KEY POINTS:
The Springboks will beat the All Blacks by 20 points in Cape Town this weekend.
Sounds about right coming from an arrogant South African rugby fan. But, wait, this is not what I nor my countrymen here believe, this is what many All Black fans are saying.
In nearly 30 years of participating in the great Springbok-All Black rivalry, I have never heard New Zealanders talk down their chances of winning a test so much.
What's that about? I have spent the past six years as the lone South African voice in the office hearing my colleagues tell me how my team was going to be bashed.
I have grown accustomed to regular abuse about how the Springboks stole the 1995 Rugby World Cup, how dirty they are and generally how they have never beaten the All Blacks fair and square.
So, I'm not sure if I buy all these predictions of doom and gloom. Have things become so bad that All Black fans don't believe in their team any more?
I remember a time when New Zealanders thought that their team was incapable of losing, even when they lost.
The World Cup changed that. Until that fateful quarter-final, this country thought their team was invincible. For us non-Kiwis it was like watching a train crash in slow motion. It was so obvious the team would not win the World Cup, but wherever you went, there was this unshakeable belief in the boys. How times have changed.
Which makes me wonder if this is one big con job. New Zealanders don't actually believe, in their heart of hearts, that their team will lose _ they are merely getting their excuses ready in case the Springboks do win.
You want the All Blacks to win, you know they can win, but just in case they don't, you'll say they will be beaten by 20 points.
Not a bad coping mechanism.
By the way, I think the Springboks will win by 15 points. And if they don't? Well, I will be happy for my two New Zealand daughters.
South African-born Andrew Austin is the Herald's chief reporter.
