Vic commends Welsh defence

Vic commends Welsh defence

8 Nov 2008

Victor Matfield acknowledged South Africa’s shortcomings but pointed to the sterling Welsh defensive effort as the hosts’ best feature.

The Springboks may have denied the Welsh a single try, but the Dragons defensive effort limited the Bok attack to a significant degree. South Africa may have had less possession, but Wales did well to inhibit their potency on attack.

“We made too many errors and to be honest this wasn’t our best performance,” Matfield told keo.co.za. “Wales defended very well and at times we couldn’t get into the game.

“Towards the end we were trying to play it down in their half of the field. It did make it harder when we were down to 14 men, but we were making too many mistakes.”

Matfield affected a superb lineout steal late in the game to rob the Welsh of a big attacking opportunity. The Bok lock smiled when asked about this, saying the forward exchanges were as brutal as expected.

“They’re the Six Nations champions playing at home, so it’s never going to be easy. And when you hear the crowd chanting ‘Wales! Wales!’ it’s kind of lekker but it can also be kind of intimidating.

“Having said that, we’ll have to pick things up for next week. There’s a lot to work on.”


15 Comments

  • 1.Robzim: Reply to this comment
    8 Nov 2008, 22:16 pm

    We need more structure

  • 2.Robzim: Reply to this comment
    8 Nov 2008, 22:27 pm

    I thought SA defended well.

  • 3.liefling: Reply to this comment
    8 Nov 2008, 22:27 pm

    and more ball….

  • 4.Robzim: Reply to this comment
    8 Nov 2008, 22:29 pm

    I wonder whether the Boks played today according to PdV’s or the senior players’ gameplan.

  • 5.Robzim: Reply to this comment
    8 Nov 2008, 22:32 pm

    #4 Robzim:

    Probably the senior players’ as there were not much evidence of any expansive play.

  • 6.Robzim: Reply to this comment
    8 Nov 2008, 22:37 pm

    I hope Earl Rose and Jonkwe Nokwe get an opportunity to play against Scotland. With Earl’s distribution skills and Nokwe’s pace we should score quite a number of tries against the Scots.

    If it rains it might be more difficult though.

  • 7.Robzim: Reply to this comment
    8 Nov 2008, 22:56 pm

    #5 Robzim:

    No, you are wrong. We followed Peter’s gameplan today and therefore we nearly lost.

  • 8.Big Hit: Reply to this comment
    8 Nov 2008, 22:57 pm

    #6 Robzim: Nokwe deserves a crack at Habana’s shirt. Not sure about Rose at Murrayfield though.

  • 9.Robzim: Reply to this comment
    8 Nov 2008, 23:24 pm

    #8 Big Hit:

    If he does not get an opportunity at Murrayfield he will not play on tour. They can certainly not experiment against England as that game will probably be decided in the last few minutes.

    How do you rate the Bok’s performance today on a scale out of ten?

  • 10.cyberscamp: Reply to this comment
    8 Nov 2008, 23:25 pm

    Pity that we did not hear that bit about “A LOT OF WORK TO BE DONE” from the coach! It that because he has no clue whatsoever about how to get the best (even better will do for now) out of his absloutely excellent squad of players?

  • 11.cyberscamp: Reply to this comment
    8 Nov 2008, 23:28 pm

    You know BH, Habana was indeed a bit quiet (and hasn’t been at his best), but with a mere 37% of possession there was little he could do but defend and defend and defend… (and at the Bulls he is coached by Ludeke who has an appalling track record and is only now beginning to find some sort of shape to his own game strategy.)

  • 12.Big Hit: Reply to this comment
    9 Nov 2008, 00:04 am

    #9 Robzim: the Bok performance was an 8 out of 10. They went to the home of the Grand Slam champions (who have arguably their best team ever) in front of 74,000, dominated and then took their foot off the gas. They weren’t used to the new refereeing directive either but they still held out and didn’t concede a try.

    All in all, a good performance and potentially the biggest hurdle on the tour cleared.

    As for Rose, I’d maybe give him the second half against Scotland.

    #11 cyberscamp: yes he does suffer from a lack of ball, but he just doesn’t seem as sharp as he once was. He used to be given a sniff and he’d be away and even used to create tries himself, but now he looks laboured, much like Brian O’Driscoll. I think he’s suffering from burnout.

  • 13.Robzim: Reply to this comment
    9 Nov 2008, 00:24 am

    #12 Big Hit:

    Thanks for the assessment. I sort of agree with it taking everything you mentioned into consideration. Most local Saffers expected the boks to thrash the Welsh team which is not realistic in my opinion.

  • 14.Big Hit: Reply to this comment
    9 Nov 2008, 02:08 am

    #13 Robzim: its totally unrealistic in fact. I think Wales need to take a scalp of Aus/Nz before Saffas will respect them.

  • 15.AP: Reply to this comment
    9 Nov 2008, 10:11 am

    No fetcher=problems

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