Infamous Bok basher Sir John Kirwan has changed his tune and reckons world rugby is “under serious threat” of South African domination.
Speaking on the New Zealand TV show The Breakdown this week, Kirwan said that last weekend’s Rugby Championship opening matches indicated that the All Blacks will lose both of their forthcoming Tests in South Africa.
“We need to see an incredible improvement from this Australian team this weekend, otherwise we are all under serious threat from a very good side,” Kirwan said.
“I thought Australia were a kangaroo in the headlights. In Perth, they need to come out and at least compete, and so do the All Blacks (against the Pumas in Auckland).
“Right now, I don’t see either the All Blacks or the Wallabies competing with this Springbok side.”
But Kirwan added: “Hopefully I’m sitting here next week going, ‘Well, that was an amazing performance and the Australians tripped them up, and we’ve got five points and the Rugby Championship title is all on’.”
Kirwan, a magnificent wing for the All Blacks at the 1987 World Cup, has historically been a critic of South African rugby, but he now hails them as a clever team.
“Rassie (Erasmus) is an innovator,” he said. “You throw to the back pod (in the line-out), you throw it to the front pod that’s in the air, and then you maul for a try. You’re taking a huge risk at Test-match level.
“Rassie brought in the traffic light systems, he’s brought in this Bomb Squad. And after the World Cup, he’s gone, ‘Okay, who’s one of the best attacking coaches in the world? Let’s go and get Tony Brown’.”
Kirwan was on the show with fellow former All Blacks Jeff Wilson and Mils Muliaina, and they were unanimous that the Boks have benefited from their move to the northern hemisphere, while Super Rugby has suffered from the South African absence.
“From a high-performance point of view, mentally it’s harder up north,” said Kirwan. “You have more games, and sometimes they finish 10-9. You get used to a different style of rugby.
“If you balance that with the amazing athletes that are in South Africa, they will be going, ‘We’re on this journey to be the greatest team ever’.
“It looks like they’ve found another gear, and they want to take their game to another level.”
Kirwan’s comments have been echoed by former Wallabies captain Michael Hooper.
The recently-retired flank said: “We are in the middle of genuine dominance from the Springboks.
“The way they won the last World Cup shows they are the leaders in world rugby, and the fans are getting behind them.”
“We are seeing a South African team at the peak of their powers: they have won two World Cups, and they are just amazing.
“All the same guys are back, and they have Tony Brown on board connecting some nice things. (Sacha) Feinberg-Mngomezulu is a great player. It’s pretty good stuff.”
Another Wallaby great, Tim Horan, says the Boks are on an ever upward trajectory.
“When you see the way the Springboks perform, you’ve got to sit back and go, ‘Wow, they are the No 1 team in the world.’ They’re better than they were last year,” Horan said.
“They’ve gone to the northern hemisphere and they’ve got better. I think their forward pack is more dominant.
“They are getting a lot of offloads away. You talk about the physicality and you talk about how good they are in bending the defensive line, but they’re getting offloads away all the time.
“And Siya Kolisi was superb last week. At 33 years of age, he’s still got it. I don’t think he’s unfit ... he looks pretty sharp. They’re a wonderful team.”