Legends on parade
That's like the story of the super sexy girl who says: "I don't go out with a guy unless he has a Porsche." The guy replies: "I'm not getting rid of my Ferrari just 'cause you think I should have a Porsche."
South Africa has many Ferraris on display.
Not to discredit any of the great players who play for local teams - after all, you're talking about some of the best players in the world like Steven Kitshoff, Eben Etzebeth, Deon Fourie, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Siya Kolisi and Lukhanyo Am - but the "travellers" from all over the world can make up a world-beating Springbok team by themselves.
We have forwards like Vincent Koch (Stade Francais), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), RG Snyman (Munster) and Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz). We have Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles) and Handre Pollard (Leicester). Kwagga Smith plays for the interestingly named Shizuoka Blue Revs. And let's not forget Cheslin Kolbe (Toulon) and Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), as they say, "just to mention a few."
Conditions in South Africa, let's face it, are not great for rugby or international sport for that matter. As a nation, we are also battling. Commercially speaking, the brain drain is very real. The good people are leaving, chasing all sorts of currencies other than the South African rand.
I guess it is entirely natural for commentators in New Zealand to talk about New Zealand as potential winners of the World Cup, but they talk about the All Blacks as if they are the only team who will be in France in September. Given that their team is saddled with Ian Foster, one of the least successful coaches ever in New Zealand, is pushing national pride a bit far.
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Likewise, Steve Borthwick in England and Warren Gatland in Wales have an uphill battle. Scotland, playing in the pool of death at the World Cup, has to beat either Ireland or South Africa to progress beyond the pool stages. That fact alone makes them a dark horse at best.
Speaking of dark horses, Australia, even with Eddie Jones at the helm, only just qualifies as a team with even an outside chance. The best they can hope for is for people to nod and say, "They did surprisingly well". (It's worth remembering, though, that Jones' Japan side beat South Africa under Heyneke Meyer in a pool match in the 2015 World Cup. You can never write off the little garden gnome!)
Even in Ireland and France who, realistically, have to be considered the favourites, they must look at the names of the 40 legends in the South African training squad, and concede that this is a great line-up.
Spoiled for choice, Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber are faced with the problem of who to include in the Springbok squad and not who to leave out.
Are the Springboks a dark horse? No, they're better than that, but they're not the favourites either. But if France and Ireland manage to slip on a banana peel (or drink too much champagne), South Africa has to be considered the best of the rest.
Whatever happens in the days between now and the World Cup (and very interesting it is), the ultimate truth will finally be revealed on 23 September. That's when the Springboks and Ireland clash in their pool match.
