As you pore over this intently, I'm hurtling back from Dubai, doubtless surrounded by the same screaming infants who checked in with me at Heathrow (I flashed a winning smile at the lady at the check-in counter, and asked for the little monsters to stowed in the hold, but I'm not holding out too much hope); a quick stopover in Cape Town, and I'll be on the first flight out to Durban tomorrow morning, to join Adrian Garvey, Craig Davidson and a host of other fading Sharks legends in their marquee at the Vodacom Durban July. Just the tonic for a long-haul flight, really.

As with the J&B Met, the horse racing is completely peripheral, corporate hospitality ensuring that most people at Greyville will only find out who won the main race when they come round on Sunday in the grip of a violent hangover. Tomorrow, however, it's even more of sideshow, for along with appalling fashion masquerading as avant garde taste, there's a minor game of rugby getting underway on Saturday morning, as the post-White Springboks get their first real challenge. New Zealand in New Zealand? England will tell you just how much fun that can be.

The mixed bag against the Welsh, and a somewhat tepid Italian job, combined for a mixed report on Pieter de Villiers's introduction to the Springboks; Saturday's another world altogether. The coach might not be standing on the halfway line for the haka, but he won't be able to miss the menace in the air as the Vodacom Tri-Nations gets underway. And having said that the World Champion mantle will only ring true if the Boks can put away the All Blacks, De Villiers has made sure that there's plenty resting on this year's tournament.

I'd disagree that not having faced New Zealand diminishes South Africa's achievement, but most rugby fans would admit that beating the All Blacks remains the game's benchmark, even if they're on a par at World Cups with our cricket team. And with the majority of the new squad having triumphed in Paris, walking away with the Tri-Nations would complete a splendid run for what is essentially the same team, but with a new coach at the helm. Unfortunately for us, the All Blacks are even more aware of our victory in France than we are, which means we're in for a bruising ride.

I spent time with a mate from New Zealand last week, and the South Africans cruelly raised the subject of the World Cup; Colin was in tears in minutes. Ants, another Kiwi mate in Sydney, can't talk about the World Cup without resorting to blood pressure pills and conspiracy theories; while a third friend of mine from Australia's little colony puts the phone down on me now if I mention rugby. Rugby's well beyond religion in New Zealand; in a country that simply doesn't have anything else (bar the Lord Of The Rings tourist industry), last year's very public demise cut very, very deep. Which means the All Blacks are hurting, and itching to make amends.

That they do so with Graham Henry on board is a major surprise — losing a quarterfinal is enough to have you up against a firing squad in New Zealand. But he's still in the job, with supposed successor Robbie Deans coaching the Wallabies instead, and so the Springboks face a side led by a man both shrewd and experienced, albeit one not vested with the greatest PR or people skills. Failure in the Tri-Nations, however, would surely end his tenure, adding some welcome pressure to the All Blacks.

Throw in a missing captain — no great captain, granted, but a ferocious loose forward — and a flyhalf desperate to end his career in New Zealand on a high, and perhaps there's a chance that the sheer weight of expectation that accompanies World Cups, will spill over into this Tri-Nations. Rodney So'oialo leads a team light on experience in important quarters, and the Springbok challenge will be far stiffer than that posed by England.

And South Africa's experience, starting with a captain finally getting the recognition he deserves as the best leader in world rugby at the moment, will make that rarest of feats — a Test win in New Zealand — entirely possible. Joe van Neikerk sits amongst a gamble or two, but overall this is a team to excite, in a match we go into without the usual sense of dread. The Vodacom July will be a wild affair; a winning start to the Tri-Nations, and Durban won't know what's hit it.

  • Contact Dan at dan@metropolis.co.za
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