Beating Wales is a good ol' South African tradition - long may it continue!

South Africans deserve to beat the Welsh. As a South African my first experiences of 'Home Nations' rugby was in 1974 - Willie John McBride’s Lions. I was just a wee lad and the derby-like day when the British Lions savaged the Springboks left an indelible impression.

My Africanised Geordie grandfather took me to the game, dubbed ‘The Battle of the Boet’ and after the match he said those words: '‘South Africans deserve to beat the Lions'’.

I realised he wasn’t merely talking about that dreadful match, he was talking in general terms. And what is more, I realise he wasn’t talking about the players on the field, he was alluding to a sort of cosmic come-uppance aimed at beating 'Home Nations' teams, a birthright of pioneers.

Now we await the current Six Nations champions, Wales. There is history here. There is no antipathy regarding the Welsh, no ill-feeling awaiting these opponents since those days of JPR Williams. Just a Test.  

The boots the Welsh must fill is a challenge in itself; trying to changing the traditional whipping they receive in South Africa will loom like Kilimanjaro before them.

I'll be disappointed if they don't each play like two men - but if the Springboks stay true to form, they'll play like three!  

The record shows the Boks have prevailed in displays designed to say something like: ''Yes, is that all you got? Try some of this, Africa is a tough continent, son!'  'Colonial Born' Africans have been beating the 'home boys' for 200 years; it's a tradition we almost take for granted and is something that fills South African settlers with renewed endurance.

I eagerly await my 'top up' and I'll be telling my son: ''See those Welshmen, we like to beat them because we feel we deserve to!''  And for my grandad Geordie's sake, and in honour of the men of his ilk in Africa, I hope the Springboks send them back to Wales properly sorted.

Nothing short of the 96-13 scoreline dished out at Loftus Versfeld in 1998 will do.