The World Cup is looming, competitions gone by teaches us, that experience wins World Cups, how that is applicable to 1995 is a mystery though, but that is beside the point. Pundits in South Africa and here on Rugby-Talk, says we can’t win without the old guard, being Fourie, Victor, John Smit, Bakkies, Pakslae and the like, all this while Tim Noakes says, the old guard is overplayed and under rested, and therefore unable to live up to their expected form come NZ 2011. This begs the question: “Can we win the World Cup without our Senior Boks?”
I think the first question we have to ask ourselves are whether we will be happy to lose the Tri-Nations, most of the year-end tests and the inbound tests for two or three years. If the answer to this is yes, then by all means, let’s try to win the World Cup with Dad’s Army, which is most probably not going to happen in any case.
England took the honours in 2003 with a team held together by the sheer elasticity of their old-age nappies, some Salusa 45 and a healthy dose of Oil of Olay. The whole rugby world was in awe as to their magnificence and power, and then, barely a year after their famous victory, they were suddenly rubbish, and they pretty much still are, albeit they won the Six Nations in 2011 and competed in the 2007 World Cup Final, it took them close to 8 years to start showing some semblance of the team they once were.
Experience, albeit invaluable on certain occasions, shouldn’t be the backbone of selection, three of the top 5 most experienced South African Teams ever to take the field, got their arses handed to them once by Australia and twice by New Zealand… and this was not 5 years ago, this merely as far back as the 2010 Tri-Nations. The teams were sporting 661, 700 and 750 caps respectively. Off the topic, and just for interest, the team that won the 1995 World Cup sported just 179 caps.
Banking on experience is actually costing us experience. Andries Bekker, Bismarck du Plessis and Francois Hougaard, players that would walk into just about any international team, the NZ All Blacks included, are not getting the opportunity to dominate as is their potential. When Bekker and Hougaard gets a chance, it is usually in a makeshift team, comprising of only about 40% of the frontline players, while Bismarck has to play his tests in a sub-standard front-row, because we allegedly cannot live without John Smit. This is taking away from these players’ development, simply because we believe we cannot win anything without Matfield, Du Preez and Smit.
As recently as the past weekend though, that which made them invaluable on the test front, being their leadership roles, came in for a bashing against the Chiefs and the Stormers. Two games that were lost, that can directly and indirectly be attributed to lack of leadership, decision making and composure. This has nothing to do with their age, I think it points more to their motivation or lack thereof.
A number of players made it perfectly clear that the World Cup would be their swansong. A changing of the guards is on the cards, and it has to be done sooner rather than later. As the Springboks, all we are doing at present, is basically flogging a dead horse, by putting faith in the previous generation, a generation that has basically achieved everything there is to achieve in rugby, and will be hard pressed to attain the same level of motivation they had before they were super stars. But the young bucks, can only benefit from these pressure situations, and come out much stronger for it.
Screw the World Cup, we are the World Champions, but are lagging behind in third place on the official IRB rankings, so the WC doesn’t really mean anything, if you can’t maintain. Building to the World Cup was Jake White’s main claim to fame, and I am sorry to say, that this is most definitely the wrong attitude to have.
Personally, I’d sacrifice a shot at the World Cup, to invest in dominating the Rugby World in the 4 years between World Cups, pretty much like the All Blacks are doing, albeit that they’d give everything to lift that trophy.
Yeah, sure they get some stick, and are called chokers once in every 4 years, but for the rest of the time, they absolutely rule world rugby, and are undeniably the best team on the planet. I think I’d like that. If we lose one test every four years, and that test happens to be a quarter, semi or final, and we win the rest in-between, yip, I think I can live with that.
Experience will be needed but i agree that we should have had a lot more ‘experienced’ players and that a lot of other players should have had 10 or 15 tests behind them by now. There isn’t better examples than Habana and Spies that were played again and again on reputation while we could have given players like Alberts, Vermeulen, Mvovo and Basson more test caps and a taste for Springbok rugby. I do not however think that whole sale changes at this stage will help in the WC and as much as you will claim not to care about the WC deep down inside I think we all want the Boks to do well in the WC.
Saint: Although I agree with most of what you say, the question must be asked: if you drop John Smit, who do you get to captain the side. The Bulls are a case in point, good team, no captain.
Jean de Villiers
I have rated him highly as WP and Stormers captain before he left for Ulster, should you get rid of the dead wood, he’d also be your most experienced player in the team.
He was Springbok vice-captain as well at a time.
@ The Saint:
Is he not part of the dead wood?
The thing with JDV is that he always gets injured before the big games.
Give me an idea of what you think the Bok team should like like minus the “dead wood”.
Dead Wood is players playing on reputation alone. My team would be:
1. Coenie Oosthuizen / Beast Mtawarira
2. Bismarck du Plessis / Tiaan Liebenberg
3. Jannie du Plessis / CJ van der Linde
4. Flip van der Merwe / Wilhelm Steenkamp
5. Andries Bekker / Juandre Fourie
6. Heinrich Brussow / Schalk Burger (If J Smith is fit)
7. Schalk Burger / Juan Smith (If fit)
8. Willem Alberts / Dewald Potgieter
9. Francois Hougaard / Sarel Potgieter
10. Peter Grant / Ruan Pienaar
11. Jaco Taute / Lionel Mapoe
12. Jean de Villiers / Doppies Le Grange
13. Jacque Fourie / Juan de Jongh
14. JP Pietersen / Gerhard van den Heever (As hy leer tackle)
15. Pat Lambie / Riaan Viljoen
Smit would be my choice at loosehead.I don’t mind the look of your team at all.
6@ The Saint:
Interesting Squad… and not too shabby.
However, there are a few changes I would make (considering we cut the dead wood.. we have to cut ALL DEAD WOOD)
No 4 Lock: Flip van der Merwe / Steven Sykes
No 5 Lock: Andries Bekker / Anton van Zyl
No 9 Scrummie: Francois Hougaard / Charl McLeod…. (and by the way it is Sarel Pretorius and not Potgieter in your selection – He does not even regularly make the Cheetahs side at present)
No 10 Flyhalf: Patrick Lambie / Peter Grant
No 11 Left Wing: Lwazi Mvovo / Bjorn Basson
No 12 Inside Center: Andries Strauss / Doppies la Grange
No 14 Right Wing: Gio Aplon / JP Pietersen (lucky not to be cut because he’s not exactly playing the world alight)
No 15 Fullback: Zane Kirchner / Louis Ludik or Hennie Daniller or Jaco Taute
In short, if you cut dead wood, Jean must get the chop as well. Lambie now plays at flyhalf and klaar and Ruan Pienaar willingly chose to apply his trade overseas… But I’d still have Morné Steyn there for dead-eye kicking from distance, he’s still only 25.
Then somehow I’d like to see how Jean Deysel shapes when back from injury… possibility for Blindside backup if Juan Smith is not ready to go.
@ grootblousmile:
Zane Kirchner?????????????????????????????????????? I thought that you wanted to cut the dead wood?
9@ Loosehead:
Is there a consistent fullback NOW IN SA?
Well, Conrad Jantjes has been dismal, Hennie Danniller has been dropped for a match or 2, Riaan Viljoen has not even been the No 1 fullback at the Cheetahs this season (mostly coming off the banch only), Louis Ludik has been injured on and off and not in super form, Taute has been subbed and dropped due to bad form, for “Spear Tackle” Kamana… shall I go on…
Lambie is now specializing actually at flyhalf not at fullback (and I have him in the side as flyhalf option), Joe Pietersen is in France…. Frans Steyn has willingly chosen to go rotten in France…
So who do you pick?
Zane has been one of the lone Bulls who have stood out in mediocre circumstances to a large extent… and dare I say has implemented the up-and-under kick much less in 2011, rather choosing to carry the ball up stronger from No 15….
So, who’s actually the dead wood from all the SA Fullbacks?
In light of the above, now choose 2 of the least inconsistent fullbacks, and you’ll find that you keep coming back to almost only Zane…. and little Gio Aplon, who is actually too short but with lots of courage but wait… he’s a wing (and I chose him as starter on right wing)!!
Mind you, let’s look broader….. pity that Joe Pietersen is in France, he was coming right so nicely last year during the Super 14, even from a defensive perspective… but how can we compare his form now, playing in France?
See where I’m going… full circle back to Zane…. every time.
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