South Africa’s three greatest exponents of line out play and masters of the tight phases are now injured.
Bakkies Botha is currently on the injury list with a recurring Achilles tendon injury which has been hindering him for some time now.
Andries Bekker who had surgery on his ankle in July is also not available.
On Sunday Victor Matfield left the field with a hamstring injury that will see him miss South Africa’s next match at the World Cup against Fiji. It appears to be a recurring injury as well.
Now in the past 8 years South Africa has been touted as the best exponents of the lineout by some distance, and mostly due to these three players. That has influenced our game plan, it is widely known that South Africa has the ability to use the boot of Morné Steyn and Francois Steyn to attain vast territorial gains with their kicking and thus compete against any lineout in the world for possession.
The problem facing the Springboks now, what will they do if Matfield and Botha remain unavailable once the knock-out rounds begin?
Johann Muller and Danie Rossouw will surely be the first choice locks available and although both are very good in the tight exchanges and physical enough at the breakdowns, they are not in the superior class of the three injured players.
This begs the question of whether the Springbok coaching staff will wisen up to the fact, that a major strength of gaining possession will now be severely compromised, and therefor a change in approach may be needed. It is all good and well to kick possession away into the opposition’s territory when you have a decent chance of regaining the possession, but as was clearly the case on Sunday, South Africa was not even attempting to compete on opposition throw-ins.
Will Peter de Villiers and his coaching staff be wisened to the fact that the Springboks will have to retain possession for longer phases and rely on some creativity to gain territory and not use the boot?
For me it is clear that if we continue with the status quo during the knock-out rounds, we will have limited our opportunities to score tries from first phase possession, which has been a major contributor to us keeping the score board ticking over.
The other side of the coin is that we might not be able to rely on kicking penalty goals to win matches, as were seen this weekend, kickers were struggling to get used to conditions and the new ball being used at the World Cup. Now admittedly Morné Steyn had a very good kicking performance against Wales and didn’t miss a kick, but what happens when he has an off-day and added to that we have limited opportunities to score tries?
I sincerely hope that the coaching staff of the Springboks are aware of this and will have a plan “B” to consider.
Morné Steyn has been kicking with the World Cup ball now for a while… so I don’t think that will be an issue.
Hopefully Victor will be OK… Bakkies is another question altogether!
Despite the aspects you mention, the Bokke will have to be far more serious in their attitude and body positions going into contact anyway. Wales often stopped the Bokke behind the advantage line… and we cannot expect Heinrich brussow to fight a lone battle at the breakdowns. For me this is why it is absolutely essential to have players like Bissie on the field in the important matches, he ably fullfills the role as extra fetcher… we clearly saw that AGAIN yesterday.
Although Scalla put in a lot of tackles, he does not play as well right to the ball compared to Brussow or Bissie and of course Spies has never been reknowned for playing directly to the ball on the ground either. There was a massive difference when Alberts and Bissie came on yesterday, and Gurthro contributed well in that respect as well.
John Smit will be our achilles heel if Div persists with him in place of Bissie.
There were some rays of light yesterday though… Fransie Steyn came good, Hougie was impressive, Morné’s boot was on song…
We needed Andries Bekker on Saturday thats for sure, sad that Flip vd Merwe lost all concentration and is now a frustrated rugby player with a yellow card per match inevitable.
we outscored Wales 2-1 in tries, i believe we can from this same game plan score more, we must just get more in form, we were undercooked on Saturday. By no means were we at 75% of our ability, we must up that fast.
MS might miss but hell that outcry is almost a wish that he does, believe man believe .
OK we might be in poo if VM and BB are out but we wont be poorer than them with JM and DR.
I agree with you both that we can still improve immensly, there is no doubt about that. And GBs i think we must put Alberts on as a starter in place of spies, spies was regularly going into contact with a very high body position and being forced back.
Perhaps not against fiji or Samoa as they play an open game, and in an open game is where Spies is at his best, but for cloe quarter matches against structured teams definitely Alberts.
John smit has been a hero of mine for a long time, but we saw when Bismarck came on, there was an immediate increase in go forward ball and contest at the breakdowns.
Besides, Fourie du Preez and Schlak Burger took the lead on Sunday when both Victor and John were off, and they made the right calls at the right time.
Frnacois hougaard is just a star.
biltongbek wrote:
read the next article, remember that JS took on the wild Wales team at the start and you must admit we did not fall behind in the game, everything was still under controll.
In my opinion Rossouw had a decent game, and won a couple of line outs on Wales’ throw in. He was far more imposing than Matfield, who if he was carrying a hammie problem into the match should never have played. I know from experience that if your hammie isn’t 100% right, you can damage it even more.
Booke were well below par, and if we can win when we are playing this badly, we can only improve, and will hopefully peak in time for the 1/4’s and semis.
We also miss the skills of Juan Smith at lineout time. Hargreaves?
Retaining ball is going to become vital, get the penalty then take the kick and get the ball back. They should have seen this coming with Victor….too much rugby. Whats the story on Jeans injury is he out just like the last two times?
Hargreaves is too light in the boots, he will be manhandled.
I would start with Bismark [ what a name for a rugby player] and bring Smit on for the last 20.
What I feel should happen is the following:
Bismark should start – Chilliboy on the bench (John Smit must go and sit next to PDV in the coaching box – the last 20 min could take the game away from us)
Hougaardt to start – FDP on the bench (think FDP would give it horns in the last 20)
Gurthro to start – Beast on the bench
Lambie to play in JDV’s place, as I dont know if De Jongh should be on the field for 80 as his defence is suspect and the big ou’s are going to trample him
Boks showed great character to win this one, think this will make them strong!!!!
I am going to be controversial here. I personally think Smit should start. He did not play badly. Bismark on in the last twenty will sway the game our in a close game like Sunday’s.Smit would be chosen in 9/10 teams at the WC right now. If I was PDV, I would find place for Lambie. Hougie was great on the wing, but I am not sure if he is ready to play no 9 at this level.
@ Lion4ever:
From the start i was happy with Smit and only because he is the coaches right hand. So i am even more controversial because i even like PdeV.
10 @ Lion4ever:
11 @ superBul:
What do you guys see in Smit that I absolutely don’t see anymore?
1. Captaincy? Surely there are enough strong characters in the side, we saw that yesterday with both John and Victor off the field!
2. Experience? We had THE MOST experienced side overall in Bokke history on Sunday and it did not help our forwards one bit… till John was subbed! There is enough other experience around!
3. Calmness? Were the Bokke not calmer and more potent without him?
4. Go Forward? How many metres did John make all day and how many times did he cross the advantage line, again Bissie is a better option here!
5. Stronger scrum? I did not see the Bokke scrum suffer when Bissie came on!
6. Aura? I think the world fears Bissie more, to be frank!
7. Presence? Come on, there is ONLY one winner here, and it certainly is NOT John.
8. Groundball skills? Bissie wins here hands down!
9. Overall Skills? Once again, Bissie is the man!
10. Making speeches after the match? OK, you’ve got me, John is an eloquent speaker!
Look, I respect John, I like John… he’s been a great servant to the Bokke… but hey, it does not last forever!
I think we should ask what the Bokke lack, to enforce their game plans… and / or where they have to improve to be able to get better and contest better.
Looking at this question, the answer lies in getting and keeping possession for longer AND clinically using that type of ball… how to do it?
For that one needs better breakdown ball, quicker clean ball from groundball situations and proponents for slowing down opposition ball and / or stealing vital balls. In other words one needs a player / players who play directly towards the ball, towards ground ball situations, quicker players, harder workers. There’s no getting around this solution, it is a given. There are more than 160 Breakdown / ground ball situations in EVERY match, compared to say 18 lineouts and 18 scrums (together less than 20% of the amount of breakdown situations).
Bissie ticks all these boxes way above John… seriously and honestly!
Now compare my detailed answer to your answers which basically say that you like John and / or that he is Div’s right hand man….
@ grootblousmile:
I can only concur.
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