In the immortal words of my old mate Brian Ashby: calm the farm. We’ve had our fun, haven’t we? The Wallabies shocked the rugby world, the Springboks got pantsed at Ellis Park of all places, and rugby Twitter went into meltdown. We praised the Aussies, poked the Boks, and feasted on the chaos like kids let loose in a lolly shop.
But now, it’s time to reset. To breathe. To look ahead to Round 2 of The Rugby Championship with clearer eyes. Because – I feel – what we saw last weekend wasn’t the start of some seismic shift in world rugby, it was a beautiful anomaly. A glitch in the matrix. A one-off out-of-the-box result that, as memorable as it was, won’t be repeated.
Let’s be honest – the Wallabies winning at Ellis Park wasn’t exactly on anyone’s bingo card. It was Rocky Balboa beating Ivan Drago. It was a glorious, unlikely win that gave Australia belief and made the rest of us sit up and say “hang on, what the hell just happened?”
But it won’t happen again. Not this weekend. Not in Cape Town.
South Africa don’t lose twice in a row at home. They just don’t. It’s not in their nature. You can bet your last rand that Boks coach Rassie Erasmus has been volcanic all week. The team will be hurting – embarrassed, even. And when South African rugby is embarrassed, it doesn’t sulk – it smashes.
That second-half collapse at Ellis Park? That’s not who they are. That was a team caught off-guard, confused at the breakdown, leaking soft tries like a sieve. But you think they’ll let that happen again? No chance.
This weekend, I expect a response. A statement. South Africa to come out with fire in their eyes and steam rolling off their shoulders. I’d love to be proven wrong. I enjoy the chaos. But I don’t believe the Wallabies have the physical or mental horsepower to do it twice. And certainly not against a Bok pack that’s been roasted all week in the media and by their own fans.
On the other side of the equation, the All Blacks did what they had to in Córdoba. It wasn’t sparkling, it wasn’t pretty, but it was solid. You could see what they were trying to do, even if the execution wasn’t always there.
And the beauty of where the ABs are at right now is that improvement is coming. You can see it in patches. The intent is there. I expect better cohesion in the backs this week. Fewer fumbles. Sharper option-taking. And crucially, more fluency in attack. We’re not there yet, but we’re on the climb.
We can celebrate that Australian upset all we like – and we should. It was epic. But rugby is a long game. It’s a grind. And Round 2 is where things settle. Where the heavyweights remind us why they’re top of the pile. The Springboks and the All Blacks are still the benchmark. That hasn’t changed in seven days.
So here’s the call. South Africa win. New Zealand win. Order restored.
And if I’m wrong, well, I’ll own it. But right now, I’m putting my chips on the giants getting back on their feet.
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