Boks latest – PdV survives axe
29 Nov 2010
Keo.co.za brings you the latest from the Springboks’ end-of-year tour.
PdV survives axe – Saru president Regan Hoskins says Peter de Villiers’s job as Springbok coach is safe.
De Villiers will remain in control until the end of the 2011 World Cup, although he will be assisted by a technical committee made up of, among others, former Bok coaches Harry Viljoen, Carel du Plessis and Rudolf Straeuli. Heyneke Meyer and Rassie Erasmus are also set to offer input.
De Villiers will be subject to a post-tour review on his return to South Africa, but Hoskins has said that the victory in England bodes well for the coming year.
Matfield to miss tour finale – Springbok captain Victor Matfield has broken a rib and will play no part in the fixture against the Barbarians.
The lock sustained a broken rib in the tackle on England wing Chris Ashton, but still managed to complete the game. Matfield won’t, however, be able to soldier on for the last game of the season.
‘It was a hard match, and there were lots of bumps and bruises out there. I have a broken rib to prove how hard it was.
‘I injured myself in the clash with Ashton. It was painful, but I resolved that I would have to play through the pain as it was important for us to win this game. I just tried to avoid contact as much as I could, but that wasn’t always possible.’
Juan Smith will lead the Boks in Matfield’s absence.
Frans Steyn (Racing Metro) and Ruan Pienaar (Ulster) return to their European clubs as Saturday’s match falls outside the November international window. The Blue Bulls trio of Pierre Spies, Morné Steyn and Deon Stegmann have also been released to return to South Africa, while Jean de Villiers is unavailable because of a groin injury.
The squad has been reduced to just 23 players.
Bok squad – Backs: Gio Aplon, Francois Hougaard, Adi Jacobs, Elton Jantjies, Zane Kirchner, Patrick Lambie, Charl McLeod, Lwazi Mvovo, Odwa Ndungane.
Forwards: Willem Alberts, Bakkies Botha, Keegan Daniel, Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis, Alistair Hargreaves, Ryan Kankowski, Bandise Maku, Tendai Mtawarira, Coenie Oosthuizen, Juan Smith (c), Adriaan Strauss, CJ van der Linde, Flip van der Merwe.
562 Comments
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30 Nov 2010, 00:54 am
@Transformation(Transformation) :
blew holes in a theory……
how, using a journos opinion and cut’n'pasting here with cherrypicked bits in bold ?
or regurgitating selective posts only to find them being contradicted by different posts from the same thread ?
fella, Ive got more holes in my undies than youve ever created in years upon years of attempting to find any weak-links in my arguments. Lets face it, Transie, youre not working with enough material to go to war with an army of midgets, whilst Im packing enough heat to give Lucifer heartburn.
30 Nov 2010, 07:17 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther) : that’s not why you said i was a ‘poor loser’
i was on to ya!
30 Nov 2010, 07:48 am
The circus getting help from all the ex-circus coaches. Dumb…. f’kin dumb. So that would be a team of unsuccessful coaches without a strong leader. What can any one of these coaches tell John Smit or Victor Matfield about Rugby? I exclude HM and Erasmus from my list. SARU have just proven how weak they are and they will remain weak as they continue to hire soft yes-men.
30 Nov 2010, 07:49 am
I wonder if Rudolf is going to give camp staalpiel another bash?
30 Nov 2010, 08:12 am
In the morning’s Beeld newspaper, SARU denies reports of having a technical committee that PDiv will have to report to. It seems reports of this was greatly exagerated.
Seems the status quo is the way it will be till the world cup.
30 Nov 2010, 08:20 am
@Craven(Craven) :
England vs Boks Review
By Jake White
It was fantastic the Boks beat England, but as I said before the Test, there is no way South Africans should have even been considering losing to them.
The Boks’ loss against Scotland didn’t make England any better, and there was no way the latter should have been favourites. They beat Australia (with a long-range try the turning point), but I doubt they’d be able to do that again and produce a similar performance so soon after that. The way England played on Saturday, they won’t win the World Cup.
From the Boks’ viewpoint, they have to look at their own performance. They beat England 42-6 a couple of years ago, but they were nowhere near as convincing this time around. I agree that the Boks mustn’t copy other countries’ styles as we have our own unique strengths, but we weren’t innovative at all. We followed a largely Bulls template with a kicking flyhalf, and we’re very reliant on that plan.
The injury to Tom Croft after 21 minutes was also a massive blow. There was no pressure on our lineout from that point, and once Hendre Fourie came on as the flank’s replacement, Victor Matfield had free reign at the set-piece. Once the Boks had secured solid first phase ball, it was always going to be tough for England.
Flyhalf Toby Flood also left the pitch in the first half, and although he isn’t the be-all and end-all of their side, reverting back to Charlie Hodgson didn’t help them. If the same had happened to us and Morne Steyn had to leave early after playing for the side week in and week out, it would also have hampered us.
The English attack was also predictable and below-par. On one occasion Mike Tindall and Fourie were virtually over the line, and two passes later from the ensuing ruck and they were back on their 22. If teams attack that way, it shows how many problems they have. New Zealand and Australia would have easily finished in that situation, but England couldn’t put two passes together. This was also another example of their lack of linkage between 9 and 10.
The Boks will be chuffed with the win but they must keep perspective. This was an average England side (they went into the Test with a 46% win record under Martin Johnson) who were also troubled by Scotland this year. One thing that was highlighted this November is how far ahead the southern hemisphere are compared to their northern rivals. Australia for example, beat the Six Nations Champions by 60 points, so we can’t read much into three wins out of four for the Boks.
We shouldn’t now be on our high horse after one win against England, who won’t contend for the World Cup if they play that way. Our World Cup pool will still be very interesting with Wales, Fiji and Samoa, and we shouldn’t be using this England win as any sort of benchmark.
30 Nov 2010, 08:21 am
Coaches have been axed for less
By Grant Ball
Peter de Villiers wouldn’t be the first international coach fired in the year before a World Cup.
On appointment, De Villiers asked to be judged on rugby results like any other international coach would have been and said that he didn’t want a free ride. In that light, Saru must make a sound rugby decision and he shouldn’t have a job in 2011.
The November internationals exposed the weakness of northern hemisphere rugby, and still the Boks stuttered to unconvincing wins over Ireland, Wales and England, and lost to a Scottish side who won’t contend for the World Cup. If Ronan O’Gara’s conversion had gone over, if Wales had won a last minute lineout and the naïve English hadn’t believed their own hype, the Boks would have had a very different tour.
Even with three wins out of four, this group of Bok players – who were at full strength barring a few injuries which all international coaches have to deal with – should be cantering to a Grand Slam (like New Zealand did), when looking at talent at their disposal.
In that context and looking at the relative strength of the opposition, this tour must be deemed another failure under De Villiers. Scotland had to rely on a last-minute penalty to beat Samoa a week after beating the Boks, while Wales showed how weak they are when they drew with Fiji. And both those European sides sternly tested the Boks, showing how the latter have regressed.
De Villiers won’t be fired as that would mean Oregan Hoskins would have to admit Saru were wrong in appointing De Villiers initially.
The latest reports suggest a technical team of former coaches will be appointed to guide De Villiers, which will effectively reduce his powers. But with De Villiers being as arrogant and ignorant as he is, that situation would be untenable. More importantly, what will Carel du Plessis, Rudolf Straeuli and Harry Viljoen offer the Boks? All their tenures coincided with poor records, confusing selections and haphazard game-plans – all similar traits to De Villiers’ – so they’re more likely to reinforce De Villiers’ warped ideas than provide sound advice.
If Saru really wanted what’s best for the Boks and South African rugby, De Villiers would be judged on the Boks’ failings in the last 12 months, where they have won nine out of 19, which includes losses to under-strength Leicester and Saracens outfits. Three of those wins were also against Italy, who aren’t in the top 10 in the world.
Many claim that one year before the World Cup is too late to bring in a new coach, but history suggests it’s not. Ian McIntosh was fired less than a year before the World Cup, and Kitch Christie then led the Boks to the title in 1995. Andy Robinson was fired by England in 2006, and Brian Ashton led the side to the final. Eddie Jones was also fired in the same year, with John Connolly taking over.
Coaches get fired in the cut-throat world of professional rugby, and firing De Villiers now would not be a unique situation as other countries have shown.
In the case of Robinson, he took over as England coach in 2004, but after 25 months of losses and a nine from 22 record, the RFU lost patience and he was forced to resign. The English were the reigning World Champions, but Robinson didn’t do a good enough job and therefore didn’t take the side to France in 2007.
De Villiers has done similar damage, except he has a golden generation of Bok players at his disposal. However, it’s unlikely that Saru will have the backbone to ensure that he pays the correct price.
30 Nov 2010, 12:56 pm
@Papoose(papaown) : @557, FFS!!!, if Isreal Dagg hadnt scoredthat last minute try at FNB Stadium, if Kurtley Beele hadnt kicked that conversion in Bloem, if , if if , if….., you guys are freaken ridiculous!!!!, fact is The Boks won 3/4, finish and klaar
30 Nov 2010, 13:07 pm
Ohh, I forget, South Africa has a golden generation of players, this golden generation was molded in the cauldron of test rugby against the mighty Tonga, Fiji, USA, Argentina and a 7th ranked England team, wow!!!!
So these guys are supposed not to lose to anyone because the above victories?, give me a break!!!!
30 Nov 2010, 13:33 pm
XhosaKid @ 559
and, so, a Man finally brave enough to speak The Truth.
30 Nov 2010, 13:39 pm
Transie
I know WHY I called you a Poor Loser. It was after all
MY
opinion.
You’d find it difficult to be “on” to anything if you’d been born a light-switch.
30 Nov 2010, 15:29 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther) : hahahaha i know your ilk, you win “king of the hill”
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