Why we love the Springboks

Many of my formative years coincided with the era when South Africa was (rightly) cut off from the international community. Our biggest and best tests were against the Australians, and so I grew up considering them "the old foe".

But since SA re-emerged from their self-induced hibernation, I have come to understand why those older than I think of them as the old enemy.

And when I hear Jake White stating to his men after their win over the Wallabies last week "You've got the All Blacks next week. Now it gets even harder but we get born to play rugby against New Zealand. That's why we get born in this country", I get a shiver down my spine.

Because to rugby people such as us, he speaks the truth. Kiwis are born to be All Blacks, and play against South Africa in the biggest clashes on the planet. It is what drives us to thrust every part of our heart and soul into defeating them.

Because you know that they're doing the same.