Aisle be Back: Afrika

• By Kevin McCarthy

They reckon it helps to have suitable mood music going in the background when you need to concentrate and write. Bach, Handel, you know the sort.

Very rarely do they recommend Afrikaans. But anyway, right now I’ve got a YouTube video playing of the full 3^rd test, All Blacks v South Africa, at Newlands. In original Afrikaans commentary.

It’s a greenish pitch punctuated by dried patches that resemble western Europe at present. The ball bounces, and flies spectacularly. The sidelines are full of booze ads.

Bruce Robertson has skillfully burgled a try from a breakdown for an early lead. Sid Going’s attempted touchline conversion is terrible, barely in the same stadium.

Yes, we’re talking the big trek to South Africa. In those days there were a bit more than eight matches. I remember as a kid that the games were beamed in at like 4am, in colour,

Which was still a novelty. It certainly made it all seem a bit alien and exotic, which actually in 1976, when the world was hyper-connected , it was. I mean, I used to enjoy watching the Olympics marathon so that I could see what another country looked like.

So yes. I’ll be wallowing the nostalgia of those years when this tour begins. The squad is much bigger, and we aren’t going to South Africa having forgotten everything we’ve learned in super rugby and the rugby championship. But events have rather conspired in recent years to add the necessary bit of intrigue to what might otherwise seem a bit of a retro contrivance.

First, we don’t play South African teams at Super Rugby level anymore. Meaning there will be players with minimal or no taste of what playing there will be like. Now it’s true that we still play them a lot at international level, but not back to back on their turf. Lastly, while we probably know or think we know what the Boks will serve up, there’s I think genuine interest in how the Rennie style (sample size three games) will actually translate.

I guarantee there’d  be a lot of Bokke triumphalism (4-nil anyone?) if Razor were still in charge. Instead, some people in New Zealand are claiming  that the All Blacks could clean sweep the South Africans. To them, please, please, don’t wager your house on this.

But there is a sense of uncertainty that the All Blacks are coming with a high tempo to see if they can unhinge the Springbok machine. Not that the South Africans will be playing 10-man stuff.

Given that, this tour feels a bit like stepping into the unknown. I think that’s going to make this a very interesting few weeks.

Meanwhile, at Newlands, the game is slipping away. Gerald Bosch is nailing his kicks. Did I mention the refereeing?_____________________________________________________________________

The tour kicks off in just over a week.

Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Fixtures (all times listed are NZST):

• Saturday 8 August, 5:00am: All Blacks v Stormers, DHL Stadium, Cape Town
• Wednesday 12 August, 5:00am: All Blacks v Sharks, Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban
• Sunday 16 August, 5:00am: All Blacks v Bulls, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
• Sunday 23 August, 3:00am: All Blacks v Springboks, Ellis Park, Johannesburg (first Test)
• Wednesday 26 August, 5:00am: All Blacks v Lions, Ellis Park, Johannesburg
• Sunday 30 August, 3:00am: All Blacks v Springboks, DHL Stadium, Cape Town (second Test)
• Sunday 6 September, 3:00am: All Blacks v Springboks, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg (third Test)
• Sunday 13 September, 3:05am: All Blacks v Springboks, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore (fourth Test)

The squad is as follows (age, Super Rugby Club, province, Test caps):

* denotes new cap

Forwards (25)

Hookers

Asafo Aumua (29 / Hurricanes / Wellington / 22)
Codie Taylor (35 / Crusaders / Canterbury / 109)
Samisoni Taukei’aho (28 / Chiefs / Waikato / 44)
George Bell (24 / Crusaders / Canterbury / 4)

Props

Ethan De Groot (27 / Highlanders / Southland / 43)
George Bower (34 / Crusaders / Otago / 26)
Xavier Numia (27 / Hurricanes / Wellington / 2)
Ollie Norris (26 / Chiefs / Waikato / 3)
Tyrel Lomax (30 / Hurricanes / Tasman / 51)
Fletcher Newell (26 / Crusaders / Canterbury / 37)
Pasilio Tosi (27 / Hurricanes / Bay of Plenty / 17)
Siale Lauaki * (23 / Hurricanes / Wellington / 0)

Locks

Tupou Vaa’i (26 / Chiefs / Taranaki / 47)
Patrick Tuipulotu (33 / Blues / Auckland / 57)
Josh Lord (25 / Chiefs / Taranaki / 15)
Sam Darry (26 / Blues / Canterbury / 10)
Fabian Holland (23 / Highlanders / Otago / 12)

Loose Forwards

Peter Lakai (23 / Hurricanes / Wellington / 10)
Simon Parker (26 / Chiefs / Northland / 8)
Ethan Blackadder (31 / Crusaders / Tasman / 14)
Luke Jacobson (29 / Chiefs / Waikato / 27)
Anton Segner (25 / Blues / Auckland / 2)
Ardie Savea (32 / Moana Pasifika / Wellington / 109) (Captain)
Wallace Sititi (23 / Chiefs / North Harbour / 21)
Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa * (22 / Moana Pasifika / Southland / 0)

Backs (19)

Halfbacks

Cameron Roigard (25 / Hurricanes / Counties Manukau / 20)
Cortez Ratima (25 / Chiefs / Waikato / 24)
Kyle Preston (26 / Crusaders / Wellington / 1)

First Five-Eighths

Ruben Love (25 / Hurricanes / Wellington / 8)
Beauden Barrett (35 / Blues / Taranaki / 144)
Damian McKenzie (31 / Chiefs / Waikato / 77)
Josh Jacomb * (25 / Chiefs / Taranaki / 0)

Midfielders

Jordie Barrett (29 / Hurricanes / Taranaki / 81)
Quinn Tupaea (27 / Chiefs / Waikato / 26)
Billy Proctor (27 / Hurricanes / Wellington / 13)
Anton Lienert-Brown (31 / Chiefs / Waikato / 90)
Timoci Tavatavanawai (28 / Highlanders / Tasman / 2)

Outside Backs

Caleb Clarke (27 / Blues / Auckland / 35)
Fehi Fineanganofo (23 / Hurricanes / Bay of Plenty / 1)
Leroy Carter (27 / Chiefs / Bay of Plenty / 7)
Josh Moorby (28 / Hurricanes / Waikato / 2)
Will Jordan (28 / Crusaders / Tasman / 57)
Rieko Ioane (29 / Blues / Auckland / 88)
Emoni Narawa (27 / Chiefs / Bay of Plenty / 4)

Unavailable due to injury: Tamaiti Williams, Scott Barrett and Leicester Fainga’anuku.

Prop Siale Lauaki, loose forward Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa and inside back Josh Jacomb are the three uncapped players to join the group. They are joined by returning All Blacks Ollie Norris, George Bell, Fabian Holland, Ethan Blackadder, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Rieko Ioane and Emoni Narawa.