set piece superiority. Burly prop CJ Van Der Linde punctuating the Bok's dominance in brushing aside two defenders as he burst his way through England's defensive line and dotting down for a crucial score. André Pretorius nailed three drop-goals which left the English on the ropes. As England became more desperate and lost for invention, the game slipped further away from them. The curse of the Red Rose was final lifted in arguably the most important victory of the 2006 campaign. The result unfortunately ended the tenure of Andy Robinson as England dubiously replaced him with Brian Ashton. Jake White however just managed to stave off his critics and end what was an emotionally exhausting season. The final analysis was that this was a year of growth as much as it was a disappointing lost opportunity. Injuries to Schalk Burger (broken neck), Bakkies Botha (calf surgery), Jean De Villiers (cracked rib), Bryan Habana (cracked rib), Butch James (groin and knee), André Pretorius (groin), Joe Van Niekerk (C5 & C6 vertebrae), Jacques Cronje (cracked rib), Danie Rossouw (hamstring), Juan Smith (left quadriceps), Eddie Andrews (back), BJ Botha (back surgery), CJ Van Der Linde (Leg), Gurthro Steenkamp (broken hand), Pedrie Wannenburg (wrist surgery), Marius Joubert (fractured hand) among other lesser injuries stretched the Bok's depth to its limit. The blessing was that it allowed the Boks to break their reliance on certain individuals and expand their depth in blooding new players and testing new combinations. François Steyn was undoubtedly the find of the season alongside the elusive Ruan Pienaar. Jake also found depth in Wynand Olivier and Pierre Spies; the former being used extensively in plugging gaps left by injuries in the backline. Jake lamented the many lost opportunities of this campaign but was optimistic about the various changes they made to their defensive patterns and saw it as an important learning cuve ahead of the World Cup the following year. 2007: World Champions and "Resignation" The Springboks could not have started their campaign any better as they utterly demolished England in back-to-back tests. Again, this being very important in the context of their World Cup campaign, as they faced the World Champions in the same group. England must however be credited for their resolve in the second test where a Jonny Wilkinson led side actually led the game at half-time. South Africa were guilty of sloppy play in the opening 40