Seven steps to glory
30 Jun 2008
The Springboks have not won a Test in New Zealand since 1998. Former Springbok mental coach Henning Gericke explains how Peter de Villiers can achieve what Jake White couldn’t.
White may have a World Cup winner’s medal, but the former Springbok coach has something missing from his impressive CV – his side never beat the All Blacks in New Zealand.
In 2004, White’s first year in charge, the Boks came agonisingly close to claiming what would have been a shock victory in Christchurch. With 30 seconds to go, they led 21-18, having scored three tries to nil. But a botched line-out call 5m out from the Springbok tryline led to an All Blacks scrum from which winger Doug Howlett slid over in the right-hand corner.
In 2005, the Boks arrived at the House of Pain in Dunedin needing a win to clinch their second consecutive Tri-Nations title. With six minutes to go, they lead 27-24, only for All Blacks hooker Kevin Mealamu to be driven over from a line-out for the match-winning try.
The Boks were never going to make it third time lucky for White in New Zealand last year, after the coach opted to rest almost all of his first-choice players ahead of the World Cup. While the second-stringers put up a good fight and trailed 12-6 with 20 minutes to go, three All Blacks tries in the final 10 minutes resulted in a 27-point thrashing.
Former Springbok mental coach Henning Gericke was a key member of White’s management team during that time, and it still grates him that the Boks never won in 2004 or 2005. He believes that while they were mentally prepared for the task, they didn’t have the experience or self belief that the finished product, which won the World Cup, had.
‘I honestly believe that the Boks can win one Test, if not two, in New Zealand this year,’ says Gericke. ‘They just need to focus on these seven points …’
1. HAVE A NO-RESPECT MENTALITY
‘Springbok teams are guilty of putting the All Blacks on a pedestal and believing they are unbeatable. Don’t get me wrong, they are a great team, but we’ve shown them too much respect over the years. We now need to change our underdog mentality into a world champion mentality. We mustn’t listen to all the talk that we haven’t won there since 1998 or that we have never won a Test in Dunedin. We are the world champions and we should believe in ourselves.’
2. AIM TO DOMINATE
‘If your enemy responds to you, you are strong; if you respond to them, you are weak. The Boks must arrive in New Zealand, with the intention of dominating the opposition.’
3. PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS
‘The Boks must do what they do best. The All Blacks don’t like to be tackled hard and confronted physically. New Zealanders throw 50-50 passes in the Super 14 because there’s space, but in Tests you can close that space down and put them under pressure. Playing a physical game doesn’t mean you are playing boring, one-dimensional rugby. It means you are playing clever rugby and giving yourself the best possible chance to win.’
4. HAVE SEVERAL LEADERS
‘The more the unyielding the challenge, the more flexible your leadership has must be. In 2004 and 2005, [captain] John Smit was the only real leader in the team. The Bok side of 2008 will have quite a few leaders, and that could make a big difference. Jean de Villiers was an excellent captain for the Stormers this year, while Juan Smith did a good job with the Cheetahs. Victor Matfield captained the Bulls to the Super 14 title last year. The All Blacks, meanwhile, don’t have many strong leaders, which is why I believe they lost to France in the World Cup last year.’
5. BECOME A FAMILY
‘You need to create an inner circle that creates positive energy. If you have a family environment, you will be able to handle outside pressures because you are so tight-knit. However, it may take time for De Villiers to create the kind of family vibe that we had under Jake. Look at what happened to the Bulls when Heyneke Meyer and a couple of key players left. That family structure was broken to some extent.’
6. SEE OPPORTUNITIES, NOT OBSTACLES
‘When you are in New Zealand, you must really want to be there. Embrace the people, the culture and even the weather. Go out and explore the country. If you have a negative mindset about how terrible a place it is, your game will suffer.’
7. HAVE BIG MATCH TEMPERAMENT
‘When you play the All Blacks in New Zealand, the games are going to be close more often that not. You’re going to find yourself in a situation where there are just three or four points in it with a few minutes to go. Your players have to be able to stay mentally strong and close out the game, which is what the Boks didn’t do in 2004 and 2005.’
What Peter de Villiers says:
ON THE CHALLENGE AHEAD
‘It goes without saying that playing the All Blacks anywhere is one of the toughest tests in the game, but in New Zealand it becomes even tougher. New Zealand have been the most successful rugby country in the world over the last decade, with the exception of their World Cup performances. They are true rugby thinkers and they play with supreme confidence at home, resulting in an attitude that does not contemplate defeat when on home soil. I’m not surprised at all that we have struggled there since 1998, but it should be remembered how close the Boks came to victories in 2004 and 2005.’
ON MENTAL PREPARATION
‘We will leave this country with our minds focused on the first Test [in Wellington] and the first Test only. There’s no use planning and getting worked up about the novelty of two Tests in New Zealand. The reality is one Test is played after the next, so I will prepare the squad for the first Test only. When it’s completed, we’ll reassess and then prepare for the second Test [in Dunedin].’
ON WHETHER HE WILL VALUE EXPERIENCE OVER YOUTH
‘I trust all South African rugby players, and will pick the side I feel has the best chance of winning. That doesn’t just go for the New Zealand Tests. Whoever I name in my 22 for any Test, regardless if they have one cap or 100, will have my full faith and backing.’
ON WHETHER HE’LL BE HAPPY TO WIN JUST ONE OF THE TWO TESTS
‘I am not a loser. I will never be satisfied if we lose.’
By Simon Borchardt, in SA Rugby magazine
928 Comments
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30 Jun 2008, 07:46 am
Dragons???????????
30 Jun 2008, 07:54 am
With McCaw out the Boks should already have 50% more mental strength. The other 50% is of course Carter!
30 Jun 2008, 07:55 am
What’s a mental coach.
30 Jun 2008, 07:55 am
Howzit Richie my nemesis!!
30 Jun 2008, 07:58 am
Ons gan die Kiwi’s BUIG!
30 Jun 2008, 07:58 am
Agree wholeheartedly with number 1. That’s the starting point.
30 Jun 2008, 08:00 am
#4 Dawn:
Morning missy
30 Jun 2008, 08:01 am
Bakkies Botha should be the Bok mental coach!!
30 Jun 2008, 08:03 am
Carter has never really bothered the boks as much as McCaw has… Don’t think the boks are bothered that much about carter
30 Jun 2008, 08:06 am
Ah what the heck.
Viva Fernando Torres!!!
30 Jun 2008, 08:06 am
Someone like Ricky Januarie has had the better of Carter on various occasions…
30 Jun 2008, 08:07 am
#9 WatKykJy:
With Daniel scoring an average of 15 points a game I’m sure he bothers every player and coach (even if they don’t like admitting it)
30 Jun 2008, 08:08 am
I am a bit worried about our defense from the line-out setpiece… Hope that who-ever plays Nr8 will neutralise that threat!
30 Jun 2008, 08:09 am
#12 Richie_7: No doubt that he bothers anyone – He is truly world-class, but he won’t bother the Boks anymore than Butch will bother them
30 Jun 2008, 08:13 am
When Carter plays for the Crusaders against any SA S14 franchise, he bothers the **** out of me… but in the test arena the Boks have almost always been able to close down his space… Thing about him is that he is brilliant at stealing the ball in the contact situation – Ask Danie Rossouw about that! That bothers me a bit… The Boks and the Blacks are both most powerful on a quick-unexpected turn-over… They can punish us there, and vice-versa.
30 Jun 2008, 08:16 am
Everyone seems bothered today.
30 Jun 2008, 08:16 am
#3 Dawn: Someone who coaches mentals? Or could be a dental coach who can’t spell.
Seriously, he helps the players to prepare themselves mentally for the game. With somebody like Lobberts it is very difficult, because all he can think about is to do what Julius Malema suggested.
And Province wins!!!
30 Jun 2008, 08:17 am
Yeah, but with McCaw missing the AB pack will lose some of that mongrel in the rucks
30 Jun 2008, 08:18 am
HAve a no-respect mentality. Dis ietwat breindood.
Hoe kan jy nie die AB’s respect nie?
My pa het my destyds geleer: Jy hoef nie bang wees vir jou motorfiets nie, jy moet hom egter altyd respekteer.
Ekt my gat gesien en as die bokke hulle nie repekteer nie gaan hulle ook hulle gatte sien!
30 Jun 2008, 08:21 am
#19 Blou Zebu:
I agree, you can respect something or someone without being afraid. Respect lets us be cautious without being scared
30 Jun 2008, 08:31 am
Think whoever can retain proper focus througout the 80mins will take this one… PdV is planning to play a bit more expansive – but to the Boks’ strengths… Not exactly sure on how he will achieve this – it remains to be seen… Another thing is this: I don’t see Nonu as a good distributer of the ball… I think he will crash it up in the middle a lot, and expect a few switches in the mid-field between the two centers… Masoe will be there to give away his fare share of penalties aswell… perhaps even a yellow? That would be vital!
30 Jun 2008, 08:33 am
ABlacks by 15 or more. Boks have already decided they have won without Richie. Dominate the scrum and the battle is half won-SA do not have the srum to trouble NZ
30 Jun 2008, 08:35 am
Perhaps I’m wrong about Nonu? What do you think?
30 Jun 2008, 08:36 am
#22 scatman68: They may not trouble you as such, but they will definately hold their own… Whether it be legal or not…
30 Jun 2008, 08:38 am
#13 WatKykJy: if spies plays 8 we might be in trouble. unless he’s learn’t to tackle in the past 2 weeks.
joe at 8 pleeeeaaaaaase.
30 Jun 2008, 08:39 am
even if mcaw was playing it does’nt matter he always ends up second best against skalk (whether it’s for the boks or stormers)the problem here is that mcaw intimidate the refs ,which means skalk gets penalised for certain things while mcaw gets away with di\oing exatly the same thing
30 Jun 2008, 08:43 am
Predicting a Blacks win be 15 is also ludicrous… The Boks B team held their own against the AB’s last year until 10mins from the end… The Boks A teams have been unlucky not to beat you in NZ a couple of times… this time round the belief is there that we will beat you, unlike in the past… Don’t be surprised if we beat the AB’s…. The S14 sides (Stormers especially) have shown us this year (and last year -Sharks) that we are capable of beating NZ in NZ… With the AB’s missing Collins, Kelleher, McAllistor, Mauger, Hayman, McCaw and whoever else whom are notoriously good against SA…. Expect an interessing match-up… It will be close… I’m thinking a last minute decider is on the cards…
30 Jun 2008, 08:44 am
#26 st.a.t.w:
Well then McCaw is a smarter player than you give him credit for
30 Jun 2008, 08:44 am
allthough i would’nt mind luke playing at 8 i don’t think it’s gonna happen
what’s clear to see in the first tests of the year is that spies is not the answer (to many shortcomings) so i would start with either joe or kanko(depending on his fitness) with luke on the bench(he can cover all the looseforward positions)
30 Jun 2008, 08:49 am
The all blacks will find our weeknesses and punish us there. We have in my opinion about 3 weak points, and that is way to much to seriously bother the all blacks at home.
30 Jun 2008, 08:49 am
#28 Richie_7: maybe, maybe not
the problem with the rugby watching population is not only do they put the AB’s on the pedastill but some of there players too,and mcaw is doing a good job using that to his advantage
in that case i think you could be right
30 Jun 2008, 08:50 am
#3 Dawn: A coach who has lost the plot completely. You often find them in European soccer. They regularly get banished from the touchlines. They’re on medication.
30 Jun 2008, 08:54 am
#31 st.a.t.w:
I think the problem with Schalk is that he tends to be a little “floppy”. He flings himself into rucks and just makes himself seem too obvious. There’s no denying he has oodles of talent, he just needs to tighten up his approach, and fine tune his approach to situations. I would love to see Richie take Schalk under his wing and teach him a few “tricks of the trade”
30 Jun 2008, 08:54 am
#11 WatKykJy: Aaahh… Newlands 2005. I’ve never seen Carter look so ordinary in my life. Ricky was in his face the whole time and he fell apart – not something you see every day.
30 Jun 2008, 08:54 am
#30 Snoek: 3 weak points? I know our scrum is not great, but what else? Outside centre/ Right wing channel defensively? I think that having someone other than Chavanga at RW will help us defensively here. What’s the 3rd? Remember the All blacks also have 3 weaknesses: Line-outs (terrible even against England!), Wings terrible going backward and now they have a fetcher problem.
30 Jun 2008, 08:55 am
McCaw knows when to draw the line… that’s all… He’ll get away with murder, until the ref pins him for it, then he will refrain from doing that again… Besides, with the up-and-unders he’s almost ALWAYS in front of the ball… The players behind the ref usually runs up from an offside position! I’ve seen McCaw do that various times with great success… Playing the ref…
30 Jun 2008, 09:06 am
#36 WatKykJy: he’s allowed to be in front of the ball as long as the kicker or someone behind the kicker puts him on side.
30 Jun 2008, 09:07 am
Ons sal net wen as daar nie ingemeng word met die spankeuse nie en as die regte kombinasies gekies word. Sal stupid wees om Steyn op loskakel te laat speel na een game in die posisie vir die boks. Die senter kombinasie moet ook reg wees en dis belangrik dat die regte heel agter op draf , gelyk of Percy beseer is oor die naweek toe hy vir sy klub gespeel het. Glo ons sal die lynstane oorheers en ek hoop ons agterlyn gaan goeie bal besit kry. So ja ons kan wen maar die regte spelers en kombinasies is belangrik
30 Jun 2008, 09:10 am
”Watkykjy” is did Gibbons van WKJ?
About the rugby… it’s going to be hard there are no easy tests between our two countries. We getting way ahead of ourselves if the presumption is McCaws absence will change their team’s commitment, we must just keep it simple and annihilated at the breakdown. From there we can use our game breaking loosie to set up the platform for our backline.
30 Jun 2008, 09:10 am
#34 siener:
daniel carter never plays a good game when he’s playing against the boks and he hates it when riki january is the oposing 9
it’s only against weaker teams that performs “brilliantly”
30 Jun 2008, 09:13 am
#38 Andre_WP:
in alle honesty as gekyk word na heelagter se vaardighede is conrad die beste wat ons het,i know percy has all the experience and medals but conrad has been playing brilliantly this year and not forgetting that he has played in the 3N before
30 Jun 2008, 09:16 am
#41 st.a.t.w: Why not play Conrad at 14?
30 Jun 2008, 09:17 am
#41 st.a.t.w: Hmmm , yes think he’s our best bet ,atleast we have another two kickers in the team in James and Frans. Think the centres will have to be Frans and Jean for the All Blacks games. Nonu is a strong player and runner. Not sure if Adie will stand up to him. January will have to be at his best. Don’t see any problems with our forwards for the game.
30 Jun 2008, 09:18 am
Blou Zebu, I agree with you totally on the issue of no respect mentality.
The second comment I would like to add is around point number 5 about becoming a family. I personally agree with that point, but how is that different to the laager mentality SA teams are being critisized for on a regular basis?
30 Jun 2008, 09:20 am
Eish , my Superbru doesn’t look good at all.
Anyways , question i wanne ask is , is there a qwota that says how many players of colour should be in the runon side ?
30 Jun 2008, 09:22 am
#43 Andre_WP: i agree that steyn and jean should start at centre, but i don’t know why everyone is going on about adie not standing up to nonu. nonu is 12 and adie is 13. they’re not opposite each other.
30 Jun 2008, 09:23 am
WP, jou lekka ding!
30 Jun 2008, 09:25 am
#43 Andre_WP:
my point exatly even though i think f steyn is over rated ,it will be wise to have him in the starting 15
should the kickers struggle they can always bring on percy sooner rather then later
30 Jun 2008, 09:25 am
#35 Francois Steyn is over-rated:
You got two, and the third in my mind is fullback.
30 Jun 2008, 09:26 am
Are they using the ELV where you have to be 5m behind the scrum? Won’t that effect the Boks rush defence, which is what Carter really doesn’t like?
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