Fickle Bok fans quick to pounce

Springbok rugby has done so much to transform itself into an object of international wonder and deep domestic pride, but some of their fans who profess to adore them don’t always do the team justice.

- KEVIN RITCHIE

The last couple of the weeks in the Rugby Championship - and especially the past two weekends in New Zealand - have been as good a snapshot as ever.

A new playing style and a rare loss to Australia at Ellis Park started the rot.

A return to basics with a conservative team yielded a very narrow loss to All Blacks at the citadel of New Zealand rugby 10 days ago and unleashed a concomitant gnashing of teeth and rending of hair among ostensible fans and self-appointed commentators, many of whom are experts by sole virtue of having played seventh XV rugby in their final year at high school decades before.