Wynne Gray: Tension building at rugby central

Durban is draped on the southeast of that extraordinary South African coastline where the All Blacks are searching for some weekend glory to end their Tri-Nations tour of the Republic.

Their hotel overlooks the superb coastline and blue waters of the Indian Ocean, but the real beauty for the All Blacks will come with victory against the Springboks at Kings Park Stadium, or Absa Stadium as it is now known.

The 52,000-capacity ground is a short distance from the centre of the city in a bus journey the All Blacks will make against a background cacophony of music, blaring car horns and a mass of excited onlookers.

A police escort will pave the way for their bus to cleave the throngs of traffic converging on the ground where the Sharks play their home matches during the Super 14.

Kickoff is mid-afternoon, but from late morning spectators will set up their braiis (barbecues) on the median strips, areas of parkland and grounds adjoining the ground to start the parties which will break for the test, but will reconvene until late in the evening.

This is rugby central and party central. It can be intimidating. Sean Fitzpatrick admitted his apprehension when he braved the crowds at the backfield braiis during the All Blacks' visit in 1996. His side had just beaten the Boks and he was still depicted as the villain who provoked Johan Le Roux who bit his ear two years before.

Later that evening, Fitzpatrick said it had been unsettling to stop for a chat and suddenly find himself surrounded by 20 men all taller than himself. He was glad he had a bodyguard.

Durban and this rugby arena has a special place in the memories of those South Africans and New Zealanders whose lives were entangled for so long in sport and politics.

It was the scene of the All Blacks' official reacquaintance with South African rugby 17 years ago and will be another hotbed of intrigue this weekend as the tourists try to salvage some overseas Tri-Nations booty.

While rugby in 1992 was not the national sport, it had a fevered following in Natal. The province had played the All Blacks five times and the Cavaliers once; their best result was a 6-6 draw in 1960.

In 1992, South Africa was going through radical change; the question was whether their rugby would also be evolving. The All Blacks arrived after an arduous 10-game, three-test tour of Australia but, in contrast to modern attitudes, Fitzpatrick said his side would not be jaded for their groundbreaking visit. They had 30 players for five games - more than enough.

On August 1, 1992, after the ground had absorbed four curtainraisers beginning at 9.45am, the All Blacks stepped on to Kings Park Stadium for the 3pm kickoff.

Future Springboks Marc Andrews and James Dalton played in the main preamble before the real deal began, 16 years after the last official All Black match in the Republic. Dick Muir, the current Springbok assistant coach, was centre for Natal that day and Sky commentators Grant Fox and Ian Jones were in the All Black side which won 43-25. first five-eighths turned excellent television commentator Joel Stransky was a reserve for Natal and so was Kevin Putt, once the Waikato halfback.

The match programme was a classic, with Natal president Keith Parkinson in his welcome message bestowing all sorts of tributes on the New Zealand visitors, including someone he identified as NZRU chairman Eddie Jones. The future Wallaby coach might have had his eyes on the job, but at that stage Eddie Tonks held that role. It was not the only gaffe that day as the All Blacks scored four tries and 23 points from Fox's boot while Natal relied on kicks and a controversial penalty try.

Many of us had been weaned on horror tales about South African referees. Aptly named official Freek Burger added to those chapters with a curious display topped by his decision to award a penalty try against the tourists when a scrum collapsed 10m from their line.

Neither side held any advantage in that area all game, nor had Burger issued any warnings when midway through the second half he awarded Natal the penalty try to leave the scores locked at 22-all. Fortunately the All Blacks kicked away after that shock.

That same year, Graham Henry was coaching Auckland and giving his thoughts on the likely approach of professionalism. "There is a player drain going overseas and the NZRFU and the provincial unions have to work hard to find a formula to correct that," he said, a sentiment he could repeat today.

"It may well be that rugby in this country becomes professional. You can't keep up the demands of international and representative rugby in this country without some recompense for the commitment."

The game went pro after the 1995 World Cup in South Africa. This weekend Henry coaches the All Blacks for the 69th time in tests, in Durban, where two years ago he guided the side to a 26-21 victory.