Beware the wounded lion
17 Nov 2008
Last Saturday’s mediocre showing suggests England will present little threat to the world champions, but the Springboks hardly need to be reminded of the Twickenham hoodoo.
Andy Robinson’s mob went into the 2006 series against the Springboks having lost to Argentina at home. The World Cup holders were on the slide and even though South Africa were touring with an inexperienced unit they were expected to beat the Poms at Twickenham. Even though they’d battled to win at the England fortress since 1997, the time had come to bury the bogey.
The Boks squandered their initial advantage and ended up losing the first Test, and the second was won through the drop-goal heroics of flyhalf Andre Pretorius. The similarity between the incumbent Bok side and the team of 2006 is the lack of consistency. The Boks were not an 80-minute team back then, and if the current tour is any indicator, they’re not an 80-minute team now. They led that first Test and were on their way to a comfortable victory, but a drop in intensity and some errant decision-making contributed to their snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
There is no question of who should win this weekend. South Africa possess quality individuals, many of whom won World Cup gold in France last year. England surprised by reaching that final, and are weaker now than they were then. So why is their uncertainty over Saturday’s result? The answer is simple. The answer is Murrayfield.
The Boks have yet to lose on this three-game tour, and it is for this reason Peter de Villiers may feel harsh criticism is unwarranted. But the Scotland Test was never about the result, it was about how the Boks played the game. It became about the result when the Boks played badly enough to allow the Six Nations bottom feeders a sniff at victory. The Boks hung on for the win, but the inadequacies in that performance cannot be neglected now that the win column has been ticked. Scotland was about preparation for the England Test, and after the Cardiff bungle, the Boks needed sharpening. The poor effort in Edinburgh sees them back to square one, and with less confidence to boot.
The Boks may take some heart from England’s showing last Saturday, and then again, they might not. Australia won comfortably, but there were times when England’s individuals cut up the famous Wallabies defence. England pivot Danny Cipriani blew hot and cold, but as much as you can criticise his shortcomings, you have to acknowledge his gamebreaking ability. If South Africa give this England side a sniff, they may gratefully accepting the gift and go on to record an upset.
The focus for Saturday’s game will be up front, and the Bok pack’s performance at Murrayfield will not inspire confidence. But the English were also taken to task by a clever Aussie scrum and no matter how much Lawrence Dallaglio bleated about poor refereeing during his half-time comment, it showed England were unable to adapt. South Africa were also at fault in Edinburgh when they failed to read referee Dave Pearson correctly. Under the ELVs, you need to know your referee and adapt to how he manages a particular aspect of the game. It may not be fair, but that’s how the game is under the new laws.
The Boks need to up their intensity but they also need to adopt a more street-wise attitude. England are going to be physical and the referee is going to play a part in calling the collisions. The Boks haven’t been happy with the officiating on this tour, but then they should be unhappy with their own lack of intensity and poor discipline. The term boxing clever applies to this Saturday’s Test, as while South Africa need to bring all their traditional might to the party, they’ll have to display more composure in the forward battles.
Should England beat South Africa, a team stacked with quality players most of whom won the 2007 World Cup? No. Can England beat South Africa this Saturday? Definitely. The Boks have won two from two, but they’ve displayed a vulnerability that suggests a rude awakening is not far off.
163 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 3 [4] Show All
17 Nov 2008, 09:49 am
Most of the Boks looked great in the CC. I can only assume that they are playing sh*t on purpose to have the Lions coming here overconfident.
17 Nov 2008, 10:23 am
Come Saturday I am really really nervous. England did not look as bad as everyone makes out. Yes in some areas they were well off par however they also played some good reugby.
For me there are various reasons performances are well below standard. I would state them as follows – also in order of importance:
1) The coaching team and particularly the coach are a disgrace. Preperation for this tour and indeed the overall sides preparation has been diabolical. It is evident that some players are unsure how to play or playing a game plan unsuited. In addition not having videos on the opposition or not being aware of how Northern refs interpret the rules is just not good enough if it’s your day job.
2) Refs interpretation of the new rules. Anyone watching northern hemisphere rugby will know the rules are being interpretted differently and the reffing of the ruck area is far more strict. In truth I think ELVS are stupid but consistency in reffing there is not. No real surprise how easily the Kiwis and Ozzies won with a Southern Hemisphere ref.
3) Player selection. Januarie is not in the top 4 scrum halves in the country. I have not problem with trying Smittie but to put Mujati in is not fair on him. Schalk Burger is non existent these day – he in my opinion has no direction under the coach and needs a break. Juan too before this game looked tired. As for Spies basi errors like losing the ball in contact and using one hand are not good enough for a Springbok player. For me Jantjies is most probably done a reasonable job but he never shoots the lights out and is rather predictable.
4) Structure, structure, structure……………… (couldn’t help including this) but what are props, locks and even flankers doing spending a large proportion of the game in the backline.
17 Nov 2008, 10:30 am
I’ve spent the last one and a half hours going through that character card thread, and I am disgusted.
17 Nov 2008, 10:36 am
#152 pedspin:
“The coaching team and particularly the coach are a disgrace”
explain?
17 Nov 2008, 10:56 am
#154 asha1: Good Morning asha:
1) First of all if PDV wants to play the game plan he wants to play he has to choose the right players. Secondly I am not sure he knows what his game plan is and watching the decline of world class players aka Schalk etc I am not sure they know exactly what the plan is. Now he cannot take the sole blame however the bulk – Muir and Gold should also come in for some stick.
2) It is clear from the comments made by the players that little or no video analysis is being done of the opposition – forget any on the the refs.
3) Anyone watching rugby played under ELVS up here in the northern hemisphere knows,(Check my previous threads pre-tour) could have told you that refs here blow the ruck slightly differently and with far more vigour. Either the players have not been told this or little of no work has been done since in two games we have been blown off the park. Coaches should have drummed this in before the first game.
4) A rather boring subject but it is sad to see a side try play as individuals ie become isolated trying to knock it up by themselves without support or the number of flankers,locks etc in the backline players try clear out the rucks…
IMO PDV is out of his depth. I know he may not be a great orator and he is not paid to be that, however what can be gleaned from his post / pre-match interviews is that he has more ideas than Einstein flying around in his head – just not sure he even knows how to successfully implement them.
17 Nov 2008, 10:59 am
#153 Dawn: good morning gorgeous
17 Nov 2008, 11:02 am
#153 Dawn: yes it looked brutal
17 Nov 2008, 11:14 am
You guys know what? I reckon the Scots Lads did well,I liked the hungry approach, the hardegat drive and dive-ins by the forwards, actually I enjoyed their game. Congrats to the Bokke that they could put a victory over these irritating Thistles! Now whatch as our Boys engage 4X4 and do to the Poms what every self respecting Bok team should do – Donner hulle op en maak hulle bekke weereens stil!
Well, I have cleared my throat, good day all.
17 Nov 2008, 13:55 pm
Interesting stuff – only the dreaded skopfish on bad tik is missing. Pedspin, some good points but wasn’t it funny how the ref turned on the Scotties in the 2nd half. To say they were bemused and befuddled is an exaggeration. They’d been getting away with all sorts of shite for 40 minutes then the ref suddenly blew them to pieces!
I cannot agree that Skulk was anonymous; the bugger was everywhere, often a bit too everywhere.
Wot to do; my view – pity PdV and Seuns don’t play the team they brought. Stick on Chili, Earl the beanstalk and Brussouw; let’s see wot happens. One problem is I can see a beast that Welshman Powell making good speed to the tryline with Earl clinging to one leg and Brussouw to the other. Sneer at beef all you like; sometimes its needed, ask Oz with Palu, Elsom, Lyons etc over the years. Can’t someone extract the potential he showed out age group level out of Lobberts; him I’d like to see running at say, Giteau or some pasty little Pom. More likely to see him running off from a red card though.
Ah well I still slip back to thinking that SA has the talented players but our coaching is poor, both team and individual. Surely we can make more of Jantjes, Steyn and Pienaar. Can’t we get players to support, tackle and offload as a team. Da scrum: We’re going to miss the Bismarck. I reckon Heinke (I know he’s not a tighthead but neither is Smit) should be hauled in – he extracted two penalties out of the Beast at Kings Park. Bring BJ back; let Beast, Mujati et al only play for 40 to 60 minutes.
17 Nov 2008, 14:38 pm
I think the Lions team could potentially be quite strong. Imagine this possible team
1 – ted sheridan
2 – matthew rees
3 – euan murray
4 – alan wyn jones
5 – paul oconnell
6 – jason white
7 – martyn william
8 – ryan jones
9 – mike phillips
10 – danny cipriani
11 – shane williams
12 – gavin henson
13 – brian o’driscoll
14 – paul sackey
15 – matthew tait
just make one up, between the home nations, it feels like you can make a pretty competitive team. I really don’t want us to lose this series, lets get better.
soon.
17 Nov 2008, 15:00 pm
Forget them, the world champions represent a threat to the world champions
17 Nov 2008, 16:18 pm
The game hasn’t changed that much… the team who controls the ball, wins. SA gave Scotland (SCOTLAND!) ample opportunities to run it back at them. I’m all for positional play, but then your defensive lines need to be intact and there needs to be more than 1 half-hearted chaser.
But for some serious heroics by Jacque Fourie, SA lost that one. He really needs to start at 13 on Saturday
17 Nov 2008, 18:25 pm
#72 CoachPete: I would like to see the Sharks or Bulls play the Boks team, they would clean up!
Pages: « 1 2 3 [4] Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.