Finishing failings nearly floor Boks
30 Sep 2011
JON CARDINELLI writes the Springboks played with power and purpose but struggled to translate territorial and set-piece dominance into points.
The Boks should have won this match comfortably. They controlled the game in the first half, hammering the Samoans at the set-pieces and ensuring that the majority of the contest took place in opposition territory.
They were helped by the self-destructive play of the islanders, who ran from deep and coughed up possession through handling errors and breakdown turnovers. Unfortunately, the Boks were in no mood to punish their bumbling opponents. The South Africans played an aggressive, tactically-smart game, but their failure to finish made their task harder than it needed to be.
The Bok scrum was in impressive form, with Beast Mtawarira getting the hit on Census Johnston. Victor Matfield looked like a superstar in the early stages as he secured the Bok lineout ball and disrupted the opposition throw. With such a powerful platform to launch, the Boks would have been expected to pile on the points and record another 50-plus score.
Bryan Habana finished well in the ninth minute, and the Boks strode to a 7-0 lead. For much of the first half, their defence did a fine job resisting the Samoan surge, and their tactical kickers booted for territory knowing full well that the wobbly Samoa set-piece would battle to retain possession.
Samoa showed little imagination on attack, moving the ball from side to side without much success. It was a credit to the Bok defence who effected 69 tackles (30 more than Samoa) in the first 40 minutes, but it was equally an indictment on the tactical naivety and impotency of the islanders.
The game changed in the second half, with Samoa producing a more competitive showing at the scrum and lineout, and using that platform to play more direct rugby in terms of deploying their strike runners at the Bok midfield. Suddenly, a 13-0 scoreline didn’t seem as much a cushion as an insufficient gap considering the manner in which the Samoans had upped the ante.
Had the Boks taken their attacking opportunities and maximised their forward dominance in the first half, it may not have been such a close finish. Had they cashed in, they would have broken the spirit of a limited Samoan side in the first half and racked up some big numbers in the second.
But those failings would so nearly cost them the game. George Stowers crashed over in the 51st minute, and suddenly Samoa were finding holes in the previously watertight Bok defence. The Samoa scrum was standing its ground, the islanders were enjoying more territory and possession, and not for the first time in this tournament, the Boks’ scramble defence was called on to save the day.
The Boks would have won comfortably had they finished better in the first half. Their inability to do so will have their quarter-final opponents, the Wallabies, taking note.
Against a top team you need to make your attacking opportunities count, and once again this Bok side, through a lack of attacking synergy and patience, left a number of points on the park. Tactically, they looked like potential champions, but champions translate opportunities into points.
There’s is still much to rectify before next Sunday’s showdown in Wellington.
40 Comments
30 Sep 2011, 11:43 am
Flooring dragons!
30 Sep 2011, 11:46 am
Shoe!!!!!!!!!
30 Sep 2011, 11:47 am
2 things , great discipline showed and Schalk Burger just gets better and better !
30 Sep 2011, 11:48 am
The impact of the bench have been sorely missed today. The fitness levels a bit concerning…
30 Sep 2011, 11:48 am
IRB needs to wake up. How can the final group games not be played at the same time? And how can you have a ref from country that is directly involved in the group refereeing a deciding game.
IRB is a joke and pathetic.
Not that it will matter but Wales have no pressure on them now for their final game and thus have an easier route.
30 Sep 2011, 11:50 am
Didnt see the game but it sounds like the Aussies have nothing to worry about. Were there any injuries?
30 Sep 2011, 11:52 am
fair article. Truly abysmal reffing of the breakdown, cheapshots by the Samoans all over the place without any sanction. Reminded a lot of the Fidji semi in 2007. Boks will learn from this. 6.5 / 10, nothing more.
30 Sep 2011, 11:53 am
Boks were poor.
Strange. When the Boks play well, Keo’s jounos shower us with negativity. When the Boks are embarrassing, they talk about us playing as champions and being tactically good.
The Boks were embarrassing today. Beating Samoa by 8 points is nothing to be proud of.
30 Sep 2011, 11:55 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-8:
“The Boks were embarrassing today. Beating Samoa by 8 points is nothing to be proud of.” True.
30 Sep 2011, 11:57 am
Boks were very average today (agree with Tac above)… tough game with big hits, but we started positively and should have converted the pressure we applied.
Agree with Derrida too that the breakdown officiating was pathetic – there were penalties all over the show.
Either way, a win is a win and we need to use this to keep ourselves grounded and ensure that we go in super hard against the Aussies.
Go the Boks!
30 Sep 2011, 11:57 am
We looked good, a few crucial handling errors at key moments cost us points. I hope that we are going to lose the idea of kicking posession away before we play Aus and NZ. We will be severely punished if we keep on doing that. We are not using our forwards enough in phase play. Otherwise a good job by the boks. We dominated set pieces, tackled well and looked well in control in the first 40. The decision to send John Smit off was nothing short of ridiculous. I was impressed with the maturity and discipline shown by the Boks in a game that amounted to not much short of war. Samoa were very dirty and got away with murder for 70 minutes. This Bok side is showing that experience is a crucial factor in this type of situation.
30 Sep 2011, 11:57 am
Sorry, what “territorial” and “set-piece dominance” was that? The Samoa scum easily held their own and the Samoan jumpers won a few of Bismarck’s throws too. As for territory, most of the 2nd half was played in the Bok half.
30 Sep 2011, 11:58 am
Scrum, not scum! Ooops!
30 Sep 2011, 12:01 pm
Agree with article, but would extend it to 2nd half too. We had 2 ideal attacking oppertunities from attacking scrums in their 22 – 1 we tried to set up a maul???!!!!???? WTF and the other we sent it to Frans as 1st reciever and went crash!!!
If we want to go all the way, we’ll have to use the space a scrum allows a whole lot better. I mean that was pathetic and the maul from a scrum option was a game turner!
30 Sep 2011, 12:01 pm
But lets relax….
Tourny has only started now………. (these previous games was just like the vodacom cup… who cares
)
30 Sep 2011, 12:03 pm
Thankfully Samo were too busy taking cheap shots, trying to take the head off and focussing on the man not the ball. Thought the Bok were avaerage …. but all teams beware the boot of Frans Steyn! Smit yellow card almost a case of trying to even things out – very harsh. The small Samoan wing was exciting, very good and caused heaps of problems.Hope F Hougaad is OK? IMO this is the game the Boks needed heading into the play-offs.
30 Sep 2011, 12:04 pm
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-12: I think they are reffering to the 1st half, when Samoa were getting smashed in the scrums and battling to win any lineout ball.
30 Sep 2011, 12:07 pm
How good is Lambie’s defence? In my opinion he saved the game with that brilliant tackle on the no. 14!
Harsh decision against Samoa after that though, I mean Nigel can not ref in this tournament again, its clear. I mean just about every call he made was the wrong one. It was like he ignored anything Samoa did for 60 minutes and then in the last 20, when an upset was on the cards (which would have drawn scrutiny), he just started blowing the Samoans off the field>
30 Sep 2011, 12:07 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-8: Yeah agree, bok tactics were poor, allowed Samoa to play exactly the kind of game that suited them especially in the 2nd half.
30 Sep 2011, 12:09 pm
I’ve only seen more cheapshots in a game at Despatch
30 Sep 2011, 12:10 pm
Anyone know why JS was sent off the field? I couldn’t work that out, was cause he kicked the ball away or for talking back to the ref after being shoved in the back?
30 Sep 2011, 12:26 pm
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-13:
freudian slip of note… thanks for the refreshing honesty…
30 Sep 2011, 12:26 pm
Game of two halves really.
Boks were efficient in the first half, should have been more ruthless with the absolute set piece dominance they showed but poor finishing let them down.
Second half, very poor. Reverted to the ultra conservative kicking game that played directly into the Samoans hands.
Anyone know of any serious injuries?
30 Sep 2011, 12:35 pm
The game changed in the 2nd half because we kept kicking the ball back to them through up and unders. What is the point of an up an under – 70% of the time, it turns over possession and even if we managed to regather, it only gains 15 meters. In a game like this where our lineout dominated, why not kick for touch instead?
30 Sep 2011, 12:53 pm
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-13: Never a truer word spoken in jest, Tackles. The Samoans give the game of rugby a bad name with their dirty, off-the-ball cheap shots. It’s time the IRB did something too about the islanders’ preference for head-high tackling.
30 Sep 2011, 12:57 pm
Lets hope Brussow doesn’t get cited for his part in that little handbag spat, we’ll need him for the Aussies!
30 Sep 2011, 13:04 pm
@wpjoulekkading(wpjoulekkading)-26: Ya, after letting the Samoans get away with murder the whole game, watch now for South Africans getting cited.
30 Sep 2011, 13:11 pm
12:Tackler = You remember seeing the Samoan scrum back peddle 10 meters before giving away a penalty. You remember the boks driving through with Mauls causing the Samoans to peel off and come around the sides? You remember seeing the Boks pilfer nearly every lineout in the first half ? Clearly you remember little you one eyed Wallaby rooter. The Boks bossed that first half, the big Samoans were cut down, ball stolen, it eventually led to SAmoa having to play dirty. It was the point where they realized they would lose- about 15 minutes into the match. This Samoan pack would have steam rolled Australia – who’s pack is quite pathetic without 1 key player – Pocock.
30 Sep 2011, 13:23 pm
Keo and crew – how about an article on why the up and under should be banned from our game plan? I have no problem with going for touch, but the up and under is a high risk, low reward strategy.
Why more interesting then Bismark vs Smit, Habanna losing and gaining form or Morne’s lack of defence.
30 Sep 2011, 13:37 pm
Butch was missed today. Morne steyn IMO was hopeless…tactical kickinng was poor, defense shocking and the few occasion the backline did get the ball-they were so deep.
30 Sep 2011, 14:19 pm
@UKSaffa(catchlightuk.com)-29: Can’t agree more, none of the up and unders helped us today. Just giving away possession.
30 Sep 2011, 14:59 pm
@UKSaffa(catchlightuk.com)-29: It can still be very effective against a nervous 15 in a WC semi like Israel Dagg
30 Sep 2011, 15:13 pm
Come on guys. The game went as predicted (not by Keo’s gang, since they rarely seem to be able to read the trends of world rugby).
It wasn’t a nice game to watch, but they did what was needed. Samoa never looked like they could win this game.
There will be 44 very soar players tonight (minus John who didn’t have a chance to get thumped.) Can guarentee you the Aussies are glad they didn’t have this game!
30 Sep 2011, 15:35 pm
I also cannot see why we choose a full front row for the bench? We did not even utilize it so what was the purpose?
It nearly backfired on us with all the injuries to the back line players!
30 Sep 2011, 17:12 pm
Where’s the “tactical smartness” in aimlessly kicking away hard won posession, John? It is an absurd tactic that I just cannot fathom. Maybe they are geniuses and I’m the fool. Maybe they will deceive the opposition with this folly only to deliver a new scintilating, dynamic and highly effective new style in the knockout stage!
30 Sep 2011, 17:46 pm
Australians should not have trouble finishing off the quarter finals.
Cooper has two winning medals this year, a S15 and 3N.
I think they have enough to go for the 3rd winning medal.
We’ll see.
30 Sep 2011, 21:16 pm
I thought the first half was the best rugby i have seen from the boks in a while .. our finishing let us down a touch as we could have had 2 – 3 more tries …there were some serious backline moves going on. maybe we didnt want to show our hand in the 2nd half
1. JDP – was decent in the first half .. i question his fitness though
2. Bissy – i would prefer to see him come on as impact
3. Beast – was immense
4. Danie – great game again .. but still drops balls in the tackle in attacking play .. annoying
5. Vic – great game, great leadership in keep the boys disciplined
6. Schalk – not human
7. Brussy – not his best game .. but still better than most
8. Spies – goes to sleep when the big guns are out ..
9. FDP – i thought he looked better today .. still a bit slow around the breakdown though
10 Morne – tactical kicking and tackling was below par
11. Habana – showed why he is still one of the best in the world today
12. Franz – good, solid .. needs to learn how to pass
13. Fourie – a bit quiet .. but thats what happens when you are tackling all day
14. JPP – huge day .. never missed a tackle
15. Lambie – star of the day ..didnt put a foot wrong .. possibly the day the boy became a man
30 Sep 2011, 21:32 pm
@Ratel Brussow(Morne Steyn is under-rated)-17: The Samoans were pretty much AWOL up front in the first half but did they ever fire up in the second stanza or what? Kept SA scoreless and crossed for a well-worked try of their own. Plus regained parity in all the tight phases. Boks on the back foot are impotent everywhere.
30 Sep 2011, 21:37 pm
@Bouts(Bouts)-33: You’re joking. Samoa were all over the Boks for all of the second half and camped deep inside the Bok half. Even when they conceded penalties, they were too deep in Bok territory even for Frans Steyn to be within range, so the sum total of the Boks second half efforts was a big round zero on the scoreboard. And this is a minnow team — ranked a lowly #10, below Scotland and Argentina.
1 Oct 2011, 03:01 am
Boks remind me a lot of England at the last world cup. Strong defense, experienced team that doesn’t know how to lose. Only problem, if you run into a team that is the same, but also knows how to score, you’re likely to make a mistake here and there and lose.
England never would have made the final if they had to get through both Australia and NZ at the last world cup. Boks won’t this time around.
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