Captain Cook Friday, October 15, 2010

THIS is the moment of truth. If we can sock it to the Bulls tomorrow, we are over the real hurdle. And let nobody read too much into last week's performance against Western Province. Several things:

Psychology is everything in rugby. When you go in against a side that is absolutely desperate to win and get a home semi, while you already have a home semi and nothing is riding on the game, you lack a psychological edge. It just cannot be helped. Your focus is on next week's game. You lack the kamekazi instinct because you want to be playing in next week's game.

Yes, Province played brilliantly. Yet we ran in the same number of tries as them. It was four penalties that did for us. (Memo: Let's watch this doziness.)

As I say, don't read too much into last week. We have a noticeably different and potent line-up tomorrow, especially in the halves. We pack a very strong front row. Tomorrow is for real.

A lot of people are comparing our lining up against the Bulls (aka Northern Transvaal) with that famous final in 1990 when we took the Currie Cup for the first time ever, very much against the odds. Fair enough, but there are also some important differences.

First, and obviously, this is a semi-final, not a final. Secondly, in 1990 we were very much the hopeless underdogs. We had been whipped 28-6 by Northerns just a fortnight earlier in our final round robin match.

I recall being at a dinner party in Pretoria the night before the final. A girl from Foreign Affairs was there and she was most kind about Natal, impressed by the number of supporters who had come so far for what would be so very little. This showed real spirit, she said, and she hoped we would not be humiliated.

I think she applied on the Monday morning for a posting to Venezuela.

It's just not the same this time. We beat Northerns here in Durban. We damn near beat them again at Loftus, and we should have. What's that you say? The return of Northerns' Springboks?

Return from where? From the Tri-Nations fiasco, that's where. And from this physical enhancement course – Kamp Staaldraad lite. That's just not the same thing as playing in a Currie Cup competition that's produced rugby of a brilliance, and a spirit, we could not have dreamed of at the start.

And that applies to five or six teams. If our national rugby is to be rescued, it will be by what has been produced in this Currie Cup. So let's not be over-awed by the presence of Springboks. We've already got what it takes.

This will, of course, be a humdinger. The winner will almost certainly go on to take the Currie Cup. I predict the final will be against Free State. And if we manage to squeeze it into the final, the jollifications in the Duikers' Club and elsewhere are likely to be spectacular.

See you in the Duikers'! I'll be the one dancing the limbo with the Tattooed Lady!