Defence a reflection of Bok desire
22 Nov 2008
John Smit credited the Springboks’ superb defensive effort for the memorable victory at Twickenham on Saturday.
The Boks may have scored five tries but an enduring image of this contest will be that of lock Bakkies Botha getting back to halt Delon Armitage from scoring for England. The cover arrived in the form of JP Pietersen, and the opportunity was missed.
The Boks denied England at numerous instances even when they were a man short. Smit said it’s indicative of the heart and spirit within this Bok squad.
“If you look at how we defended when we had 14 men on the field, I have to say I’m very proud of the performance,” the Bok captain beamed. “It shows the heart of the players and the belief they have in one another.
“You talk about training defence, but you can’t train scrambling defence. That moment with Bakkies only fueled the fire that was already burning deep inside us.”
Coach Peter de Villiers agreed with Smit’s assessment, and highlighted the effort of Bryan Habana.
“Defence is also about making decisions. Bryan had to stop two guys and force the mistake from the England players. That’s what we mean when we talk about empowering players to make decisions.
“Ruan [Pienaar's] try was also a result of great defence. He read the move brilliantly, charged down [Danny] Cipriani’s kick and scored.”
Smit was at the helm when the Boks last won at Twickenham and said it felt great to extend their two-game streak at the ground and their six-game hold over England.
“It’s always hard to come over here, so to win like that is very special. I got the sense of that in the change room before the game with guys like Victor and Bakkies who haven’t won here before. It was a huge motivating factor.”
The Boks have completed a clean sweep of Wales, Scotland and England and Smit believes they are in good shape to beat the British & Irish Lions in the 2009 series.
“We’ll take this momentum into next year where the magnitude will be 10 times what it was on this tour. I’m extremely happy with what I’ve seen over the past three weeks and there’s plenty to work with for next June,” he said.
319 Comments
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23 Nov 2008, 11:48 am
And I’m also outta here. Work to do. Mountains to climb. Cheers Puma/all
23 Nov 2008, 11:49 am
#289 TASSIES: No I would never drop Adi either. He is my player of the year. Has been awesome. I have rated Adi even last year at the Sharks. I would have had him playing instead of Murrey last year. Leave Adi. They only change is put on Steyn at fullback. Then we would have almost a complete team. I would have BJ at TH but John is going to play there next year. John was very good at hooker yesterday. How was that throw threw his legs? lol.
23 Nov 2008, 11:51 am
#297 Irish Devil: #301 TASSIES: Cheers both of you and everyone I too am out of here. Off for a swim now. Summer is here!!!!!!! Its a great feeling and the Boks winning so well yesterday too.
23 Nov 2008, 12:03 pm
Gidday puma
Absolutely happy to report I was wrong so wrong.
BOKKE!
23 Nov 2008, 12:13 pm
#293 Irish Devil: provincialism is very much alive here in SA, more so in our capital (now known as Tswane). and you guessed itm I am a die hard Sharkie, but that post with Adi in at 12 JF at 13 was just a playful reply to Puma. In reality, I wouldn’t like to see JdV dropped. Like most bloggers said, he is sometimes magnificent and is working well with Adi at 13. don’t change what is working I agree. however, I still don’t rate him (my humble opinion). any 12 that don’t pass more than 50% of the ball he gets is a **** 12 in my books.
23 Nov 2008, 12:16 pm
I don’t have the hard facts, but I am guestimating that JdV only passed 30% of the balls he received in this EOYT, which is not acceptable, esp with JPP and Habs out wide!
23 Nov 2008, 12:18 pm
#306 Kamikazes: You are probably right.
23 Nov 2008, 12:47 pm
Bulls players sure add value to any Bok-lineup.
They were impressive, even Habanero looked lus for the game.
Danie’s try was a sight to behold.
23 Nov 2008, 12:50 pm
great win for the boks. jp pietersen is really playing great rugby, as is adi. pienaar looks so promising at flyhalf, probably most important that he carries that form into next year. forwards stood up and gave a performance worthy of their reputations.
Whats it with NZ, looking more ominous than 2005 – 2006. playing when they need to, shifting gears only when troubled.
2 games watched Lee Byrne play this year, great player, meaning wow. probably not all powerfull, but man does that guy run the right lines. he sliced through the boks and blacks twice respectively, buy running the perfect lines!
23 Nov 2008, 12:53 pm
#308 blhoo: great try by Danie, but Bakkies is the bull’s biggest contributor! He should get more recognition
23 Nov 2008, 13:11 pm
#309 Carel:
Agree Carol, To me he was the best back on the field and maybe should have been MOM.
He almost always got past the first tackler, and made no mistakes.
I think he have a great Lions Tour.
23 Nov 2008, 13:44 pm
#73 WP Till I Die:
Sorry I missed you earlier I was mutli-tasking “:-)
Ola mon ami
Well done to your Boks ! Most impressive
23 Nov 2008, 15:38 pm
#258 TASSIES: Not really, Muir is from KZN, can’t stand the chop
23 Nov 2008, 18:31 pm
#307 Kamikazes: me too. dont rate him due to that exact reason
23 Nov 2008, 21:32 pm
I reckon JPP should have been man of the match – not sure why he was not?
His defence was awesome, and he made the one try with a quick pass out of teh tackle to Adi and he always looked dangerous.
23 Nov 2008, 21:39 pm
#315 SjamBok: should definately have been between JPP or Beast,RJ was nowhere near the best player on the day….JPP,s defence has been awesome for a while now…
24 Nov 2008, 01:19 am
#313 goyougoodthingPDV:
Beast, JPP, Kanko, Ruan, Bismarck, all Muir proteges… then you have Smit, Adi, Butch, JDP… take these guys out and the Boks are nowhere…
You pal… are the chop!
24 Nov 2008, 01:20 am
#314 goyougoodthingPDV:
Who do think runs the defensive structures for the Boks eh?
You should watch a bit more rugby…
24 Nov 2008, 07:28 am
#70 flanka: This was a poor england team, but yes Ricky did well. FdP though is a class player and with the amount of go forward ball today I am sure would have done as well.
Just wish we had enough JPPs for 12-15, what a great player he has become.
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