All Hail the Beast

Living away from home means that often I don’t get to watch rugby live. I have an online subscription that allows me to stream games, but often due to the time difference between SA and Boston, it is not really possible to watch the games live. With that being said, last week, I got to watch the last of the Springboks last Tri-Nations game. It was in Joburg, against the Wallabies and the Springboks won the game 53 – 8.

While it was awesome to see the Boks win so well, it was still a pretty sloppy game. The lineouts left a lot to be desired and we often seemed to lose the ball on our own throws. We also spent a lot of the afternoon kicking the ball away, but given the Aussie’s lack of ability to deal with the kicks on the day, this was not necessarily a bad move. The altitude of the Highveld seemed to get the better of them on the day, and they looked pretty tired out by about the 30th minute of the game. Basically the Boks did a great job of playing the right kind of rugby on the day.

The game was also important for a couple of other reasons. Firstly, Jongi Nokwe scored a record four tries. It was a great thing to see, and I think it did a great deal to improve his stock in the eyes of the coach. Also, this was Percy Montgomery’s last game in a Springbok Jersey. While I have never been a huge Percy fan, the man deserves a lot of credit. Being able to feature, on and off in the Springbok setup since 1997 is not to be taken lightly and he was instrumental in helping the Springboks win the 2007 World Cup.

Putting all of this aside, I wanted to focus on the front row. Being a prop myself, I always think that this is the best part of the game to watch. In my eyes, there was a new front row hero born in the form of Beast Mtawarira. He had an epic day. Not only did he give Matt Dunning a scrumming lesson, forcing Dunning to leave the game a broken heap after 31 minutes, he cleaned out at the rucks, tackled well and took the ball forward with intent. He also was not scared of getting involved in the short scuffle, which was good to see. Of course the shouts of “Beeeaaassssst” every time he is near the ball help add to the appeal. What I saw in that game reminded me a lot of Os Du Randt in his prime. All I can say is awesome job Beast. We can’t wait to see you make a quivering mess of opposing props in the years to come, especially during the Lion’s tour next year.