FNB Stadium is primed for what promises to be a series-defining Test between the Springboks and All Blacks, writes CLINTON VAN DER BERG.
Security was tight, the crowd was building early and conditions looked far less dramatic than the build-up had suggested.
A heavy police presence has blanketed the FNB Stadium precinct since the early hours, with fans funnelled through multiple layers of security checks on their way into the ground.
The precaution follows a raid this week on a storage facility in Johannesburg, where authorities confiscated an estimated R1.5-million worth of counterfeit Springbok merchandise, a stark reminder of the commercial scale surrounding this fixture.
Inside the stadium, rehearsals by performers occupied the field for much of the morning as organisers put the finishing touches on what is expected to be a spectacular occasion to match the magnitude of the match.
Around 2,000 fans were in early for the women’s international between the Springbok Women and Black Ferns. A notable chunk of that crowd was New Zealand supporters, part of an estimated 5,000 Kiwis who have made the trip to South Africa for the series.
Early signs from the women’s contest have been ominous for the visitors, with the Springbok Women dominating the scrum battle and putting the Black Ferns under sustained pressure at set-piece, a promising omen that fans on the South African side will hope carries into the main event.
As for the conditions that have dominated the build-up, the reality on the ground looks far calmer than the forecasts suggested. There is only a low risk of light drizzle at kick-off, with cloudy but largely dry conditions expected to prevail.
That matters tactically. A dry track would suit New Zealand’s preference for width, offloads and fast tempo, while genuinely wet weather would hand the advantage to South Africa’s more territorial, tactically suffocating approach built around the set piece and the boot.
With both camps having spent the week insisting the weather would not shape their game plan, conditions now appear set to test that claim as little as possible.
All that is left is for two heavyweights to settle the series on a stage built for the occasion.
Photo: Floris van Schouwenburg/Gallo Images
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FNB Stadium is primed for what promises to be a series-defining Test between the Springboks and All Blacks.
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