Wynne Gray: No spring in the Boks

Graham Henry's toughest task this week will be persuading a rugby audience that the Springboks will be a formidable next foe for the All Blacks.

Talking up the Boks will require some spin-doctoring from Henry after they fell 49-0 to the Wallabies in what was the second-heaviest defeat in South African history.

Henry and his selectors watched the match live in Brisbane, where they may have gleaned more about the Wallabies than the inept Springboks.

They know there will be a Springbok backlash in Wellington this Saturday but no amount of hocus-pocus from the All Black panel will conceal the Springbok deficiencies.

"No possession, no opensider, no discipline, no flyhalf, no idea," one blogger stated tersely. That just about covered it.

Coach Jake White tried to divert the inevitable censure with an attack on the rulings of referee Paul Honiss. The coach questioned the penalties given against his side's rushing defence and claimed the Wallabies were allowed to "get away with murder at the breakdown".

Most observers agreed about the breakdown but not with White's interpretation.

The decision to use utility loose forward Joe van Niekerk rather than a genuine openside flanker drew some provocative comments from former Springbok coach Nick Mallett.

He begged White to bury the hatchet with specialist Luke Watson and add him to the squad for the remainder of the Tri-Nations series.

"His performance in the Super 14 was outstanding. And last weekend he virtually beat the Bulls single-handedly. He won four or five turnovers, slowed their game down and produced some excellent all-round play," Mallett wrote.

"George Smith was allowed to operate freely. We never slowed any of their ball, never caused them any problems regarding their recycling and our security on the ball - with any we actually managed to hold instead of knock-on - wasn't good enough. Watson would have been a great counter."

Before the test there were claims the Springboks had run a competition to see who could pull out one of the flanker's dreadlocks.

"That's ludicrous," Springbok captain John Smit retorted. "That's what a second or third-tier team would try and do."

The Springbok performance on Saturday at Suncorp Stadium matched that description, while White's referee lament persuaded the Sunday Times to write sarcastically about the "Cry Nations".

Such a humiliating defeat provoked a cascade of criticism in South Africa from former greats like lock Frik du Preez, who demanded White's resignation.

Without the injured Burger, Bakkies Botha and Jean de Villiers, there was little substance in South Africa's play. A limited game plan in the forwards expired against some stout Wallaby defence, while their backplay was mediocre at best.

The rate of missed tackles was so alarming the Wallabies had built a 30-0 lead at halftime. If those defensive lapses are repeated in Wellington, the All Blacks will murder the Boks everywhere, not just at the breakdown.

Questions about Jaco van der Westhuyzen's backline control were underlined as Matt Giteau and the quick reactions of his teammates allowed them to outsmart the Boks.

When the seasoned Breyton Paulse was called from the bench in the 55th minute, he looked like the most reluctant replacement in world rugby.

The rain and greasy conditions were difficult for any wing, but Paulse did not want to be part of the Brisbane thrashing.

Worse followed the match, with converted lock Danie Rossouw heading home with a torn hamstring, while Wallaby coach John Connolly took the chance to remind the visitors that his side had bombed about three more tries.

The trip to New Zealand looms ominously for the Springboks. They have not won a Tri-Nations test here since 1998 and White's words from last week, intended to sting the wounded Wallabies, may be starting to have an ugly glow for his own troops.

He warned that sides struggled to stop a downward spiral when they lost successive tests. That's just where the Boks are after consecutive defeats to France and Australia.