White: Mission accomplished
2 Jun 2007
Jake White says having achieved their primary goal of a series win the Springboks can now look to building on the momentum gained as they move forward in this all important season.
The Bok coach dismissed talk that the series win was relatively inconsequential given that England will field a significantly stronger team for their pool game at the World Cup.
“We’ve got to look at what we’ve done well and that was scoring 14 tries and over a hundred points over the last two matches, our attack from structured and broken play is good, our bench has played really well, and I think we’ve moved closer to getting the balance right for your 30-man world cup squad,” the Bok coach said.
“We’ve got good momentum going forward now and I’m happy with where we are at at this stage.”
The Boks dominated possession and territory in the first-half, but went into the break 19-17 down after Pierre Spies gifted Dan Scarborough an intercept try. At that stage the English were on course for an unlikely victory, and had the upper hand with Bryan Habana in the sin bin, but a six try second half blitz saw the Boks home. White said there was no need to launch a verbal assault on the players at the break and stressed that he remained confident at that point given the calibre of leaders he had in John Smit and Victor Matfield.
“I can’t stress how proud I am of this group of players for turning around that deficit at the break,” he said. “This was always going to be a difficult game and we just made it harder for ourselves by making stupid mistakes and giving away penalties. When the opposition have Jonny Wilkinson in their side that’s the worst thing you can do and when Bryan got sent off it became more difficult than it should have been.
“But we scored 36 points to three in the second half and I thought the rugby we played in the first 10 or so minutes of the half was the best we have over the last two weeks.”
Smit stressed that while the series win would’ve achieved the goal of giving them a psychological advantage going into the World Cup pool game, the real test was yet to come in France.
“Obviously we know that they will field a very different side at the World Cup and so that really makes the questions about what we gained here become null and void,” he said.
“Our preparation going into that pool game in 2003 was that we had 80 minutes to turn it around after a heavy defeat early that year, and though it didn’t happen then our approach will be the same. So the questions in the week leading up to that game will be about what we’re taking into the match, but it will be all about doing the business in what will be the most important 80 minutes of our season.”
On the question of player fatigue Smit said that he still felt fresh despite having coming off a Super 14 campaign that started in February. In fact the bulk of today’s side are in the same situation. Smit drew comparisons between this run of matches and the one they would experience at the World Cup.
“In that challenging four or five week stretch we are going to have to be at a mental and physical high, so this has been good preparation.”
White acknowledged the situation, and hinted that they would look at giving certain players a rest for the Test at Ellis Park against Samoa next week.
“We achieved our goal and now we’ve got an opportunity to look ahead at the next couple of weeks,” he said. “We mustn’t think that these players can play for another three consecutive weeks, but we’ll try and stay competitive while giving some guys rest.”
By Ryan Vrede, at Loftus
141 Comments
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2 Jun 2007, 23:16 pm
jissus – streauli, now there is a nightmare (with both my shark and bok hats on!)
2 Jun 2007, 23:20 pm
Headbutt you obviously didnt read Keo’s article about dirty langauge on this site.
2 Jun 2007, 23:21 pm
Architect – I agree completely – those days are thankfully far behind us. Go JW, and John Smit – I’ll never forget what it felt like to go into the 3N hoping that we’d win a game. It’s all different now.
2 Jun 2007, 23:24 pm
umbhoxoswede – sorry, if all you can take from what I’ve said is a couple of “,£,$,% or even the occasional & – then I wish you well, and thanks for listening. And no, I didn’t read Keo’s article on bad language – which I haven’t used any of, anyway. Wow – I confused myself there.
2 Jun 2007, 23:27 pm
umb”"$$$%*wede – I’ll bet you don’t tear up your parking fines, and throw them in the gutter either!
2 Jun 2007, 23:27 pm
one thing I will give Straeli his due, when he started our backline ran very well. I haven’t seen them run like that in a while. Then he seemed to go into his shell and things wentr into a downward spiral. don’t know if it was the pressure or what
2 Jun 2007, 23:28 pm
Maybe it was Corne’s intelligent approach to the game – “slat hom met die kop!!”
2 Jun 2007, 23:34 pm
IRELAND have just lost AGAIN. Lovely – I’m not a fan of Paddy Rugga. But they beat us…
2 Jun 2007, 23:38 pm
Cal, you have no case. You are quoting persons that have hated JS for years and are too blinded by there loathing for him to see when he plays a good game.
Very well done for deluding yourself into thinking you have a case and a valid reason for not liking JS.
JS had an OK game today. He performed well.
I also think the subs should have come on sooner. Juan Smith should have left way sooner. He was not having a great game. He should have gone off sooner. That is my biggest concern with JW, he sticks to his game plan too rigidly and does not show enough flexibility in his selections.
2 Jun 2007, 23:53 pm
Is it me or is CJ van der Linde a weak link when he starts?!!!The guy was atrocious today(scrums looked unsteady especially on his side),people keep on making excuses for him saying that the ref was unfair and reffed him out the game at scrum time.If i remember correctly this isnt the first time CJ has been in trouble with penalties at scrumtime.
In 05′ especially against the Aussies in the TriNations he was continually pinned for slipping the bind against Bill Young(yes a Wily customer in his own right).The trend has gradually carried on and it seemed to have curbed a bit in 06′ but he still was inconsistent giving silly scrum penalties away.Now in 07 with the new scrumming laws which encourage binding more than ever especially with the “touch” phase he still slips the bind…Consistent with his career so far is this inadequacy
Dont know which side he is more suited to but i kno he has played the majority of his rugby at tighthead but that’s where he gives away the most penalties!!IMO BJ is much better in the set pieces than him,rock solid at scrumtime,good lineout lifter and has a higher workrate than CJ.CJ would be a perfect supersub as he has the ball skills and the explosive running ability to undo defences in the last 20min.Also looks like he can trim down a little bit,seems to be carrying excess weight.Just look at the conditioning of BJ,Carstens,Hayman,Woodcock to that of CJ…quite a discrepancy i think
Wynand Olivier was poor 2day(more suited to 12),dropped everything that came his way and offers no explosivess or linebreaking ability at test level.Must give young Waylon Murray a run-boy got skills
3 Jun 2007, 00:13 am
i said this before and i say it again DC is the best overall prop in SA
he does all th4e basics well
and BJ is the strongest tighthead out there
what a lot of people dont seem to understand though is the front row to be effective they need strong locks
one thing about matfield in the scrums is he doesnt push with the same strength ackers or muller does
the only thing matfield is the master in is lineout jumping
3 Jun 2007, 00:15 am
if murray continues his play he is gonna be a huge star
3 Jun 2007, 01:01 am
Good win, but many mistakes. An in form Aus or NZ would have had the team today. This is a 2nd tier England team playing at a dry Loftus!
Granted we should only play NZ/Aus in the WC final, but that game would be tactical with few/no missed tackes by the kiwi’s. Mistakes will determine the winner. Spies as exciting as he is, still makes mistakes.
Having said that probably the most exciting bok team is the last 3 years. G.Botha though prob should be playing instead of Smith, but can’t drop the captain now can you. Just hope the guys don’t get too full of themselves before the WC as they could be in for a shock.
I think J.White should contemplate using R.Pienaar at flyhalf and F.Dup at scrumhalf. R.Pienaar is prob top 5 most talented bok players our there and should be used.
3 Jun 2007, 01:41 am
#76 No, Gysie got the sh*ts with FS when they did not renew his contract so he decided to take his sone away. Sharks was just to happy to take him…
3 Jun 2007, 01:44 am
umbhoxoswede
You must excuse Butthead here.
He is a new boy and doesn’t know how to conduct himself on this blog.
He has been all over keo stirring up peopole.
Just ignore the Basterpommie…
3 Jun 2007, 02:08 am
PietMyVrou
I have never stirred up a peopeole -
maybe you have? I’d guess that you never voted for the Nats, and you’ve never smoked a John Rolfe. You are amazingly virile, for a man that has his own restaurant, and was up all night drinking red wine, and eating kangaroo steak (which is very much like Volstruis, and delicious).
HOWEVER – I am pissed, and have been awake now for a lot longer than most on here.
And I will not bully old men unless they can stand unassisted in a strong wind.
PS – Keo knows me well, and is a “£($
3 Jun 2007, 02:36 am
un£$%*£&£wede – please don’t feel offended, it’s all done in good humour. Besides ek’s nie eintlik ‘n basterpommie soes PietMyVrou se nie – ek’s ‘n Soutie, deur en deur. My familie het uitgekom na die Unie Van Suid Afrika in die vroer jaare, en het gebly (nadat ons die oorlog gewen het). Ek het net die taal geleer in Simon, saam met Bobby, terwyl ons BA geswot het. Wilgenhof is ‘n boer koshuis, maar PietMyVrou weet dit nie. Sterkte oue un”£££”£(*£&”(*£?&£”*”wede, ek belowe dat ek nie weer sr(*d sal praat nie.
3 Jun 2007, 02:50 am
I have just watched the game again.
Januarie’s position in the team must be reconsidered seriously.
I doubt if he even ranks under the top four scrummies in SA at the moment.
3 Jun 2007, 02:53 am
Butthead
Interesting CV.
Moet se, jou Afrikaans is nie te sleg vir n soutie nie.
Jy is reg, ek weet nie veel van Stellenbosch se koshuise nie. Het dit maar vermy sover as moontlik gedurende my tyd daar.
3 Jun 2007, 03:02 am
Net soos jy Waterloo vermy het, toe jy die Eurostar gevang het op Victoria!!! Jy’s ‘n lekker ou kak prater PietMyVrou. Engels = confidence trickser.
Waar het ek my CV uitgegee? Ek het net gewys van waar ek Robert S ken.
Jeez, I’m battling with the taal tonight. Phew – I hope my spelling isn’t too bad, over to my my mother tongue.
Anyway – I hope your hangover isn’t too bad Piet, if indeed you even have one? I’m not sure I believe that whole restaurant story.
3 Jun 2007, 04:13 am
Victoria na Dover.
Ek het nooit Eurostar gery nie.
Who cares what you believe?
3 Jun 2007, 04:28 am
Luke Watson next week… yeeeeha!
3 Jun 2007, 04:29 am
J Botha and Os Du Randt essential now to start and keep the scrum rock hard up front (CJ and Gurthro excellent for impact after half-time, excellent loose props with ballast and speed)- Spies the No. 8 (not Roussouw) – I mean that Spies is something else – Roussouw on bench for Muller (or AJ Venter, but not both)- Skinstad to play at least 20 minutes a game – Jacques Fourie for Wynand – and Fourie Du Preez at the scrum-half helm (though Januarie makes tries that’s his trademark) – and I think we’re there; come on guys, 50 points in both games is a pretty good start to the season – but the pointers I’ve made are the lessons.
3 Jun 2007, 04:34 am
Very average 65 minutes from a Bok team looking more like the Bulls 2005 than the apparent RWC 07 winners. Playing England B at home in their second 07 hit-out I expected significant improvement. Rather we got bumbling backs, a by-and-large bullied Bok scrum and fumbling lineouts for large parts of the game. Percy is so not the right fullback – didn’t we work that out last year?
The Bok’s worst enemy this year will be Jake White’s selections and tactics.
Seriously if that’s all SA has got then it better prepare for disappointment.
3 Jun 2007, 06:55 am
Headbutt – also went to Simonsberg – 1986 -> 1989, when were you there?
3 Jun 2007, 07:33 am
sean
Smit is nie goed nie..jy moet of familie van Jake of John wees om te dink hy is die beste. Smit kan goed skrum – en dis al. Seker omdat hy n stut was vroeer. Sy lynstane is gemiddeld en ek sien hom nooit meters wen soos n Gary of Bismarck nie…dalk is hy n goeie kaptein – maar hy is nie ons beste haker nie!
3 Jun 2007, 09:33 am
supa
he is good enough. I’m not a JW fan and like I said earlier, I’ve been a critic of Smit in the past. I couldn’t be bothered to go into this again really.
3 Jun 2007, 10:07 am
its all and good singing praises for pienaar and steyn but we need to understand that in both games when they came on the poms we very tired,so they are useful substitutes,nothing more.
3 Jun 2007, 10:24 am
i see now why jake does’t pick guys like luke,he needs tall guys to protect his son(smit).this guy can throw k@k.
3 Jun 2007, 10:33 am
manne, 2 possisies moet gefinaliseer word.
13 en 14.
wynand olivier het nie goed gespeel nie. Ok, almal kry so nou en dan ‘n afdag. Dis egter belangrik dat elke man in SA se agterlyn iets spesiaal na die veld bring. Akona en Wynand is solid, maar daar kort iets spesiaals. Fourie sal egter vir wynand vervang en ons agter lyn meer gevaarlik maak.
My vraag is: Wie is ons beste nr 14?
1)Willemse; het nog te min gespeel om te sê hoe “hot” hy is opi oomblik.Maar hy lyk lus vir jol
2) Frans steyn: is solid en vinnig en sterk.
3) JP: rond goed af en is sa se vorm vleuel saam met habana
My argument is egter dat ons moet ‘n keuse maak. al drie die bogenoemde manne het gametime nodig sodat ervaring vasgele kan word anders gan ons ‘n onervare shakey 14 in die World Cup hê.
3 Jun 2007, 10:42 am
team to compete at every position against any team.
1.guthrp
2.g.botha
3.bj
4.aj
5.vic
6.luke
7.schalk
8.skinstad
9.ricky
10.ap
11.obvious
12.jdv
13.murray
14.akona
15.steyn
3 Jun 2007, 10:44 am
Habana out for 4 weeks.
3 Jun 2007, 10:50 am
Hehe
Hi guys. I know its not quite on the thread topic, but I just cant help myself.
To all you Paul Roos supporters who keep telling us all that Bishops is Micky Mouse (remember all the posts on herelast year?) all I can say is…….”Oops, we did it again!” 25 – 16. Thats qute a thumping you guys took on your home ground. And isn’t it the third sraight loss in a row to the “inferior” rugb y school fom the southern suburbs. Maybe next year guys!
3 Jun 2007, 10:50 am
oh no!
3 Jun 2007, 10:56 am
Who is the no8 of Bishops? I believe he is good.
3 Jun 2007, 11:00 am
Nic Koster. Unless he gets injured, he’ll be a definate future Bok. Speed, skill and Size! But the other good loose forward is Doug Mallett, son of Dave Mallett. I wasn’t at the game. Just read the result in Sunday times now. But apparently, thats the only game he whole day Bishops won. But I suppose thats th one that matters!
3 Jun 2007, 11:04 am
Nic Koster played SA schools last year? How old is he?
3 Jun 2007, 11:07 am
18. Played SASchools in Std 9.
3 Jun 2007, 11:18 am
Another bunch of fans who think they would be better coaches than the current one, or any incubent Springbok coach.
For once we have a coach with brains. Not since Mallet have we had that. You should be praising him for showing consistancy. He has developed this bunch of players into experienced campaingers. I do not believe we would have had S14 success with Jakes core team having gotten the exerience they have under his tenure. Jake has led teh way in conditioning, consistancy and many other areas.
You have to remember he has political pressures to appease as well as trying to build a WC winning team. He has turned SA rugby from a shambles into one where we can realistically expect to make the semi-finals and maybe teh finals of the WC. You shoud all be praising him.
As for his selections, he has it right as a whole. He has faith in his players and doesn’t loose that faith after one bad game like SA fans do. If it was up to the fans we would have a different team every week.
With rugby defense lines like they are you cannot play an open game from teh start and expect to succeed. You have to wait until the end when tired legs open teh game up. FOr that reason, with all the class and talent he has Spies is a last 20 minutes player. I rate him as one of the best, if not bet loosie in world rugby in a looser game. You need the grinder men like AJ/Danie in the first 50 minutes. When the game is tight we need power at the collision points. We need git and grind.
The game is as many have said a 22 man game now. And the make-up of your reserve bench will be vital in the WC. I recon with a reserve bench of Skinstad/Spies/Steyn/Pienaar/CJ you have a great chance of tearing any team in the world apart in the last 20 when the game opens up.
You guys praise the players that score tries in the last minutes of the game when it opens up and expect these people to start. I think that will make us worse. We dominated England at collision time in the first 40 in the 1st test with Danie at 8. We looked like a powerhouse team in the first 40 of teh 1st test. Second test we really didn’t dominate anything until the game broke up.
3 Jun 2007, 13:40 pm
139. or Mike Hike H ?
Ok, if you feel that White is playing with this “Master Plan” , why did he not take ROssouw off at the end of the first half of, in the first Test ?
Remember , we where leading with 30 points and it was obvious to me that the game was going to OPEN up in the 2nd half because we had a BIG lead and the English team HAD to throw the ball around , the score tries.
ROSSOUW came back onto the field in the number 8. postion, there was no Pienaar , no Steyn, no Spies.
SO DO NOT TELL ME , THAT THE TRIES WE SAW , WAS WHITE”S MASTER PLAN, HE PICKS THE BIGGEST PLAYERS AND KEEPS THE REST ON THE BENCH, UNTIL HE THINKS THE GAME IS OVER. “THE BULLS MASTER PLAN”.
Anton
3 Jun 2007, 17:52 pm
NO SIR- MISSION NOT ACCOMPLISHED, YOU HAVE SERIOUS INJURIES ON HAND
IF U MANGED YOUR PLAYERS BETTER, AND SPEARED THE TOP PLAYERS, THIS WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED,
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