Spiro Zavos believes that the Springboks have a rare chance to claim the southern hemisphere's holy grail, on Rugby Heaven.
"The emphatic 28-19 victory by the Springboks over the All Blacks at Bloemfontein, with the visitors denying themselves a bonus point by a series of stupid plays, has opened the way for South African rugby to achieve the sport’s holy grail trifecta: a Super 14 title (won by the Bulls), a series victory over the British and Irish Lions (won 2-1) and a Tri Nations title.
"Australian rugby achieved its holy grail in 2001. New Zealand rugby did likewise in 2005. It seems the stars are aligned this year for South African rugby’s turn. The team is certainly up to the standard of the 2001 Wallabies and the 2005 All Blacks. There were 14 Springboks from the Rugby World Cup final team playing at Bloemfontein. Two years on, the team is being described (correctly I believe) by South African experts as one of their greatest ever. The team has confirmed this assessment by achieving the No.1 ranking in world rugby with Saturday’s victory, displacing the All Blacks from a position they have held for a couple of years.
"Aside from the undoubted quality of the team, there are several other factors working in favour of the Springboks to achieve their third Tri Nations title (and the third leg of the holy grail trifecta), and break the four-year run of success by the All Blacks. The schedule, for instance, gives the Springboks an easy travel itinerary.
"Their first three Tests are at home. Then they have a two-week gap before playing the Wallabies at Perth. The week before the Wallabies play the All Blacks at Sydney, so the home side will be backing up from an intense Test and then travelling to play the fresh Springboks. The Springboks play the Wallabies at Brisbane a week later and then the All Blacks at Hamilton to finish off."
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