Mike Greenaway: Perfect chance for Boks to redress imbalance

John Smit was reminded this week of South Africa's poor record against New Zealand in the professional era - just nine wins in 33 matches since 1996 - and of the Springboks' meagre return of two Tri-Nations titles in 13 attempts.

"Just not good enough," Smit said grimly with a shake of his head. "I can't speak for previous Springbok teams but this side has had the ability to do better, and there are good reasons why we should be in with a good shout in the Tri-Nations this year."

Smit's Boks can go some way to redressing the imbalance by beating the All Blacks back-to-back in South Africa over the next fortnight, which would give them a rock solid start in the competition.

The favourable draw - three home matches in which to build up a head of steam before hitting Perth, Brisbane and Hamilton - is one of the reasons the bookies are tipping the Boks to add to their titles of 2004 and 1998.

There is the more tangible evidence of a match 22 boasting 14 players who did duty in the Rugby World Cup final, while the new arrivals certainly add value - players such as Beast Mtawarira, Pierre Spies, Morne Steyn, Ryan Kankowski and Heinrich Brussouw.

The latter gives the Springbok pack much better balance, even though he is replacing a player of the stature of the suspended Schalk Burger, the 2004 IRB Player of the year.

In recent years it would have been sacrilege to suggest a Bok pack would be better off for Burger's absence, but this year it has proved to be a fact because in Brussouw the Boks at last have a semblance of a Richie McCaw, George Smith or Phil Waugh.

Previous coach Jake White preferred three big ball carriers in his loose trio, but Brussouw showed against the Lions that the Boks are better when they have a scavenger playing to the ball.

Brussouw and The Beast are the fresh faces in a pack whose core has been around since 2004, while the backline has a seasoned look to it even though the players are still young: JP Pietersen is the least experienced (26 caps) and Frans Steyn and Ruan Pienaar are already up to 30, while the rest of the backs are in the 40s.

In short, it is a settled, experienced Springbok team who pretty much run themselves under the stewardship of Smit, and it won't overly bug these old campaigners that their coach hijacks press conferences to show off his stand-up comedy routine.

The Boks will also be in confident mood having just seen off a Lions team who proved far more competitive than anticipated.

"The Lions tour was certainly very beneficial for our preparations for the Tri- Nations," said Smit. "We've had the best of the four nations that normally come to visit us in June put together and test us. We've had three tough test matches and have had the opportunity to iron out the mistakes and sharpen things up.

"We'll look back at the series and take that success as we look ahead to the Tri- Nations, and put it to good use."

When you throw in the fact that the All Blacks have travelled, the match is at altitude and the Boks have had just the right amount of time off to recover from the battle with the Lions without getting rusty, you arrive at the conclusion that this is one the Boks really ought to win.

Mike Greenaway is the chief rugby writer for the Natal Mercury in Durban