48 hours: Springboks impress, while Aussies still dominate cricket

Never mind the World Cup, the All Blacks will have their work cut out to win the Tri-Nations if yesterday's Mandela Challenge Plate thriller was any guide.

Beaten by Australia in the first match at Sydney, the Springboks turned the tables in the decider at Ellis Park, in the process retaining their much-coveted trophy and sending a strong message to the in-form All Blacks.

And it wasn't just the 33-20 scoreline that impressed. The South Africans opened up the Australians with a style similar to the one adopted by the All Blacks over the past six months, showing ominous strength in all the key areas. Remember the All Blacks' set-piece play against the Lions? Their speed to the breakdown, their midfield dynamism? Remember the threat on the wings and the accuracy of the goal-kicking?

Well, the Springboks looked as if they had all the bases covered.

Their pack had the edge in the scrums; lineout merchants Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha buried their opponents during a 15-minute blitz after halftime, and the Springbok loosies were urgent and accurate at the breakdown.

But perhaps the biggest surprise was the new cutting edge produced in midfield through converted wing Jean de Villiers, the big unit combining slickly with outside centre Jacque Fourie to produce a handful of half-breaks.

South African fans had long called for coach Jake White to move de Villiers closer to the action, and it would now be a huge surprise if he doesn't remain there for next weekend's Tri-Nations opener against Australia.

As well as he played, however, it was the Springboks' collective will to keep the ball alive, to look for the off-load in the tackle, and to compete in the set-piece, that would have struck a chord with the New Zealand faithful.

Only a fortnight after the All Blacks overran the Lions 3-0 (complete with predictions of near-certain World Cup glory), not only have the French started copying our game, but so have the South Africans.

And they played it so effectively yesterday morning that the so-called gap between New Zealand and the rest of the competition seems to have disappeared already.

Quite apart from the engine room and the midfield backs, the move to switch de Villiers to second five-eighths allowed White the room to play both Breyton Paulse and the explosive Bryan Habana on the wing, adding potency to the South African attack. Chuck in the seasoned Percy Montgomery, and his educated punting and goal-kicking from fullback and you sense a recipe that might cause the All Blacks some genuine concerns.

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For all that, while the claimed gap in the world of rugby might be shrinking before our eyes, Australia certainly remain the benchmark in international cricket, at least going on the first three days of the opening Ashes test.

England are more competitive with bat and ball these days, but their fielding at Lord's has been appalling and has, almost certainly barring the weather, cost them any chance of saving the test. On a sub-standard pitch that almost promised a result from the first session, the hosts made a series of blunders during Australia's second innings, including straightforward catches missed by Kevin Pietersen, Geraint Jones, and Andy Flintoff.

Pietersen's early miss when Michael Clark was on 21 proved one of the pivotal moments of the match, allowing the young Australian to survive and consolidate, before forging on to a top score of 91.

Australia will know they've been in a test by the end of the match, especially after Ricky Ponting, Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden were all struck nasty blows by Steve Harmison on the first morning.

But on present form, England still have a long way to go.