These are dark days for English rugby with the All Blacks ready to rub a tub of salt into a deep wound this weekend. Rugby's lawmakers have also contrived to make the game a miserable spectacle for the paying customer but the past couple of days this beleaguered sport has shown it can also enchant.
Even Jeffrey Archer may have considered the plotline of Brian O'Driscoll rescuing Ireland with a try in the final minute of his 100th Test on Sunday a little far-fetched. But last night at Wembley 46,281 supporters witnessed an evening that was truly surreal. The world champions South Africa were beaten by Saracens. That's Saracens, who 15 years ago played at a ground in Southgate where if the ball landed on the rickety old stand, spectators risked getting a shower of rust in their hair, where the pitch was a recreation ground where locals would walk their dogs during the week and deposits from those mutts would have to be cleared by the groundsman.
Saracens are the great underachievers of the English game. Their one piece of silverware since rugby union went professional was a domestic cup win in 1998 when Michael Lynagh and Philippe Sella played their last games. Now, though, they stand at the top of the Premiership and are looking for an eighth successive win when Wasps come to Watford this Sunday.
South Africa, meanwhile, have been beaten by two English clubs in the space of 12 days following Leicester's rousing victory to mark the opening of their new stand. Hope then for Martin Johnson. Well, up to a point. Saracens began last night's match with eight South Africans in their side, their points were all scored by South Africans although one try-scorer, Brad Barritt, has played for England Saxons and has been on Johnson's radar this year.
The winning kick was a quite splendid drop-goal from Derick Hougaard, late of Leicester, but before that with the Blue Bulls. The kick was from close to the 10-metre line and even Jannie de Beer, whose five drop-goals knocked Johnson's England out of the 1999 World Cup in Paris, may have considered it a bit ambitious. Moreover, the most eye-catching displays in the black shirt were from the captain, Wikus van Heerden, who has won 14 Springbok caps, and Ernst Joubert in the back row.
Certainly Saracens are at last challenging for the top honours and Brendan Venter, their director of rugby and a former Springbok centre, has created an enviable team spirit and work ethic. Was this evening, he was asked, a bittersweet occasion? "Not really. I played 134 times for Free State. But then London Irish became my life. Now it is Saracens. From day one I have said to the players that this game is all about memories. No one can take away your memories and the players at Wembley will remember this night for the rest of their lives. We will eventually lose a game in the Premiership but this team will never come up with a poor, lacklustre performance. Every team we play against will know they have been in a battle."
Over the last 15 years Saracens have been a clearing house for some of the world's leading players and for all the success of Lynagh, Sella, Abdelatif Benazzi and Francois Pienaar there have been failures such as De Beer himself who had a short stint at the club before retiring with a knee injury in 2002. It has been years, though, since the chemistry was right at the club. Under Venter, however, the test tubes are bubbling along nicely.
On Tuesday the commitment of his team was summed up by the performance of Hougaard. The little fly-half was once remembered as the unfortunate recipient of a tackle from Samoa's Brian Lima in the 2003 World Cup that knocked him into the middle of next week. Last night Hougaard attempted a long-distance penalty that scudded along the ground like an invention of Barnes Wallis. The next minute he was hit by a tackle from Wynand Olivier that felt painful from the stands. Later Hougaard's penalty miss looked to have cost Saracens the game but he battled on and his winning kick condemned the Springboks to their third defeat in three games on tour.
Before the season's start Venter took his new charges to South Africa where they clambered to the top of Table Mountain. They may be looking down from the summit of the Premiership throughout this English winter.
