GAVIN RICH: Boks could turn All Black crisis into a nightmare
Could the trend be reversed and this time SA becomes the graveyard of a New Zealand coach?
When the All Blacks arrived in SA for the first post-isolation Test match in 1992, they were greeted at the Johannesburg airport by a boisterous throng that advertised confidence in the Springboks with a banner that proclaimed “Welcome to your worst nightmare!”
It never did turn out that way. Though the Boks staged a late comeback to lose by just a couple of points at Ellis Park, the hosts were outplayed for most of the game. Two years later SA’s second post-isolation national coach, Ian McIntosh, discovered the truth in that adage that New Zealand is the graveyard for Bok coaches. The upshot was that the late Kitch Christie was appointed to the position to do an “ambulance job”, something he did successfully as the Boks won the World Cup less than a year later...
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