Boks must now climb Everest
19 Sep 2011
MARK KEOHANE, in his weekly Business Day column, says a Bok win in a possible quarter-final against the Wallabies would come as a surprise.
Ireland turned the predictability of the World Cup play-offs upside down, but for all the new found hope among South African supporters I can’t see the Boks doing the same thing.
A week ago the Boks were rubbish, according to those on the social network. Once again they are a superpower.
There is no middle ground when it comes to South African rugby supporters – and may it never change. That kind of passion can’t be learned, but with blind faith comes inevitable disappointment when the obvious comes as a real shock. Remember how many were actually stunned when the All Blacks beat a second-string Bok XV 40-7 earlier this year? Too many.
On matters specific to the win against Fiji and the surge in confidence, Frans Steyn reveled in the midfield and the Springboks, apparently by their own admission, did a similar thing in playing the situation and not relying on a pre-match PowerPoint presentation of how to beat Fiji.
Bok lock Danie Rossouw admitted afterwards that it was never the plan for the Boks to be as bold and extravagant and added it showed the Boks could be more than boring.
There is a difference between clueless and boring. The Boks for too long have been clueless and, against better teams, who play with more structure in defence and more precision and aggression at the breakdown, it has been their undoing.
In Wellington, against inferior opposition, the Boks showed the immense individual talent of South African players. Francois Steyn was world class, Rossouw was ferocious and skilled and Heinrich Brussouw, Jaque Fourie, Bismarck du Plessis and Francois Hougaard were as good as they were in week one against Wales.
And never forget Schalk Burger. He is always worth two players. It was fun to watch, fun for the players to be a part of and a shift from the toil and hardship of the Tri Nations. It was a necessary and decisive hit out for the Boks against a team with the odd quality individual, but little collectively.
It is difficult to get too enthused about whipping Fiji and those doing cartwheels because the Boks scored six tries and scored 49 points against a team that conceded 25 to Namibia not only insult the pedigree of the Boks, but also miss the point. Nothing out of the ordinary happened in Wellington.
Fortunately captain John Smit wasn’t one of them and he said the most pleasing aspect was the Boks kept the Fijians tryless, albeit with a bit of help from the Islanders who self-destructed on attack and were never in the match defensively.
Fiji were good in the 2007 World Cup, but only three of the side that beat Wales to advance to the quarter-finals fronted the Boks in Wellington. Get excited that the Boks were willing to back their natural talent and instincts, but don’t get excited that Fiji represent anything in the context of winning this World Cup.
Ireland’s amazing victory against Australia in Auckland was more significant for the Boks than brushing aside Fiji. Every South African loves seeing Australia lose, but it was not the result the Boks would have expected or wanted.
Sure players have to back themselves to beat anyone to win this tournament but every Bok would rather entertain the prospect of Ireland in a quarter-final than an Australian side already taught a lesson in this tournament.
Jake White’s winning 2007 World Cup squad did not get to play Australia, New Zealand or France, but there hasn’t been similar good fortune for Peter de Villiers and there is no tougher assignment than having to beat Australia, probably New Zealand and possibly France in successive weekends in New Zealand. If the Boks negotiate those three mountains they will have scaled rugby’s Everest and it will rank as the greatest ever Bok achievement.
I can’t see it happening and it would be a surprise for the Boks to beat the Tri-Nations champions in the play-offs, if indeed this match-up takes place. As it stands it should with South Africa and Ireland the favourites to win their respective groups.
The Boks, like their supporters, will always have confidence and never be found wanting for self belief, but the reality is Australia has beaten South Africa four of the last five matches, including two in South Africa.
They are also on a three-match winning streak against the Boks and the match will be in Wellington and not at Eden Park – a ground that seems to scramble with the Australian minds as much as Ellis Park does those of the All Blacks.
Ireland’s win, brilliant to watch, exposed the lack of depth in the Australian pack and for the Wallabies to succeed flanker David Pocock and hooker Steven Moore have to be starting.
It makes for a fascinating next three weeks. The Boks will humiliate Namibia and get more than a few bruises against Samoa.
Australia is a different beast and they’re a side that has troubled South Africa even more than the All Blacks.
No matter what anyone may say and despite all the bravado among South Africa’s support base these are more nervous times for South Africa, as defending champion, than Australia as a potential champion.
330 Comments
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19 Sep 2011, 15:44 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-199: Nope. You are wrong. Sick of your two-faced bullshit now. Now STFU.
19 Sep 2011, 15:44 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-196:
Agree the difference is Rassie and Nienaber, but Div brought them there like Jake brought Eddie in. Same result.
@Hier kom groot k..(Hier kom groot k..)-185:
I feel Samoa have become overly structured and against organised teams who play this type of game much better they’ll get taken to the cleaners.
Their ruck ball is too slow, they pick and drive too much and under utilise their big runners giving them static ball. Against weak defense systems like Namibia this is not a problem as they can simply power their way through, but against a green wall or like it happened against Wales they become easy pickings.
19 Sep 2011, 15:45 pm
@wpstormerbok(wpstormerbok)-194: They are pseudo Bok supporters this lot .. they want the win without giving credence to the actual designer of the plot…
If Boks win this thing this time its down to PdV on his OWN.. IN SPITE of what the nay saying chorus bring to the circus sing along.. including myself who have had GRAVE doubts about the selection policies all along.. PdV has stood FIRM by his OWN principles of loyalty to his stalwarts IN SPITE of the baying chorus to have his head on the chopping block for downright treason.. and LARGELY due to either his utterances or else his tone of voice.. or at worst down to the Wrong hue of his epidermis.. He STILL has them pumping one for all and all for ONE..
19 Sep 2011, 15:45 pm
here is a thought, maybe the Boks were not that bad against Wales, maybe Wales might be GASP good.
19 Sep 2011, 15:46 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-201: Get fucked skunk.. get sick as much as you desire I continue to tell cn’ts like you to your dumb fck face EXACTLY HOW IT CUTS moronic imbecilic idiotic SCHMUCK!!
19 Sep 2011, 15:49 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-205: A two face liar… nothing more, nothing less… Maybe throw in a bit of hypocrisy too to put the popped cherry on top. Now, again… Shut up.
19 Sep 2011, 15:50 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-203:
We’ve all doubted him at some point during his tenure but he’s stuck to his guns even when some of his supporters started questioning his moves.
Like ive stated, he’s made mistakes but he’s also learned from them. What more do supporters want from him?
Even the debacle where he moved JS to tighthead, he handled it by admitting it didnt work and worked hard at getting John back in form at hooker and you can see a glimmer of confidence coming through JS’s game again. That’s all down to PDV’s management.
19 Sep 2011, 15:51 pm
I seem to recall Samoa putting a second string Auss away but Wales put them away with room to spare and oh the physically superior Samoans seemed just a wee bit beaten up afterwards, hmmm but no Boks were shite and who is Warren Gatland really, I mean the scoreline in that test had nothing to do with an outstanding Welsh team, I mean the aussies and kiwis would never have allowed themselves to be beaten by Northern hemisphere opposition now would they?
19 Sep 2011, 15:52 pm
@wpstormerbok(wpstormerbok)-202: I don’t rate Jake the Snake… I also don’t rate Dippy. Like managers or leaders out of their depth they have sponged off the talents of other people. It has nothing to do with their ability other than to piggy back on the abilities of someone else.
But I have said all this before and dont need to say it again
19 Sep 2011, 15:52 pm
@francois93(francois93)-200:
The 2004 or the 2006 game?
The Boks were very understrength in 2006, and in transition in 2004, but Ireland played well in both and you can only beat what is in front of you.
@francois93(francois93)-204:
Wales certainly aren’t a bad team, and much like several others are only going to get better as the tournament progresses. A casual glance at their (now short-term) injury list might give a few people who think they’ll be “easy” in potential KO games pause for thought. They still need to get there though.
19 Sep 2011, 15:54 pm
@wpstormerbok(wpstormerbok)-207: PDV has “management”… You mean making a farkup and relying on either luck or others to get him out of the dwang. Fark that for a ball.oshit.
19 Sep 2011, 15:57 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-209:
Okay, now I at least understand where you’re coming from.
I’m not saying either of them are God’s gift to coaching, but if Div can deliver us from NZ with Bill in our cabinet once more the man would’ve achieved his ultimate goal.
The next guy coming in must get us on par at least with NZ as far as winning % goes, that should be the next Bok coach’s job discription.
19 Sep 2011, 15:58 pm
same old **** different day
if we win its PDIv on his own
if we lose , its the fault of SMit and FDup and **** and Gold
HERE IS AN F*CKING FACT, IF WE WIN OR LOSE ITS DUE TO EVERYONE THERE ,
19 Sep 2011, 15:59 pm
@wpstormerbok(wpstormerbok)-207: He got FAR more humility AND credibility in him than that runt of a skunk White could EVER have .. and he has taken every learning curve ON the CHIN when it hasn’t worked and gone about correcting his flaws and mistakes.. He has NEVER put his ego above the team and always tried as best possible to combine the talents to their best intents..
ANYONE who would have taken over a WC winning team would have struggled to jostle the synergies between the seniors and the management.. check how England fell apart after Woodward and the players presumably ran the show.. PdV has taken ALL the parameters of the entire mix mash of forces and tried his utmost to meld them together into a winning cohesive combination.. in spite of what many of us might have done different.. he has gone about it pragmatically and ALWAYS put his team and his players first…
19 Sep 2011, 16:00 pm
@Tartan(Tartan)-210: Tartan couldn’t agree more with you, I am first and foremost a Bok supporter but hell the Southern Hemisphere is an arrogant place to be, I respect every country who runs out onto that field, you dont just turn up and win it should be bloody hard work and not a given.
I mean there is always this huge arrogance and disregard for the northern hemisphere and inevitably one of the Sanzar countries cops a hiding. Problem is most of the supporters have no Idea of history and pay no respect to guys like Gareth Edwards, Barry Jon and co
19 Sep 2011, 16:02 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-206: Seems you are unable to get the message dumb fck punk .. get fucked.. how else you want I spell it out for you piece of know nothing miserable arrogant screwball skunk ?
19 Sep 2011, 16:02 pm
@francois93(francois93)-208: second string? They had 9 first team players in that team that lost to Samoa.
19 Sep 2011, 16:04 pm
@President_of_the_Sharks_rugby_experts(sharks_lover)-213: There is no “I’ in team.
There is a “me’ though. Never could figure that out.
But ja, so many of these posts are starting to look redundant.
19 Sep 2011, 16:05 pm
I mean didn’t the Irish put one over on the wallabies last year or was it the year before and now all of a sardine everyone is shocked, I mean come on Paul O Connell was a lions captain so he must suck, Bod was rated as the best center in world rugby up until a few years ago likewise with heaslip and a couple of other players, nor do I believe that Robbie Deans was unaware of this, what grates is when journos claim something get it wrong and then play pass the blame game, Keo should simply have come back and said Wallabies were hammered Boks better than I though.
19 Sep 2011, 16:06 pm
@President_of_the_Sharks_rugby_experts(sharks_lover)-213: Well its about TIME somebody gave the coach SOME credibility for doing this thing TOGETHER because half baked runtarse pseudo bok supporters reckon its EVERYBODY ELSE BUT the national coach who’s pulling the strings..
If it were not for PdV players like Smit and Spies and Habana would have been OUT on their EARS if left to the likes of the pseudo rat pack of so called Bok supporters who see Hero’s and Villains with totally skewed up lenses of self righteous bigotry !
19 Sep 2011, 16:06 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-211:
There was a brief period before the Lions series i think where JPP was out of form. PDV intervened when everybody was calling for his head, taking him in the training group and JP came back storming again.
Moving JS had a degree of success in the short term (Lions series as well as that big push he gave against NZ when we wont the TriNations title in NZ).
But on balance it didn’t work with our scrum getting demolished on too many occassions.
What should PDV have done? Persist with it? Or admit it didn’t work and move on.
Sometimes coaches take risks and it doesn’t always pay off. But in all the risk was taken at the right time, not like Ted still trying SBW on the wing when he’s left his best wing in Gear out of his squad.
Div now knows – JS to TH – No-no. Oliver as Bok – No-no. Kirchner at fullback – No-no. Ruan at flyhalf in a pressure situation even though he is way more talented than Morne – NO-NO.
19 Sep 2011, 16:07 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-218: :LOL: M
19 Sep 2011, 16:09 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-218: There’s an “I” in ‘Win” though…
19 Sep 2011, 16:09 pm
@RL(RL)-217: Sorry RL that’s true by the way aside from the world cup met John Mitchell at melrose arch the other and thanked him for turning Lions rugby around, am humbled and blessed that after so many years staring to get that old magic back at ellis park.
19 Sep 2011, 16:11 pm
@President_of_the_Sharks_rugby_experts(sharks_lover)-213:
And you can see this squad is pulling together with PDV directing his men dilligently. I’ve never seen him so quietly confident as he was after Saturday’s match.
Div wasn’t trumpeting his squad as the best, in fact he was just focussed on how we reacted in those first 20 minutes when Fiji came hard at us, he was judging his team on that and not on all the fancy things that happened later.
19 Sep 2011, 16:11 pm
@President_of_the_Sharks_rugby_experts(sharks_lover)-222: How’ve you been mate? We must have a cuppa sometime this week. Lots happening my side.
19 Sep 2011, 16:13 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-226: say when , lol
19 Sep 2011, 16:14 pm
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-223: NOt when it comes to the Blue Bulls there isn’t.
19 Sep 2011, 16:15 pm
@President_of_the_Sharks_rugby_experts(sharks_lover)-227: I’ll call you tomorrow OK? We can make a time.
19 Sep 2011, 16:18 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-174: i enjoyed it even though i wished they had another adventurous coach in the mix because heyneke & coetzee are conservative to the extreme and garth just follows their lead.
i found myself sighing every time heyneke meyer said ” a lot of people say scrums are irrelevant BUT the irish game showed that scrums are very important”
now it’s one thing to make a point and it’s another to try and sound messianic, which people was he on about? where did they say scrums are not important? what was the context?
19 Sep 2011, 16:20 pm
@wpstormerbok(wpstormerbok)-212: Agree there. But I will give credit where credit is due… just not to him.
19 Sep 2011, 16:21 pm
@francois93(francois93)-224: nice, saw Mitch in the stands on Friday, mingling with the crowd and signing autographs … he is popular
19 Sep 2011, 16:22 pm
@President_of_the_Sharks_rugby_experts(sharks_lover)-213: Post of the day. Well said.
19 Sep 2011, 16:24 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-230: Yes, I cannot understand when scrums had become unimportant. I think that we know all too well the value of a good scrum, mostly when we don’t have one and the pressure that it places on us.
But ja, they did make a refreshing break from the usual analysts.
Garth I think made a very good point about the spoiling at the breakdown and the ref blowing it differentlty, which i hope PDV was paying attention to. Also the way they used the tackle as a means to set up a maul and then turn over posession and get a scrum put in. I think this is a tactic that will become very popular at this comp.
19 Sep 2011, 16:25 pm
@francois93(francois93)-215:
It’s just the way it is in the SH, but I blame the ANZAC part more for that
Too many whiners in that region describing drop goals, playing for territory, penalties as “English/NH anti-rugby”. Fokk, you take what you can get, keep the scoreboard on your side and when your opponent has to chase the game you go through the gaps.
It’s hard to keep respect for a region’s teams when you don’t respect their style. A style, which, incidentally should look familiar.
19 Sep 2011, 16:28 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-218: Next time someone tells you that, remind them that there is a U in cnt.
19 Sep 2011, 16:30 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-236: hahahahaha thanks for that, I’m certainly going to save that. That’ll come in handy in the near future for sure!
19 Sep 2011, 16:30 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-229: cool @Puma(Puma)-233: thanks brudda
19 Sep 2011, 16:30 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-231: Lets just face it you a 2 face cn’t that will NOT give credit where credit is due you two faced piece of garbage 2nd grade underhand punk .. It don’t SUIT little ragamuffin cn’ts like you to give credit WHERE its due.. So runtcunt punks like you WON’T .. two face second grade half arse bok supporter that you are..
19 Sep 2011, 16:32 pm
@wpstormerbok(wpstormerbok)-202: I dont think Samoa has the game to beat the Boks, but I am worried about those “coconut-tackles” as Kitch Christie used to call them. Remember what Samoa did to Andre Joubert’s hand in 95 and Liefling almost got decapitated by Brian Lima in 03. Samoa is basically out of the quarters after the Wales loss and will be gunning to smash our boys as hard as possible in their last game in front of a sell-out North Harbour crowd filled with Samoans. Injuries from this game will hurt our chances in the knockout stages.
19 Sep 2011, 16:34 pm
Another thing which could determine the outcomes of tight matches is the Ref.
NH refs seem to allow the defense more time to have a grab at the ball in the ruck while with SH teams to get 1 shot and if you mess it up you get penalised.
Also the NH refs aren’t that strict with defenders going off their feet at the ruck when trying to support a team mate to a potential turnover. SH refs will blow guys up flying off their feet even if your player got their first.
So for this reason it would be wise not to take the ball too wide when playing under a NH ref since chances of turnovers will be greater.
But with SH refs you can still get away with securing ruck ball out wide as players will hold off from trying the steal as they would be penalised quicker.
Well that’s just a trend I’ve seen so far. So in all it would not be that bad for us playing SH teams because if we were to face NH teams with a NH official they could’ve made it really difficult for us since they’re more used to that sort of officiating.
19 Sep 2011, 16:35 pm
@President_of_the_Sharks_rugby_experts(sharks_lover)-238: Yeah no mincing words there just the honest truth. Well said.
Anyhow what you think of Frans Steyn at 12? I thought he was brilliant. Was my mom. Also how I wish we could get him back at the Sharks. What a massive talent we let go.
19 Sep 2011, 16:35 pm
@Hier kom groot k..(Hier kom groot k..)-240:
Possibly a match for the master of the one-armed tackle, Mr. James, to get some match sharpness if he’s back from injury…
19 Sep 2011, 16:36 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-239: Two faced is as two faced does… and you have demonstrated many times. Now shut up – will be your best contribution yet… I promise
19 Sep 2011, 16:38 pm
By the way everyone, Tinotei shampoo thought the Boks would crash and burn against the Fijians. He aslo said that Snor was useless (and a few other expletives) and he said Snor was NOT coaching the Boks.
After the Fijians got thumped by the Boks Timotei shampoo SUDDENLY got amnesia and conveniently FORGOT about all the snot he had said a day before the game…and de Villiers was proclaimed a hero.
This sack of shita mile high cretin is a two faced lying moron with dogsballs for brains. How can we believe a word this tosser says from now on…..I ask you..
19 Sep 2011, 16:38 pm
@wpstormerbok(wpstormerbok)-241: Insightful words. Now you speak sense here.
19 Sep 2011, 16:39 pm
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-245: Right Said Fred
19 Sep 2011, 16:39 pm
@Hier kom groot k..(Hier kom groot k..)-240: Yes I am worried about injuries we could pick up in that game too.
My feeling our 2nd side can beat them. Thinking of the injuries we may pick up there. What is your thought if we played our 2nd side against them? For safety we pack our bench with our best. Only bring them on if we get in trouble like we done against Tonga in the last wrold cup.
19 Sep 2011, 16:40 pm
Everest shmeverest
It was done before, however, based on what I saw watching the game against the 6th ranked Wales, the odds aren’t great
And there will be the referees to consider, maybe anton r can talk to them before the game?
19 Sep 2011, 16:40 pm
@Hier kom groot k..(Hier kom groot k..)-240:
This Samoan side seems much more professional and better coached than previous ones which ironically has robbed them of that unpredictability and mean streak they’ve always had.
They got dominated by Wales at the collisions because of static ball which they seemed to think was a good ploy.
Everybody’s saying Australia played dumb, no they just got undone by all the smoke up their own arsse. Samoa played dumb, and we’ll just send our bruisers down their 10 channel all day, they won’t see much ball I’m afraid and when they do the Boks will hit them back with smiles on their faces because they hit the line with no momentum.
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