Cup hopefuls floored by collective failings
26 Jul 2011
JON CARDINELLI says the Springboks’ World Cup players won’t gain anything from the coming Test unless there’s better teamwork at the breakdown.
Most expected a defeat in Sydney, and another hiding is on the cards when Peter de Villiers’s dirt-trackers cross the Tasman to face the All Blacks. Defeat is expected, but there’s still something to play for in the context of the World Cup.
Several individuals would have targeted this tour as a final opportunity to impress the Bok selectors, who will name their 30-man squad at the conclusion of the Tri-Nations. Some did themselves no favours with a shocking individual showing in Sydney, while others were limited by the collective failure of the Bok pack.
The scrum wobbled and the lineout was a far cry from the imposing set-piece we’ve come to expect. From those shaky platforms, the Boks battled to build an attack, but that’s not to say that set-piece mediocrity was completely to blame for an amateurish and inferior performance at the tackle.
The Boks conceded six penalties and as many as eight turnovers at the breakdown. They were often hit back in contact by the determined Wallabies forwards, whose physical attitude was complemented by excellent decision making. Whether they employed the counter-ruck tactic or settled for slowing down the Boks’ ruck recycle, they were effective in denying the Boks go-forward ball.
The Bok tight five was disappointing but again the back row must shoulder some of the blame for the lacklustre collective showing. Danie Rossouw featured with some promising runs, but was often isolated when his team-mates failed to beat the Wallabies to the breakdown. Ashley Johnson was sluggish and didn’t offer the physicality of a typical Test player, and Deon Stegmann continues to offer up ammunition for critics who view him as a liability rather than an asset.
The Boks were fortunate not to concede 50 points to the Wallabies. Given the All Blacks’ trademark physicality and expertise at the breakdown, you’d expect the New Zealanders to inflict similar damage this coming Saturday, even if they will be missing Brad Thorn, Kieran Read, Owen Franks and Keven Mealamu. The Boks’ growing injury list will also work in the All Blacks’ favour.
It won’t help that Flip van der Merwe’s injury will force De Villiers to reshuffle his pack ahead of the All Blacks Test. Moving their best back-row exponent in Rossouw to lock will rob them of a powerful ball-carrier, but De Villiers doesn’t have many other options.
The uncapped Gerhard Mostert has just arrived in Australasia, and so starting him in the second row would would be a mistake, even if he plays alongside his Sharks team-mate Alistair Hargreaves. As Johnson found out last week, Test rugby is a massive step up.
The Boks will lose in Wellington this Saturday, and there will be few positives to take from the performance in the context of the World Cup. Much would have been expected of forwards like Rossouw and John Smit on this tour, but the lack of cohesion, which has as much to do with poor selection and coaching as it does with poor individual showings by team-mates, has robbed them of an opportunity to build momentum ahead of the tournament that matters.
78 Comments
26 Jul 2011, 05:39 am
Dragons!
26 Jul 2011, 06:20 am
At the moment springbok rugby is like a brother in prison. You still love him but don’t want to talk about him. Can we please have more currie cup articles? Just like last year i find it much more enjoying to watch than the tri-nations.
26 Jul 2011, 06:43 am
JC.How is it possible that you do not see the blatant shortcomings of Danie Rossouw as a loose forward.How many times does the ball get ripped from him by small guys like J O’C?How often does he loose the ball in contact? How often does he isolate himself in running.?
I aslo totally disagree with you on Johnson. He did not have a bad introduction to test rugby .Was not great , but not halve as bad as you are making it.
Not once will you single out our captain as a liability.Someone else has to do his work. Thus the rot begins.
You definitely have your favourites and your dislikes.Would you mind giving us your opinion on Keegan Daniel
26 Jul 2011, 07:09 am
Bit harsh on Johnson I think. He spent most of his time back-peddling to keep up with his pack.
26 Jul 2011, 07:31 am
You can fire away at individual players as much as you want, but take this same group of players, give them to Heyneke Meyer or John Plumtree for 3 weeks and I guarantee you they would have been far more competitive than the disaster we saw on Saturday.
No defensive coordination, no plan on attack – at times the ball lay behind the ruck for 10 seconds as Pienaar tried to decide what to do with it, and no overall gameplan other than one off runners running at channel 1.
Poor coaching is to blame far more than players who individually have all performed impressively at Super rugby level.
26 Jul 2011, 07:52 am
” Much would have been expected of forwards like Rossouw and John Smit on this tour, but the lack of cohesion, which has as much to do with poor selection and coaching as it does with poor individual showings by team-mates, has robbed them of an opportunity to build momentum ahead of the tournament that matters.”
JC the above comment is farcical, JS should be leading by example, the poor individual showing was demonstrated by none other than the captain himself !!!
26 Jul 2011, 08:00 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-5:
do you think heyneke will throw his hat in the ring next year? if he does he’s got to evolve though. bulls rugby (which was really him designing a system at the time that could work) is not as effective anymore even with the right players. the rules are different and all the opposition have studied and figured it out well enough to negate it.
i still think he would be a great coach but he would have to come up with a whole new set of goods. plus with some luck if the gods smile on him another bakkies will rise.
26 Jul 2011, 08:16 am
Worst of all this is that Kiwi and Ozzie are getting used to wasting the Boks(ABC whatever team)Psychologically they will be over us come world cup. If they get to face us that is…
26 Jul 2011, 08:19 am
I still say that the biggest problem with this team is the appearance of the complete lack of coaching.
They just seemed to have no game plan and looked completely disorganised in all facets of play.
There are a few selection problems however the biggest problem for me is the coaching.
I can’t wait for the World Cup to be over, just to get rid of idiots who are currently distroying Springbok pride!
Maybe, we’ll get some decent coaches for the next W.C. People like, Heineke Meyer, Rassie Erasmus, Rod McQueen or John Mitchelle. Just imagine the potential we could achieve.
26 Jul 2011, 08:25 am
The truth is this game of ours is speeding up due to all the rule changes that mainly favour the ascending team, as opposed to the attacking team. As Steggies.
I’ve been warning about this for some time, and Ewan Mackenzie was the first coach to notice this 2 years ago. The Reds, and by implication Oz, have benefited greatly from having younger faster, committed hungry players with intelligence. They’re not the biggest, but boy they move that ball around on the field, and as the old adage goes, which I would like to add a tail to- ‘the ball is the fastest moving thing on the field, if propelled by a faster sharper mind….’
When will we ever learn. Everybody is shouting from the rooftops for bigger players. What did it help them on Saturday? What did it help the Cheetahs?
26 Jul 2011, 08:25 am
@iceman(iceman)-9:
cant believe you john mitchell’s name in that list. insult to the other names on there.
26 Jul 2011, 08:30 am
While the Aussies were training hard in the rain the Boks were having their pictures taken indoors. And why is Ruan allowed to take his boyfriend on tour? He clearly didn’t sleep a wink the previous night. Don’t for one second think **** Muirs face was red from embarrassment. Sydney has too many temptations for this madota. The guys are only there to make up the numbers and they seem happy with that. 2 minutes before kick off Basson is still selling goats on farmville with his blackberry. But despite the overall lack of commitment they still performed better than i thought they would.
26 Jul 2011, 08:31 am
@optiplay(optiplay)-3: Another lone voice in the wilderness. But our numbers will grow exponentially after the WC when all will be exposed. Size is not everything. Skill is. Why the professional era has heralded this infatuation with size is a mystery. Size only kicks in when you can effectively and skillfully control and protect the ball. Without the latter, size is a fallacy.
26 Jul 2011, 08:35 am
you journo’s just don’t realize that the reason why talented S15 players can’t “STEP UP” to Bok (International) Level is because they aren’t being coached by *******.
Blooding a new international player is an Art, you need to build confidence surround him with seniors that show him the ropes, transfer experience and teach the rookie about Bok Culture and respect for the jersey.
How the hell can a talented youngster grow as a player under the current MUPPIT coaches ????
26 Jul 2011, 08:40 am
@Dwis(Dwis)-12:
ruan has a boyfriend hehehe
26 Jul 2011, 08:43 am
And before anyone jumps up and refers to Samoa vs Oz, it is a typical example where skills are up there, in place, and size then becomes effective. But size without skills (eg Danie R, Spies and the like) and you rely on the luck of the draw, 50:50, etc. Will he; won’t he, and I would never bet on those odds.
In fact, Samoa lie in wait of SA in the WC. They probably can’t win this thing because they lack depth and consistency, but boy, if their team stays whole, are we in for some fun. Their entire claim to fame and credibility might just end up being that they beat the defending champs.
26 Jul 2011, 09:18 am
there are short memories here….the elders in the boks had deemed pdv surplus to requirements by saying they dont support his game plan…back in 2008. yet if they trusted him they would have had 3years experience with this complete rugby and this would have been complemented with the new laws.
but no the elders thought they were wiser….they discredited pdv made him a puppet and continue to play skop and donner rugby. guess who in the team is saying “i told you so”.
26 Jul 2011, 09:57 am
@wallabie.(wallabie.)-17:
where did you pick up on this opinion? at hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry?
he never had any complete rugby theory let alone a manual. all he said (mumbled) was some esoteric line about “playing the situation in front of you” to the team back when he first started. this was taken to mean he wanted fancy running stuff and less structure.
we would have been even deeper up sshit creak if the team and support staff had followed his ramblings.
26 Jul 2011, 10:02 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-5: Here we go…….While the coaching could be a weakness, pry do tell, how a a team who makes 24 missed tackles in 48 minutes will get away with it? If individual mistakes were cut by even half, the game would have been different, even if the result had not been.
I can see why you’re trying to deflect attention from the players, because it’s easier to so, while creating a comparative narrative about how his holiness, Heyneke Meyer, will fixx this broken lot with a wave of hi magic wand. I witness 3 or 4 bits of tactical ineptness, which could be attributed to coaching.
Cut out the individual mistakes and things won’t look so bad.
26 Jul 2011, 10:08 am
@pompies2(pompies2)-19:
Tackles were missed because players were indecisive in applying the defensive system – due to lack of proper training.
If you’re caught in two minds on which channel to defend in, or whether the guy on your inside is going to be in place to cover that channel you are prone to missing tackles as you are caught out of position or flat footed.
Cooper exploited this a numer of times.
As an example, at the Bulls Olivier rates amongst the best defending centres in Super rugby. But at the Boks gaps were opening up in midfield like clockwork. Difficult to defend a channel when the guy on your outside shoots up out of the line, or if the guy on your inside is not there to close that channel – as happened when Cooper broke inside to set up their first try, and when De Jongh shot up out of the line to set up their second try.
26 Jul 2011, 10:09 am
@ruans dad has told ruans mom that ruan doesnt have a legend…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-18:
If hogwarts is SARU then that is where I got it. PDV mentioned that he wanted more running rugby and I remember something to the effect of complete rugby…but he elders in the boks could not think past flyhalf.
26 Jul 2011, 10:15 am
For example – a rush defense requires that the outside backs shoot up quickly to cut off outside attacking opportunities, forcing the inside backs to break back to the inside.
This is exactly what the Boks managed when Cooper broke inside in his own 22, only to find that there was no one covering the inside gap, resulting in Aus’s first try.
Again, this is probably was what de Jongh was trying to do when he shot up to cut of the outside pass, only the rest of the backline was not on the same wavelength, with some hanging back trying a sheperding defense to push Cooper to the outside. The result was a massive gap between Olivier and de Jongh, and ended in Aus’s second try.
So who designs the Bok defensive pattern? Is it Gold? Is it Muir? Whoever it is, he is an idiot and failed to instill this pattern properly in his players.
The players know how to apply any defensive pattern at that level. But if they are in two minds as to how to coordinate it, that turns your defense into Swiss Cheese.
The entire Bok coaching team should be fired. Hell, they should have been fired 2 years ago.
26 Jul 2011, 10:26 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-20: I’d be inclined to agree with you if 2 defensive players were defending 1 channel or tackling 1 player, but these missed tackles were one-on-one tackles.
The Olivier \ de Jongh situation sholdn’t be too difficult to fix as this is a combination thing. Also, if you were to watch the first try again, you’ll notice that it in fact was Ruan Pienaar who shot up and no one was covering the inside defensive channel. I have no doubt it was the tactic, and rightly so, to cut off Cooper’s outside and pass, but the the responsibility falls on the inside channel defenders to close that space, which didn’t happen.
I can see you focus is on defending the bulls players and for once I feel sorry for Olivier. He was given no chance to be effective, but this can be partly attributed to Morne’s depth in attack and his inability to attract or commit defenders. All this does is shift the defence and requires a further distance for your openside or primary supporting player to cover.
The second try yuo refer to was in fact a planned thing. I suspect the Aussies noted that the blind side from a kick-off would comprise of a tight-forward as the ruck pillar and Genia would run a good angle to beat him on the outside shoulder. Because they had left their wing on the blind-side, even in small space, our wing could not commit to Genia as it would open the space.
Perhaps if you watched the match again, these things might become more apparent.
26 Jul 2011, 10:31 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-22:
agreed.
there seemed to be no coherent defensive strategy.
26 Jul 2011, 10:40 am
@pompies2(pompies2)-23: don’t worry pompies, the bulls were found kak @ their defence this season too, especially the last game of THEIR season.
26 Jul 2011, 10:42 am
@pompies2(pompies2)-23:
I’m referring to the try where Cooper ran sideways between Olivier and de Jongh, after de Jongh had shot up out of the line, which set up an easy try, not the one where Genia broke blindside to dart between Kruger and Smit.
Not sure if it was the second of the third try.
26 Jul 2011, 10:44 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-25: I find it strange when people watch a national team with provincial bias. How does that allow you to be objective in your criticism. There were a number of players, irrespective of provincial affiliation who were weak on the weekend and as a result, the Boks lost.
26 Jul 2011, 10:51 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-26: Get your try numbers correct or go watch the game again, without looking for mistakes from non-bulls players.
1st try. Ruan puts pressure on Cooper for the anticipated kick. Cooper breaks from inside his own 22m area.. Cooper dummies and breaks inside with no inside channel defender.
2nd try. Kick-off. Aussies collect inside their 22m area. Genia spots to front-row defenders (Smit & Kruger) on the blind-side. Makes break and feeds to Ioane and beats Aplon in one-on-one.
Care to clarify?
26 Jul 2011, 10:53 am
@pompies2(pompies2)-27:
where is he criticising players from a provincial perspective?
he is commenting on the defensive system and coaching.
or lack of.
and he is not wrong.
26 Jul 2011, 10:56 am
@pompies2(pompies2)-28:
Next try: Aussies on attack in our 22, Cooper gets the ball and pretends to pass, De Jongh shoots up out of the line to close down the centre, while Olivier hangs back to cover his channel. Result: Cooper crabs sideways, with Olivier tagging along and runs into the hole left by de Jongh, leading to the try.
The Genia break you’re referring to was quite obviously simply because he was able to outpace two tightforwards who were covering a massive blindside – a situation which should never arise. One which you can’t blame two front rowers for, but rather the defensive system which allowed them to end up exposed like that.
26 Jul 2011, 10:57 am
@Gunther is friends with bra Julius and his family trust(gunther)-29:
Agreed. I have said previously that I don’t blame de Jongh for that error, as he was probably trying to implement a rush defense, while the other defenders were trying to do something else.
Total lack of coordination on defense.
26 Jul 2011, 11:00 am
@Gunther is friends with bra Julius and his family trust(gunther)-29: If you can’t see it, then I can’t help you. Perhaps this will help.
“As an example, at the Bulls Olivier rates amongst the best defending centres in Super rugby. But at the Boks gaps were opening up in midfield like clockwork. Difficult to defend a channel when the guy on your outside shoots up out of the line, or if the guy on your inside is not there to close that channel – as happened when Cooper broke inside to set up their first try, and when De Jongh shot up out of the line to set up their second try.”
So it’s de Jongh’s fault, like it’s not Morne’s fault. So how good was Morne’ considering the Bulls score more tries than any other franchise? He also mentioned Stegmann’s numerous turnovers when in fact there was only 1 and the Aussies ruck ball was delivered at lightning speed. Forgive me, but is one of the functions of the ‘fethcer’ to slow down opposition ball.
Fact is, Morne was useless and only served to make Wynand’s game bad, A better 10 would have seen a better display from Olivier.
26 Jul 2011, 11:01 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-31:
it’s not really suprising.
gary gold got half an hour every week before a test to work on defensive structures with the team.
why should it change this year?
26 Jul 2011, 11:04 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-30: So it’s the third try? You seem a bit unsure. If the strategy was to implement the rush defence and Olivier didn’t react to cover the hole, well then that again is an idividual mistake and not a coaching \ strategy error. Again, eliminate most of the individual mistakes and things look different.
26 Jul 2011, 11:06 am
@Gunther is friends with bra Julius and his family trust(gunther)-33: Is this from your reliable ‘sauces’
26 Jul 2011, 11:09 am
@pompies2(pompies2)-32:
Don’t know if Olivier is really considered to be a superb defender.
The Bulls have leaked several tries in the last three seasons (including of course their championship years).
Bulls defense in general has been suspect for a while now.
26 Jul 2011, 11:13 am
@pompies2(pompies2)-34:
Feel free to nitpick. The point I’m making is clear to anyone with half a brain.
Defensive organisation was non-existent.
26 Jul 2011, 11:18 am
@pompies2(pompies2)-35:
impeccable.
they was there.
I know you don’t like ANYBODY criticising the coach.
deal with it my son.
26 Jul 2011, 11:20 am
If you feel nitpicking has no place in rugby or a rugby discussion, then that’s OK. But don’t nitpick when it suits you. Your argument about the ’2nd try’ was wrong from the offset. What I’m merely questioning is you ability to recollect. Seems you have selective memory.
26 Jul 2011, 11:23 am
@pompies2(pompies2)-39:
So you’re using the fact that I got the order of the tries wrong, to attack the substance of my argument?
Pretty desperate.
26 Jul 2011, 11:23 am
@wallabie.(wallabie.)-17: Couldn’t have said it better myself.
26 Jul 2011, 11:26 am
@Gunther is friends with bra Julius and his family trust(gunther)-38: Why do you assume I don’t like anyone criticizing the coach? I dont’ like disproportionate blame being lumped on the coach when mistakes can be firmly levelled at the players door. missed tackles. coughing up possession in the opposition 22m area and resulting in tries at the other end. These are not things attributed to bad coaching.
I won’t deny that PDV has been disappointing at times, but until you’ve actually spent time in the Bok setup, most, if not all, of what you know is hearsay.
My emphasis on this topic has been to watch the game carefully and comments based on astute observation. Apparently that’s too much to ask.
26 Jul 2011, 11:29 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-40: I’ve told you what I think. If you see no value in my point, then we’re going to be arguing for a long time. I’ve made very clear where I disagree with you regarding the defensive situation.
26 Jul 2011, 11:30 am
@pompies2(pompies2)-42:
did that look like a well coached team to you?
yes or no?
anyway this is pointless and quite boring.
26 Jul 2011, 11:33 am
Judging from the way they played, no. Can you say for sure that they followed instructions and played to the plan? Again, I ask, would it have been the same if the individual mistakes had been minimized?
26 Jul 2011, 11:40 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-30: why is Olivier “tagging along” what happened to tackling? if de jongh had also held his line too then cooper wouldve been allowed run from where he was the 1st receiver all the way up to o’connor on the wing…morne & wynand just “drifted” perpertually – that is not good defence.
26 Jul 2011, 11:43 am
@pompies2(pompies2)-45:
Cooper in his own 22, breaks inside to find no defending player in the channel – try. Defensive system mix up.
Genia breaks blind side to find 2 tightforwards in front of him – try. Defensive system mix-up.
Cooper in our 22, de Jong shoots up while Olivier hangs back – try. Defensive system mix up.
Those are all errors that occurred because the players were unsure how to implement the defensive system on the day. Coaching failure.
26 Jul 2011, 11:43 am
@pompies2(pompies2)-27: you raising valid points on your argument but it will never work with some as all they want to do is defend their provincial players or blame the coach. When we win, it’s the snr players strategy and when we lose it’s the coach who is useless, boggles how some minds work.
as for Tac point of Olivier being one of the better defenders in Superrugby, that he is but on one on one situation, you will not see him being run over or miss a tackle but as for the team he is not the best.. the best we have in our centres for defending well for the team is Jacque Fourie, yeah i was also surprised by him going for SBW in that semi-final while he was already tackled, before Tac jumps on that.
26 Jul 2011, 11:47 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-46:
Yes, Cooper would have run all the way to the outside centre, cutting off the space for his outside backs and thus forcing them either over the touchline, or for the wing to cut back into traffic.
That’s the defensive system at the Bulls – in fact it is the drift defense employed by most of our provincial teams.
But it requires that the centres stay in line instead of rushing up.
26 Jul 2011, 11:54 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-46:
You should know when to drift or when to rush. And listen to your defensive organiser in a given defensive line. (Did we have a general one btw?)
A 10 and 12 cannot drift if there are tight forwards outside them facing an outside back (who would also drift), that is just common sense.
26 Jul 2011, 12:10 pm
@Griqua_warrior(willievz)-50: so who was the defensive “organiser”?
26 Jul 2011, 12:17 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-51:
I asked you first
I don’t know.
The Boks can certainly do with a certain calming influence…
26 Jul 2011, 12:33 pm
@Griqua_warrior(willievz)-52: i know if corne uys was there, he would’ve done it without a hitch
26 Jul 2011, 12:56 pm
This entire fiasco is bitterly disappointing! They take an injured lock on tour & then make comments to the press that ALL yes ALL the locks in SA are injured. Why did they not take Mostert in the 1st place? Would Anton Van Zyl have let them down? Brussouw was clearly not ready so why was he selected when clearly Keagan Daniel should have been selected. Players like Peter Grant & Duvenhage can’t make the initial 45 !!! Just for starters both are very good defenders plus Grant covers flyhalf and 1st center plus he has international experience plus he has the best S15 goal kicking percentage plus he distributes well plus he is not scared to take the ball flat and breach the gain line plus plus plus. Duvenhage was the BEST SA scrumhalf in the S15. In fact most of what they have done is bizarre!
26 Jul 2011, 13:00 pm
@Stormtrooper(Stormtrooper)-54: Peter Grant is useless and is not Bok material.
26 Jul 2011, 13:16 pm
Why does SA Rugby fall all-over itself, to find a place for Ruan.
He is clearly a very able rugby player, But.
Your best available 9?
Your best available 10?………………………………….. even,
I don’t think so.
Mind you, he couldn’t have been worse than Morne…………………………………could he.
26 Jul 2011, 13:53 pm
@cane(cane)-56: seems some players are just guaranteed free lunches….
Cane my good man I wonder whether you have any idea how frustrating it is to be a bok fan…
26 Jul 2011, 13:56 pm
I play 2nd grade open rugby in Brisbane’s premier rugby competition (Norths Rugby Union Club, “Will Genia’s club” -our only current claim to fame hehe) and even at my level, in this day and age, we go over the same drills again and again in training for restarts, kick returns, and from the set piece (even in our own 22) : DONT KICK THE BALL AWAY. Its the way the game has changed over the last few years and SA rugby hasnt kept up. I love the boks but they arent playing the attractive elbeit risky brand of rugby that the AB ‘s and Wallabies are playing.
Additionally, the coaching staff of the springboks are clearly to blame for the humiliating performance of the team and of individuals on Saturday night. For the life of me I cant stand reading everyones **** on here blaming individual players for the loss. Players like morne, hargreaves, olivier, steggmann: sure they didnt play well but all of them have the potential to be excellent international rugby players under the right management… quade had some shockers both on and off the field when he was young but ARU kept believing in him and now he’s the most dangerous attacking five eighth in the world. Pienaar and Smit were great players back in their days’ but once again poor management has pushed them past their expiration dates, robbing them of deserved honourable retirement.
The Springboks will not do well in this Tri-nations or the World Cup, all we can start doing now is looking to 2015 where exciting young players like lambie and hougaard can have the chance to develop their skillset to play the up-to-date brand of rugby that will be played as time progresses. Speed, flair and unpredictability will win NZ 2011.. of which the springboks have very little
Cheers
26 Jul 2011, 14:49 pm
“Danie Rossouw featured with some promising runs, but was often isolated when his team-mates”
Were was Steggman??? Let alone the abouve comments.. Did he do anything the entire Game?? Im being serious please some1 tell me? Were is his Agent Agile with all the “Stats”??
Did not see him ONCE the entire game. I remember some1 saying he was to busy hanging around trying to play centre, still though I never saw him..
Players like Flow, Deysel, Daniels, Brits, etc must really hard done by watching this minion being selected ahead of them.
How Matfield & Snor sleep at night I don’t know.
Just because he is a “fetcher” and from the Bulls he walks strait into the bok team.
Has he ever proven himself? NO. Has he ever warranted Springbok inclusion? No! Is he proving these comments wrong? No! Is he good enough? No.. Will he ever be better than Flow, Deysel, Daniels, Brits,Schalk,Juan, Watson, Johnson, Strous?? At this rate I seriously doubt it and until I see otherwise ill never believe it.. McCaw, Poccock and co must be liking their lips.. **** even the Northern Hem will be praying he becomes a bok regular if not at the world cup then after..
26 Jul 2011, 15:23 pm
@Guns(Guns)-59:
OK, well since you asked for me, look here:
http://www.keo.co.za/2011/07/25/sa-rugby-needs-honesty/all-comments/#comments
From post #419 and onwards.
We had this “debate” yesterday. I help “Two-Eyed” to come right.
I don’t have to do it from each one of you imbeciles. So just refer to that passage there.
26 Jul 2011, 15:36 pm
@ruans dad has told ruans mom that ruan doesnt have a legend…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-11:
I can tell you now that he would do allot better than the clowns that we currently have.
26 Jul 2011, 15:44 pm
@Agile T*t-Tyrant(Anairetes agilis)-60:
Dude, Im starting to think these guys are doing it just to annoy you.
26 Jul 2011, 15:50 pm
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-62:
That doesn’t make a lot of sense. They way they carry on…..
In that case they are all pathological and believe their own lies.
Other people say it too.
Tank Lanning, unfortuinately, I see writes that Stegmann was completely AWOL!
Well, Mr. Lanning, I’ve lost a little respect for you. Who in the Bok-team then was conspicuous?
Who could hold their head up high?
There are a number of A-team players in that team.
Stegmann does the most work on the field of 44 players and he is EXACTLY the one they say did the least.
GTFO.
26 Jul 2011, 16:02 pm
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-62: dude, i watched a cartoon the other day, samurai jack…there was this ninja warrior of the night, how if uses the shadows to make himself invisible, the only way samurai jack could beat him was to wrap himself – mummy like – in his white robe and disappear in light…
it got me thinking, when stegmann puts on the – green – bok jersey he becomes a ninja & disappears on the field, hence most of these bloggers CAN’T see him even though he is on.
26 Jul 2011, 16:18 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-64: The SA version of ‘Where’s Wally’……’where’s Stegmann’.
26 Jul 2011, 17:16 pm
Aaaand I think I’ll just post my opinion here as well:
“OK look, it’s really simple guys:
Some people have a habit of calling Stegmann a penalty machine, or that he disappears during games.
Since Stegmann didn’t give away a single penatly in the test match, they can’t use their usual accusation against him.
The areas penalties are most likely conceeded:
Rucks;
ball carries;
tackles.
And the sum of these put together is more for Stegmann than any of the 44 players on the field that day. In other words Stegmann did more work and had more opportunity to conceed penalties (especially in a losing team) than any other player present.
And since he didn’t, they rather say that he did nothing.
How precious are you lot !
And that’s how that it. Simple. Haters gonna hate.
(unfortunately they do suck in some other SA ignoramuses that are susceptible to this slandering of our own talent, since they are incapable of forming their own opinions. Just read any thread on keo.co.za to see what I mean).
26 Jul 2011, 17:19 pm
@pompies2(pompies2)-27: well said . People should take off their provincial hats when it comes to the Boks. it is about rugby,and it takes away from a lot of good points some of the bloggers make.I have read so many good posts on this site ,only to have it spoiled by some provincial remark .
It is different in the S15 and CC. But not when it comes to the international arena.
26 Jul 2011, 17:24 pm
JC. Do you ever read your own articles or any of the posts put up here??I would really appreciate it if you could have some dialogue with the guys on this site.Just a suggestion(or more than just that).
26 Jul 2011, 17:29 pm
@Agile T*t-Tyrant(Anairetes agilis)-66: Our captain is the first not to do his job. All the other teams have a real hooker,who is a 4 th loose forward as well.Our hooker has a 100 meter time of 17 seconds or more. Poor Stegmann has to do much more than what is possible. He would be at his best if our tight 5 can have some ascendancy.Our game was not lost by our loose forwards . Blame the Combinations and the Absolute poor tackling from 2,3,9,10.
26 Jul 2011, 18:20 pm
@optiplay(optiplay)-69:
Actaully Ruan tackled ok, but his DEFENSE was shocking. As a total defensive effort coughing up possesion the way he did (caught behind the line and passing into the opposition hands, not commiting to b/d defense etc. are all bad showings.
I would just say that he is rusty. I expect much more from him.
And on top of that Hargreaves got an abdominal muscle strain or whatever, that might explain his lack of aggression at the b/d.
But if we had a hardcore tight5, the openside would immediately be able to contend and direct matters more smoothly.
26 Jul 2011, 18:32 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-5: Meyer and Plumtree would do no better, blaming the coach is as misleading as blaming the players, rather blame the SA rugby system which ensures your best players are broken down and overplayed come test season. Until that is rectified SA will never be consistently competitive in the Tri Nations.
27 Jul 2011, 01:15 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-47: @pompies2(pompies2)-45: Guys just to give some perspective, you are talking about Quade Cooper here. He does this to opposition players routinely.This is not the first defensive system that has struggled against him and I’m sure it won’t be the last.
27 Jul 2011, 01:33 am
The Tri-Nations should be called the Don’t Try Nations, with leading players being rested en masse, especially by South Africa so far.
Call me old-fashioned, but that’s not what major test match rugby should be about under any circumstances.
Australia were impressive in Sydney but then again, they were playing rugby midgets in the South African backline. You will see bigger backlines in Auckland secondary school teams.
The Springboks would not only lose the World Cup with that mob, they’d lose the Currie Cup as well. Their coach, Peter de Villiers, must think he’s in That ’70s Show, or else he’s desperately trying to throw his World Cup opponents off track.
The Springbok backline that started against Australia averaged well under 90kg and there were no substantial reinforcements on the bench.
They were road kill in waiting, and if that unit lines up against Sonny Bill Williams, Ma’a Nonu, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Hosea Gear and co, they should be smashed into oblivion.
(Chris Rattue, NZ Herald 27.7.11)
27 Jul 2011, 02:26 am
Your subtle old self Tackler…but your right, it is somehoe saddening about what they have done…I think it is really an embarrassment on the Bok jersey.
27 Jul 2011, 04:41 am
Stats, yes a wonderful thing…the following from ruggastats via Verusco Sport. Thought I will just compare Stegman with Pocock:
Stegman first then Pocock…
Tackle Assists 5/7
Turnovers 0/0
Tackles made 14/16
Missed tackles 2/0
Ball carries 4/4
Offloads 0/1
% across gainline 80/100
Meters gained 21/24
Passes 3/4
Handle count 9/8
1st 1 to 3 on attack 36/21
1st 1 to 3 on defence 6/9
So irrespective of what old agitated t*tty is telling us it seems Stegman is ahead on one count only, 1 to 3 on attack. Problem is even so he did less overall. By the way, these guys counted zero turnovers for Stegman in the game..
In defence he is #1 with Pienaar but he had 2 misses and Pienaar 0. Four Wallabies had more than 14 tackles.
All said and done, he played as kuk as the 21 other guys and I have to think hard to say even ONE Bok player stood out…and that is the problem!
27 Jul 2011, 04:45 am
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-71:
A coach takes on the job with all of this known to him, a good one will beat/overcome this. PDivvie has shown little to convinve me he can plan his subs during a match let alone plan a 4 year stint or lo and behold…a GAMEPLAn.
27 Jul 2011, 06:21 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-75:
The Turnover in the category there is the FORCED TURNOVER MADE IN THE TACKLE (read the header notes).
Stegmann did make a turnover where he arrived at the tackle.
The Assists are part of the tackle
Catch a wakeup.
27 Jul 2011, 06:24 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-75:
By the way, defense is not just about tackling.
Pienaar gifted them possession (5 handling errors and poor passes), that is “negative defense”: he is breaking our defense down.
And he didn’t bolster our defensive rucks when the need arose, and we got rucked off our own ball a bunch of times.
He is was not the best defender just because he made 14 tackles.
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