The 2008 Tri-Nations looks set to become a ground-breaking tournament and critical to the evolution of the game going forward.

Quite simply, there are major changes taking place within the structure of the game (possibly too many for some) and the way they are affecting the outcome of results seems quite apparent and somewhat disturbing.

Here in South Africa, the Currie Cup seems to have become a testing ground for the IRB's Rugby Scientists and, whilst I believe the game needs to adapt and evolve, the way the new experimental rules (new since the 2008 Super 14 even) are making the game quite disjointed, I am worried that it might be a case of too much too soon and too quickly at the expense of players and fans. I do hope though that the evolution process occurs quickly and that soon we will all be able to watch the game without referee, TMO and touch judge / assistant referee interruptions.

That said, the game is still competitive and has its moments and perhaps that is where I am able to respond to the Heavensgame’s editors questions below:

Happy with the performance in Wellington against the AB's?

Yes, very happy with the performance of the Boks. Happy with the ref? Quite frankly no!

I sat some way through the initial phases of the first half and I had to send out an sms to some mates, which went along the lines of; 'have you guys ever seen such awesomely intense and just plain rugged play?'. Basically, I felt that the game began like a house on fire. Just the way it would have been had the two sides been in a RWC final. The hits were massive, the Kiwi commentators were protecting Dan Carter every time he got flattened by the brilliance of Butch James' aggressive and offensive defence and the way that the 'big boys' like Bakkies and Thorn were nailing each other was something special.

Then in steps the ref (perhaps listening on a link to the Kiwi commentators) and he fails to stamp an assertive authority that lets the players know their boundaries... Brad Thorn then commits a terrible after-the-whistle tackle on John Smit (that after a blatant high tackle just before on Conrad Jantjes) and the ref and his assistants fail to execute the correct response in my opinion.

James or Steyn for number 10 this week?

Easy - Butch James! He was the best player at RWC 2007. Everyone was talking about Hernandez and Carter and Habana, but the player who had all the time in the world and was quite simply in a class of his own was Butch James.

What's more is that unlike the above mentioned superbly talented superstars, Butch has seemed to keep his form going for the past 8 months and remains on top of his game. Give him a better number 9 and he will wipe the slte of any team or player put in front of him. Steyn is an enigma but lacks temperament.

He gets flustered at times. Hot then cold is what Buth James used to be and Steyn will get there, but right now, he is better suited to the 15 or 12 role where he has a bit of time to develop outside someone and also, his cold moments won't happen in the flyhalf channel and SA will have fewer critical charge down (it has now happened in both the 2007 and 2008 Tri-Nations against the All-Blacks).

Can SA get a win in Dunedin?

Most definitely possible. Unfortunately, the history of not winning in NZ and the more-than-likely refereeing that will come along with the game will make it very difficult.

The Boks lack BMT. Heart, passion, fire, skill and guts are available in the fridges that pack the bok team rooms, but the ability to make use of the little grey muscle between the ears when it truly counts, is a little lacking.

In order to win, Peter De Villiers will need to choose the right players for the conditions and probable situations. Missing Jon Smit is an almost insurmountable problem facing the Boks (Matfield im my eyes has yet to prove himself as a captain on test match level). Thus, it looks like the odds are against the Boks. The All Blacks are beatable and possibly in a position to receive a beating (by their standards, a beating would be anything from a loss without scoring a try or a bonus point as they have become masters of survival - even when off form).

So, my assumption for Dunedin is this: NZ is beatable and SA has the skills and physicality to beat them. Whether the SA players actually front up to the maturity and BMT needed to finish the job, is another issue - and that is where I remain hopeful but sceptical. I do hope they show me up!

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