It is major decision time for Springbok coach Peter de Villiers following the disappointing manner in which his team lost to lowly Scotland in Edinburgh at the weekend.
Mike Greenaway
And if the coach is to ultimately make the tour a success by beating England with a game plan that will be a positive step towards the World Cup, he needs to make bold selection and policy decisions.
So far on tour the Boks have battled to unconvincing victories over Ireland and Wales, and the word from the coaching staff was that it is easier to refine game plans from a winning position, but at Murrayfield the Boks regressed, inclement conditions notwithstanding.
A week ago, when the England game was still on course to be the Grand Slam decider, De Villiers said that Patrick Lambie at flyhalf would be the ace up his sleeve for Twickenham and that the Boks would play an attacking game, but after the upset defeat to the Scots, it will be interesting to see whether the coach backs his earlier conviction or goes for a conservative approach.
The bottom line for the Springboks is that they have not grown their game since the 2007 World Cup win and on the evidence of 2010, they are not going to have a realistic chance of winning Rugby World Cup 2011.
If De Villiers opts for the attacking game offered by Lambie then he needs to pick other players who offer something similar. Sharks openside flank Keegan Daniel springs to mind and De Villiers could go for broke and partner Lambie with his provincial teammate, Charl McLeod, who yesterday joined the squad at their base in fashionable Kensington, bordering on Hyde Park in central London, along with Bandiso Maku and Odwa Ndungane.
The fear that the Springbok game plan could be obsolete was hinted at by captain Victor Matfield after the match even though the veteran still believes it has merit if it is correctly applied.
“It is a tough one, this talk of strategy,” he said. “Everybody is putting us under pressure to play more expansively, but the weather did not allow us to and maybe we were thinking too much about that kind of game, rather than concentrating on accuracy in a game plan suited to the weather. You can’t play too much rugby in the wet and need to have a game plan where you kick accurately, your chase lines are accurate, you don’t try and run the ball in your own half, and you put the opposition under pressure.”
De Villiers said the major problem was the failure to look after possession.
“We are very disappointed. What worked for us in the first two games – securing first phase ball and holding on to it – we neglected in this match.
“And Scotland played the conditions better with intelligent and well-executed kicking, so well done to them.”
The Boks started well enough, and went into a 6-0 lead after dominating the first 15 minutes, but then unravelled on the back of seven consecutive penalties against them.
“We can’t say too much about the refereeing,” Matfield said diplomatically. “We will have to look at the match video to see how much was down to bad discipline on our behalf. However you look at it, this game was going to be won by the team making the least mistakes. That was Scotland and they were able to put us under a lot of pressure by pinning us in our own half and kicking their penalties. We had the initial momentum but then got nailed for a few things and that brought them into the game.”
Matfield added that conditions had been a leveller.-
The Star
We are at the problem today that PDV has created since taking charge.
So all the solutions being offered now are short term panic solutions and cannot make up for the lack of long term planning, preparation and adaptation to the demands of the game in 2010.
Basically we are now fu.ked.
A team has to be built on solid rugby intelligence, ultimate mental and physical preparation and a rugby culture.
PDV has broken down instead of building up.
The only solution now is complete change.
Doing more of the same and expecting different results is the height of stupidity.
There is nobody more sure of themselves than a fool.
With our player resources we should be the equal of the All Blacks in the modern execution of the game.
The difference between us and them is not in the players.
It is that we have no leadership with the rugby intellect required in 2010.
Bloggers can blame players, refs and conditions all they like, that is never the solution to the problem as it all starts with a manager/coach with vision, intellect and the ability to impart that to the national team.
We are very good at denial.
The Boks are a broken machine and beating England will not change that.
We are too short term in our thinking and instead of shifting our view with every win or loss we need to be looking deeper at the real problem and trying to create a long term solution.
The first step is to find the right man to lead us.
Without taking that first step, everything else is just bullshit.
Two things:
1) GBS, your poll is screwed – it says 10 votes made, but if you count the results its actually 30
2) I actually hope the boks lose every game until they get rid of the rotten head.
@ Pam Anderson:
The question is, What is the 3 biggest reasons for the Springboks defeat?
You must pick the 3 most important ones in your eyes.
Aha – better read the whole thing next time!
Dit is jammer dat ons nou vir PdeV begin vernedder. Die skade wat ons nou aan rugby se beeld aanrig is erg, die feit is dat Peter en sy span die meeste wenne ooit teen die All Blacks behaal het. Dit is net jammer dat alles op Peter se kop gegooi word. Die aanvalle op hom word persoonlik. Hy het gevra vir hulp en niemand is bereid om in landsbelang en ter wille van Springbok trots hom te help nie.
Maar dis reg gaan aan maar onthou my woorde ons gaan betaal vir die manier hoe ons coaches behandel.
tight head wrote:
I fully agree with this statement. That is sadly what all new interim , hospital job coaches will sit with, no time for long term planning. The best hope is that the core group for next years WC will all be fit and ready. The collective experience of the players might just do it. I will rather back our chances with them than a new game plan a new group etc.
Well if we lose to England on Saturday we fall to 5th in the world. So don’t see us playing attacking game at all. We will keep it tight and try and play it safe for a win by a few points. My feeling we play the rubbish kicking game we done against Scotland we wont beat England. They will thump us good and solid. We only ran with the ball for about 10min on Saturday before we started to kick the ball away the whole game long.
I would go for broke and forget where we will fall to in the rankings. England will expect us to come out with our kicking game. Go with all out attack. Be brave PdV, start with Lambie, Charl, Alberts and Keegan. Shift Fransie to FB, bring back Adi he can’t be worse than Frans is playing at outside centre. Let us try and win it with tries instead of penalties and 3 points. That will never ever win us games from here on. NEVER. Even Fiji will smash us in our pool game in wc we play that way. Wales and Samoa probably too.
@ Puma:
Puma do i see a slight Shark favoring there?
@ superBul:
Super when something is broken you fix it now and don’t wait for it to maybe work later on.
We should make the right changes now and look beyond the WC.
In other words find the right man to lead the Boks and do not make winning the WC everything.
The alternative is to stick with what we have got and just stupidly hope for results.
We cannot blame other coaches for not wanting to work with PDV.
He and SARU have created that situation themselves.
There is no point in another coach going into a bad situation where he does not have the power and authority to make the necessary changes.
As you say a hospitable job is not what we need.
We need a total clean out and a new coach with vision, rugby intellect and the ability to make a change.
snor volhart al heeljaar met dieselfte crap game plan,hy sal nie nou verander aan sy game plan nie.ek glo nie hy het n ander game plan nie.die poms gaan ons bok fans n early exmas geskenk gee,n helse pak..
@ tight head:
You name me that coach
Last year this time, the Boks were ranked 1st in the world.
On the 30th of November 2009, we were ranked 2nd. Now, given that the AB’s started to rise after the bad 3N they had, and that the Boks never has a good EOTYT, it was kind of to be expected.
However, we have continued dropping, and are currently 3rd.
So basically in one year the WOLRD CHAMPIONS have gone from 1st to 3rd in the world. And HERES THE KICKER… if the Boks lose this weekend, and the French manage to rock Australia in Paris (possible) then the Boks could drop to 5th… HAHAHAHA. 5th!
If THAT happens, the Bok coach would have pulled the Boks from champs to chumps, publicly backed a murderer, and lost the Scotland. Seriously… SARU are the biggest villains in this circus.
At this point they should have called him in, or flown over, or make SOME kind of statement that reinstalls faith in the public.
@ superBul:
Super I think it is a matter of finding the very best man for the job.
However that can only be done if SARU are commited to doing this and giving that man the support he needs without interference.
In other words it is up to SARU to create the enviroment in which the best coaches in world rugby will WANT to apply for the job.
The very best can always get a contract anywhere, so they have to be convinced that coaching the Boks is a very good career move for them.
This is the point that is often missed.
So if we EVER are able to create these circumstances then the likes of Deans, Henry, Meyer, etc will apply.
Nobody wants to put their name and reputation to the mess that we are in now!!
@ tight head:
13
witch leaves us now without anybody that wants the job.
TH you being a old blogger , the players out injured, do you think we can put on the pitch a better team? Think of the 14 injured ones and maybe another 1 or 2. Now in ALL honesty if they are fit will you still be so pessimistic.
@ superBul:
Super, I agree that with those players we may well be able to put a better team on the pitch.
However I can tell you my friend that it will not matter.
PDV could not achieve what Henry has achieved with the All Black player pool at the moment.
Believe me it all boils down to the man at the top.
Tight Head
“Bloggers can blame players, refs and conditions all they like, that is never the solution to the problem as it all starts with a manager/coach with vision, intellect and the ability to impart that to the national team.
We are very good at denial.”
Agree with you full-heartedly.
Ok, so I was born in 1984… hence I basically grew up with rugby in the professional era. But from what I know, back in the day, you didn’t need much of a steady coach, assistants, technical advisors, ect. You basically needed someone who brought everyone together, chose the team, had 2-3 weeks to mould them into a unit… and to call the players Universities to ask for an extension on an exam that followed the weekend of a test 🙂
But lets have a look at world rugby post 2000. England won the WC with a brilliant leader at the helm. Not only did he install trust in the whole setup, he could identify the strong points of his team at the drop of a coin, and what is more, utilize it. He knew where he was going, how he would get there, never panicked, picked his own players, had great assistants ect.
The same with Jake White. When he took the over in 2003/2004 we were 5th! He had the SAME players to his disposal, yet he managed to turn it all around. I am NOT a JW prophet, but you got to give the ma credit where it is due.
When Woodward left, Eng started to fall apart. Many said that they lost a whole lot of their players, true… but Im sure its no coincidence.
I have heard MANY people say they cant wait for all the front line players to hang up their boots, so that Div could have a chance to prove himself, without the excuse of “the players won the match”
Well, many of them have not hung up their boots. But we all know that we are missing 14 front line players. This is the chance that many Div supporters were waiting for. No F.Dup, no Mossie, no JP or Habana, Schalk, JS. Even with Matfield, Juan, Jean and FS there, he is still cocking up.
tighthead @ 13
“The very best can always get a contract anywhere”
..
soooooooooo,
😀 i gather you dont rate jake as one of them? 😉
green-point @ 16
“When Woodward left, Eng started to fall apart. Many said that they lost a whole lot of their players, true… but Im sure its no coincidence.”
..
after 2003, england wouldve fallen apart even WITH woodward there … if you look back at the wc england had won, you’ll see that they scraped through a lot of games … that team that woodward took ages to put together, were on its last legs!!
..
no bru
for all the good woodward has done … not even he couldve reversed the rot setting into england’s rugby!!
@ Ashley:
Hey Ash, you are quick today.
To be honest, I think Jake had his time and did a very good job.
However I would not employ him today.
His time has come and gone.
tighthead @ 19
yes ou krap kop, hoesit?
..
and no, its not me giving you names … krap kop is the afrikaans for tighthead according to the translator!! 😆
@ Ashley:
I prefer Vaskop.
Much better than Loskop!!
What time will the Bok team be announced?
@ Loosehead:22 – Just about the same team as last week. Spies and Ruan to start.
Seems we going the conservative route like I thought.
England by 20.
Bok team has been announced, gbs put it up boeta.
@ Ashley:
Hi there… maybe I should just kinda clarify… Eng would have taken a dump regardless, you’re right.
HOWEVER! It would have helped if someone as astute as Woodward would have been. He could have started to rebuild and Eng would have been back on track a while ago!
If its broken fix it.
Sure we may pick up wins here and there but my broken watch also tells the correct time twice a day.
@ Pam Anderson:26 – Yeah Pam, Have to agree hey!!
We gonna see out butts on Saturday. Some selections are wrong. How Stegmann is still there I have no cooking clue. Why leave Alberts on the bench? Daft I think. Also we have players mostly that will just kick everything away. We wont see much of our ball that is for sure. If we do win it will be a ugly win like we did against Ireland and Wales. Hate to see us playing rubbish rugby like that. We should have gone with player that will attack more. My feeling.
England will win this one on a trot.
green-point @ 25
aaaaaaaaaaaaaah, now i get it!!
..
but i still doubt it!! 😆
puma @ 27
thats about the best team we can put on the field with the available personnel
..
still believe that the two centres need to swop though … fsteyn i think will at the moment be much more effective than jdevilliers taking the ball up
AND
he provide another kicking option … at the moment its far too easy for the opposition to put pressure on msteyn’s boot!!
#29
yes yes i know
that would mean playing a 12 @ 13
and a 15 @ 12
but
frans steyn’s been there, done that
and of
all the players in that backline,
he’s the one i’d like to see involved most!!
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