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, 15:08 pm
#439 poppa69: lol, slow down crackhead. you are gonna pop a vein.
we are gonna pillage and plunder your islands. dont try any fancy tricks with your womenfolk either. we dont want any dirty tricks.
30 Jun 2008, 15:08 pm
#440 st.a.t.w:
Well according tp Bok supporters the only thing that matter is the William Web Ellis trophy, so regardless of how manay times the All Blacks have won the 3Nations and S12/14 in the last 10 years all we ever hear about is 1995 and 2007.
Make up your mind
30 Jun 2008, 15:08 pm
#439 poppa69:
and here i was thinking the 1987 world cup was the easiest
30 Jun 2008, 15:09 pm
9.Pienaar, 10.Butch, 11. Habana, 12. Steyn, 13.De Villiers, 14. JP, 15. Percy, back to Penguin Backline, all white, with black wings!!!
30 Jun 2008, 15:09 pm
#450 Sheriff: howzit sheriff. ya. haven’t seen any bulls supporters on here today.
30 Jun 2008, 15:10 pm
#415 rangerman: oh I can rangerman, and I will be the first to congratulate you , but , and big but here….are you seriously that confidant ? some of your team havent even played the new ELV laws , doesnt that worry you ???PDV doesnt have a settled combination yet does he ?? lineouts you will reign supreme, guess what Einstein, there are not that many lineouts with the new laws ….and you have a very much untried front row at test match level…while we have a team that for 1, wants to right what went wrong last year, 2. prove that your win in the WC was just that , luck of the draw and 3. bury the myth that we are half the team without one R. McCaw….
Anyone that pulls on a black jersey (as I assume it is for SA’s) is ready to die for that jersey, and that is was your team faces….
A wounded, dis-respected rugby nation that should be respected regardless of the team they put out…….no way in the world you will win 2, one maybe, but not two……..its the 3N’s now, you know, that competition you have won , how many times , once is it ???????????
30 Jun 2008, 15:10 pm
#449 church – like chch but pronounceable: ja chch, if your lot had won a few more games (like 3) in that wc, they would be no. 1.
but whatever helps.
30 Jun 2008, 15:10 pm
#448 the peanut gallery:
Two roads to the final. i remember SA being taken close by Tonga and Fiji. Lucky you didn’t have the other route, aye?
30 Jun 2008, 15:10 pm
#436 rangerman:
more the point, what will be said if the McCaw-less team beats the World Champions ?
NZ certainly has no monopoly on excuses. Paddy Obrien. Aus-NZ conspiracies. ‘Speak to your men’. Transformation. Piet van Zyl………
Like it or not, those choker jibes are gonna rebound real quick if these Boks depart NZ shores w/o atleast 1 good win.
30 Jun 2008, 15:10 pm
#451 rangerman: The Maori’s already did that when they invaded a few hundred years ago. Did you know that trench warfare was first developed by the Maoris many years ago. They used it to lay siege to all the non-compliant villages who were not prepared to accept their rule. Used with great effect against the Poms as well. Then it was copied by the English. Fine warriors the Maori’s were back then.
30 Jun 2008, 15:11 pm
#456 poppa69:
TriNations 2007 – all Carter did was kicked the ball back upfield and NOT out. removed lineouts from the equation, and the rest was history
30 Jun 2008, 15:11 pm
#459 BlackPanther: When you guys win the next WC then we can stop with the choker jibes. Until then its business as usual
30 Jun 2008, 15:12 pm
#450 Sheriff:
I think that the South Africans will feel much more pain losing than a South Island Kiwi
30 Jun 2008, 15:12 pm
#452 Richie_7:
can’t speak for the rest but i’m a bok supporter and having the webb ellis trophy for the next 4 years is importent i sure would like to have a couple of 3N titles aswell
30 Jun 2008, 15:12 pm
#445 Richie_7: There is a massive amount of pressure on the Springboks, but that does not mean that there’s none on the AB’s.
You don’t think administrative troubles add pressure to the players? Hell, that’s usually the story of SA rugby. I’m glad the shoe is on the other foot – for the moment at least.
Also, since the World Cup it seems that people in NZ have been trying to cope by saying that the AB’s are the better team even though the Boks won. A win for the Boks and that security blanket will be gone.
30 Jun 2008, 15:13 pm
#455 the peanut gallery:
It was a hard game to watch.
Province played very Allister-like for the biggest part of the game, I’m referring to the lack of the ability to finish.
Sour ‘n sweet. ‘n Blou Bul kry altyd ekstra seer.
30 Jun 2008, 15:13 pm
sharks thread thin.
30 Jun 2008, 15:14 pm
#465 siener:
And a loss will just reinforce the rest of the world’s view that SA has an easy road to the cup
30 Jun 2008, 15:14 pm
#465 siener: Re your last paragraph , they said that in 95 as well. And in 99 when the Frogs mashed them
30 Jun 2008, 15:15 pm
My my the AB’s are getting uptight, fragile. The Bokke are harder mentaly – that may just be the deciding factor.
30 Jun 2008, 15:15 pm
#461 Richie_7: my point exactly Ritchie……who is better at broken field football, SA or the AB’s…and thats what will decide the result under the new ELV’s…….Im confidant even without Ritchie…time to put the pretenders away !!!!
30 Jun 2008, 15:15 pm
#464 st.a.t.w:
Not going to happen, Tonga,Samoa,Fiji, and England don’t participate in the 3Nations
30 Jun 2008, 15:17 pm
#463 church – like chch but pronounceable:
To quote Robbie Deans “we can sense it’s there, we just have to go out there and do the business”
We = the Boks of course
30 Jun 2008, 15:17 pm
#422 BlackPanther:
If you stick around on this thread it will get to a 1000.
When last has an AB team said this:
We’re playing the best team in the world,” So’oialo told NZPA. “They certainly showed that in their World Cup campaign and then coming into the games they’ve had in the last few weeks, they’ve been great and they’re certainly the benchmark that we need to reach”
As Ive mentioned in another thread. The AB’s have based their dominance on confidence and creating fear and too much respect of the AB jersey into other teams. Judging by this comment the AB’s aren’t demanding that same respect. Im just happy that its not the Boks worried about the Ab’s but the AB’s worried about the boks and this in their back garden.
Name one test team in the History of this great game that were ever favourites to beat the All Blacks in NZ. Im not shying away from favouritism but just enjoying watching how the greatness that is The ALL Black has to deal with issues that have not been there before.
ie Not being No 1 in the world and also not trusting their coach.
I think their will be more viewers watching this match than there have ever been between the Boks and Kiwis.
And yes as another blogger said. They will do the new Haka.
30 Jun 2008, 15:17 pm
#472 Richie_7: LMAO …so true, and this side JUST beat that ultimate world power FIJI …no wonder they think they can sweep all before them, I mean, a narrow win over such formidable foes as the Fijian’s has to say something ……
30 Jun 2008, 15:18 pm
#462 pauld: No we won’t stop. If the AB’s win in 2011 all that they will have proved was that they can win a WC at home. Let them win one away and we’ll talk again.
30 Jun 2008, 15:19 pm
#475 poppa69: We were not fortunate to get Portugal and the other cannon fodder dished out to you lot.
30 Jun 2008, 15:20 pm
#474 Boots:
Great! I think there is no better show of respect than the AB’s doing the new Haka when facing the Bokke. It just shows the amount of respect these players have for each other. ANd lets face it, you can’t call yourself the best until you’ve beaten them.
The AB’s badly want to be #1 again
30 Jun 2008, 15:20 pm
#476 siener: yeah, cause we never win a 3N’s away from home, thats right , you cant win anything away from home against us can you ….when was it, last century ??????????????
30 Jun 2008, 15:20 pm
#467 sondebok: this whole ****** site’s thin today. must be the lack of bull bellies.
30 Jun 2008, 15:20 pm
#465 siener:
haha
You say NZ people have been trying to cope by saying that New Zealand are the better team. “trying to cope” ….. You talk utter ****!
Both SA and NZ betting has the ABs as favourites.
30 Jun 2008, 15:21 pm
#472 Richie_7:
and here i was begining to practise my victory dance
good thing for AB’s that france also is’nt in the 3N
30 Jun 2008, 15:21 pm
#476 siener: Very good point. I didn’t think of that. They won at home in 87 as well. So they’ll get two bookends for their collection of “the best team that never won 91,95,99,03 , 07
30 Jun 2008, 15:21 pm
#477 pauld: true , you got England twice…..fark, portugal would have been harder in 1 game than in those 2 against England….
30 Jun 2008, 15:21 pm
Richie, broken field football has a few aspects to it. If you are talking about rucks and mauls – I would agree with you, the AB pretenders will be put away.
If you are talking about the lightning quick counter attack when a ball is hit/missed/kicked loose – then AB’s do indeed pose a threat.
All in all though – good one. You are indeed supplying us with motivation, seeing as you rate NZ as favourites. We are of course the under-dogs.
But you must strive for more consistency in your posts if you insist on taking this harder, more truthfull and ultimately more helpful line. Thanks
30 Jun 2008, 15:22 pm
#471 poppa69: you sound worried. even confidant. take a deep breath dude. If you’ve been here long enough you would’ve seen that most supporters give the AB’s credit where due.
30 Jun 2008, 15:22 pm
#485 zeitgeist: make that post addressed to poppa69
30 Jun 2008, 15:23 pm
#456 poppa69: I am sensing that the players are sick and tired of Henry as well, not just some disgruntled fans
Hansen is also looking at his lifejacket to get out of this sinking ship early, now there is a strategic thinker already lining up his next job as this one is numbered
Pray that we whip your backsides so that you can get rid of Henry
30 Jun 2008, 15:23 pm
#456 poppa69: wow, you guys have a lot more to prove than i thought!
30 Jun 2008, 15:24 pm
#458 Richie_7: like the easy route the all blacks had in ’87. no sa there.
lets see – no carel du plessis, no danie gerber, no naas botha. best in their positions in the world. can’t remember who was in the forwards those days.
two roads indeed.
30 Jun 2008, 15:25 pm
#474 Boots:
Your argument is *** about face because if I trusted Henry to do the right thing he must exclude 3 players from selection thus making the side worse
30 Jun 2008, 15:25 pm
#484 poppa69: Aus and NZ ended top of the two weakest groups in the WC. No teams in those groups even made it to the semis.
SA on the other hand won the toughest group – never before has the two finalists come from the same group.
30 Jun 2008, 15:25 pm
#482 st.a.t.w:
Damn right! Every team has their bogey team
30 Jun 2008, 15:26 pm
#484 poppa69: Tell us what has happened to the AB fans, I have seen supporter numbers dwindle in the last years of S14 and 3N?
30 Jun 2008, 15:26 pm
#486 shooter</ #485 zeitgeist: How can SA be regarded as underdogs ??????
You have all been saying for years how you are the best rugby nation in the world (stats prove otherwise), you are the winners of a 6 week tournament that seems to be the end all in rugby these days (6 weeks dominance over 4 years, makes sense), you are ranked no.1 , we dont have Ritchie(which worries me little), you have the bulk of your convincing WC side….and you are still not favourites ???? doesnt add up…
Imagine the SA pysche if you lose both games in NZ, would be a real HOLLOW feeling wouldnt it, much like 2007…
30 Jun 2008, 15:27 pm
#490 the peanut gallery:
Those very same players had a chance at the All Blacks a few years later, with little success.
30 Jun 2008, 15:28 pm
#485 zeitgeist:
I call it like I see it. If that tickles your fancy and motivates you, then good on ya
30 Jun 2008, 15:28 pm
#462 pauld:
and who says the choker tag is confined solely to RWCs ?
Its a label thrown about with much exuberance by some. Funny, I dont hear it from many French people but you hear it alot from Poms and Safas. How strange. A psychologist would have a field day with that one.
Perhaps the ABs are RWC chokers. Perhaps. But the Springboks undoubtedly feel the collar tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiightening in the Departure lounge.
30 Jun 2008, 15:28 pm
#496 Richie_7: A few years later, was 5 years later when all and sundry retired and the remaining ones played with Zimmer Frames
30 Jun 2008, 15:30 pm
#481 church – like chch but pronounceable: Of course NZ are the favourites – the AB’s are very close to unbeatable at home. I was just countering Richie_7′s argument that the Blacks have nothing to lose on Saturday.
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