Attacking ails show no plan
19 Jul 2010
GRANT BALL writes that the Springbok backs’ failings and breakdown woes stem from an impotent attacking game.
Why did South Africa have the best players in the world during the Super 14, and only a few weeks later look out of their league on the international stage? Have the players’ abilities waned? The short answer is no, but the problem comes from the Boks’ one-dimensional attacking game.
The Boks’ kick-chase approach is still a valuable tactic if executed properly, but their major flaw is they look inept once they have possession in good areas of the field. Morne Steyn, Wynand Olivier, Jaque Fourie and Bryan Habana’s form have all been questioned, but why did they look so dangerous in the blue jerseys of the Stormers and Bulls, but look a shadow of those attacking forces now?
In the green and gold, those players clearly haven’t been given a plan of how they want to break down defences. The All Blacks aren’t all of a sudden superior physical specimens to the South Africans, it’s the clever way Graham Henry and co have used what they have at their disposal. The Kiwi brains are outplaying the Boks, who are over-reliant on their brawn.
It’s clear the Boks want to to play for territory, which is still the correct route under the new law interpretations. But once they have attacking options, they look clueless, and this can’t be blamed solely on the players.
Dick Muir has been a proponent of ‘heads up rugby’, but with little attacking structure under his control, the talented Bok backs haven’t been able excel. The Boks’ forward runners also aren’t dominating the collisions and handing their backs a decent platform to attack from, but this too can be blamed on the predictable nature of the attack. There is little subtlety or variety in the form of dummy runners, a la the 2007 World Cup. There the big Boks were running one-on-one at defenders, but now the Boks are facing a line of defenders who don’t need to guess where the ball is going.
All the All Blacks require is to man up in the physicality stakes, which they have done, and because they know where the ball is headed, the Boks are easily repelled as the Blacks can defend offensively. With a little imagination from the Boks (for example Danie Rossouw’s try where Ricky Januarie had options in Jean de Villiers and outside backs off the lineout), the Boks showed how difficult they could be to stop. Rossouw crashing over was a rare case of a Bok heavy dominating the collision. The reason for it: the improved attack.
Peter de Villiers has predictably blamed the officiating of the breakdowns as a cause for concern. While there may be some merit in that argument after Alain Rolland’s handling of the tackle area, the Boks would be better served looking at their own inadequacies rather than whining.
Just one example of the Boks’ own attacking failings is Mils’ Muliaina’s first half try. The Boks’ predictable forward runners halted, the ball was flung out to Steyn who shovelled on to an isolated Fourie. The rest of the Bok backs didn’t know the plan, the ball turned over, and the result was five points 75m down field.
The disconcerting point is why hasn’t the Boks’ attacking game evolved since 2007? Just look at Dublin last year as another apt example. It’s fair to say the Boks have at best stagnated, at worst, regressed.
The players can’t be blamed here. While De Villiers and Muir have talked a wonderful game in terms of the Boks’ attack, they haven’t once produced anything post-2007 to make their opponents worry.
By Grant Ball
120 Comments
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19 Jul 2010, 05:06 am
It all starts with that fat DRAGON at #9, the improvement not only in the backline but the whole team was easy for all to see when he was replaced.
19 Jul 2010, 05:09 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-1:
Yes his slow service his poor box up and unders and his knock ons
We kick away too much possession
ABs keep ball inhand dont kick away good ball and defend well when they kick
19 Jul 2010, 05:17 am
Ha Ha.. love it. Saffas questioning themselves. Can’t wait until Cooper rips them up this Saturday. 0 from 3!
19 Jul 2010, 05:24 am
Now that I got that off my chest, congrats to the ABs on yet another thrashing of the Boks. We can paint this a 1000 different ways but at the end we were outplayed comprehensively yet again.
I feel a little like a stuck record but what was said last week can just be repeated this week. Spies yet again dissapeared in a tight game, nowhere to be seen on attack or on defense. We can’t affors that when we play real rugby…
As for old slow poke, I have tickets for Saturday’s game but I will state on this public forum that if his name is called out yet again in the #9 jumper I WILL be supporting the Wallabies!
As for Meisiekind, like Spies he has had his opportunities in the G&G and again failed to deliver. With Jean not being there I assume I will have to watch him do it all over again on Saturday!!!
As for PDivvie, he fixed nothing from last Saturday and with his bunch of helpers managed to turn a star studded team into a bunch of bumbling fools…you can start gaining some respect by admitting wrong team selections and fixing them this coming weekend!
19 Jul 2010, 05:24 am
Ricky was miserable to watch… When Ruaan came on we seemed to play faster. Ricky’s time is up. Truth be told it was probably up 5 – 7 tests ago. PDV trusts him and gave him more chances than he deserves. Did not work out, time to move one.
One thing that bothers me though is the sneakiness of the AB’s at the breakdown. They arrive in number and one of their tight-five (usually a prop) will either hold onto our players standing around a ruck thus taking out a defender. i saw this happen numerous times. Flouw was also held a few times to prevent him from scavanging.
I think they also tried to get under our skins with little niggles targeted at our players they have identified as guys who lose it quickly. (Cowan tugging Bakkies and heavens knows what Richie did to Danie as examples) This is not new though. This is one area of the law that the AB’s have always exploited. Our guys need to wise up to this and learn not to respond by lashing out.
We need streetsmarts on the field. The coach now has a lot to prove. Tough decisions need to be made and i am at least hapy that we are experiencing all this a year before the WC.
19 Jul 2010, 05:26 am
lots of typos
sorry
19 Jul 2010, 05:39 am
Yep have to say that when the ball is passed in front of the flyhalf, it allows the backline to get away. Fatty boom boom passes to, or behind his flyhalf, making them stop, lose momentum, and lose half a second on the gain line. Ditto to forwards receiving the ball from him- which is why they never have momentum or line breaking speed to cross the gain line – they are going from a standing start. At this level it is about micro measurements.
Good passing is critical, and Januarie does not do it well. His technique is poor. To much time lost, both in the speed of the pass, and in the direction of the pass. That is why the flyhalf has more time to make better decisions when Fourie du P plays- he passes accurately, and in front of the players receifving the pass.
Januarie needs to
- step into the ball with a wide stance and bend his front knee to get to the ball and retain stability that prevents interference from opposing heavies (and allows him to move quickly out of range of players flying over the top – an area he gets interfered with often)
- use a single motion pass straight from the floor – not straighten up and take a step before passing
- pass as if he was passing with a single hand (the back hand) – this gives more control of the ball, and the ball flies slightly sideways, which allows it to be caucght easily
- pass in front of the players receiving the ball.
He can still snipe around the fringes if he sees there are no defenders, as he can turn the single motion in to a lunge for the gain line. At this level, he should have better technique. Strange that nobody has told him this?
It will make a huge difference on attack and speed on the ball, as well as our ability to cross the gain line, and prevent interference by opposing forwards at the ruck.
19 Jul 2010, 05:44 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-4: It was not the team selections- it was the game plan that was teh problem. As soon as we changed it (when Ruaan Pienaar came on) we gained parity with the AB’s in terms of attack and tries. We cannot expect to make up 10 points on them though. We neeed to start with eth right game plan, and make less mistakes on attaclk and defence than them. itis a grinding out of a win through consistent skills, and lack of mistakes in attack and defence.
The coach could have used more mobile forwards- like Beast and Chilliboy earlier on – though… Big, lumbering forwards days are over. The new game is fast, and requires fast, fit heavies.
19 Jul 2010, 05:46 am
@moedeloos(moedeloos)-5:
Don’t worry about the typos, that is why we have Tackles, he reviews everything and will let you know what was wrong!
The ABs have been doing that for years now, with McCaw getting away with murder on the ground they do well out of it. But don’t dispair, it will all come back to haunt them as it always does.
@Lawman(Lawman)-3: So what you expecting, congratulate ourselves on a better performance?
19 Jul 2010, 05:46 am
@SjamBok(SjamBok)-8:
Can’t agree with you there, the Bokke backline is terrible no creativity, penetration etc they remind me of the English backline.
19 Jul 2010, 05:48 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-9: WC in NZ would not be a bad time for karma to target the kiwis
That being said i think they played awesome rugby over the last 2 weekends. They knew what they wanted to do, executed and won.
19 Jul 2010, 05:49 am
@SjamBok(SjamBok)-7: No, Januarie need to go back to club rugby where he belongs!
With him there we can forget about any gameplan, it stops even before it starts…
19 Jul 2010, 05:49 am
@moedeloos(moedeloos)-11:
Dagg to sidestep the whole Bokke team and score in the corner?
19 Jul 2010, 05:49 am
Why did South Africa have the best players in the world during the Super 14, and only a few weeks later they look out of their league on the international stage?
…erm because “The Coach” is on a learning curve…that he should have got at S14 level.
I apposed White as well as PDV for this reason. Our national coaches need to cut their teeth at S14 level. Coaches need to get used to Old boys clubs, blooding younger players and pacing the players over a 4 year period and politics.
We endured Whites learning curve and how lucky we were not to meet the Abs at 2007. Will we be lucky again. I hope so!!
We have a repeat of the last world cup. Other teams have rested their players and are on the upward curve. We have flogged it and approach another world cup with tired players.
Playing Rickyand WO, playing JDV on the wing, over playing Smit, Habadonna, Spies and Vic and not playing Aplon, Hougaard and JDJ and some younger blood is the coaches lack of experience over the long run.
For the regular blogger that adds laugh comments when white Bok players get nailed, just support the Allblacks. You are cleary Cadre in the government. *** ** ** ****
19 Jul 2010, 05:51 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-13: that might happen too…
19 Jul 2010, 05:53 am
@moedeloos(moedeloos)-15:
He looks good doesn’t he, that boy is going to score plenty of tries in Black over the next few years.
19 Jul 2010, 05:55 am
@KevinRack(KevinRack)-14:
Yeah Kevin and comments like they look unfit? How in the world do they suddenly become unfit. I think it is a combination of everything, wrong team selection, wrong tactics, tiredness of some players…this all leads to poor dicipline and poor execution.
19 Jul 2010, 05:58 am
@KevinRack(KevinRack)-14:
Kev nobody in SA has rated any player from NZ since your Tri Nations victory last year, many on here told us not one AB would make the Bokke side. This type of arrogance and over confidence can only go one way, take our no 8 for example never gets a mention Spies is the best 8 in the world blah blah blah clearly he is not and was outplayed on consecutive Saturdays. When SA gets a bit more realistic and loses the arrogance they might start winning again.
19 Jul 2010, 06:00 am
grant, my friend your whole article is nothing but horse sh.t! Go to your boss mark keohane’s article from last year titled “winning with robots” and read with comprehension!
Few teams ever win Test matches playing on the back foot, being kak at the lineout, getting bossed at the breakdown and with players generally not “pitching up” for matches!
Case in point, the stormers game vs the sharks: the stormers thought they just have to arrive in durban & collect maximum points, while the sharks – with backs agains the wall after a 0 from 5 start – were revved up and eager to prove a point. What happened? The sharks upped their physicality, dominated the collisions, swept everything on deck, fronted at the scrums and voila the stormers were decimated! Now tell me, was it alister coetzee’s attacking game plan that saw them lose that game?
Give me a break.
19 Jul 2010, 06:05 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-18: Ag rubbish NZ, Spies is a poor example, for every post singing the praises of Spies I bet you there will be two saying the opposite. Don’t generalise and take the delusional rantings of some of the one-eyed blue and horned supporters as gospel.
Same with the arrogance, you give me one arrogant Bok supporter and I will not only meet you but I will raise you an extra AB supporter. This cuts both ways.
19 Jul 2010, 06:15 am
At least this reality check has been dished out with enough time to correct the errors. Defintely got the feeling that the boks felt they’d win by just rocking up… as for the lack of discipline…. come on! Playing 50 odd tests should have taught you a thing or two about keeping your cool!! FFS!!
I really hope the P-Divvy noted (like everyone else) just how much better we looked when Ruan was scrummie…. at one stage Guthro was playing scrummie cause Ricky was fcking nowhere…. What annoys me even more is when he gets there in “fairly” good time, then proceeds to try marshall the troops back the other…. shattered nerves man – PASS THE FREAKIN BALL ALREADY!!!!
Okay, breathe…. whooossaaaaaa!!
19 Jul 2010, 06:15 am
He is here I hate all whites twat
For the regular blogger that adds laugh comments when white Bok players get nailed, just support the Allblacks. You are cleary Cadre in the government. *** ** ** ****
19 Jul 2010, 06:16 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-20:
If you go back 11 days, it was still mostly world domination stuff, no AB would make the team etc the point I was trying to make was this team thought they could turn up and they would win. Their supporters were saying it and your press certainly was and it looks like they believed it.
19 Jul 2010, 06:20 am
23. NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA) dont take at face value the poor reporting on this site that Bok supporters feel the same.
Most real (not the fake twats) bok supporters are not so arrogant especailly the younger brigade.
We were outplayed by a smarter team. Fullstop.
19 Jul 2010, 06:25 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-23:
So how many posters said that no AB will make the Bok team? Was it 1, 5, 15, more than 50%? For reference sake and to make it easier just add the number of people saying no AB will make the Bok side and the number talking about world domination together and then tell me!
The point I am making is that you get idiots on both sides of the fence, generalisations are degrading towards the moderates who make up the largest number. For me personally it is damn irretating and I have a huge dislike for it. Name and shame the quilty, leave the rest alone.
19 Jul 2010, 06:28 am
@KevinRack(KevinRack)-24:
I do take a keen interest in what the SA scribes from your local papers were writing and quite a bit of it was pretty similar to the stuff on KEO so I was assuming ( obviously incorrectly) that was a reflection of most Bokke fans were thinking.
19 Jul 2010, 06:28 am
@KevinRack(KevinRack)-24:
Errr Kev, I am confused?! I am not that young anymore, does that make me a twat?
19 Jul 2010, 06:30 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-25:
Fair point mate if I can’t embelish the facts things will get a little boring around here lol if you have time how many Ab’s on current form would make the Bokke 15???
19 Jul 2010, 06:32 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-26:
Ahhh I see the problem! The scribes you refer to mostly cater for the people who do not have a TV to watch to make up their own minds. Most of the ossewaens in Pretoria do not have power, let alone TVs’…the confusion about Spies blah, blah blah falls 100% into this explanation as well!
19 Jul 2010, 06:33 am
First – well done to the All Blacks – well played you deserved your win. Total rugby.
I agree this whole situation can only be down to the sub standard coaching – this includes player selection. I cannot beleiwv that with the depth SA has in many positions oin the field we cannot compete let alone win.
Why is it that there are so many common opinions here that all point in the same direction and yet the 3 people responsbile for this see it differently? Am I missing something here?
19 Jul 2010, 06:35 am
Meyer for Bok coach. Give the pretender to White’s legacy his marching orders.
19 Jul 2010, 06:35 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-29:
Was fortunate to go to a game at Loftus in the 90′s, interesting place to go to a game…
19 Jul 2010, 06:37 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-28:
Easy, 14! I will chuck in Ricky to make up the 15. If you promise to start with him and play him for 78 minutes I think we should have a fair game…I really have to work some but I am sure some clever cog will help you with a proper team later.
19 Jul 2010, 06:37 am
Our problem starts at the coaching level, i’m not necessarily saying game plan, as when executed with the RIGHT players its a winning game plan. It’s been proven by the Bulls and bokke. However certain selections hamper our momentum…2 Step Ricky case in point…enough said
Unfortunately Spies and Flo don’t work in a team, does that make either player bad? NO, but when starting 1, you can’t have the other. Watch Spies excel with a Burger & Smith at 6 & 7
REST! its been mentioned before, but what happened to Matfield getting a proper rest?…he hasn’t suddenly turned into a bad player but give the man a break.
Smit needs to be given a few months to lose the weight he had to gain for prop, thus making him more mobile.
CJ can retire now, he offers us nothing that we don’t have on the bench and more.
And then my ref rant…I in know way say that he cost us the match because between Rolan and the bok players & management you have a great team. BUT when is Golden Boy Richie never get sin binned going to start getting pinned for his transgressions. I remember 1 VERY clear incident when he basically entered the ruck from the Bokke’s side of the ruck played the ball and then got the penalty for a Bok holding on….all this RIGHT in front of the ref.
He got warned again & again & again. Everybody goes on about reputation and that it counts against some players, but don’t refs watch these games on tv or highlights?
Surely they can see that he is a perennial offender???? Anyway, that being said when on the front foot most teams get the benefit of the whistle.
the first match the AB’s gave away 12 penalties to the Boks 5 (which includes bakkies yellow) Thats stinks of negative play which doesn’t get punished, every time some momentum is built they cut it down illegally but now yellows.
I’m waiting eagerly to see the penalty stats from this last match, because I’m sure it was heavily weighted towards the AB’s conceding many more penalties…
19 Jul 2010, 06:40 am
Sorry…typos
19 Jul 2010, 06:43 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-33:
Thats not very funny.
19 Jul 2010, 06:43 am
Aish, before I go…I just did the poll above, 75% of pundits (3506 people) say Meisiekind deserve to be in the Bok team…no wonder we look at kuk as we do!!!
19 Jul 2010, 06:49 am
@Shauny(Shauny)-34:
PDV will end up with a record similar to Whites in the Tri Nations, White was 1 from 4, PDV will be 1 from 3 after this year, its not the coaching.
19 Jul 2010, 06:52 am
Slartibartfast judging by your name we are the same age. Nioce nic
No my headbutt was aimed at a certain pig on this site who derides any person that is white. He thinks being previously disadvantged means you can be r a c is t.
He belongs in the same pen as quotosuxdoos and the likes.
19 Jul 2010, 06:54 am
This is my first contributions for over two weeks, so my apologies for being off-air so to speak.
Whats up with the Boks?
Are they too tired?
Are the old boys reaching the end of the road?
Is the tactics too one-dimensional?
Is Du Preez services being missed?
What about the non-appearances of the likes of Bismarck, Pieterson, Francois Steyn and Juan Smith? Are we missing them?
Lots of questions and not enough answers
First thing first. I refused to believe this Bok team is tired. Last year, the Bulls won the Super 14 and then beat the Lions in a physical series before entering the tri-nations, albeit at home. This time round, the Boks had a lighter build up against Italy and the French was the only big test. Strangely on that day, everybody thought we would be invincible in the tri-nations. Not to be.
The French game to me was most of the players Everest. It was what they wanted and wanted badly and their performance reflected that. Against the AB’s these last two weeks it is obvious that some of the older and even younger guys have not been pitching up…something is amiss. Do they lack motivation? Players like John Smit, CJ, BJ, Bakkies, Victor, Burger, Spies, Fourie, Habana, de Villiers look strangely out of place…they look bored and uninterested. That is more than half your team. Other players like Januarie are not in the right form to play. I do believe it would have made no difference if Du Preez had played since he would most likely have been equally disinterested as those other players mentioned above.
I always said that PDV needs to get his mix right for the world cup…I said before on this site, that some of the players who played well in the super 14 should be put out to pasture for good…I am talking about John Smit, CJ, Bakkies, Januarie, Olivier, de Villiers etc…in my view only Matfield and Jaque Fourie should be spared as I think they are vital for the RWC.
My Bok team for the RWC opener would consist of the following players which would offer us speed, experience, youth and power…
1. Steenkamp (Beast)
2. Bismarck du Plessis (Gary Botha)
3. H. van der Merwe (BJ Botha)
4. Rossouw (Flip van der Merwe)
5. Matfield (Andries Bekker)
6. Heinrich Brussow (Potgieter)
7. Juan Smith (Louw)
8. Spies (Vermuelen)
9. Du Preez (Pienaar)
10. Morne Steyn (Butch James)
12. Juan de Jongh (???)
13. Jaque Fourie (????)
11. Habana (Hougaard)
14. JP Pieterson (Aplon)
15. Fran Steyn (Jantjes)
I think the above is a good mix of experience and youth and will get the Boks over the finishing line come RWC next year.
If we stick to the hasbeens we will be in trouble.
I see depth issues at flyhalf and in the centres, especially if De Villiers and Olivier are not required.
I hope De Villiers makes some changes for the Wallabies game…some of the abovementioned players are available right now and should be used…if we can win in Brissie, which will be damn hard, and take out the three games at home, I think a 4 out of 6 result will be pleasing going into the RWC next year….the main thing is not to lose the home games at any cost…we need the right game plan to do it and the right players…
Its over to you PDV!
19 Jul 2010, 06:56 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-37: The general consensus is that our forward momentum is seriously hampered with 2 step ricky at #9, and that that effects the time steyn has to decide and execute. However WO slaters don’t seem to think there is a correlation between WO and #9.
Most rugby writers and pundits will say that 9,10,12 is intrinsically linked, starting at #9. Ricky offers Steyn very little time to decide and execute and in turn WO even less. Our backline showed a marked improvement when Ruan was on the field.
Play Ruan and we’ll probably see a different WO on Saturday.
NOT to mention his stirling work on defence…he was stellar!
19 Jul 2010, 06:59 am
The Boks seem as clueless as the Lions looked in the S14. Now what could be the common denominator, I wonder…
19 Jul 2010, 07:02 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-38: big difference is White recognised his weaknesses and recruited to make up for the short fall (see Eddie Jones). BUT maybe the biggest difference is White inherited an absolute shambles of a team when he started out coaching the boks, where as PDV inherited a World Championship Team.
I’m not running PDV down as he has done good things and I guess every coach has his favourites, but he needs to improve and admit where he is lacking and look for help. Your Team leader doesn’t have to know everything, he just needs to know people that know everything and then have the ability to harness that knowledge
19 Jul 2010, 07:16 am
NZINCHINA
I note your point about Jake White. Truth is, he was also a uptight person who refused to make changes until very late..which did work, so credit to him
PDV has brought in Os du Randt for the scrums which was average over the two weekend and some may say poor…what PDV needs is a back line coach in the mould of Eddie Jones. **** Muir is out of his depth, he has become mediocre dealing with a mediocre team like the Lions. That mediocrity has spilled into the Boks…but I don’t think the Boks outside back are weak…they can’t be as they are world class. Its the forwards who are not doing the job and a halfback who lacks the skills to play the kind of game which the Boks did last year. No doubt, the AB’s are good, but we can beat them with the right players, tactics and coaches…all this blaming referees is pointless. The ref to did force Bakkies to head butt or Danie to knee Richie…so early in both matches, we lost vital momentum and that comes down to our own ill-discipline. 10 minutes in the bin and its good bye against a team as good as the AB’s…
Alot of the players have to do alot of soul searching, so does PDV and his management team…
But on the bright side, don’t you think it good that we are having our bad year now? In 1994 we were no better and we won the cup in 1995 and in 2006 we got thumped 53-3 and still came back to win the cup in 2007. So take the bad results with a pinch of salt…it will all work out…I am confident
19 Jul 2010, 07:26 am
This is my first comment on Keo.
1) January must go – there is no doubt about it the Boks looked 10x better when Ruan got his chance.
2) Olivier must go – we didn’t even see him there.
3) St. Richie must be canonized – I am proposing as the “Patron Saint of Professional Fouls and Spineless Refs to Cowardly to act” – Heaslip kneed him in the head because he was doing exactly the same thing as he did on Saturday, slowing the ball down on the wrong side.
4) Nobody minds losing, but when the ref blows like he did on Saturday it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. When Australia thumped us 49-0 in 2006 I never had one complaint about the ref. Mr. Rolland was rubbish and the yellow on Danie despicable. It did affect our game.
5) Smit really needs to get fit or retire.
Thats about it.
Ciao.
19 Jul 2010, 07:27 am
I also have a massive issue with Habana. His kick chases have been RUBBISH, and his tackling of kick receivers RUBBISH. He has not gone looking for work, and has gine for intercepts at bad times, badly misjudging teh game.
He needs to be dropped to get his *** into gear.
19 Jul 2010, 07:29 am
Wakey wakey! While SA has recently been very competitive at the top end of the S14, it’s a simple fact that NZ has dominated the competition for years and years. The same applies to 3N.
It’s really not a sudden and unexpected event for the ABs to hammer the Boks, regardless of who was the Bok coach or the scrumhalf.
The Boks came swaggering into Auckland, cocky because of the success of the Bulls in the S14 and thinking that the Boks/PDV are automatically a better team than Bulls/Ludeke. PDV probably pep-talked them into thinking that the ABs are a weaker combination than the Crusaders.
Reality hit them — while the Boks as a collective are weaker and more poorly-coached than the Bulls, the AB collective is much, much better and more expertly-coached than the Crusaders.
Then, after they collected a 20 point drubbing and were stripped of their smug complacency, did PDV and his team leadership ask critical questions about their kick-and-chase game plan? No, said PDV and Smit, the plan is a good one but our execution was sub-standard.
So, a week later, they rolled out exactly the same game-plan and, once again, their execution was unsurprisingly no better and — duhh — they got thrashed yet again in precisely the same way, right down to the 4th minute yellow card and two tries conceded with the lock in the sin-bin.
And so they’re off to Brisbane with their one-trick pony of a game-plan all harnessed up as per usual, convinced that it will be third-time-lucky (or something). No Plan B, no on-field changes of strategy by the skipper — oh no, it will be the same old same old, and Robbie Deans and the Wallabies really won’t have the slightest idea of what the Boks might do or how to work out a counter? Yeah, right!
Graham Henry is a genuinely fine coach. Robbie Deans is a truly fine coach too. Peter de Villiers is just a “great pretender” and his one-trick pony is a moth-eaten old nag.
There’s your problem. But, can you fix it? No, you can’t.
19 Jul 2010, 07:38 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-47: The more things change in SA the more they stay the same, quotas will always be part of the make-up of the team and the management team
Henry has coached, Ireland, Wales and the ABs
PdV has coached, the Valke, under 19 and under 21
Pretty clear for all to see who is the superior coach ito experience
PDV has had a lucky run with Jake Whites team, but now that he has injuries in his team he has been found wanting as a coach.
All of his best selections were forced on his hand due to other players being injured or banned
I really do not think that he will change much, if anything, for the Aussie test
19 Jul 2010, 07:49 am
Don’t be dismayed if the “Wobblies” win by 15.
19 Jul 2010, 07:49 am
@SjamBok(SjamBok)-46:
True, he looked off form in the S14 and carried that into the tests. I wonder if he is not carrying an injury?
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-47:
“One-trick pony” – ja, you know all about that, don’t you?!
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