The Springboks need to lose their underdog mentality, writes SIMNIKIWE XABANISA in the latest SA Rugby magazine.
SIMNIKIWE XABANISAIf the Springboks’ newfound ability to consistently push the All Blacks proves anything, it is that they still don’t have the consistency that eludes them between World Cups to the point that they have a strangely symmetrical record of winning it once every 12 years.
Repeatedly giving the team regarded as the best in the world the hurry-up like that, as the Boks have happily taken to doing, is a record to be proud of. But it’s also a case in point as to why the world champions have always struggled to hold on to the feeling of being on top of the world. But the Boks’ biggest historical problem is an inability to play their best when they are not underdogs.
They struggled to put the South Americans away despite this being one of their weakest teams in a while and lost both games to the Wallabies when they were expected to win, proving for the umpteenth time that they’re still a team which plays to prove people wrong instead of proving themselves right.
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