Robin Brooke: A worthy foe we can beat

Some of my first and strongest rugby memories involve the Springboks. We lived on a farm west of Warkworth, where Dad often told us stories about the tough buggers from South Africa.

We did not have a television set, and when the All Blacks toured South Africa in 1976, my brothers Marty and Zinzan and I used to go out to the Holden in the middle of the night and listen on its radio to broadcasts of the games.

The first and only test I attended before becoming an All Black was the infamous 1981 international at Eden Park.

Marty and I caught the bus from Warkworth, watched the amazing scenes before, during and after the game, then headed back to the bus station and home.

On Monday, we recognised ourselves in the front-page picture in the Herald which showed Gary Knight being floored by a flour bomb.

My first season as an All Black lock coincided with the historic tour to South Africa in 1992.

Everything about that trip was amazing. We were watching history unfold in a country which had been caught in a timewarp.

South Africa had been in isolation for some time and it showed in the cars, clothing, attitudes ... everything.

I had been hurt and did not play until the third game, against the Junior Springboks in Pretoria, when Ian Jones and I got cleaned out by a couple of midget locks.

The country might have been in a timewarp, but they knew a thing or two about lineout techniques.

But we recovered for the test, which was played in an unforgettable atmosphere at Ellis Park.

I was unsure what to expect, but after five minutes felt we would win.

The Boks were tough but unsophisticated, and we had the game under control until they scored a couple of late tries.

I remember screaming "No Zin, no" as my brother took a tap from a penalty. But he scored in a match which was a great end to the season.

I always loved playing South Africa. It may have had something to do with the perceptions I learned as a kid from the radio and my father.

It certainly had something to do with the fact that I played them 15 times, almost a quarter of my 62 All Black tests.

They were the enemy, the team to beat, and in 1996 it was superb to be in the team who finally won a series in South Africa.

We were out on our feet towards the end, and I recall I could have given away a late penalty try when I pushed Joost van der Westhuizen without retreating 10 metres.

We held on and then there was the great sight of those All Blacks who did not play performing a haka in the grandstand at Pretoria.

The All Blacks are back there early tomorrow, and I think they can win.

Their confidence is growing and, while the Boks did well to beat the Wallabies, I consider the All Blacks have more potential, more room to improve than South Africa.

Up front we can handle them as long as we respect them.

The All Blacks have to rid themselves of any Super 12 memories, any thoughts about how they went in that series. They have to readjust and work collectively.

On the dry ground our backs are every bit as good as theirs. Tests are usually fast in Pretoria, and if those conditions exist, the All Blacks bench will be an important facet in the last third of the match.

The All Blacks must hold their discipline because Louis Koen on his home ground will be deadly from anything less than about 60 metres.

The Springboks will not be arrogant after their win last weekend. They have been under the hammer and the Bulls in the side will be after a result in front of their home crowd.