Back Bismarck, axe Morne
12 Sep 2011
MARK KEOHANE, in his weekly Business Day column, says the Springboks have to change who starts and how they play if they want to defend their World Cup title.
Forget the old cliché that this was a character builder for the Boks. This team of champions has enough character and they’ve been through enough scraps in the last eight years to never want to endure another 80 minutes like Sunday’s in Wellington.
The Springboks don’t need more exposure to character-building situations in this World Cup and the head-coaching trio, out of their depth for the last four years, surely don’t need another match to know that the best XV has to start every game in this tournament and that includes Bismarck du Plessis at hooker and excludes Morne Steyn at flyhalf.
The Welsh goal-kicking implosion in the last few minutes means there can be calm in the Bok camp and not the hysteria that would have followed defeat.
There can be perspective and not national persecution. There can be reflection and not condemnation.
Wales flyhalf Rhys Priestland missed a drop goal from smack bang in front with five minutes to play and fullback James Hook fluffed the chance to win the match with an angled 35m penalty three minutes from the end. Had either of those two kicks gone over the mood in the Bok camp and the emotion among the South African rugby public would have been a lot different than it is this morning.
I keep on writing about the honesty needed within our rugby and within the Bok squad. It has never been more appropriate than this morning. Forget patriotism for a moment and focus on pragmatism. The patriotism at this tournament belongs to New Zealand. The Boks need something more tangible to defend the title won four years ago.
The Boks remain one of three teams who can win this tournament. Australia put down the biggest marker in the first weekend and New Zealand’s home ground advantage remains their biggest asset because they are limited as a team and the great among them merely balance out the many mediocre All Blacks playing for a first World Cup win in 24 years.
But for the Boks to move on from the Houdini escape in Wellington there has to be an acknowledgement of what works and what doesn’t. There has to be criticism from within that is not interpreted as a negative but rather is applauded as a positive. To win here the Boks have to change who starts and how they play. Wales gave every South African the most timely reminder that what worked in 2007 won’t be good enough to beat one of Australia or New Zealand in a play-off.
The Boks next nervous 80 minutes will be a probable quarter-final against Ireland and the examination will be as demanding as those questions asked by the Welsh.
Samoa, in the pool match-up, won’t challenge the Boks because they don’t have the game or the composure to win ugly against a side as experienced or powerful as South Africa.
Wales were outstanding. Let’s start there. Welsh coach Warren Gatland tactically got everything right against the Boks. They kept the ball, kept it close, used the powerful Jamie Roberts to run at Morne Steyn all match and played the field percentages almost to perfection.
Welsh captain and specialist fetcher Sam Warburton was colossal. He played with the precision and irritation of a young Richie McCaw and starved the Boks of ball. He deserved to lead a historic triumph in Wellington.
Wales had 60% of territory and possession, conceded just five penalties – only one of them kickable – and poached three South African lineouts.
Yet they still lost because it is not in their DNA to beat the Springboks, and when the biggest moments of the game came their players did not have the nerve, the conviction and the courage in decision making to win it. Wales were in unfamiliar territory against the Boks and the match they talked of all week they couldn’t quite play out according to script.
Aside from Australia – and possibly New Zealand – this Welsh effort would have beaten every team at this tournament, but that will be small comfort to Gatland and Warburton.
The Boks, beaten on the ground, in the air, in the tackle and in the collision, were never beaten in their minds – and the belief that they could conjure up seven points, almost at will, never deserted them.
The opening try to the impressive Frans Steyn was vintage Boks, but what proved to be the match winner from Francois Hougaard in the 65th minute showed the qualities of a champion who has been there before and delivered.
South Africa always had the one punch to strike from anywhere that was more threatening than the collective build-up of so many impressive Welsh attacks.
Bismarck du Plessis was monumental in the final quarter, Hougaard was inspirational and Willem Alberts was destructive. Not so those they replaced.
598 Comments
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12 Sep 2011, 10:54 am
Lucky for us, the Boks have a very different history.
We don’t KILL the weaker teams like the kiwis do
but we also win games we should’t.
That bodes well for play offs. We must just get through the pool stage with 4 victories and then all bets are off
12 Sep 2011, 10:55 am
in your dreams marsupalami
12 Sep 2011, 10:56 am
@Helen(Helen)-93: utter rubbish!
12 Sep 2011, 10:56 am
Coaching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Coaching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Coaching!!!!!!!!!!!
imo – is hierdie vis se kop vrot.
12 Sep 2011, 10:57 am
@race of tan(race of tan)-84:
tough one to call really…so long as our front 5 is pap we will be better off with alberts who is almost an extra tight forward. If the 5 can get some decent go forward then it is spies for me.
12 Sep 2011, 10:58 am
@Helen(Helen)-93: So all era’s come to end , there are quite a few youngsters coming through though.
The country is short on locks , and number 3 ‘s
Oosthuizen of FS is making change to number 3 quite well
Host of loosies
12 Sep 2011, 10:58 am
@youknowwho(youknowwho)-100:
Not so sure we can definitively say that Hougie is a wing.
He needs to be closer to the action to have a bigger impact.
His passes are not as long as FDP’s and his kicking game is limited, but in the last 30mins fewer long passes are required and the kicking game becomes less of a necessity.
Cramps are ok, but after the nerves of the weekend, I’m bleeding like Maori with a can opener
12 Sep 2011, 10:58 am
@Bouts(Bouts)-92: A number of penalties against us at the breakdown was from the backs being overeager… but again, they weren’t supposed to be doing that job!
Yes, the defense was better, but it was because all the forwards were standing in the backline. The opposition won’t get through 12 players standing in a row, but that’s the reason we never had the ball! Fine, we have the Stormers defense coaches who probably preaches this, but as we’ve seen in the S15, it didn’t work against the top teams, because defense isn’t everything. You actually have to have the ball to outscore the opposition.
12 Sep 2011, 10:58 am
@Tacticus 95: Drop Burger. Is jy mal! Hy was fenominaal, my speler van die wedstryd. Enigste ou wat bietjie geclean het by die rucks, terwyl ons voorry net rondgestaan het daar.
12 Sep 2011, 10:58 am
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-80: a bit of deja vu
Wales 31 South Africa 34: match report
Wales and South Africa at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on Saturday June 5 2010.
By Paul Ackford
Published: 5:02PM BST 05 Jun 2010
A calamitous day for Wales, for so many reasons. First, they came into the game in the best of fettles. Cardiff and the Ospreys, the providers of the bulk of the national side, had won titles in recent weeks, suggesting that confidence and form would be good.
Next, at home, in a jam-packed Millennium Stadium, they were facing a Springbok outfit which was not much better than scratch, lacking most of their star men who were involved in last weekend’s Super 14 final. This narrative should have been all about Wales storming to what would have been only their second victory against South Africa.
So what did Wales do? They blew it. There is no other word for it. After a start which screamed composure, a quality which was conspicuous by its absence during the Six Nations, Wales raced away to an impressive 16-3 lead after 21 minutes with rugby which was forceful, virtually error free, and a delight.
And then? Then Wales showed why they are miles away from being a force in world rugby by allowing the Boks back into the match with such a display of generosity that in the space of the next 40 minutes South Africa scored 28 points while Wales managed a paltry three. You could not have a better illustration of how to lose control of a game. From pomp to poop, it was a study of Welsh decline.
Of course, you can look at this another way and congratulate South Africa for a major recovery but, frankly, the Boks were a right old mess for much of the match.
If it was not for Danie Rossouw and Joe van Niekerk up front, two of the more recognisable names in the Bok selection, and Jaque Fourie, Ruan Pienaar and Ricky Januarie in the backs, Wales might have secured an unlikely victory.
It was that quintet which held South Africa together when Wales were raging. In the middle of the game centre Juan de Jongh and flanker Dewald Potgieter grew in influence, but it will be a major shock if much of this Springbok side is not discarded by the time the Boks get to the Tri-Nations.
The big surprise for South Africa was the attitude and execution of their captain, John Smit, which were both lousy. To me, Smit has looked neither fit nor at ease since he has bounced between hooker and prop, and he was blowing hard yesterday very early on. Yet puff was not the main issue.
Smit presented James Hook with the easiest of tries when he found himself in the middle of the Boks backline after South Africa had turned over Welsh possession.
Instead of shuffling into the nearest defender as most self-respecting tight forwards tend to do, Smit shaped to kick, stopped, thought about it, and then rifled a pass into the waiting hands of Hook, who cantered over for the try.
12 Sep 2011, 10:59 am
huh?
12 Sep 2011, 10:59 am
Keo, as much as I agree about that Bissie needs inclusion and Morne is a defensive liability. I think you should add Bryan Habana to your list
I thought, after looking at the game for the third time, that:
- We made a lot of unneeded mistakes in the game which transferred the pressure onto us, especially 1st half – knock on’s, bad clearing kicks, bad passes, out throws. This created the 1st 3 penalty opportunities for Wales
- Our much vaunted kick and chase game was terrible, with only one kick causing Wales any problems, Wales caught very well and Wales kicked and chased much better than us
- Our defensive allowed Wales to run at us way too much. Tackling technique was terrible and way to high. Jacques Fourie for all his good work runs up too much and creates gaps, like the one for their try, while Morne cannot be relied on to make any 1st time tackles. Overall our defense looks disjointed and uncoordinated
- The breakdown was a mess and the concept of entering through the gate, tackler releasing was not reffed and it was as badly handled as a 6N game.
- Overall the boks looked flat, tired and without a clue after 30 mins into the game
12 Sep 2011, 10:59 am
@Horings(Horings)-98:
Beast’s problem has always been that he lacks pure aggression. Without your mind in the game (read Plonker Pietersen) you might as well not be there.
12 Sep 2011, 10:59 am
@capebull(capebull)-106:
Not saying there is not a another era starting, but this particular one that took us to 3 x S15 titles, a RWC winners medal and victory against the Lions, is coming to an end. Let’s hope it ends with a fairy tale
12 Sep 2011, 11:00 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-62:
Listen you dumb fck Smit worshiping guppieyuppie miserable Fckng Moron., you were one Smitty arsewipe clone here that are too afraid to open your useless hazy blue eyes… You the fckass fool that know sweet fanny fckall about rugby so stop making your useless aryan inadequacies everyone else’s problem Fckng moronic imbecile idiot supreme
12 Sep 2011, 11:01 am
After the World Cup:
15.) Frans Steyn
14.) JP Pietersen
13.) Johann Sadie
12.) Juan de Jongh
11.) JJ Engelbrecht
10.) Elton Jantjies
9.) Francois Hougaard
8.) Willem Alberts
7.) Juan Smith (C)
6.) Heinrich Brussouw
5.) Andries Bekker
4.) Juandre Kruger
3.) Jannie du Plessis
2.) Bismarck du Plessis
1.) Beast Mtwaria
12 Sep 2011, 11:02 am
@RL(RL)-49: Plod messed up 2, but he played for 50 minutes. Biz messed up 3 and he played 30 minutes. See? But the bigger picture is that the Welsh took FIVE lineouts off the Bok throw-in. Wasn’t the lineout something the Boks rather fancied they’re quite good at? And Wales aren’t generally feared as being especially brilliant at lineouts, are they?
12 Sep 2011, 11:02 am
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-115: eish… slow down man/woman……
12 Sep 2011, 11:02 am
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-115:
I lost you at Listen…
12 Sep 2011, 11:02 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-95: drop burger…why? he got through mountains of work. If anything spies should go for Alberts.
12 Sep 2011, 11:03 am
@RugbyStudent(RugbyStudent)-116:
Lambie???????????
12 Sep 2011, 11:04 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-117:
more becaquse of our jumpers than our throwers I think
12 Sep 2011, 11:04 am
@Helen(Helen)-114: Hope they have enough in their legs
12 Sep 2011, 11:04 am
oh….and I also see that keo rated Wayne Barnes highly?
yes, he is articulate…but he is also frikken blind.
There is no way on earth that that last penalty that wales got and missed….was ever a penalty for wales.
where was the tackler release. didn’t we read all week that the refs were going to clamp down on this sort of thing. Brussow can just go back to the way he was playing 2 years ago and ride the tackle.
It was obvious to me that the welsh benifitted from having had Wayne Barnes more often than the boks.
12 Sep 2011, 11:04 am
Asha,
YOu make better points if you use rugby knowledge to make a point, not profanity.
People stop listening/reading your posts
12 Sep 2011, 11:05 am
@Boom15(Boom15)-120:
Agree, Burger worked like a bankrupt coal miner.
12 Sep 2011, 11:05 am
Beast or mouse?
And what is keeping Jannie in the team, actually?
12 Sep 2011, 11:05 am
@SHARKattack(mabu)-99: Tac is in love with Spies, he will never say the words “drop Spies” … fact is Spies is a girl with zero physicality, zero aggression and zero talent … who was that convict that called him out last year, called him soft and larfed at him before a match … him embarrassing.
12 Sep 2011, 11:07 am
@Helen(Helen)-107: The boy loses confidence quickly. Very fragile Psyche..It only takes one fkup and he goes MIA. Start him at scumhalf at your peril
12 Sep 2011, 11:07 am
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-115:
“Fckng moronic imbecile idiot supreme”
Are you saying that Great White Shark is not very intelligent?
12 Sep 2011, 11:07 am
Beast was dissapointing , play Gurthro him with Bizzy got stuck into Welsh
12 Sep 2011, 11:07 am
Burger is everywhere, but what does he really achieve? Smashes into the opposition repeatedly but goes down pretty much on the advantage line.
Alberts in contrast goes OVER the advantage line. Burger does a pretty bouncing headclash, but is it really effective.
I don’t understand why he was the receiver and first phase runner so often, because he simply doesn’t get go forward. There is a nice, spectacular bouncing of bodies and a mop of hair flying in all directions, but the end result is a ball that is recycled pretty much where we started.
Only Bismark and Alberts gets us OVER the advantage line. And therefore you want Spies running off one of them, rather than Burger.
Simple, really.
12 Sep 2011, 11:08 am
axe morne?
oh boy…here we go again….
12 Sep 2011, 11:08 am
SO much for the benefit provided by Smit’s experience and captaincy. If anything it was brut force that got us over the line after the bench. Calm heads came from the entire team not 1 captain
12 Sep 2011, 11:09 am
@youknowwho(youknowwho)-129:
I won’t start him just yet.
He’s never let the Boks down, ever.
I think has the confidence to start for the boks, but just to not mess with team dynamic (not sure how much pull Vic FDP, etc have in team) I’d keep him on the bench or use him on wing.
Keeping in mind that most, if not all, of his magic moment have come from broken play, he is better suited for a looser game.
12 Sep 2011, 11:10 am
Burger is another one of these hail hero worshiped F’ng hero’s that got these monumental Fckd in the head hero worshippers bamboozled beyond reason.., he does very little constructive ball carrying in a game of 80 minutes he hardly breaks through any barricades of defense ala Bismark or Alberts and there are better ball carrying and ground ball playing flanks around, Louw being one, who would suit the trio, however he is still better than Spies in very respect. Burger offers kamikazi tackling in open play but that’s about where his value ends, as a ball carrier or a ground ball or breakdown specialist he’s pretty innocuous and obsolete. And soon as you slap rhetorical captaincy on him then he seriously goes to absolute pieces, as if afkophoender wasn’t sufficient a title before he got the added responsibility to seriously chuck him WAY off course.
12 Sep 2011, 11:10 am
@RugbyStudent(RugbyStudent)-53: yup.
@capebull(capebull)-54: sorry mate, alberts didnt struggle whilst spies was invisible.
kanko never got an extended chance, he was consistently stuffed around for spies. what a waste of four years.
12 Sep 2011, 11:10 am
Spies still the biggest pansie in the world. Playing against a 4 test newbie, got outplyayed and monstered.
Actually embarassed for him, he never dominates any facet of no 8 play. Ever.
Doesnt dominate the tackle, or with ball in hand or as a link man. I really though he would do alright with Burger working so hard and the only player in the pack actually making metres.
As for M Steyn…all the Welsh forward momentum came as a direct result of his complete inability to hold his his channel. Also embarrasing.
Drop Smit, Spies, M Steyn and Habanna for Biz, Alberts, Butch and Houg.
12 Sep 2011, 11:10 am
@Helen(Helen)-130:
Timotei shampoo repeats the same boooring ‘insults’ ad nauseum to everyone….he/she is like a harmless big green fly that one casually flicks away from time to time.
12 Sep 2011, 11:11 am
Fark Spies or Parisse or any of the other Dandies. This is who I would like as my Bok no 8.
See him in action soon at RWC for Georgia… I give you Gorgodzilla:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3muchC9D2YU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXCDKjhZnE0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-eGOBlRoG8&feature=related
HELLYEAH!!!
12 Sep 2011, 11:12 am
Just imagine the following players fit and playing:
Juan Smith
Andries Bekker
Bakkies Botha
Vic
Half our concerns will evaporate if these guys were fit
12 Sep 2011, 11:13 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-117: you ate pathetic, of the 11 Bok lineouts 2 were lost … you moronic doos.
12 Sep 2011, 11:13 am
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-136:
Strangely enough the genuine rugby students of the game and overseas columnists rate Burger highly…which means you are talking through the hole in your head.
Boooooooooring.
12 Sep 2011, 11:13 am
@RugbyStudent(RugbyStudent)-94:
but dejong is limited a player as olivier ever was. Has dejong ever passed the ball?
12 Sep 2011, 11:14 am
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-136:
really dumb post.
Hope you feel better soon!
12 Sep 2011, 11:15 am
Say no to shampoo.
Insist on real poo.
12 Sep 2011, 11:16 am
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-136: also took Steenkamp minimum 1 game to fire on all cylinders. Everyone’s not like H. Br.
12 Sep 2011, 11:16 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-132: “Burger is everywhere, but what does he really achieve?
Smashes into the opposition repeatedly but goes down pretty much on the advantage line.”
Now tell us what Spies does/did
12 Sep 2011, 11:16 am
I notice that beast is getting away lightly for having his worst test ever…strange?
12 Sep 2011, 11:17 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-132: ok but you are assuming bissie and Alberts will offload in the tackle, and can we say that really happens ? The truth is that our game is based around defense as we are unable to put multiple phases together- we are going to be without the ball for long periods, and I for one would rather have burger defending than spies. We are also not playing at loftus, or in aus where the fields are harder and more condusive to Spies. bissie and Alberts are musts for their respective ball carrying abilities, but burger over spies anyday.
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