Zeena Isaacs
14 July 2008
opinion
Johannesburg — IF I were former New Zealand prop Craig Dowd I would go into hiding for a year to avoid the humiliation and embarrassment he must feel after the All Blacks' defeat on Saturday.
Dowd the dodo took it upon himself to get involved in the intense off-the- field battle between the Springboks and New Zealand last week in the buildup to Saturday's t est in Dunedin and, in the dumbest move of the year, he said Peter de Villiers was "a puppet surrounded by good coaches".
As Murphy's Law would have it, the Springboks won the T est and De Villiers became the first Springbok coach to register a victory in Dunedin.
As if that were not enough, the victory brought the All Blacks' 30-match winning streak at home to an abrupt halt.
If there was an award in rugby for the tonsil of the week, Dowd would have been the top contender. Hell, he would even be in the running for the grand prize at the end of the year after that stupid comment.
I hope he has learned a lesson and shuts up the next time rather than criticise people he doesn't know or at least look up the coach's credentials before mocking him.
In fact, if he were a real man, he would have swallowed his pride and apologised publicly to De Villiers and SA Rugby for his remarks. But the chances of that happening are as good as Zimbabwe having a fair election while President Robert Mugabe is still around.
Speaking of lessons, I bet those arrogant New Zealand coaches are also wallowing in their sorrows, especially scrum coach Mike Cron.
He hit out at the Springboks, saying their scrummaging technique was "poor" and that teams that don't put in the resources to teach good technique "irritated the hell out of him".
I think it is vital for a team to have self-confidence and to believe in their abilities. But to think they are invincible is ridiculous.
There is no doubt the All Blacks went into Saturday's T est thinking they would thump the Boks and extend their unbeaten run at home to 31 games.
But any sportsman will tell you the day you write off opponents is the day you get beaten .
The All Blacks, in particular, need to learn that. They went into the Rugby World Cup thinking they just had to pitch up to win the Webb Ellis trophy and they left empty handed and completely humiliated.
One would have thought that would have damaged their egos and taught them that they can be beaten.
But the chops did not learn a thing, by the looks of it.
From now on it might be wise to treat any opposition with respect because rugby is about the bounce of the ball .
Other De Villiers critics are also probably eating their words after the Springboks' victory. From now on De Villiers will be treated as a real Springbok coach should -- he has officially earned his stripes and achieved something Rugby World Cup-winning coach Jake White couldn't get right in his four years in the hot seat.
It is time to let the coach get on with it without the transformation tag hanging on him.
Isaacs is rugby correspondent.
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