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Henrie's Recipes
3N: Boks' all-time best
Posted Wed, 16 Sep 2009
John Smit and his all-conquering Springbok team have been hailed as one of the best South African teams of all time — certainly in the professional era.
Having won the Tri-Nations title for the first time since 2004 — to go along with the whitewash of the All Blacks, World Cup (2007), a B&I Lions series victory (2009), the Mandela Challenge Plate (for a 2-1 series win against Australia in 2009) and the Freedom Cup (beating the All Blacks 3-0 in 2009) - they are also the top-ranked team on the International Rugby Board rankings.
But how good are they as individuals? Are they indeed the best team of all time?
iafrica.com has decided to select our all-time Tri-Nations squad, to see how many of John Smit's 'conquerors' can make it.
Because it is so difficult to compare players from one era to a next, we have decided to only look at the professional era. That is simply to distinguish those players who played the game on a fulltime basis (i.e. it is/was their work) and those players who only trained a couple of times before a Test and all held down fulltime employment outside of the game.
That means we start in 1996 and for this exercise, to avoid complications, we will only name an all-time Tri-Nations Springbok XV. That means only players that have performed in the Tri-Nations, from 1996 to 2009, are considered.
So here goes!
iafrica.com Springbok 3N XV:
15 - Andre Joubert
Yes, we know Percy Montgomery is the only South African with 100 Test caps and is indeed a legend in his own right. But overall, we are taking a ride in the Rolls Royce. Francois Steyn's prodigious boot deserves a mention, but all-round he has some way to go.
14 - James Small
Again there will be a clamour for the call-up of JP Pietersen and even retired veteran Breyton Paulse, but we are confident that 'bad boy' James was
good enough to edge all-comers in our selection.
13 - Jaque Fourie
Not since Danie Gerber in the 1980s have we had such classy outside centre. He easily beats off the challenges of Marius Joubert and André Snyman.
12 - Jean de Villiers
Why would you ever have doubted his selection? Francois Steyn's best performances at No.12 was at the World Cup anyway.
11 - Bryan Habana
Not since Carel du Plessis, the Prince of wings, have we had so much class out wide. Peter Rossouw had a good run, but Habana's intercept skills and work-rate puts him well clear of his rivals.
10 - Henry Honiball
Butch James had his moments, and he was a superstar at the 2007 World Cup - but that was the World Cup, this is a Tri-Nations selection. Morné Steyn is showing some really good qualities and is a true match-winner, but he simply is in the infancy of his international career. The 'Lem',
Honiball, is our choice for now.
9 - Fourie du Preez
It takes some doing to put Joost van der Westhuizen on the bench, but Du Preez is without doubt the best all-round footballer the Boks have had in the last two decades.
8 - Gary Teichmann
Pierre Spies will be the next colossus in world rugby, and is truly great, while Bob Skinstad also has his army of fans. But Teichmann is our selection.
7 - Andre Venter
Juan Smith is truly a great and will one day have legendary status, while Ruben Kruger was reaching the end of his great career when the game turned professional. But there is no doubting Venter's class.
6 - Schalk Burger
Yes, we know Heinrich Brüssow is better than Burger at present, and Rassie Erasmus is another truly great star of the professional era, but before this year Burger was without peer in the Bok No.6 jersey. Remember his performances in 2004? And
that wasn't his only good year.
5 - Victor Matfield
Never any doubt about this selection, although Mark Andrews is not a bad back-up.
4 - Bakkies Botha
Also, clearly the best in his position, with Krynauw Otto deserving of an honorary mention.
3 - John Smit (captain)
This is probably the position which will cause most debate, but all we want to say: 'Is BJ Botha, CJ van der Linde and Cobus Visagie really that much better than Smit as tighthead props?' We don't think so, but you may disagree.
2 - Bismark du Plessis
His physical presence on the field is shaded probably only by that of Bakkies Botha, although James Dalton was a special player as well.
1 - Os du Randt
Clearly the most outstanding talent in his position. Tendai Mtawarira, Beast if you like, and Robbie Kempson deserve a mention, but there is only one Os!
