Blacks reign but Boks still major player
14 Sep 2008
Congratulations to New Zealand for winning their ninth Tri-Nations title but the Springboks have to fancy their chances of wresting the silverware away from them in 2009.
The All Blacks did brilliantly to overcome the challenges posed by the loss of some of their elite players to Europe, securing the southern hemisphere crown with a side littered with Test rookies. For that they need to be applauded.
However, not taking anything away from their triumph, it has to be noted that the Springboks’ tactical naivety did make their path to success easier.
After the disappointment of the Wellington defeat to the Blacks, the Springboks got it right in Dunedin, registering a memorable win and in doing so ripping away the plaster that was covering the significant cracks in the Blacks’ game.
One would think that that performance, which sacrificed expansive play for a more structured variant, would form the basis for their approach going forward. Instead the Springbok coaching staff maintained faith in their attacking philosophy, and crashed in Perth a week later, then were whitewashed in Cape Town and schooled in Durban.
They finally got it right in Johannesburg against Australia and that performance, while admittedly against a Wallaby side with their minds cast towards Brisbane, must encourage those vexed by another mediocre Tri-Nations campaign by the Springboks.
Australia have a world class coach in Robbie Deans and his impact has been patent. But his team have also shown significant vulnerabilities over the course of the tournament, not least of all in Auckland and Johannesburg.
They’ll always be competitive at home, but if teams get their tactics spot on at home (which the Springboks failed miserably to do in Durban) they struggle – seen by the fact that they’ve won just one of their last 16 away games in the Tri-Nations.
New Zealand are still in transition but will be better in 2009 if coach Graham Henry continues to field the same side consistently. They will, however, still be beatable. They’ve lost the aura they possessed through 2004 to 2007 and with a number of their elite players being lined up by European clubs, they could face the prospect of another exodus – forcing Henry to build from scratch.
The Springboks will remain largely unchanged from the squad who drifted between the sublime and the ridiculous in this campaign. It is unlikely that the players in the current squad will be lured by overseas deals because they know that it would compromise their chances of being selected for the British and Irish Lions tour in mid 2009.
In fact, providing coach Peter de Villiers gets his tactics on point next year, they could be better with the return from injury of John Smit, Bakkies Botha and Jaques Fourie to bolster the squad.
Neither Australia nor New Zealand can match the South Africa for the quality of their squads. If the Springboks are coached in a way that maximises their strengths, 2009 could see the Tri-Nations returning to the Republic.
By Ryan Vrede
575 Comments
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15 Sep 2008, 08:25 am
“Neither Australia nor New Zealand can match the South Africa for the quality of their squads. ” hang on Ryan, seems to me they did match them, where again did this superior quality side finish ?? last was it ? well they must have had a side that the Kiwis and Aussies couldnt match, as the 3Ns shows OOOPPPSSS !!!
15 Sep 2008, 08:40 am
Hope is a four letter word- like ‘lose’ and if I didnt know any better I would have guessed big hit wrote this column.
The Boks are always major contenders, every year, and they as well as Australia also have the opportunity to ‘lift’ the silverware- and every year its the same thing. Maybe we will lose it next year, but by your own admission, which I find a little peculiar to tell you the truth, you deem it only possible if we have a team in the rebuilding stage having lost ( or losing) our better players to oversseas clubs. In reality you are saying that the Boks cannot matcch the AB’s at full strength and this is their best possible chance! Man o Man what a sad state of affairs to have to look for a ‘victory’ through those eyes!
15 Sep 2008, 09:09 am
The only time the boks won the 3N was by points difference. The only time an SA team won the super 14 was when the AB`s were taken out.
Surely this must tell us something.
15 Sep 2008, 09:29 am
Is this suppose to make us feel better? We may be better on paper ( very subjective though) but on grass we sucked.
15 Sep 2008, 10:23 am
#94 Tacitus: Yes agree, I have always rated JdV and he is our best back line player. FS is not consistent enough and has fewer and fewer moments of brilliance. Not much ball got to Adi last sat either.
15 Sep 2008, 10:38 am
#553 Namblack: uh, what about 1998?
the boks were unbeaten that year.
silly comment anyway, a win is a win.
15 Sep 2008, 11:26 am
#546 Hurricane: Got to admit some of Gits passes were out of this world , lot of potential but Carter is still a class act , he remains calm then explodes.
15 Sep 2008, 11:29 am
BMT boys …… except for World Cup years !! But we have got to let someone else have some silver ware.
15 Sep 2008, 11:47 am
550Nzchina : If South african rugby was ambitious and smart enough , our total aim and number 1 parogative was to WIN this Trinations 2008 championship. .. the facts and figures are there as well as the arguements
End of the day , we werent even in the ‘final’… We bent over and took it ..!! Thats unacceptable .. If many of you think thats busniess as usual , then thats not what I want to be part of ..
We had absolutly no excuse to not win it .. PDV and his team came here with a mission to win the last 3 games here at home .. Infact I would say we should have taken 2 on the road(Perth) .. Thats how much confidence I had in this team ..
But as has been demonstrated, PDV is in no way capable of handling the job ..
If this was motor racing …
He got Beat by a Honda Accord(2.2L) NZ driven by Raikkonen & a Toyota RunX( 1.6)Aus ( driven by Hammilton) ..when he was handed a BMW 330i M Coupe (Comparitively speaking) SA driven by Sato …
He was out thought and he frankly kept stalling the engine from start .. and soldiered on racing to having a shot at the race, dependant on his fuel stop strategy, but then he TOTALY BLEW IT…but only having only clocked the fastest time on the last lap when he was a 3rd and 14 seconds behind catching up anyway …
Im so pised off ..by this .. Its an absolute sham that South africa only has 2 trinations, one of which was mathematical ..
If PDV was worth his salt … he’d have taken this team forward with out hitch ..
U dont belive it .. ..?
then put Mitchell (Force) in PDV place in January this year and tell me we’d still be where we finished …?
In that case even Eddie Jones who in a few weeks with the Boks turned them to SOLID Championship material …That would be like putting Alonso (Renault-Benneton) in that BMW I talked about …
but in this country we’re so stuck on pleasing and looking good .. PDV who wasnt even top 5 in the country is going through the rugby equavalant of Nursery school , LEARNING HIS TRADE… when he should have been WINNING WINNING WINNING …
No excuse !
15 Sep 2008, 11:52 am
Everyone talks bout world class coaches but ours never gets mention maybe it has to do with the fact that no one can hear him when he speak or he just sounds drunk all the time. I believe if you put **** muir in as head then maybe things could turn around but you can have a guy would is so blinded by his own pride that he is just letting the country down. I am not anti peter i just wish he would she is open play isnt going to work!!!
15 Sep 2008, 12:27 pm
I realy wonder if he’s going to learn anything .. MOre likely than not his assistants are going to co-ordinate with each other more than ever to compensate for his inadequacys …
the tragedy is , we can all talk about next year , but sure as anything this will happen
Crusaders in the final, with MAYBE 1 SA team in the playoffs
South Africa will continue to catch a pasting in the tri-nations, even if it has Arg to be a comfy coushin for us …
Do you think Pieter even has an idea of how he’s going to plan for a trinations win next season , much less a Lions tour where we will suffer a cruchsing embarasing deafeat , when we shouldnt even have one ..
But the Super 14 teams must cath a wake up now .. My Sharks are showing promise , but we all know for the last few metres they havent gotten over that BLOCK of winning .. the Stormers muct catch a wake up .. Bulls should do OK ..but the cheetahs .. I dont know ..
The lions must catch a serious wake up …! top 10 minimum ..
theres OZ team out there that do better with far less , its unacceptable that we even have to sweat over an Aus game @ home …
Come on South Africa !! WaKE UP !!
15 Sep 2008, 14:02 pm
#25 Puma:
Give me Freakin break
Bok age old traditions etc etc etc blah blah blah
Did u see Total Rugby the record speaks for itself.SA lies 3rd in the Tri Nations wins (97-2008).We have performed pretty well in a couple of yrs and BOMBED in others using those ANCIENT ways
Listen with rugby every1 knows doing the basics well is a given,set pieces,rucks etc.PDV never set out to change the fundamentals but he is adding to the current dynamic to make us a SCORING THREAT
This yr our defense didnt falter-still was ferocious like in ystyr
We hav had a problem with consistent scrumming FOR THE LAST 8 YRS OR SO.Not new
Lineouts varied in consistency,Matfield was poor to be honest,even his basic were shaky this season.Couldnt catch simple kickoffs,lineouts etc.How is that PDV fault?
Tactical kicking was a problem all season long.Butch,Monty,Fourie-the “kicking guru’s were POOR all season in this regard.
Players had been strugglin to adapt to the new game which gives more responsibly to decision making which at test level WINS GAMES
PdV Biggest downside at present is that he has dificulty ammending some of the strategy/players but he isnt hepled by the top players(WC winners)-not adapting quickly enough.
15 Sep 2008, 16:49 pm
Join us for Champions League Superbru:
Pool code: ploppalm
Pool name: Desert League
15 Sep 2008, 17:47 pm
#253 Big Hit:
has there ever been a bigger bulsHITter than this guy ?
‘crowds’ are dwindling ? gee, Suncorp was full on the w/e. 58,000 fans treated royally to a magnificent match.
When I was back in NZ a few weeks ago, I watched Counties vs Auckland in front of 11,000 fans. Lets not forget that the NPC is now Tier 3 rugby behind International and S14.
and if you wish, by all means follow Big Twit on his ‘Everything in the North is better’ campaign. Well I live in UK and the reality is so much different. Lets just check todays papers quickly….
Wasps, the team ‘full of England Internationals and perrenial challengers of trophys’ ? they played at home in front of 7,668 fans. And many of those tickets are giveaways (I know because I recived some thru kids school)
Newcastle vs Northhampton ? – hero Jonny W making his comeback vs one of the biggest clubs in Eng ? attendance = 4,602. More people turn up to watch school 1st XV games in NZ !
Harlequins vs Bristol ? biggest club in London full of Kiwis/Safas/Aussies filling their retirement funds ? 9,214
Bath vs Gloucester is the biggest derby match in the English premiership season by far – how many think that was important ? 10,600.
and the biggest crowd across the border ? (Llanelli) Scarlets vs Connacht – 6,041
If you WANT to believe Big Twit by all means do. He’d like to think every crowd in England was like the promotional games put on by Stade Francais (they give away 40,000 tix and play in PINK !) or by Toulouse. But dont forget Stade and Toulouse are effectively 1-city teams and have owners rich enough they make Toulon look like paupers.
Like it or not Big Twit, the ONLY reason Kiwis/Aussies/Safas go to England to play their footy is because the dosh is bigger. Thats why Im here too. But dont for a minute let him preach about how the game is ‘growing’ up here or that the rugby is ‘better’. The rugby is DIRE and the crowds reflect that. I coach kids at Junoir level and their parents have no idea about which players are at which clubs because they simply dont attend club games. They watch England games, maybe even go to Twickenham, but thats it.
15 Sep 2008, 22:55 pm
#564 BlackPanther:
Nice one Panther
Once again Big Hit you have been found out lying through your teeth.
Grow up dude,lying is just for kids and jealous adults,which one are you
16 Sep 2008, 07:52 am
what a load of rubbish this article is,I remember reading a similar article before the start of this years campaign.We may have the talent but we dont have the brains or the leadership to win this competition currently.We will come last next year as well mark my words,the best thing to happen will be for NZ and AUS to play there own competition (like they want to) and for the Boks to go back to playing 3 test series down under alternating between the 2 .
16 Sep 2008, 09:24 am
#564 BlackPanther: #565 Hurricane:
Great work guys- he is a tosser through and through and the more people expose him as a serial bloody nusiance the better.
Hurricane you gotta be happy with the boys eh!
16 Sep 2008, 16:20 pm
#253 Big Hit:
Are you a Simpson’s fan? Duhhhh!
When I was in England most of the games I went to were attended by fewer people that attend a rugby match in Beijing. When I was in NZ more people went to high school games than went to see Newcastle last weekend. In Sydney, club games are attended by even more and the S14, equivalent in tiers but not quality, to your club games, the crowds were massive. The Currie Cup and NPC attract fewer than they used to because the fans have spent all their money on S14, 3N and cable or satellite TV.
The two biggest gates for rugby union are both Dingoes b. All Blacks; one near 100,000 and the other a little smaller. A crowd of 35,000 in Wellington (Pop 300,000) should get a crowed of 840,000 (Pop 7.2 m) at Twotters in London. You don’t even get that many for the women’s football at Wembley or Emirates.
BH you really do say some silly things and I bet that you even believe what is written in the Times, Well that is owned by the Dirty Digger and you are now a colonial boy; colony of the criminal dingoes. Occasionally you say something sensible, when you stop your poncy, patronising ways. Do you have a drinking problem?
16 Sep 2008, 17:06 pm
#568 AiDoc:
I suspect Big Twit has magazines with Stephen Jones centrefolds under his bed.
It must be awfully tiring constantly having to find any way of disagreeing with Kiwis or uncovering ways of diminishing the All Blacks achievements. In NZ we have a saying ‘credit where credit is due’, which is why even England were fete’d in 2002-04 and why the Boks were welcomed with increased respect this year due to their World Champion status despite concerns that they achieved beyond their actual quality. Its hilarious, therefore, that whenever the ABs win a match, S.Jones finds a way to discredit the win (“Dan Carter is merely serviceable….”) and when they win silverware (TriN and Bledisloe) he makes absolutely no mention of it. Frankly, my 3 & 5yr old sons are show more bottle and maturity !
16 Sep 2008, 21:35 pm
Great end of season summary Ryan, now go in to rehab to sort out your LSD habit. As stated so many times before, SA won a devalued S14 and an easy RWC. As perdicted the boks were fat, lazy and weighed down by RWC medals and fat euro bank accounts. As history tells us SA are shite at playing rugby in the 3N series and NZ is king. This is not a coach thing, coaches have failed before, this is not a great bok side they have failed before. This was the best chance SA had on the back of S14 and RWC wins to win the S14 again and steal a 3N against a weak NZ and hopeless OZ. Result 2 from 6 from a bunch of over paid, over hyped, big headed, fat cats.Don’t talk coach to me look at Burger on his *** in every ruck, a sloppy James, a dumb bakkies, screaming matfield, off form Peterson, mr injury Habana, FDP who? and of course ‘I could have died’ Smith.
18 Sep 2008, 00:49 am
#570 magog: Best post of the entire time Keo has been up, well done.
18 Sep 2008, 18:24 pm
Neither Australia nor New Zealand can match the South Africa for the quality of their squads. If the Springboks are coached in a way that maximises their strengths, 2009 could see the Tri-Nations returning to the Republic.
=====
With all earnest respect to the Boks, this is a bullshit. Had SA more talent, they would have won 3 Nations (and Super12/Super 14 – which is a prime indication of domestic talents in every participating country) on regular basis. Alright, you can comfort yourself as you like, but in terms of provincial teams and subsequently national team SA are hardly on the same level as Australia and nowhere near New Zealand.
18 Sep 2008, 18:38 pm
#253 Big Hit: Mate, this is ridiculous. According to your logic, full vodka glass has more in it that half-full pint of beer. Full more or less midget stadiums are indication of more popularity than 2/3 full giant stadiums. Great.
England’s finest stadiums (apart Twickers) include
Leicester Tigers Leicester Welford Road Ground 16 811
Worcester Warriors Worcester Sixways 8 300
London Irish RUC Reading Madejski Stadium 24 084
Saracens RUC Watford Vicarage Road 22 011
London Wasps RUC High Wycombe Causeway Stadium 10 000
Gloucester RFC Gloucester Kingsholm Stadium 16 500
Bristol Shoguns RUC Bristol Memorial Stadium 12 000
Bath Rugby RFC Bath Recreation Ground 10 400
and so on
And compare to New Zealand’s major provinces
Auckland RFU Auckland Eden Park 45 472 all-seater
Canterbury RFU Christchurch AMI Stadium 36 500 all-seater
Wellington Lions RUC Wellington Westpac Stadium 36 000 all-seater
Bay of Plenty RFU Rotorua Rotorua Int’l Stadium 35 000
Otago RFU Dunedin Carisbrook 30 000
Waikato RFU Hamilton Waikato Stadium 27 500
North Harbour RU Albany North Harbour Stadium 25 000
18 Sep 2008, 19:56 pm
569
Blackpanther
Yes the Boks may have a miserable Tri-nations record but so have the
All Blacks a miserable world cup record.Let us not forget that your
team disguised as the Cavaliers were soundly beaten in 1986 but
yet went on in the absence of the Boks to win their only world cup
in 1987.
As far as the Boks are concerned it remains a miracle that with all
the political meddling,quotas etc they were able to field teams
able to win the World Cup twice.I am a great admirer of All Black
rugby but there is now denying that internal political interference
and outside international pressure had an adverse influence
on sport in general in South Africa.
That our teams against all odds were able to deliver twice in
the world’s most prestigious tournament remain proud moments
in Springbok history.
It is doubtful that your team under similar circumstances would
have achieved anything because not withstanding your number
one ranking over a long period of time you failed to deliver
then it counted most.
19 Sep 2008, 14:09 pm
#574 brentie: I agree, that it is a kind of miracle or a testimony to the great rugby nation to win World cup twice despite all political interference. Great achievements indeed and in the past Boks have been a major force in rugby for many years.
As for Cavaliers – yes, SA won the series 3-1, althouth 2 wins (which may be called as ‘sound’ – by 15 and 14 points) was played at altitude. But no matter, South Africa won the series convincingly and congratulations. That was 22 years ago. I frankly do not expect that happening again in the near future, as New Zealand have been feeling quite comfortably in South Africa (won 9 (including some really heavy thrashings), lost 5) but in New Zealand, well, it’s still a fortress for invaders.
But anything is possible if politicians stay away from the game, good luck. SA definitely have the potentional for great things in the future.
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