On Saturday in Perth the Springboks shrugged off the taunts, ignored their critics, and gave the rest of the rugby world the collective finger, writes iafrica.com's Rob Peters.

It must have been an incredible feeling. Too boring? Hell, no! Bringing the game into disrepute? Nope. On Saturday in Perth the Springboks stood tall and gave the rest of the rugby world the collective finger…

Going into the Test in Perth on Saturday the Boks — and South African rugby in general — was under attack on two fronts. The first was the guilty verdict handed down to Saru by the IRB for the 'white armband protest'. The second was the attack on their style of play by under-pressure opposition coaches, Graham Henry and Robbie Deans.

And while there seems to be little Saru will be able to do about the IRB verdict, and the subsequent fine, the Springboks answered Henry and Deans' 'boring' taunts in the best possible way — by scoring a bonus-point win over the Wallabies in Australia's own backyard. It was the first time in this season's Tri-Nations that a side had scored four tries in a game, and it was fitting that the Boks, under pressure to silence their critics, were the team that did it.

That the South Africans are the best team in the world at the moment can no longer be ignored. Following a series win over the British and Irish Lions, they now have one hand on the 2009 Tri-Nations trophy, and judging by the way they dispatched of the Wallabies in Perth it is highly unlikely they will loosen their grip and falter over the next two matches — against the Australians this weekend in Brisbane and then, finally, the All Blacks in Hamilton a week later.

Before the Boks left South Africa last week there were those in Australasia hanging onto the hope that John Smit and his team-mates would, as they have done so often before, trip up on the overseas leg, but the win in Perth seems to have put those travel demons to bed. Another victory in Brisbane and there is no telling what this side can achieve. There is a sense of purpose about Peter de Villiers side, and as their opponents deal with the fall-out that invariably comes with defeat, the Boks march onwards and upwards collecting plaudits, and more importantly, trophies along the way.

There will be some concerns, however, with the scrum chief amongst them. The Wallaby forwards are an improved unit, of that there is little doubt, but the way the Bok scrum was monstered in Perth will have Gary Gold working overtime this week. Sure, much can be put down to referee interpretation, while the South Africans did particularly well behind a faltering set-piece, but they will not always manage to do that and they will want to fix the problem before it becomes worse.

The three tries conceded may also cause some consternation, but the reality is that the game was long over as a contest when two of the Wallabies' tries were scored. The Australian commentators and Wallaby skipper, George Smith, did their best to talk the contest up as "another tight game", but anybody who watched this Test with an open eye will tell you otherwise.

The Boks dominated in all facets of the game (scrum excluded) at the Subiaco Oval and South Africa's second-half replacements had a lot to do with the Wallabies finding their way back into the game. The Australians are understandably grasping at anything positive, but there is little beyond the scrum that they can take from the loss in Perth as they look ahead to this weekend's Test in Brisbane.

The opposite is true for the Boks, who travel to Brisbane full of confidence, and firing on all cylinders. They only need a bonus point from the their final two matches in order to secure the Tri-Nations title for the first time since 2004, but Smit and his team-mates will be going for the victory on Saturday and, judging from what I saw in Perth, a victory is what they will achieve.

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