Bok coach Pieter de Villiers said the following in the build-up to the Australia test in Durban:

"With 40 minutes in the first half, and 40 minutes in the second half, we have 60 minutes to show what we can do."

Little did he know at the time that this would ring true at the conclusion of Saturday's test. The Bokke played a very good first half, for a team that have not played together this season. And if you are of a gullible nature, you have to keep in mind that most of these players were still injured a week or two ago.

While I was very pleasantly surprised by the play dished up in the first half, it has to be said that we were not clinical enough. If this team had played two warm-up games before the Aussie test, we would have come alot closer to crossing the whitewash. We had more linebreaks in the first half, than in the two combined games overseas, but we could not convert any of these half-chances.

A bok team at the top of its game would have been able to put Bryan Habana, JP Pietersen or Jacque Fourie over the line after the type of breaks we saw from Pierre Spies and Beast Mtwarira. The big eighth-man and the loosehead prop was the best the Boks had to offer on the day, and their form bodes well for the World Cup.

Spies, who has been struggling for some kind of form this year, showed his strength and explosive speed on many occassions. While I am biased towards the Barberton Daisy, I think supporters all over the country would have enjoyed Pierre's performance. Since it is quite clear that he will be Snor's first choice eighth-man come hell or high water, all we as supporters could wish for, was the old Pierre. And the old Pierre was certainly back. Lets hope he can do the same against the All Blacks, and then take that form to New Zealand in a couple of weeks.

The Beast showed his class by trying to imitate Spies' runs, and he had a big impact with ball in hand. He also cleared rucks as if his life depended on it. With John Smit being rested for the PE test, it will be a great sight to see the Beast and Bismarck together in the front row, especially after the latter made a big impact when appearing on the field.

Bok fans were given some more hope by the performance of Heinrich Brussow. Coming back from injury, and multiple operations, Brussow only had 20 minutes of rugby in the last couple of months. But that didn't stop him from pouncing on rucks and playing like the Heinrich we know.

Having said all this, it was very disappointing to see how we disintegrated at the hour-mark. When Jannie du Plessis was taken off, and with no tight-head cover on the bench, John Smit was moved to anchor the scrum. Our scrums went backwards at a rate of knots, and the momentum went to the Aussies. Brussouw was replaced at about the same time, and although Bismarck du Plessis did his best at the breakdown, the Aussies' ball started to come out alot quicker.

In those last 20 minutes it was clear which side was the match-fit one, and the Aussies deservedly won the match. Our defence was much better, but we saw those typical first-game-of-the-season mistakes, and they cost us dearly in the end.

A full-strength Bok side must never lose at home, and while we can make many excuses for this team, we shouldn't go that route. We have now given the Aussies the confidence that might just give them the edge if we encounter them at the World Cup (which will only be in the final, after a Bok-NZ semi-final).

This coming weekend, the Boks have to win. It is non-negotiable. We do not want to be the defending champions going into the World Cup with a losing streak of 4 games.

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