Boks latest – Beast misses training
22 Nov 2010
Keo.co.za brings you the latest from the Springboks’ end-of-year tour.
Beast misses training – Beast Mtawarira sat out of Monday’s training session due to a knee injury incurred in the Boks’ defeat to Scotland. The decision on the prop’s availability will be made later in the week.
Should Mtawarira fail to pass fit, CJ van der Linde will be considered as a replacement. This would lead to Coenie Oosthuizen coming onto the Bok bench.
The team for Saturday’s Test is due to be named on Tuesday.
Poms buzzing ahead of Bok clash – England No 8 Nick Easter says his side is feeling confident about the coming tussle with the Springboks. England beat Australia two weeks ago, and despite a lacklustre showing against Samoa, he felt there were positives.
‘We’d created chances but had not nailed them,’ Easter wrote in his Daily Telegraph column. ‘We did in the second half. In many ways, we’ll get as much from this as we did from Australia. We’ll have to bring the best of both performances to beat South Africa.
‘I’ve played against them five times and lost the lot. England have lost their last six against them. Trust the Scots not to do us a favour. It’ll be a wounded Boks who come to Twickenham. It’ll be a full-blooded affair. It always is.
‘We want to finish on a high note. It would put a dampener on the autumn if we don’t manage to do that, difficult as it will be. We’ve got to make the most of these moments, all the more so as this is the last chance we get to clock a win against the southern hemisphere before the World Cup.
‘There’s a buzz in camp. We’re very much up for it.’
Matfield regrets poor tactics – Springbok captain Victor Matfield said his side employed the wrong approach and that contributed to a crushing loss to Scotland. The Boks tried to run the ball, even though atrociously stormy conditions prescribed a percentage approach.
‘There has been a lot of talk about us needing to be more expansive in our approach and maybe we paid too much attention to that,’ said Matfield. ‘These weren’t the right conditions to play expansively, and we made too many mistakes in our own half that Scotland were able to punish instead of us getting the ball down into their territory and playing from there.’
Bok coach Peter de Villiers defended his decision to sub goal-kicking machine Morne Steyn for Pat Lambie in the second half. Lambie went on to miss a crucial kick.
‘If we look at the Morne Steyn incident in isolation then it might have been a mistake, but if you look at the bigger picture towards next year’s World Cup then you have to say that the players need to get experience of playing in these conditions,’ De Villiers offered.
Poms take aim at Boks – Despite a disappointing showing against Samoa, England are feeling confident about the coming clash with the Springboks. Manager Martin Johnson wasn’t satisfied with the performance against Samoa, but said the fact that England ground out a win was important.
‘We had to keep our composure and keep on playing and it was a good experience for them,’ said Johnson. ‘I think we’ve clearly taken steps. This week was a new experience – not all of it good, but in a sense it is good because things like not finishing, going behind in the second half, are all ultimately good experience.
‘We’ve got one big shot at the world champions next week. Everything about us has got to have a little bit more intensity and accuracy. If we’d got that against Samoa we could have scored two or three more but we didn’t.’
311 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 [6] 7 » Show All
21 Nov 2010, 21:09 pm
@sharks_lover(sharks_lover) : 242 – Sharky, They needed more training together. Remember CC final was played only a week before the squad left for the UK. Crazy planning we have. Need far, far more time together as a squad. Then we might have played as a team and not individuals as it seems right now. Hope Bok squad has plenty time together before we leave for the wc next year.
21 Nov 2010, 21:14 pm
@Slumtown(Slumtown) : 248 – Slumtown, agree coaching but selection has played a big role too. Also players need to think for themselves once on the field, if something needs changed then damn do it. Not just go on like robots if a gameplan is not working.
Ag, also feel so angry and disappointed about this whole tour so far, cause we also played terrible against Ireland and Wales, lucky to win both those games as well. We could be 0 out of 3 by now. Now still for England next week, jeepers hope we not in for a hiding to nothing there. Hope pride pulls us through that one, but not even sure about that now.
21 Nov 2010, 21:15 pm
Okay out of here now. Cheers everyone.
21 Nov 2010, 21:21 pm
I don’t think we will have repeat next week. Senior players bound to exert their will in d.1cky and Faulty Towers.
In fact yesterdays squad can win if they play the right game and they get a fair shake from the crook in the middle.
21 Nov 2010, 21:50 pm
@Puma(Puma) : Yeah I hear you – no point rushing him back either.
21 Nov 2010, 22:33 pm
@Slumtown(Slumtown) : The Boks suffer from narcolepsy (amongst other illnesses). No matter how many huge wake-up calls they get, they nod back off to sleep again within minutes.
Maybe they’re coming down off a drug-induced high?
21 Nov 2010, 22:39 pm
@TheTackler(TheTackler) :
Is there a bridge nearby? I only ask because I smell a troll….
21 Nov 2010, 23:12 pm
@SafferJohn(SafferJohn) : Perhaps you simply passed wind silently but violently?
21 Nov 2010, 23:19 pm
What is it about this style of rugby that the Boks dont get?
1)Between your tryline and 22, you kick for territory. as an alternative, you can kick the box kicks, BUT ONLY if there is effective chasing and the ball is taken into a ruck immediately, allowing the Boks defence to form up. Overrunning a catching player is NOT effective chasing (for eg Habana), as it allows the catcher to get momentum again, allows them quick ball, and leaves a gap in the line.
2)In your own half, from your own 22, you keep ball in hand, and amongst the forwards, so that you have cover defence if the ball is turned over. You only kick when massive advantage in territiory is clearly available. Not just as a matter of habit.
3)From the halfway to their tryline, you look for gaps anywhere, be it wide or close to the pack. The main thing is to change the attack point to keep them guessing. Our predictability is what makes us EASY to defend against. ESPECIALLY PREDICTABLY kicking those damn box kicks and up and unders on attack in their half – WHY???
21 Nov 2010, 23:25 pm
@SjamBok(SjamBok) :
the worst was Pienaar, taking a penalty with a few minutes on the clock and behind on the scoreboard, and and…. kicking the fa king ball back to the Scotts?? Go figure! Idiot!
22 Nov 2010, 00:32 am
NO MORE EXCUSES!!!!!!!
We have hit rock bottom. There is really no where else to go from here. Best we hold on tight next week as England will be too much to handle for our “boys”.
I am afriad that until we clear the management out be prepared for heartache and the occasional surprise.
A couple of narrow wims agains Ireland and Wales and we thought all was good. Well, hasn’t the Bok world changed. We used to use these games as oppurtunities to experiment and try new things now we need to throw everything at them to scrape narrow wins. The bar has been lowered and the questions is can it go any lower.
22 Nov 2010, 00:47 am
SNOR AND HIS 2 CLOWN STOOGES MUST GO!
22 Nov 2010, 00:47 am
SACK ALL 3 OF THEM!
22 Nov 2010, 00:48 am
Rant over.
22 Nov 2010, 00:53 am
@whatever(whatever) : Its all a direct indication of how badly prepared and coached thes eplayers are. everyone says that they are playing the “Bulls kick chase game”. Maybe teh bulls were doing it in 2008 under teh old laws when it was effective, but even the Bulls have moved on and are playing ball in hand. But the Bok coaches dont seem to have gotten the memo!!
How was Mvovo in chasing game? I did not see the game? I have it recorded, but probably wont bother…
We must start a petition on facebook to have these morons fired. The original coach who SHOULD HAVE been coach (Heyneke Meyer) can be appointed for four years – guaranteeing his position past the RWC. At least we know he is technically competent. there is just NO WAY ON EARTH that we are going to be defending any RWC trophy with these numb-nuts in charge. I wonder if we will even get out of our pool to be honest.
GET A REAL COACH IN!
22 Nov 2010, 00:53 am
Still can’t get over losing to Scotland.
Shocking.
Seriously, with Smit no longer able to command a starting place we need a new captain. Matfield is no captain’s arse. I had thought Juan Smith might have been the next best candidate but he also started to lose his cool along with Matfield on Saturday. We don’t need that.
We have huge problems to sort out before the RWC. And I have little faith in Snor fixing them (does he even know they exist?).
Do the right thing, Hoskins.
22 Nov 2010, 00:57 am
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon) :
Do you realise that is your genuine top of the pile “2007 WC Champs seniors” that your now so late are being dismissive off?
22 Nov 2010, 01:01 am
@ET(ET) : there’s only so much banging your head on a brick wall that you can take. There is something rotten there – time to remove the stink and have a big cleanout. Start with all the egos first.
It can’t be worse than this year’s performances.
22 Nov 2010, 01:02 am
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon) :
Don’t hold your breath there spooner, the circus has still got a year to go unfortunately. I have tickets to the Boks pool games in Albany, not sure they will beat Namibia, never mind Samoa at this stage………
22 Nov 2010, 01:03 am
@ET(ET) :
3 years is a long time……….how many in Scotland were in the 2007 squad?
22 Nov 2010, 01:18 am
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon) :
I agree with you but said so in 2008 already. Then we should have started afresh for WC2011 (after the 2009 TNs latest) already and now is too late unless you look to 2015 now.
22 Nov 2010, 02:13 am
Will Mitchell/Plumtree accept if asked to help? The other good coaches in RSA won`t work with the clown.
22 Nov 2010, 02:14 am
if coach had wrung the changes and dropped Smit Matfield Habana JdV Smith and co which is what most here seem to be suggesting now, how many would have patted him on the back for it if he did it when he should have which was last year?
Now that he’s stuck it through with them and even gone along with their preference of playing the game according their preferred so called strategy of playing to perceived strengths, you all on the highway to the guillotine and aching to crucify him for it.
2nd grade fair weather supporters that weren’t supporters at all from the beginning expecting and even hoping for a calamity in order to entrench the ideology of I told you so.
Well he’s still gonna have the last laugh on you lot, better believe it before your disbelieving intolerable eyes.
22 Nov 2010, 02:18 am
“How was Mvovo in chasing game?”
He tried but let`s be honest, if the kicking is **** it makes the chasers look **** too.
22 Nov 2010, 02:22 am
“Well he’s still gonna have the last laugh on you lot, better believe it before your disbelieving intolerable eyes.”
Better happen soon, time is running out.
22 Nov 2010, 03:16 am
What are we expecting? PdV is a dog, and a dog can only be so clever.
England by 50, it’s our only hope of getting rid of the Aids before the world cup.
22 Nov 2010, 04:17 am
260. whatever(whatever)
@SjamBok(SjamBok) :
the worst was Pienaar, taking a penalty with a few minutes on the clock and behind on the scoreboard, and and…. kicking the fa king ball back to the Scotts?? Go figure! Idiot!
Remember CC semi final sharks bulls dying minutes when the ball was kicked away and should have stayed in hand? Victor Matfield fuarked up beeg time and needs to stop selecting such mronic game plans.
22 Nov 2010, 04:49 am
Watching the Boks play on the weekend was almost like watching the Cheetahs during the S14, at times they look totally clueless and as under-coached as a high school 4th team!
Suppose to his credit, Naka has fewer star players to pick from…
22 Nov 2010, 05:28 am
@KevinRack(KevinRack) : Victor’s a useless captain. He’ll make the same blunder again and again and again.
22 Nov 2010, 05:36 am
The problems are much deeper than Vic as captain, the team is uncoached and it shows. There is no game plan clearly illustrated by the clueless nature of the 15 guys on the pitch, there is no Plan B, simple really because a Plan B would indicate some sort of a Plan A in the first instance. Illogical subs have been part of PDivvie from day one, he has not learned a single thing.
There is no structure in defence, there is no attack unless aimless kicking is a tactic! Poor team selection can not be brushed over anymore…
Nah, Vic is no captain but that is least of our problems!
22 Nov 2010, 05:37 am
@mainland(mainland) : It doesn’t matter if they wanted to play an expansive game or not. If the weather foiled the expansive game, so be it, but NOTHING justfies the KICKING AWAY GAME – in ANY WEATHER!!!
If you dont play the “expansive game”, that means you STILL KEEP BALL IN HAND YOU FU@KWITS, and play a 10 man game keeping ball amongst the forwards, where cover defence is close at hand in case there is a mhandling error or turnover. In fact, every time we have done so, we have proved irressitible. But we JUST NEVER DO IT!!! You just DONT JUST HAND IT TO THE OPPOSITION!! FFS I AM PULLING MY HAIR OUT!!!!! Are the forwards too FU@KING LAZY to keep bashing it up? Is that the ACTUAL PROBLEM? Can they not maintain that intensity for 80 minutes? If that is the case, the problem is the FORWARDS conditioning then! Which is ALSO the coaches fault!
I live in Auckland, and unless the coach is fired, I will NOT be supporting the Boks in NZ. I REFUSE to buy a ticket to incompetence. I bought a ticket once when Straueli was in charge, watched the boks go down by 60 points in Pretoria, and I have NEVER been so furious in my life.
22 Nov 2010, 05:42 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler) :
#279
A ‘Useless Captain’ who won the last two Super14 trophies and beating a ‘Great Captain’ such as McCaw in the process?
22 Nov 2010, 05:44 am
@Hondo(Hondo) :
282
Matfield was also the Boks Captain in Carisbrook 2008 when his Boks beat the AB,,,
22 Nov 2010, 05:59 am
Headline: “Six Springboks – four from the starting line-up and two substitutes – were tested”
I am sure the Beast IS NOT one of them, he made 0 tackles and had 0 ball carries the whole Saturday test, he can’t be possibly a subject for testing, or can he?
22 Nov 2010, 06:00 am
For a useless captain to lift a few Super 14 trophies he can’t be all that bad. Two mistakes this year in decision making does not make him dumb or a bad captain.
Oh ja…Super 14′s don’t count when your Kiwis have not a seen a trophy for a few years….very convenient argument….epic fail.
22 Nov 2010, 06:11 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn) :
They all count even the games against Scotland.
22 Nov 2010, 06:13 am
@Hondo(Hondo) :
I wouldn’t say he was a great catain but more a great player.
Fitzpatrick was a great captain. Brooks was a great captain and a great player.
McCaw is an adequate captain like Umaga.
22 Nov 2010, 06:14 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA) :
Oh. Excuse me….
22 Nov 2010, 06:16 am
@Hondo(Hondo) : In order for Beast to have carried it, we would have had to KEEP IT IN HAND. His tackling has been great so far on tour otherwise.
Seriously, ALSO I believe that part of teh problem is our conditioning. Our conditioning is so bad that we cannot sustain the original defensive system that Jake put in (which requires speed off the line on drift defence all the time, and swapping with umbrella defence occasionally). This is why we have been getting worse and worse defensively, because teh mind is willing, but teh flesh is weak.
When we have kept ball in hand and attacked – even just among our forwards and inside centre- we have looked irresistible, and made good ground. Yet we never do this for more than 20 minutes. Is this because we do not have teh legs? So because we cannot defend properly, and also cannot sustain an attack for the full 80 minutes, we end up losing. But what do you expect when players are also management? NO player will ever condiotion themselves as well as someone else can (like a feared and respected coach). Can you imagine a coach like Heyneke Meyer allowing his players to be unconditioned? Under him, the Bulls were step above everyone. Jake was completely uncompromising in his conditioning requirements. Either way, it is the coaches fault. This cannot go on.
CAN WE PLEASE START A PETITION ON THIS SITE FOR DIVVVY TO GO?
22 Nov 2010, 06:22 am
Beast is a committed tackler like Bakkies. The poor wee Scots felt that game the next morning after getting ‘Botha’d’.
22 Nov 2010, 06:33 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn) :
I doubt they felt anything but sheer joy after knocking over the mighty Bokke.
22 Nov 2010, 06:35 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA) :
Of course. I would too.
22 Nov 2010, 06:39 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn) :
One can only imagine how they would feel if they beat the boys from NZ after 3000 attempts.
22 Nov 2010, 06:44 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA) :
You are so right.
22 Nov 2010, 07:05 am
perhaps the Bokke players are all just “tired”…
Professor Noakes has given you guys a “get out of jail free card”..
why not use it like it has been in the past?
22 Nov 2010, 07:47 am
@poppa69(poppa69) :
Not tired. The players are fit and ready. Excuses about fatigue go back to the conditioning programs of the unions. If they monitor their players correctly then there should be no issue with fatigue. Injuries are however another issue.
The coach is tired..out on his feet..finished..kaput…taken out the back and euthanised.
22 Nov 2010, 08:31 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn) : S14 is mere kindergarten rugby compared to test rugby, and NZ teams, who have won 10 out of the 14 S14 championships, know that all too well.
Test rugby is the real McCaw.
22 Nov 2010, 09:00 am
You keep saying..well since the New Zealand teams stopped winning the Super 14. Epic fail.
As for the tests..the Boks have glaring problems there and it’s as clear as a Christchurch summer morning.
The knee-jerk reaction to replace coaches has always been endemic in South African rugby. It’s a mental weakness and South Africans are still so insular in their thinking.
The political decision to not replace useless coaches is now the new breed of cancer in this country.
To illustrate how tough we are is evident in two RWC’s. The Kiwis like pretty rugby island style with fast big imports while the South Africans grind out wins with their slower hardier men. Horses for courses.
22 Nov 2010, 10:59 am
The boks missed “the drug squad” at the game.
22 Nov 2010, 11:12 am
The Poms musnt be fooled. That loss against Scotland was a once off. We will be much better this week. They Boks will win even if just by 2 points.
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 [6] 7 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.