Brutal truth: Boks need Butch
14 Apr 2011
JON CARDINELLI, writing in SA Rugby magazine, says Butch James has the hunger, the experience and the intimidating aura to be a match-winning figure at the 2011 World Cup.
‘Objects may be closer than they appear’, disclaims the rear-view mirror, a foreboding that sets its reader on edge. It doesn’t matter when or even if the Mac truck hits, only that it’s there; a threatening presence capable of reducing brave men to quivering wrecks.
Butch James looms in the psyche like a Mac truck in the rear view. Opposition coaches pore over blueprints and videotape in an attempt to nullify him, while seasoned pros like Dan Carter take the field knowing that at some point, they will be run over.
This aura shouldn’t be underestimated, especially in a World Cup year. Global tournaments are won on defence and experience, and James’s value as a game-changing defender is as indisputable as his 2007 World Cup winner’s medal. And at 32, he’s still rattling opponents.
‘I’ve never thought of Carter as a fragile player,’ James says in explaining the psychology of big defending. ‘It’s more a case of making your presence felt. You want your opposite number to know you’re around. You want him to be constantly thinking about what you’ll do next.
‘In the past I went looking for the big tackles. Now I let them come to me. If you read the situation correctly and your timing is just right, you’ll make the big hit. It’s something I learnt. I’ve matured a great deal over the past few years.’
The Springbok selectors need to face up to some inconvenient truths after a diabolical 2010 Test season. Morné Steyn may have come off the bench to kick the series-winning penalty against the British & Irish Lions, and his kicking game may have helped the Boks secure the 2009 Tri-Nations. But 2010 proved that far more is required of a Test flyhalf.
Steyn’s accuracy can no longer compensate for his defensive frailties or his failure to impose himself on attack. These shortcomings were mercilessly exposed in the 2010 Tri-Nations, a tournament where South Africa finished last on the log and trailed their opponents in
the attacking and defensive stats.
Psychologically speaking, Steyn is no more a debilitating force than Peter de Villiers is a rocket scientist. A champion team requires a flyhalf with gravitas, somebody like James who commands respect and has the capacity to make things happen. If things continue as they are, however, the Boks will field a reactionary. Steyn is more a punisher of errors than an active agent of victory. He wasn’t good enough in the 2010 Tri-Nations, and he isn’t good enough for the World Cup.
Consider South Africa’s World Cup opponents. Is Stephen Jones worried about Steyn’s gainline running ahead of Wales’ Pool D clash with the Springboks? Is Jonny Sexton losing sleep over Steyn’s attacking variation before a probable quarter-final meeting? And is Carter, one of the Boks’ likely semi-final adversaries, expecting Steyn to smother the All Blacks’ attacking fire with a well-timed defensive rush?
The answers are no, no and most definitely not. Steyn doesn’t inspire confidence in any of these departments, and is limited to a predictable type of game.
In his book, Captain in the Cauldron, John Smit describes James as the heartbeat of the team that won the 2007 World Cup. Smit reveals that every Springbok team member felt confident, and relieved, when James was named to start at flyhalf for a big Test. As Smit suggests, James’s on-field aura can be galvanising.
Injuries have limited him to 40 Tests in 10 seasons, but spineless selectors have also played their part. The conservative streak that runs through every national coach has cost him as much game time as his crocked knees and dodgy shoulder. Any regard for his virtues in general play is overruled by the paranoia that James will miss a kick at goal.
Jake White is not exempt from this group of conservatives, and it took a compelling argument by former Bok technical adviser Eddie Jones to change White’s mind on the eve of the 2007 World Cup. Because of André Pretorius’s reputation as a kicker, White so nearly ignored James’s other match-winning attributes. By the end of the tournament, the decision to back James proved inspired.
De Villiers came into the Bok job with grand ambitions of total rugby, but after failing to keep James in the country and a half-hearted attempt to convert the promising Ruan Pienaar to flyhalf, he too settled on the conservative option.
Steyn is the incumbent because De Villiers is convinced that goal kicks win matches, and while there is some truth in this belief, other aspects of the game also need to be taken into account. The 2010 season was a case in point, as despite Steyn’s 41 successive penalties and conversions, South Africa still lost five of their six Tri-Nations Tests.
De Villiers needs to be brave and pick a flyhalf who can offer him more than goal-kicking security. James is in the coach’s plans and will return home to join the Lions in May. While De Villiers may have decided on his starter for 10 in New Zealand, James is determined to change his mind.
‘It’s a talented group of players, the calibre of which we won’t see again for a while,’ he says in reference to the Boks’ decorated senior core. ‘I want to be a part of that again. It’s going to be hard to break into such a formidable side, but to start for the Boks at the World Cup would be a dream come true.’
His first task is to perform for the Lions at the back end of the Super Rugby tournament, and convince the selectors he has what most experts already recognise as the aura. It took White a while to buy into the idea, and De Villiers will also take convincing. Fortunately, James is used to making fools out of sceptics, and will relish the fight to regain a jersey that was once unequivocally his.
‘The Lions already have some impressive flyhalf options in Elton Jantjies, Burton Francis and André Pretorius,’ he says. ‘That’s fine. They’ve made no promises to me about starting and that suits me perfectly. I want it to be tough; I want to have to fight for a start. Winning a starting place is my ambition, especially in a World Cup year. After that, I want to show the national selectors what I can do.’
Four years on from the 2007 World Cup and James has added to his repertoire. The improvement has been patent in his showings for Bath in the European club competitions, and the time abroad has forced him to become a more rounded player.
‘Competing in northern hemisphere conditions can really alter your playing style,’ he says. ‘I’ve had to embrace tactical kicking a lot more, as that’s the skill set required for wet weather. There’s also more focus on the No 10 as the player the team depends on, so it’s made me grow up a lot.’
Jones argues that James has what it takes to revive a Bok backline that’s shown few signs of life in the past 12 months.
‘He hasn’t lost any of the skill that made him such a force at the 2007 World Cup,’ Jones says. ‘Bath are a different side when he starts for them. His physicality certainly adds something to their game.
‘As for his kicking, he’s always been good at identifying space and his rare ability to kick on the run means the opposition back three need to be wary. It keeps them thinking about their positioning and means that they can’t go into the game with a set plan. That’s not to say Morné Steyn is a bad flyhalf, but Butch certainly ticks a lot of boxes.’
Jones also stresses that under the current laws which favour attacking momentum, Test teams need flyhalves who can vary their play.
‘Butch can change his alignment at speed. Stevie Larkham was great at it, and Butch is right up there too. When you get quick ball, you want a flyhalf to run on to the pass, but you also want him testing the defenders with different running lines. It’s an invaluable weapon under the new laws, as the tackle is far more combative. You want a guy who can breach the gain line and set up quick ball.’
Bath coach Steve Meehan agrees that James has more than lived up to his reputation. Over four seasons, Meehan has watched James develop a maturity that amplifies his threat.
‘Defensively, I think he’s misunderstood in the sense that those big hits are more calculated than they look, and it’s not just an individual thing but something that’s planned within the team context,’ says Meehan. ‘Those big hits inspire team-mates to follow suit, and it can also put them on the front foot. There’s nothing random about Butch’s defence.’
Like Smit, Meehan doesn’t hesitate in endorsing James as the heartbeat of the team. While he’s not a leader in the strictest sense, his abrasive style and shrewd option-taking sets the standard for team-mates to follow.
‘Butch is a World Cup winner, but he’s also a fighter. He’s come back from so many injury setbacks, and the dedication it’s taken to get through rehab and then get back into his groove hasn’t been lost on the other players.
‘They admire him for his skill, and when he has something to say, there are no arguments. He tells it pretty simply, but there’s a lot of thought behind those plain words.’
It’s a travesty that James so rarely receives plaudits in his home country. It’s an injustice that stems from the perception that he can’t kick. Those who argue for Steyn as South Africa’s only kicking option are ignorant of James’s accomplishments with the boot. In the last decade, coaches have trusted Braam van Straaten and Percy Montgomery ahead of James, and James has only kicked for goal in 16 of his 40 Tests. But aside from the coaches’ lack of faith, you can’t fault James’s strike rate of 83%, a record that’s marginally less accurate than Steyn’s.
And an argument for Steyn as the Boks’ sole tactical option holds no water when you consider James’s outstanding contributions in this department. Few would have forgotten the pin-point kicking display that laid the foundation for a 53-8 hammering of the Wallabies in 2008.
He’s also never been scared to use the kick as a weapon; those attacking grubbers, chips and cross kicks so often resulting in tries for team-mates. While Steyn is the master of one discipline, James is more like Carter in that he can switch between a conservative and an attacking style of play.
‘A flyhalf needs to vary his game,’ says James. ‘If he sits back in the pocket and boots the ball continuously, he’s going to make it easy for the defence, and if he takes it to the line every time, he also becomes predictable.
‘I’m happy with the standard of my tactical kicking, and realise that it’s an important part of Test rugby. But is it everything? I prefer to play my rugby with ball in hand. My kicking is good but you need more from a flyhalf, you need somebody who can bring the backline into the game.’
– This article first appeared in the April issue of SA Rugby magazine.
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229 Comments
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14 Apr 2011, 08:53 am
@Finfan(Finfan)-48: ruan left SA because he ‘hated ‘ playing 10….he wanted to play 9….really he did not want the 10 jersey. He never really ever bought into the 10 switch….you cant blame pdv for everything .
14 Apr 2011, 08:54 am
@Finfan(Finfan)-48: Ruan has more issues with BMT than DC himself!
14 Apr 2011, 08:55 am
@BokiNZ(BokiNZ)-52: exactly….a more fragile mindset than ruan at 10 was hard to find
14 Apr 2011, 08:57 am
Butch is hondkak.
If he wants to go to the world cup he must buy a ticket like everybody else.
14 Apr 2011, 08:59 am
@The X-factor is staying at home.(gunther)-54: perhaps he can then get a group discount if he buys with Plod,Spies and M Steyn?
14 Apr 2011, 09:01 am
keo what is it with your incessant fixation with getting butch back into the bok lineup? Do you have a side line as his agent, control his media rights or and I hope I am wrong here, firmly believe butch is the answer to our prayers for the rwc?
2007 there is no disputing his value, his display in marsielles, stopping the Fijian onslaught dead by changing the game, slowing it down and changing the line of attack is one of his finest moments, but 4 years later, the game is so different, the requirements from your flyhalf so much more demanding to hope for a big hit that doesn’t end up with a yellow card highlights how naive some of your articales are now becoming!
Carter’s single biggest strength is his ability to adapt, sure we lack that in our no10′s but we don’t play like the all blacks. The boks biggest issue is predictability, we need to vary the game plan, utilize the back line, and maintain at the very least parity at the set piece. World cups are won on defense, imdon’t think that will be the case in 2011, the offload will decide this world cup, sa’s brain trust needs to look at keeping the scoreboard ticking over, whilst employing a defensive structure that is tight. Steyn may not be a defensive giant but he does’t need to be, butch is too costly a player and hasn’t had enough first class rugby to command the bok pivot position in 2011.
Finally, give this article a rest or at the very leastpost the counter arguments and balance out your incessant rants on this point. 4th article on this website this year on the matter?
14 Apr 2011, 09:03 am
@grant10(grant10)-51: Disagree, I am sure Pienaar would’ve eventually settled if it was made clear to him that he would start big matches at 10, rather than warming the bench as an allrounder. The uncertainty (his own fault) affected his confidence and he had a few mediocre games and then was not considered again. I went to watch him play 10 in a couple of low-key CC games. He was abolutely sublime (as good as DC) and in time he would’ve been as good in bog games.
14 Apr 2011, 09:03 am
Methinks that Keo is negotiating to publish Butch’s autobiography……
14 Apr 2011, 09:05 am
@Finfan(Finfan)-57: i’m actually with you on this one, the problem being that the local teams liked to use him at 9 rather than 10 a lot of the time, so he never settled even at provincial level.
I think he got to the point where he was just tired and wanted to go back to doing what he was coomfortable doing, playing 9.
IMO he should go as the 3rd srummie anyway.
14 Apr 2011, 09:05 am
@stew(stew)-20: Bet you’d love to Lend Donald!!!!
14 Apr 2011, 09:07 am
@Finfan(Finfan)-57: i assure you Ruan DID NOT WANT TO PLAY 10.!
Now you can either believe me or not……but i stress again, i know he was very unhappy at 10 and wanted to play 9.
This is simply a fact.
14 Apr 2011, 09:09 am
Grantie
You should go on tour with material like that.
I especially liked your chirp yesterday about how we must give CJ a chance because he was awesome in 2007.
You are such an ignopotamus.
14 Apr 2011, 09:10 am
@Pick the team in August not March(stormersboy)-59: I’m sure he’ll make the WC team but it is a pity that it won’t be as first choice 10. I don’t have confidence in any of the current crop, including James. Lambie is talented but hasn’t been tested at the highest level. PdV was highly unreasonable and short sighted not to give him more opportunities on the EOY tour, especially after his performances in the CC.
14 Apr 2011, 09:12 am
@grant10(grant10)-55: lol
14 Apr 2011, 09:14 am
@grant10(grant10)-61: Don’t wet your panties! I never disagreed – it was a well known fact that Ruan preferred to play scrummie. What I said was that PdV should’ve forced the issue and given him an ultimatum. In the end everyone lost out. A total waste in my opinion.
14 Apr 2011, 09:20 am
@Finfan(Finfan)-65: it was a non starter from the set go…..Ruan was always , at best, a very reluctant participant in the 10 experiment.
I know this for a fact, basically he walked away a despondent player, feeling he was not listened to in SA…
14 Apr 2011, 09:21 am
PDV could not and did not convince ruan he was a 10.
14 Apr 2011, 09:29 am
@grant10(grant10)-66: True, but sad. I still believe that by now, he would’ve been a world beater at 10 if he played every test in the same position. Bottomline is that he is the only one with the total required skills set to be a top flyhalve at present. But it won’t happen and it is too late now, so be it.
(I’m sure you are worried because the last time PdV forced a player to change positions – John Smit – the results weren’t too great. You have made this clear quite a few times
)
14 Apr 2011, 09:29 am
Bring back baas!
14 Apr 2011, 09:32 am
@Finfan(Finfan)-68: ja well….enough said I reckon.
14 Apr 2011, 09:35 am
Have these journalist seen him play lately? Have they seen Bath being whipped by massive scores lately? Are these the same blinkered journalist who tells us that currently CJ is a better prop than Mujati just because CJ plays down South? I get the impression these journalists don’t watch any Northern Hemisphere rugby, otherwise none of their statements would have been made.
14 Apr 2011, 09:37 am
Oh for Pete’s sake – can this guy not get over Butch James? We have heard all this **** before – how international flyhalves who face the best and biggest loose forwards in the world are suddenly going to **** themselves because Butchie is playing against them.
Please, ffs, does anyone buy this drivel that Carter, Giteau, Wilkenson, Flood, O’Connor, Jones, Sexton, et al are going to shiver in their boots because Butch is defending in their channel? Why does Cardinelli not write about how Butch ***** himself at the prospect of playing against Carter?
The rugby intelligence quoficient in some quarters is truly astounding
14 Apr 2011, 09:42 am
Couch, great response! Pity this site is becoming so myopic on these points!
Kevin R the burg racks?
14 Apr 2011, 09:43 am
@gecko(gecko)-71: I have watched him a lot…..not at his best
but a lot better than M Steyn!!
14 Apr 2011, 09:43 am
@Couchcoach(GI POT)-72: A few years ago, the Keo crowd tried to convince us that Fourie du Preez should be played at 10. Not such a bad idea, in fact, better than trying to convince us that a 10 in a wheelchair should be used at the WC!
14 Apr 2011, 09:44 am
@Finfan(Finfan)-75:
he he he
14 Apr 2011, 09:44 am
best is to see how the 10 s shape when against each other ….lots of opportunities to check out form.
It would not surprise me in the slightest if Lambie ends up top of the pile.
14 Apr 2011, 09:47 am
@grant10(grant10)-77: With Elton Jantjies a close second?
14 Apr 2011, 09:50 am
Damn, I justed puked on my Jeep shirt at the sight of another Butch article. I know Jeep stands for adventure and living life to the full, but I don’t think they had the sight of my mieliepap all over their logo in mind.
Geez, I cannot get over it – the same old, same old.
Uh oh, gotta run…
14 Apr 2011, 09:55 am
Lambie will not be selected unless he get’s some serious game time for the minnows! How’s his injury?
14 Apr 2011, 09:55 am
Aura? What aura? Cardinelli, I think the word that you were looking for is not aura; it is notoriety. Or maybe you got confused and wanted to say that Butch has an “air” about him – a whole lot of hot air of his own creation.
The bards and poets of old must be turning in their graves at the sight of the abuse of the English language by our rugby journalists.
14 Apr 2011, 09:56 am
So the fans are whinging (ok, no news element there) about the Boks ‘Old Boys Club’
and yet
theyre desperate for the Butcher ?!?
‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ seems to be the key selection criteria around here, like it was for Frans for TriN’10. He was v.poor.
14 Apr 2011, 09:57 am
@Couchcoach(GI POT)-79: If I were wearing a Jeep shirt I’d also be puking.
14 Apr 2011, 09:59 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-82: I think only the journalist is ‘desperate for the Butcher’
I think the rest of us are desperate for a different style of rugby, and desperate for a new game plan and desperate for the old boys to retire gracefully.
14 Apr 2011, 10:01 am
@gecko(gecko)-84: well said
14 Apr 2011, 10:05 am
@garth(garth)-83:
14 Apr 2011, 10:07 am
what is a jeep shirt?
14 Apr 2011, 10:07 am
@gecko(gecko)-84:
I accept and agree with the sentiment. But its hardly the 1st time Ive seen Butcher offered as a preferred alternative here.
14 Apr 2011, 10:11 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-88: Can I ask, is he always offered by the same journo? Or let me rephrase, is he offered by the journo’s, or by the punters?
14 Apr 2011, 10:12 am
@The X-factor is staying at home.(gunther)-87:
Those two tone, patches on the pocket shirts, just about every hunter and oke in snor city wears !!
14 Apr 2011, 10:13 am
As an aside, an entertaining piece by Ewan Mckenzie about the art of lineout – I did not know we actually invented the art. Also puts into some perspective how bad home referees were for the game:
“Back in 1992, on our first post-apartheid visit to South Africa, we discovered that the South Africans had developed the practice of “lifting” in their period of sporting exile. So when we played Northern Transvaal in the first tour game we came across abnormally tall players being lifted to abnormally tall heights.
Messers McCall and Eales were not in the hunt with a South African referee in charge. So overnight I went from being a “blocker” to a “lifter” and the lineout went from a scrap to a tactical weapon where quality ball could be delivered if your tactics where right.”
goes on..
14 Apr 2011, 10:14 am
@garth(garth)-83:
Having a fancy dress at work – I thought a Jeep shirt would make an interesting intermissio from my usual two-tone shirt. I could not get myself so far to get rid of my PT shorts, rugby socks and CAT boots. My comb fits nicely in my top pocket of my Jeep shirt, though
14 Apr 2011, 10:15 am
@justrugby(justrugby)-90:
but why is it called a jeep shirt?
14 Apr 2011, 10:15 am
@Couchcoach(GI POT)-92:
14 Apr 2011, 10:16 am
@The X-factor is staying at home.(gunther)-93: isnt jeep afrikaans for “cheap” ?
14 Apr 2011, 10:17 am
Recommend rugbyheaven for quality of writing and intelligent discussion, aiming at least for a certain impartial discourse on the game and players
14 Apr 2011, 10:18 am
Butch is a bit of an unknown. Has anyone been watching him? The benefit is that he can tag along as cover for Jean. So he is actually competing with WO for the backup to 12. Butch wins that comp any day of the week.
If the WC were tomorrow and all injured players were good I’d take:
1 Beats/Gunthro
2 Bismarck/Liebenberg
3 Jannie/(Brok or Kruger?)
4 Bakkies/Eldstadt
5 Bekker/Matfield
6 Brussouw/Burger
7 Smith/Alberts
8 Duane/Koster
9 FDP/Sarel
10 Lambie/Grant
11 Mvovo/Hougaard
12 Jean/Butch
13 Jacques/De Jongh
14 JP/Aplon
15 Steyn/Viljoen
14 Apr 2011, 10:18 am
@The X-factor is staying at home.(gunther)-93:
Because the brand “Jeep” is the logo on the shirt !!!!
Go get yourself one !!
People will think you drive a 4×4 instead of a spark !!
14 Apr 2011, 10:21 am
As the sole club member and President of the so called ‘Old Boys Club’ I welcome Butch James, Spies, Bakkies the Brute Botha, Fourie du Preez, Olivier, de Villiers, Smit and the rest of the boys into the Bok team.
Roll on RWC.
Kiwis need to watch the Northern Hemisphere teams closely as they will inevitably slip on their gumguards and look all silly come the quarter finals.
Oh wait, they’re the favourites…favourites and champions being as similar as chalk and cheese..
14 Apr 2011, 10:26 am
@justrugby(justrugby)-98:
jeep make clothes?
oer.
Not for me.
My hunting days are over.
Although the natives still call me Big Bwana One-Shot.
Actually I took the spark for a service in town.
I almost got run over by Jayzees motor blue light fuckshow.
1 big 7 series Beemer
4 smaller Beemers.
2 golfs
2 minivans full of mshiniwamis.
Sheesh, who does he think he is?
Julius?
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