Jake White

In Australia, where rugby is the fifth-most popular sport, Wallabies coach Michael Cheika got hatemail last week.

That’s how emotional people are about their sport, and when you talk about rugby in South Africa, where it’s a national obsession, you get an idea just how emotional people can become.

As the head coach in a country like ours, you’re really under the pump when you don’t do well, so when the team does perform, one has to give credit.

It’s one of the toughest jobs in the world of sport, some call it a poisoned chalice, so when you’ve got five wins from five Tests, it’s massive.

With that win in Salta, South Africa has now won five in a row this year and what really magnifies that achievement is that they’re coming off a disastrous 2016 season. I’ve been to Argentina with teams – it’s a tough place to play.

We scrummed really well against the Pumas, which is a big positive against a country renowned for their scrumming ability, and the game was summed up for me when Pumas wing Ramiro Moyano intercepted the ball deep in his own 22 and was reeled in by four Springboks before he got to South Africa’s 22.

If your outside back gets caught from behind like that, that says you’re going to have to play with your forwards – and South Africa were in control of the scrums.

It’s been said that the Bok forwards have lost their edge, but you have to be fair and say the team is looking impressive. People can say what they like, you don’t just score 40 points in Argentina.

The Boks will be audited now and nobody can have a bad thing to say about them. They’re winning, they’re balanced, well-organised and they look happy.

Fans are sceptical. They say the Boks haven’t really been tested this season because we haven’t played in Australia or New Zealand yet. That’s a natural comment to make, but supporters can’t have it both ways. When South Africa’s results were poor last year, everyone said they were directionless and unhappy; now it’s going right and people are saying “ja, but…” There are no “ja, buts.”

Allister Coetzee copped a lot of flak when things were going downhill and, now that the team has turned around, he deserves the credit.

Last year, when Allister said, “yes, but I didn’t have time” and, “I didn’t have the staff I wanted,” people said he was making excuses. This year, he’s got what he asked for, and he’s delivered. He’s selected local players, picked the Lions stalwarts, picked a local captain, and brought in the staff he wanted and, so far everything has been spot on.

The set piece is strong, we’re good on the counter-attack and in defence, and those are all the things you need to sort out to be successful.

I think you must congratulate Allister because he could have been dogmatic after last season and refused to bring anyone in. At the end of the day, he has delivered everything he said he would with the tools he asked for.

Whenever a head coach brings in an outside consultant and it works, the consultant gets all the raps, but people forget that it takes a head coach to put that all together.

I’m sure Brendan Venter has played a significant role in the turnaround, along with Franco Smith, and the forward pack looks much more organised, even though it’s the same players that played last year.

There are no buts when you recover from the worst Bok season with five straight wins, scoring 30 to 40 points every time – they’re doing something right!

The team now has a couple of weeks off to regroup, and maybe bring in one or two things needed to get ready for the Australasian leg of the Rugby Championship. In the same way that a team gets into a downward spiral, the Boks have to play off their current momentum and use it in their favour.

South Africa are in the same pool as New Zealand at the next World Cup, so this next block, playing the All Blacks twice, will be crucial.