Another chapter in rugby’s greatest rivalry will be written tonight.
The 63rd Test match between South Africa and New Zealand is all set to explode onto Melbourne’s Telstra Dome at 18:30 in the first quarter final of RWC 2003.
The All Blacks v Springboks encounters transcend sporting contests. They are all about one fiercely proud rugby nation making a muscular statement to another.
Virtual world champiosnhip
Before the days of the Rugby World Cup any summit between these two superpowers was a virtual world championship showdown.
A ferocious battle between men hewn tough from two vastly different frontier homelands.
They stretch back to 1921 when South Africa’s finest first XV ventured into the All Blacks’ lair.
Springboks favourites
South Africa were already the world's premier side, having won all five tests on their tour of Britain and Ireland in 1912 after winning 25 of 28 matches six years earlier.
Prior to arrival the Springboks had won all five matches in Australia and were brimming with confidence.
But so were the men in black who won the first Test arm wrestle in Dunedin 13-5.
The Springboks bounced back to take the second 9-5 and the third Test was drawn 0-0 (an unbelievable score in the modern context) for a fitting first up series draw.
Battle was renewed in 1928 when Maurice Brownlie's All Blacks drew a tough test series two-each during a gruelling tour of the republic.
Deadlock broken
The deadlock was not broken until 1937 when Philip Nel's Springboks took the game to a new level in Australia and New Zealand.
Famously dubbed the best team to leave South Africa’s shores, the Springboks won the series 2-1.
Instrumental in their triumph was scrumhalf Danie Craven, a brilliant tactician who introduced the dive pass to the world and later became South Africa's greatest and most controversial administrator.
South Africa had perfected a scientific, ruthless game based on giant forwards who used the scrum as an attacking weapon with a succession of flyhalves, notably Bennie Osler, who kicked repeatedly for territory.
All Black humiliation
They humiliated captain Fred Allen's All Black tourists in 1949, winning the series 4-0, helped in New Zealand's eyes by controversial refereeing decisions which were converted into points by the mighty boot of prop Aaron "Okey" Geffin.
Geffin, who won his nickname by his response of "Okay" when asked to take a kick, turned an 11-3 deficit in the first test into a 15-11 victory with a then world record five penalty goals.
The All Blacks also fell victim to Hennie Muller, one of the great number eights, who stood in midfield at lineouts and destroyed their inside backs with his blazing speed and ferocious tackling.
Revenge
New Zealand were to take their revenge when the 1956 Springboks toured, this time managed and coached by Craven.
Rugby hysteria gripped the nation to an unhealthy degree and the mission to defeat South Africa took on the fervour of crusade.
Out scrummaged yet again in the first two tests, New Zealand recalled a former Commonwealth heavyweight boxing champion Kevin Skinner.
The hard man had retired from the All Blacks in 1954 to concentrate on his grocer’s business, but answered his nation’s call and lined up for the third Test in front of 51,000 at Canterbury’s Lancaster Park.
Folklore prop
He entered rugby folklore when he famously `sorted out’ both opposing props Chris Koch and Jaap Bekker, changing sides in the scrum to do so, to enable his team to score an historic win.
The series was sealed 3-1 when the giant North Auckland flanker Peter Jones ran 20 metres to score a try rapturously acclaimed by a record crowd at Auckland's Eden Park.
The elusive series win on South African soil continued to evade successive All Black tourists in 1960, 1970 and 1976.
Apartheid protests
Meanwhile condemnation of South Africa’s apartheid policies was growing worldwide.
One of the great All Black sides, with the iconic Colin Meads at its heart, won the 1965 series in New Zealand 3-1 and preparations were in place for a return visit in 1967.
But the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) called off the tour when South Africa made it plain they would not accept Maori or Polynesian players.
The South African authorities relented to a degree in 1970, accepting four players of Maori or Polynesian origin as "honorary whites".
After a decade and a half of simmering turmoil virtual civil war erupted in New Zealand during a Springbok tour of 1981, a visit which divided friends and family.
New era
South Africa dumped apartheid and installed freedom fighter Nelson Mandela as president to pave the way for the Springboks return to the international fold in 1992.
That year they lost a Test to their old foes 27-24 in front of 72.000 at Ellis Park.
All Black captain Sean Fitzpatrick finally brought back the holy grail of a 2-1 series victory in South Africa in 1996.
The deciding second Test produced memorable scenes with All Blacks slumped all over the Loftus Versfeld ground, emotionally and physically exhausted after the 33-26 triumph at altitude to seal their immortality in the eyes of the New Zealand public.
Redemption
The win atoned for the All Blacks 15-12 loss to the Springboks in extra time in the epic RWC final in Johannesburg the previous year, the first the South Africans were allowed to play in.
Although the All Blacks have had the wood on their opponents in recent years, winning their last six Tri Nations Tests, they have never beaten their ancient foe in the RWC.
Four years ago the Springboks defeated a dispirited New Zealand side in the third-place playoff in Cardiff.
The result of tonight’s match is anyone’s guess. What is not in doubt is the ferocious intensity both teams will bring to the contest as the rugby world holds its breath for the titanic clash.