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, 12:55 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-297:
i didn’t see that, but i thought he played well, he’s pretty calm and for the amount of **** ball he was getting did pretty well. Both he and Butch are fine 10s, no-one in world rugby has Morne’s accuracy, its not our problem, our problem as tacitus says is that the Boks are not dominating upfront, which they can do if the right players are selected, unfortunately that excludes both smit and spies.
12 Sep 2011, 12:56 pm
I don’t get the Morne must go story. When the Boks played in PE and Morne scored all the points people were singing his praises. Morne was not exceptionally kak yesterday, he was just playing his usual kak game. That is the best you are ever going to get from Morne. What exaserbated the situation is that Fdp was even worse, so automatically made Morne looked even shittier than usual.
12 Sep 2011, 12:57 pm
@cab(cab)-301: Tacitus will never advocate dropping Spies.
12 Sep 2011, 12:58 pm
I have come to realise something over the weekend paying close attention old Fitzpatrick, before I comment I
will say I am one of the first to say Bismark must start and if he had been he would be fully match fit to last a solid full 80 but that is now compromised with his
serious lack of full game time!!!FFS..
Deep down the kiwis & Fitzpatrick are actually shitting themselves at the prospect that heaven forbit the Boks do become efficient with the second stringers starting
And then being able to bring on the Super Power Bench killers in the last 30 or so because then they can destroy anyone in the dying minutes.
Back to reality, the risk of this of course can be so fatal as we all saw on Sat..
By not starting your very best XV you run the risk of falling behind and giving the opposition a huge mental boost that they can beat you.
The Boks should be starting their Absolut best team with the goal of dominating and pulverising the opposition into their shells with the likes of John Smit, Spies & Habana to come of the bench and close the game out. And I’ll bet you will find after their golden butts feel the wood of the bench for a few games & when they do infact come on they will play better and be more effective against work opposition.
I also think the prospect of starting F Steyn at 12 with Lambie at 15 would make the boks that much more threatening on attack and without compromising anything on defence, the little issue you may have here is now unsettling FS from 15 when he did so well on Sat at 15..
Add Hougaard to start at 11 or 14 as well. (Again John Smit, Spiese, Habana can come off the bench they will probably be more effective when the opposition is tired and they are fired up from watching first 50)
12 Sep 2011, 12:58 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-290: Go have a look at the Welsh game again. In the 2nd half to specifically targeted Morne with their 8th man and Roberts, from set play and broken play. So I don’t think just sorting out the 12 helps. In set phase moves I’d rather see the wing come across like with JPP when he tackled Mike Philips high, or swopping Morne for a better defender, ala Aussies
I don’t think he is a coward, however he does not know how to tackle and needs to go lower, around the legs. Surely he cannot be doing the defenders around him any good either.
12 Sep 2011, 13:00 pm
Why pick your strongest team versus Fiji? The dirt-trackers can do the job. can’t they? And, sure as eggs are oval, some front performers WILL get crocked. Like….Victor, Botha, Jean… So, when the “doesn’t-really-matter” pool play ends and it’s now into the do-or-die knockout stages, how many crucial key front-game-performers will still be left at the sharp end of the contest?
12 Sep 2011, 13:01 pm
we absolutely cracked the ABs upfront just 3 weeks ago and that was with 2 very simple changes, bismarck and alberts. the same thing happened yesterday, the welsh were all over us, until the introduction of bismarck and alberts.
The pattern is obvious – bismarck and alberts must play for as long as possible. However, if these coaches think that bismarck and alberts will keep pulling them out of the fire, they are sadly mistaken, momentum is vital in RWC rugby, changing momentum takes an immense effort. The Boks would have lost 9 times out of 10 yesterday, but it just so hapens the welsh kcikers fluffed it. they should never have lost. They were all over us.
12 Sep 2011, 13:01 pm
@rossoneri(rossoneri)-260:
the only way a team is going to win the worldcup in NZ other than, maybe,NZ themselves….is to have a granite like determination and refuse to lose regardless.
the best rugby will not win this WC…not in nz. To win, someone is going to have to knock over NZ in auckland, a venue they haven’t lost at in 60 odd years or so. No team is going to win there playing blistering rugby. A side will need to strangle them to death. Why, even the ozzies took a whipping just a month or so ago there.
I believe the Boks have the granite like fortitude to do this, more so than any other side.
12 Sep 2011, 13:02 pm
Agree with Staal there are severe coaching limitations. Even Namibia’s backline looks more creative and for the pack to get about 40% possession is diabolical.
Man management is all left to the old boys – Smith, Matfield, FDP, who are now falling apart. Compare this with how Robbie Deans and to lesser extent NZ have set up systems where there is strong competition for all positions in their squads. Our top players have been assured of their places since the B& IL tour. New talent has all been ignored e.g. Sarel Pretorius.
Bok rating:
Jannie Dup – 6
Smith – 3 – Clearly no longer up to international standard
Beast – 4 – Off day
Rossouw – 4
Matfield – 4
Brussouw – 7 – Fought a lone battle at the breakdown and tackled like a deamon
Burger – 6 – Ferocious tackling, lacking creativity on attack
Spies – 2 Anonymous as is always the case when the pack does not dominate. Always leave the hard work to the rest of the pack
FDP – 3 His worst performance in a Bok jersey. He looks tentative. The crisp passing is gone and has been replaced by a slow loopy pass. Agree with Big Hit it looks as if he is playing with an injured shoulder.
Morne S – 5 Only because of his kicking. A liability on attack and defence. Like Spies he only flourishes if his pack absolutely dominates
JP 5 – Limited opportunities
JDV – 4 Well past his best
JF – 5 He would flourish in any well coached structure unfortunately all his opportunities come from unstructured play
Habana – 3 Lost his speed and is now very average. An international player that have not scored in an international for such a log time would have been long gone elsewhere
F Steyn – 6 Much better than his last test
Willem A – 6 Much better option than Spies especially on slow NZ venues
FH – 7 – The only player that looked as if he wanted to be there and his enthusiasm shone through. He has the speed for an international winger and should replace Habana
Muller – 4 Made little impact
Guthro – 5
Bismarck – 8 Massive impact and must be in the starting squad.
Butch – 5 Tackled not much else
We were lucky in this game. With the limited possession, poor kicking by the opposition and the wrong decision with the one penalty we should have lost this game. The current side will really do well to go past the QF.
Agree with Keo bold decisions are now required e.g. new blood is needed in the starting lineup – Bismarck, Hougaard, Lambie, Alberts.
12 Sep 2011, 13:02 pm
Alberts to Lock is not a bad option and the fact that Spies doubles as a line out option is also something to be taken in account.
Jamie Roberts smashed up JdV then Morne and Butch, so he was highly effective as their destroyer in chief in the midfield, where was Schalk and Spies protecting that channel. However if you looking for an unflinching stop gap in the defensive 10/12 channel you need look no further than Juan de Jongh, he would have brought the big lumbering ox down.
12 Sep 2011, 13:03 pm
I don’t have a strategy to win rugby games if you don’t have a dominant pack. Sorry. Then go home.
12 Sep 2011, 13:05 pm
Wales outplayed us in all facets of play and really deserved to win that game.
Our defense looked suspect once again and you have to question why a new defensive coach was brought in so late before the World Cup. It can take months for a team to get use to a certain defensive system, and it looks like most of the players are clueless at the moment. You still have Habana rushing up for intercepts.
The fact is I don’t think the experience guys in the team want to adapt. Their arrogance and attitude of “having achieved it all” has made them un-coachable. We don’t have the strong coaching and leadership among the management to take them out of that comfort zone.
How can they expect us to support a national team if the team is not representative of the best players from the country?
We had to deal with quotas all these years, and now this. We have arguably the best hooker in the world and a backline player in red hot form being kept out by has-beens.
Why do we constantly accommodate and pick players for a national team in the hope that they’ll find form one day? When last did Habana, Spies, de Villiers and John Smit actually put in outstanding performances at international level? The best they can dish up these days are steady ones.
It’s time for the SA management to own up and take responsibility for all the k@k happening on and off the field. They had 4 years to prepare for this World Cup, and is this the best they can do?
We are so competitive at super rugby and yet so clueless at national level, because we have a bunch of clowns for a coaching team and a coach who’s been picked as a political token. It’s time to face the truth.
12 Sep 2011, 13:06 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-293: Very poor argument.
I , like you, have defended Pierre Spies for far too long. He just doesn’t have the drive, hunger or heart to be an international rugby player.
He showed absolutely no commitment on Saturday. If your team is in trouble and is losing the tight exchanges then you roll up your sleeves and fight with them. He is an international rugby forward for goodness sake, not David Campese hanging around waiting for things to happen so he can look good.
Forget that he is a Bull for once and open your eyes and stop making excuses for him. It’s quite sad really.
He got a free ride with the Boks this last two seasons and is no better than a Wayne Julies or Adrian Jacobs. He didn’t earn 1/4 of the tets caps he got.
12 Sep 2011, 13:08 pm
@rossoneri(rossoneri)-303: instead Tacitus, true to form advocates that SCHALK must be dropped for Alberts
bwahahahaha
none more blind than those who refuse to see.
12 Sep 2011, 13:10 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-311: How about this?
So you can secure your own ball, put pressure on their defence in attack AND defend well and put pressure on their ball when you do.
Strange, I’m sure I’ve seen teams play that way and actually manage to win as well
12 Sep 2011, 13:12 pm
@danuk(danuk)-305: You are repeating some of what I have been saying… So, no, I don’t think I need to watch the Welsh game again.
Nevertheless some posters just don’t get it. I think this may be one of those times. But we are all welcome to our opinions on Keo.
12 Sep 2011, 13:12 pm
die ou wat die internet uigedink het moes n ouderdoms besperking geplaas het…
dan hoef ek nie al die snot te lees nie.
12 Sep 2011, 13:13 pm
Trannie
Schalk,
Alberts and
Wonky-knee Brusouw
gives us the slowest loose trio combo since Wahl Bartman took to the field.
12 Sep 2011, 13:13 pm
@rossoneri(rossoneri)-303: he is to Spies what Agile is to Stegmann
12 Sep 2011, 13:13 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-310: Other than the Alberts to lock twak, this poster agrees one hundred percent.
12 Sep 2011, 13:14 pm
@Pypkan(Pypkan)-313: The problem with Spies is that I think he did basically the same as Schalk, probably with less covering tackles. He might as well be a lock with his amount of loose play at the moment.
Unlike Alberts or Bissie he is not a 1st phase go forward man.
If you play him then they need to use him more like Wales used their 8th man, outside the inside centre.
Unfortunately it seems even Wales have better attacking coaches than we do currently
12 Sep 2011, 13:14 pm
@rossoneri(rossoneri)-303:
yeah but it seems the coaches have got their selection priorities all fkd up, on current form brussow and alberts are non-negotiables, the third starting spot should be contested between burger and spies, imo burger is stil the better allround player because he does what fowards are meant to do, but one of them needs to be dropped to the bench and i think spies pace is his real strength which can be used in teh last 20 minutes when there are more gaps that he can bust thru.
12 Sep 2011, 13:16 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-314: Uligwala! Ndala ndiku buze imibuzo awukapenduli nagoku! Ndikulindele gwalandini. lol
12 Sep 2011, 13:16 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-314: It looks like a diversion to take some heat of Spies. hehehe.
12 Sep 2011, 13:17 pm
On the other hand, Brussouw, Alberts and Spies gives you the perfect balance between power, speed and breakdown skills.
12 Sep 2011, 13:18 pm
@Pypkan(Pypkan)-313:
Post of the month!!!
He has been a liability to the team for years now, but like so many others in the team he was made the promise to be there. Sad but true.
12 Sep 2011, 13:18 pm
1st on team sheet: Ratel
2nd on team sheet (Or should be): Bismarck
3rd. Victorious (But now he is injured)
It really is a pity the three “wise” clowns and in particular head clown Dippy have painted themselves into a corner by stating that Smitty is “The best hooker in the World”
Farken stoopid, innit? But these are the Bok coaches.
12 Sep 2011, 13:19 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-318: That’s funny! However, spies must go! He offers nothing.
12 Sep 2011, 13:22 pm
@RL(RL)-319: Hahahahahahaha. So True.
12 Sep 2011, 13:24 pm
first on my teamsheet is always a very, very reliable kicker cause you will get penalties……..
Percy het soos sy gat getackle but he won us WC2007 on his own! Take a bow.
12 Sep 2011, 13:25 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-318: But you have 3 players in your loose trio combination, rather than 2. Other than running with the ball when put into space, Spies has a terrible skill set for a loose forward. We cannot afford to have him in the team anymore.
12 Sep 2011, 13:25 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-318: Slower than Samo, Pocock, Elsom? Or even Vito, McCaw, Kaino? Now you smoking tea, man.
12 Sep 2011, 13:26 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-332: I think too much stake is put on the speed of Spies. In games like yesterday, like a ferrari on a 4×4 track, useless.
12 Sep 2011, 13:28 pm
i wonder if there is pressure on the coaches? but then again imo they are clueless to do something about it..
for a massively pride rugby nation we are dishing out some horrible rugby…….
12 Sep 2011, 13:29 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-333:
Maybe there is more to Spies than meets the eye! At least we all know that Agile is Steggies brother, maybe Tac is Spies’s wife.
12 Sep 2011, 13:29 pm
@Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-335:
…or secret lover.
12 Sep 2011, 13:29 pm
i actually was surprised when i came back from cycling to hear we’ve won.
12 Sep 2011, 13:29 pm
@Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-335: Eish
12 Sep 2011, 13:31 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-325: The speed that Spies has means nothing when it comes to defending and securing ball at the rucks. He is so ineffective in this basic skills of loose forward play that he might as well not be there.
And with the Boks not playing a very attacking brand of rugby, and this being a World Cup where the games will be played a lot tighter we cannot afford to have any passengers.
12 Sep 2011, 13:32 pm
“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.”
As if what worked in 07 was good enough to beat the All Blacks and Aussies.Mate we beat Fiji,USA,Samoa,Tonga,Argentina and England,the tripe that was dished out on Saturday would still be enough to beat these teams.We were lucky in 07,this time around we have to beat the best to be the best.If we beat the Irish,All Blacks and Wallabies then we would truly be the world’s best.Unlike in 07 where we beat those mediocre teams and claimed we were the best.
12 Sep 2011, 13:33 pm
but i must say … and this is my positive input….
John Smit really has a very good persona on TV and he answers all the questions like the true captain he is..
man in front of the TV he makes me “believeeeeeeeeeeeee” in the bok plan…. will try to find it somewhere……..
12 Sep 2011, 13:34 pm
What happened to Hurdles – the next best thing to sliced bread???
12 Sep 2011, 13:35 pm
If the Boks stick with their current pattern it would be madness to drop Morne. When you rely on pressure rugby rather than an adventurous attacking game, you must go with your best goalkicker, the man who’s going to win matches. Morne is the best goalkicker in the world, and possibly the best kicker of dropped goals too. He’s perfect for the rugby the Boks are playing.
If you drop him and go with Butch or someone else, you must adopt a much more attacking style because Butch or Lambie are far less likely to kick you to victory and you’ll need to rack up more tries.
I believe it’s too late to make such a massive change. The Boks should stick with what they know best, and that’s power rugby. If they adopt a more expansive style next season it may win them the next world cup but right now it would simply disrupt them.
With Jean having injury concerns again I’d play Butch at inside centre, but on defence shift him to fly-half, bring Frans into midfield and put Morne out of harm’s way at fullback.
The bigger worry, as I see it, is the mounting injury toll up front. Too many key men are being affected, especially with the pack already shorn of Juan Smith (the best forward in the world in my opinion).
12 Sep 2011, 13:35 pm
I think we only won on the scoreboard! Does that sound familiar? Bwahahaaa
12 Sep 2011, 13:35 pm
Pypkan
You obviously feel strongly about it. That’s your right. I think spies does a lot of cover tackling, and should be used to carry the ball in the midfield. I’d rather have him bashing it up than de villiers or jacque fourie.
Anyway, I think he can be very effective if used correctly by the buffoon coaches.
12 Sep 2011, 13:35 pm
With Butch there we will play better, but lose because of vital kicks being missed. With Steyn there we may lose, but we may also win games that we should not have won. If Butch played we would still have lost the battle upfront and we would have had a worse kicker i.e. we would have lost. There is no way Butch is so good that he would have turned everything around. Maybe 4 years ago, but not now.
Steyn was the only cool and calm character in the 20 minutes after our first try.
12 Sep 2011, 13:37 pm
@Izwe Lethu(Koos van der merwe)-340: Yho Yho ukumshile!
12 Sep 2011, 13:38 pm
Funny how little the content and title of this article have in common…
12 Sep 2011, 13:40 pm
Morne Steyn must be there. We don’t have any alternative. Derrick Hougaardt is a similar player to Steyn but a much better defender and tactical kicker. if he was still eligable I would use him. I just don’t have enough faith in James and Lambie’s place kicking for the crunch games.
12 Sep 2011, 13:41 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-333: They could also possibly use him better, like the Welsh used their 8th man
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