It was written on their faces. The Boks, to a man, left Soccer City in despair last night, their 2012 Championship ending on the most depressing note.
The All Blacks, the trend-setters in the modern game, were beaming and edging ever closer to a world-record run of victories, after a game that only required one half of a puff from them.
Lungani Zama – Sunday Tribune
And, while Steve Hansen will look for new ways to open up opposition backlines, Heyneke Meyer is still looking for reasons why his way is still not working. It’s been a common thread this year.
Five months into his job, Meyer now knows that there is a monumental difference between moulding a franchise outfit to your own image and keeping the Boks relevant.
And, as much as he is part of the problem, Meyer cannot take sole blame for the depressing results. Too many of the senior players that he has are not providing the performances that are needed to keep the side going in these tough times.
Jean de Villiers, the captain, has thrown more stray passes over the last two months than he has in his entire career. The backline, when the ball has got to them, played as if they have just been introduced to each other.
At some point, the excuse that the Springboks are still learning will no longer be accepted as a reason for the abject displays that they have served up. After all, the entire team has played – and starred – in Super Rugby, where they have met the same players who are now dominating them so thoroughly.
And amidst all this, Meyer has maintained that the team is finally grasping his ideas.
By the end of the match at Soccer City last night, the Boks looked more clueless than ever, punch-drunk from being routinely raided by a team with a proper, modern game plan.
When the All Blacks were under the cosh in Nasrec, they soaked up the pressure and tightened the defence. The Boks, whenever they have had questions asked of their temperament, have wilted.
The defence used to be a source of pride, but lack of organisation has seen it become very leaky when confronted by pace and inventive running.
Those kind of errors could be understood against England, when Meyer had precious little time to assemble the troops. But now, five months on, and a solid stint of Championship Rugby later, there should be a defensive pattern that everyone understands.
The end-of-year tour to Europe now looms large as Meyer’s last chance to end 2012 on some kind of high.
Regardless of the results, which cannot really get much worse, what Heyneke Meyer simply has to do is take off the blinkers and scrap the Blue-Bull-print.
The Currie Cup run-in will again display those players who deserve a chance to play a more prominent role.
Players like Pat Lambie, who has the type of footballing brain that teams like New Zealand and Australia build entire backlines around because of their ability to play the moment.
That Lambie’s introduction in place of Zane Kirchener at Loftus last weekend raised the biggest cheer was telling. The public want to see him, and others like him, play.
Bok rugby has become stale and predictable. And yet, only Meyer has the power to change that. Only he can change the way the Springboks approach matches. Come November, we will see if he has had a change of heart.
Soweto – Coach Steve Hansen issued an ominous warning Sunday to future opponents of the all-conquering All Blacks when he said the runaway Rugby Championship winners can improve.
“We are getting better,” he told reporters after New Zealand survived a torrid opening half against South Africa at teh FNB Stadium to score 20 unanswered second half points for a 32-16 triumph and 16 Test victories in a row.
“The difference between us and them is that we are perhaps getting our preparation right during the week and ensuring that our players have the best chance to perform on the Saturday.”
Some half truths in the article IM.
Firstly, the SA game plan hasen’t changed in 10 years. OF COURSE IT’S FREEKING STALE!!!!!!!
The SA Side seem to let every half decent victory go straight to their (seemingly) lobotomized brains and think that what won one game can destroy a team like the All Blacks.
When the SA side so “comprehensively” beat the Wallabies at Loftus, the Aussies were breaking up so badly they were like a bunch of decomposing cadavres. Our simple minded Rugby “brains” in SA then seem to think that they have the ideal game plan to take on and beat a team that have won the world cup in the last year and are (very quickly) heading to a world record of consequtive victories.
In short, Brute Force and Ignorance, got well and truly taught a lesson in Rugby by Swift of Foot and Slight of Hand.
The problem in SA Rugby lies not with the SA National team, coaches and management, nor with the Super Rugby franchises’ players, coaches and management! IT LIES IN THE FUNDAMENTAL FAILURE TO GROW AND DEVELOP A MEANINGFUL ACTION PLAN AT PRIMARY SCHOOL LEVEL.
As long SA Rugby fails to take the game in a different direction with the young kids, it will continue to fail at the highest level. IOW, Sh1t in Sh1t out.
Finished and klaar.
I challenge any of the other “experts” here on RT to pull my reasoning apart and provide other reasons for SA’s continuing failure, and please don’t quote about World Cup wins etc etc. We have been a long way behind NZ for a couple of decades now, in fact since “re-admission”.
“Even a bling squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.”
I’m sure some of our stat’s experts like superBul can give us the win / loss ratio’s for the last 20 years.
@ Scrumdown:
The squirrel would of course be BLIND and not “bling”.
Flippin Pumaitis.
please correct me if i’m wrong on this one, but i think that in nz, youngsters (as in primary school level) are not playing in age groups, but they are put into different groups according to their weight?
if it is indeed correct, then you can already see the advantage of this: younsters, same weight, same skills levels, will have to be learned new skills to make them more effective/better than the youngsters from the teams you’re facing whereas in sa the bigger guys excel from an early age without any emphasis (needed) to develop their skills.
@ Scrumdown:
Hi Scrumdown
You are absolutely so correct!!
I do not often comment any longer, but am amazed that our coach and others think that we have a certain style of play that is good for us!!
If it worked for us then how come our record against Aussie and NZ is so poor?
Please don’t insult my intelligence by saying it is because of poor execution of a game plan that is correct!!
Worse still is the comment from the coach that you cannot play NZ at their own game.
Of course he is correct in saying that, because we are not capable of playing their advanced, quick ball, skilled game that requires intelligent decision making as we cannot match them in these departments.
Until he concedes that they have elevated the game to the next level and that all rugby nations should be trying to do the same, we will continue to slowly go backwards with our yesterday’s thinking.
However the coach will not change for two reasons:
Firstly that would be an admission that we have it all wrong and need to learn from the enemy.
Secondly it is not in our nature to change.
You cannot ask an Elephant to be a Leopard!!
#5
hello darkness my old friend!!
@ ashley:
I agree with you 100%. Youngsters should work on their skills, not size. You must first build the skill, then add strength and speed to the skill, not other way around. No youngster should ever use any supplements to grow bigger. No whey protein, no creatine, nothing. They should also keep these youngsters out of the gym. They must build their strength with different sports, like wrestling, boxing, gymnastics. Bring back the functional strength and power training.
5 @ tight head:
The problem is that SARU (obviously) don’t see it that way.
Are the “everyday” Rugby people in this country, like you and I, so far off the mark that we are missing something? Or is it that SARU are just way above our level of understanding of the game and have the solution to the problems?
If one looks at the last 3 SA senior side coaches, Jake White and PdV both had periods of success, but overall fell short of the mark set by the AB’s, so far, to be honest HM hasn’t had a decent crack at the whip, but initial indications are that he’s going to struggle to to break the NZ stranglehold on the IRB top spot.
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Is SA Rugby doing any REAL LONG TERM PLANNING, or just hoping that the necessary players come through the ranks, and a coaching team emerges to “glue” it all together?
A rhetorical question really. I think we all know the answers.
Did you listen to the post match comments by Mallet etc?
When we had the NZers pinned down on their line, they knew that we would keep going at them with our forwards and that there was no chance of the ball moving away from there. Easy to defend against.
I am a little depressed, first the Boks, then the Freestate
9 @ Loosehead:
It’s not a National disaster. It’s only a sport.
Staat will bounce back.
As for the SA National side, well, even a dead cat bounces when you throw it out of a 5th floor window. “Dead cat Bounce”!!!
@ Scrumdown:
I agree with you. If all provinces/clubs doesn’t work together for the greater good of the national team, SA will struggle. They will not dominate world rugby until this happen.
Why did they abandon the Emerging boks idea? This would have been a perfect way to bring a player into the boks setup without all the pressure. They could have arrange the emerging boks to play against teams like the USA or Canada. This will make the jump to Bok team much smoother an easier.
10 @ Scrumdown:
Uhm, we play the WP on the weekend, who will have all their stars back. We get Strauss, an out of form Coenie and a one legged Godsend back.
Still, should be enough to beat the Kings.
11 @ leon:
When one looks at potential player bases atc, it’s even more amazing that SA can’t continually beat NZ, and beat them well.
Ah well, let’s hope SA beat all comers on the EOYT, then all will be well again.
Or will it? Elastoplast on a slashed artery?
12 @ Loosehead:
I hope so. I don’t want that lot in CC premier as well.
@ Scrumdown:
Yes, with the talent in this country, we can easily dominate NZ. Everybody must just work together and not against each other, like they currently do.
o, by the way (and off the subject again), congrats to richie on his 100th test win in his 112th test. truly amazing stuff and just show the way nz have actually dominated world rugby over the last few years!!
Well, to say we all feel rather deflated is an understatement!
For now, our International scene is on the backfoot, whilst the Currie Cup gears towards it’s final weeks…. then we’ll start shouting the odds again for the End Of Year Tour… and the roller coaster ride will continue.
ALL SIX Currie Cup sides still in with a shout at the eventual Currie Cup title, but the last 4 of the 6 have a banana peel situation… lose the next one and you’re out… and on top of that you might have to play the relegation game to boot.
WP / Free State Cheetahs…. only 1 of the 2 will go through to the semis.
Sharks / Griquas…. Sharks will be determined to win, to retain their now new-found top spot on the Log, whilst a win by Griquas will see them in the semis.
Golden Lions / Blue Bulls…. the last of the games for upcoming weekend. By the time this game kicks off the Blue Bulls will know exactly what is needed to get into the semis and the Lions will know if they might still be able to shoot for top spot or not.
@ Scrumdown:
Yes my friend, there is no rugby plan.
The only plan is to keep your bum on the good seats and get as much out of it as you can.
Mind you, that is the the way SA works these days!!
18 @ tight head:
Hello prop!
For a moment I want to move away from the ugly loss of the Boks… and I’d like to hear your comments on how the Bokke scrums and lineouts went… and how you saw the breakdowns unfolding.
I thought the Bokke scrum had quite a bit better than parity, Bokke scrum went well.
I thought the Bokke lineouts went like clockwork too.
I thought we played the breakdowns brilliantly in the first half… then regressed in the second half.
I thought the difference in class clearly lay in the backline battle.
19 @ grootblousmile:
If I may butt in………..
Scrums were more than adequate and line out were fine.
As for the break down….. I said somewhere last week that I’ve NEVER seen Rolland give a penalty for the tackler not releasing the player, and yet the SA coaching staff either don’t pick it up, or don’t think it’s worthy of exploiting.
Or are the players incapable of “cheating”, i.e. thinking on their feet?
Generally Northern Hemisphere ref’s are VERY lax’ on that particular rule, in the AVIVA it tends to go unpunished as well.
grootblousmile wrote:
21 @ Scrumdown:
Flip this “quote” thing has me by the short and curlies.
Clearly I am far too IT challenged to get it right. Hope you understand what I was trying to get at.
@ grootblousmile:
Morning GBS.
Yes, I agree with you.
Peter De Villiers has done more for our scrumming than anybody in the last ten years.
He understands scrumming technically and has without doubt made a massive difference.
We now scrum correctly, something that we have not done in years, which says nothing for people like Ballie Swart and Os.
I don’t think De Villiers has been given enough recognition for what he has achieved in a very short time.
The line outs were good, as opposed to being bad against Aussie.
Concentration is the key.
We cannot match NZ at the breakdown when our mentality is about individual players there.
It is all about cleaning out and over and through the ball in numbers, something NZ have perfected although it is often on the edge of the law.
To remedy attacking play and backline creativity, is not down to 1 or 2 players…. it starts with the scrumhalf (Bokke had enough front foot ball from the forwards) and runs through all the way to No 15.
Ruan Pienaar is not the man we need in the long run as scrumhalf… we need an attacker, option taker, distributor, game breaker in this position.
At flyhalf the Goose was clearly undercooked and injured… I have raised his propensity for getting injured before, and this seems to be true. Jantjies does not seem to be the solution just yet either, but then again he has had no time and additionally has not been given enough time in the side to make the position flow. Lambie… well, he is not even a good fullback anymore. Morné Steyn… well, he is not going to play the game we need to have a rejuvenated backline, even if his kicking stats improve again.
Wings… Bryan Habana is in excellent form and should be at left wing, with JP Pietersen at right wing… that should do quite fine.
Centres… this is a very troublesome situation for SA, I think Fransie Steyn & Jean de Villiers’ time might have come and gone. Taute shows promise at No 13 (he was very subdued this weekend though), there is Paul Jordaan, Lionel Mapoe…. and youngsters from the Bulls in Francois Venter and Jan Serfontein on the horizon.
Fullback…. despite a lot of critisism, Zane Kirchner was solid and reliable… but we need something more… something even Lambie can’t give us either. Lots of people touting for Willie le Roux, but I doubt he has what it takes – maybe he has it from an attacking perspective but certainly not from a defensive perspective.
That brings us to backline coaching… sorry but Loubsher is just not the answer, there MUST be better out there. In addition the defensive coach needs to be replaced and be a top man, our defence leaks like a sieve!
While we’re at it, kick Louis Koen to touch as Kicking Coach… replace him with Vlok Celliers or Braam van Straaten!
23 @ tight head:
Yeah, we’re missing cohesiveness in blowing over and through rucks (as McLook terms it) when cleaning out ball and slowing opposition ball down.
The grunt and technique and body positioning is flawed to the bone at the breakdowns.
That said, I believe we have the 3 loosies and the right combination of loosies to do it… but the tight 5 needs to come to the party here big time.
Oh, I thought our mauls from lineout balls were good too.
One more thing about the scrum.
I think Coenie is one of the best front row forwards I have seen, with massive potential.
However to think that he can play tight head against the best team in the world with very little experience and coming back from injury is sheer madness!!
If they are serious about him at tight head then he needs at least a season there in S15 to learn.
My view before the game on Saturday was that Goosen was under too much pressure and would find it difficult.
Elton is highly under rated and has a very good temperament for the big matches.
We had the NZ scrum in all sorts of trouble while the starting front row was on. I am not sure if Coenie was rushed in, or is just not a tighthead.
The lineout was solid.
The forwards should flood the tackle area and take their opponents out of the way.
At 9? Who knows? Pienaar was fine, but not good
An uninjured Godsend is the answer at 10
JDV was not good
I am not sure if Taute is the answer
Habana was excellent
Houhah ain’t no wing, and he ain’t no 9 either.
Inzane was solid
@ grootblousmile:
Yes, as you say, body position is everything.
It has to be very low to the ground from the legs and forcing the opposition upwards and out.
28 @ Loosehead:
Is Johan Goosen not a perrenial sicknote like Andre (Yo-yo)… whatshisname… Pretorius?
He is young and inexperienced, time will tell.
I was simply amazed at the flack Goosen and Heyneke Meyer was taking for playing Goosen on Saturday, after EVERYBODY and his dog was baying for Goosen to play in the first place… and after Goosen had passed the fitness and kicking tests in the week prior to playing.
Some serious arm-chair whingers out there… and nothing will ever be good enough from a selection point of view.
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