were others:
- Losing 53-3 to England at Twickenham.
- Losing 49-0 to Australia in Brisbane.
- Being blown off the park by Bryce Lawrence in Wellington in a game they should nevertheless have won
And I missed them all.
I was present for the two World Cup victories and some other great moments but on these dark days I was in front of the TV but far away; sometimes turning my back, as I do when Ernie Els is in contention in a Major, in case I might be the Jonah. So instead of getting me moved off SuperSport, as I have been told was done, SARU should have made sure I was present!
My reason for delving through the stats books was two-fold: to check on other occasions the Springbok team had sent the nation into anguish and to ascertain the All Blacks’ biggest win over the Boks.
The second part of the search was generated by my knowledge that while the All Blacks have often scored big wins over the Springboks, South Africa’s biggest win dated back to Durban in 1928 – a 17-0 victory.
Having written about the possibility of a six-point try being introduced (September 17 – Rugby law changes to be trialled) I was interested to see whether a different value for a try would perhaps move the Boks’ best mark a little close to the All Blacks’ 52-16 triumph – a 36-point margin, in Pretoria in 2003.
Interestingly under the current scoring system the score would have remained the same (17-0). The Boks scored one try by Jack Slater, so two more points more, but in those days Bennie Osler’s two drops were each worth four points. Thus the two-point gain for a five-point try would have been cancelled out by the drops.
A bigger win would have resulted from South Africa’s 17-6 victory over New Zealand at Eden Park in 1937, considered by many to be arguably the Springboks’ greatest victory.
On that day Philip Nel’s Boks scored five tries through Louis Babrow (2), Ferdie Bergh, Dai Williams and Freddie Turner and a single conversion by Gerry Brand.
A five-point try would thus have resulted in a 27-6 win (in New Zealand’s own backyard!) and a 21-point margin.
Oft times trawling through the records can send one off on a tangent.
I found myself wonder who had scored the Boks’ first five-point try so, just for the record and if it ever turns up in a quiz, here is the progression:
- The Boks’ last three-point try was scored by Jan Ellis in an 18-6 win at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1971.
- The first four-point try was scored by Peter Cronje against the British Lions in a 13-13 draw at Ellis Park in 1974. (Interestingly it took South Africa four tests, one against England in 1972, and three against Willie-John McBride’s Lions in 1974 to score a four-point try.
- The last four-point try was scored by Michael du Plessis in a 22-16 win over a World XV at Ellis Park in 1989.
- The first five-point try was scored by Danie Gerber in a 24-27 defeat to the All Blacks at Ellis Park in 1992.
The first defeat against Japan… okay let’s leave it there!
Let's Chat