SA teams must make mental shift
12 Mar 2012
MARK KEOHANE, in his weekly Business Day column, says South African teams need to play with more skill and less reliance on physicality and penalty kicks.
This was the most encouraging weekend of the 2012 Super Rugby season because we got a sense of the improvement needed from the South African challenge if the winner of the tournament is to come from within the Republic.
Every team will lose often in this year’s league stages, so defeats now should not evoke hysteria or panic among the pre-tournament favourites. The challenge will be having a squad of first-choice players fit and on the field for the July and August play-offs. Only then will it be the tournament proper.
For now the disappointment of defeat one week will be replaced with a sense of victorious relief the next.
The Crusaders lost at home, or as near to home as this side has been in the past 18 months. The Bulls lost at home, and in the first two weeks the Waratahs and Blues also lost at home.
Several of the home defeats have been by a point or three. It is nothing dramatic.
But the South African mindset has to change if our teams are going to challenge for consistency in performance, and they need to play with more skill and less reliance on physicality and penalty kicks.
SA has the players and the intellectual rugby capital in the coaches to evolve a limited approach that brings success in the Currie Cup but has not been a guarantee in Super Rugby.
New Zealand’s players have had the most telling effect in the early stages. There has been intelligence in their play, structure and belief that the game involves passes as much as it does kicks.
SA ’s obsession with being the tough guys can remain the domain of, and blueprint for, domestic Currie Cup rugby but in a global tournament there has to be greater variety.
The South African match-ups have been predictable, but that should not make them acceptable. Springbok rugby, at its finest, has never been one-dimensional. Think of the Boks’ 50-pointer against France in Paris in 1997 or the 50-pointer against the Wallabies in Johannesburg a couple of years ago. These are just two of many examples and the players, coaches, rugby public and rugby media in this country have to constantly be reminded that South African teams can win and have won against international and foreign opposition playing with the skill to complement the hardened and confrontational stereotype that is too often presented as the face of South African rugby.
The South African coaches have been as willing as those in New Zealand and Australia to select youngsters but they have not been quite as liberal across the board in defeating a mindset that doesn’t accommodate the freedom to develop skills if this comes at the expense of a few short-term defeats.
The Bulls are the most balanced of SA’s sides in their approach but even they lack the balance of the Kiwis. The New Zealanders play better rugby and don’t compromise on intensity or physicality.
I don’t subscribe to the view that our backs are less skilled. Neither do I believe the nonsense that Australia’s forwards lack our physicality. Go tell that to James Horwill and David Pocock.
Let’s also not retreat into the laager and blame referee interpretation or supposed referee bias for the Cheetahs’ defeat in Canberra or the Bulls’ loss in Pretoria.
In both games the outcome could have favoured the South Africans if more rugby was played and if players accepted that a pass can be more effective in beating defence than the conventional head down and bash it up into contact.
All the teams are showcasing a new generation of player, but SA ’s generation still reverts too often to the conservative evils of their predecessors.
Bulls supporters should not be discouraged at the defeat. The Blues’ expansive approach has traditionally troubled the Bulls and historically the Blues are one foreign team that have done well at Loftus.
The encouragement has to be that if the Bulls, the Sharks and possibly the Stormers are to win the final then they have to offer more than we have seen so far. A failure to evolve how they play will mean a similar lost opportunity in the Rugby Championship.
The Bulls didn’t play badly, but they didn’t have enough substance all round to win. It was not a game lost by the Bulls; rather it was one the Blues won. Give the visitors their due.
Most importantly, recognise that South African defeats are victories if the goal is to develop our players, instead of always relying on the highveld altitude and the misguided attitude that as South Africans we have the brawn, but in rugby intelligence we are always second to the Aussies and Kiwis.
399 Comments
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13 Mar 2012, 00:19 am
ag i can probably listen to anything, truth be told, its ok but **** there’s some good stuff out there in every generation, every year, there’s some great new sound, at the moment, i quite like ‘foster the people’, one called ‘helena’ and another ‘pumped up kicks’ of iets, went through a northern soul phase about 5 years years ago, and now quite enjoying the moffie sounds of roxy music, which would never admit to when younger, but hits the spot now. some recent stuff good too my timeless classics would be hits like oasis with wonderwall and live forever. grew up with the smiths and new order, which aint even on your radar, but anything from the cure is still pretty good today.
13 Mar 2012, 00:21 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDy2hcUXvvE
What a storm in a teacup!
Wow! After watching the clip of the “incident” I can see it has COMPLETELY BEEN BLOWN WAY OUT OF PROPORTION! If anything Mealamu should be severely admonished for escalating the issue when he should simply have WALKED AWAY. The plastic bottle was hardly thrown with any malice.
13 Mar 2012, 00:25 am
The crowd in the stands were doooooses, but I guess they were only retaliating to Mealamu’s ‘brave show of force’.
As a professional player, Mealamu should have handled it better. Typical meathead. It’s hardly like a brick or glass bottle was thrown full tilt at his head.
13 Mar 2012, 00:31 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-347: you got music collections.. you miserable little pseudo schmuck.. I don’t.. I actually play what I like (on my own guitar) and I listen to what stirs the soul.. you got fuckall idea about what my ‘music collection’ represents.. and your fucked up little pseudo moronic brain is closed.. Johnny Clegg and Paul Simon.. with Valiant Swart and Fokkoffpolisiekar and Johannes Kerkorrel.. that is your closed dead end street.. you got music collections.. I got the world’s true music at my feet…
@>^..^< katman(katman)-349: and you are outright stone debilitated tone DEAF..
just like you can’t give sight to a blind man.. you can’t open up a deaf man’s ears…
13 Mar 2012, 00:33 am
@cab(cab)-351: My formative years had stuff like Stone Roses, Primal Scream, The Pixies. But I listen to all kinds of music from the early sixties till now. From classic pop to dirty techno to hair metal and beyond. But I draw the line at smooth jazz. That’s Sheriff and ET territory.
13 Mar 2012, 00:37 am
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-354: Fokjou, you miserable little kont. Of course I have a music collection. I’ve been adding to it for years now. There’s no pride in being a cheap hippie with a box of old TDKs of Santana, Cocker, Crosby Stills & Nash and Bob Dylan. Own the music, you bum. Read the sleeve notes. Get lost in the cover art. Dig your band. Get a fcken life.
13 Mar 2012, 00:39 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-355:
went to go see a stone roses tribute band the other night in putney, bladdy good, kids from manchester, alot of charisma oozing outa them. some swanky pub london going downhill a bit all too preppy and smart these days. stone roses like the smiths, u got to take in small doses, otherwise all a bit glum, but moving. yeah 60s also a great generation, i never really got old bobbie, but some of his stuff has been growing on me. not really into all the supposed intellectual incoherent rambling word-play, but my bro reckons he’s a genius.
13 Mar 2012, 00:40 am
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-354:
yeah but u obviously a guitarist and thats why you appreciate that piece by santana.
13 Mar 2012, 00:44 am
@cab(cab)-357: Wish I could have seen Stone Roses around 1990. Ditto for the 88 to 90 era Pixies.
Went to see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club a few months ago at a festival near Cape Town. Shot this on my little blackberry at about 3 in the morning. Killer concert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd31-8zMUkI
13 Mar 2012, 00:49 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-359:
aint heard of BRMC, cape town nice play to live hey, probably some nice music over the summer months, tell u one thing tho the afr ou’s got a lot of music festivals these days, actually a nice vibe at those things.
13 Mar 2012, 00:50 am
@cab(cab)-357: I know Putney. Stayed with a girl in Roehampton for a while back in the 90′s – not far from Putney. It’s all a bit trendy and upmarket now, isn’t it?
13 Mar 2012, 00:55 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-361:
yes very much so, all become a bit gentrified, its v nice but not my cup of tea really. east end still pretty good tho. strangest think, cant stand jazz, but walked into a pub where they had some upcoming jazz bands the other night, exceptionally good, perhaps just the lead singer was a knockout, but made me think twice about jazz, its still a great city london.
nice chatting, catch u later.
13 Mar 2012, 00:56 am
@cab(cab)-360: They’re a kind of no-nonsense bluse-rock band from the States. Put on a great show.
Ja, plenty of festivals these days. But something went missing when they got too big. Back when 4000 people descended on Rustlers valley or Oppikoppi and a good few of them got lost in the bush for the weekend, it was different. Now it’s big with lots of stalls selling everything from falafels to stetsons to glowsticks. And too many generic sounding bands. And no real soul.
13 Mar 2012, 00:57 am
@cab(cab)-362: Ciao.
13 Mar 2012, 01:12 am
Mr. Born in the USA came along way after the revolution was won and all the songs were sung.. long after Leadbelly, Woodie Guthrie, Son House, Robert Johnson, Pete Seger and Bob Dylan had laid the stepping stones… he commercialized the hard stage and played the game for the 80′s generation to try work out what actually happened in order for them to hear the strains of the revolutions soul
But it ain’t the real thing .. a decent attempt at a good copy .. but not the real thing…@>^..^< katman(katman)-356: you think you can ‘own’ music.. you dumb little pseudo image laden dweeb.. you don’t buy your way to understanding music.. you either can hear it.. or you can’t…
as far as my non existent so called ‘music collection’ goes
here’s a few samples
John Lee hooker
Ray Charles
BB King
Albert King
Freddy King
Otis Redding
Son House
Robert Johnson
Leadbelly
Howling Wolf
Odetta
Mahalia Jackson
Nina Simone
Bonnie Raite
Janis Joplin
Steven Stills
Neil Young
David Crosby
Jimi Hendrix
Bob Dylan
John McLaughlan
Paco De Lucia
Al di Meola
Van Morrison
Carlos Santana
Tommy Emmanuel
Ry Cooder
Jethro Tull
13 Mar 2012, 01:19 am
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-365: Got stuck somewhere round ’68, it seems. This notion that, as you put it, “all the songs had been sung” is such rubbish. The kind of thing that a bitter old man believes because he can’t accept the fact that time is marching on. So he yearns for his glory days and belittles everything that came after. The mark of a true music fan is when you give all music a chance before deciding. What you’re doing is no more than locking yourself into an image of an era. You pretentious little twat.
Good night.
P.S. I didn’t post that vid for Bruce Springsteen. I posted it for Tom Morello and his guitar work. But I guess you never got that far.
13 Mar 2012, 01:25 am
I heard the guitar.. the violin was far better and more appealing
Springsteen’s a good hard liner for the working man but he’s not a leader .. he’s a follower.. just like you are… that’s why your real appreciation of real music leaves a lot to be desired…and why you cannot hear when the deep heart soul is singing from when some pseud is strumming away and making make believe.
You got polished sh’t adorning your ‘music collection’ try tune into the real thing.. when you perhaps sometime grow up to know what comprises real from make believe false…
13 Mar 2012, 01:29 am
and you got it wrong again.. I ain’t a music ‘fan’ as you put it.. you’re a music fan.. I’m a musician who knows the difference between music from musical falsity..
13 Mar 2012, 01:49 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-366: little pseudo runtcunt who came screaming on here after I posted a link to 2 timeless pieces of true music genius by Cocker and Santana (whom neither are ‘represented’ within my so called ‘music collection’) in a setting this little screwball pseud wouldn’t understand from his commercialized corporate box at the Ellis Park or Loftus rugby ground.. with your fucked up garbage riddled jargon about hippiefied tie dyed T shirts.. and your self righteous prejudiced cr@p about Santana’s lack of musical creativity or credibility.. while you rave on about Johnny Clegg and Valiant Swart and your pseudo arsed bourgeois boertjie bumchums… …
You pathetic little creep .. got the f’ng gall to pretentiously think you know wtf actually cuts music wise.. while you dunno sweet fanny fck’all relative to what precisely is relevant musically.. not in the current generation and definitely not in any previous ones… do you you piffle arsed little pseudo schmuck faced dunce?
13 Mar 2012, 02:01 am
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-365:
A wonderful list of legends, for me Van Morrison is the man, St Dominics Preview being my favourite album of his, with the song Redwood Tree bringing back special memories.
13 Mar 2012, 06:48 am
guys guys guys…
there is no right or wrong in music… no better or worse genres or eras… no good or bad…
if you’re true to yourself and the music resonates within your being and touches your soul… it is good music and the right music for you…
but that doesn’t makes music that resonates with someone else bad music… or you a better, deeper or more intellectual person…
music is not about intellectualism or one-upmanship… music is purely about feeling… if you feel it… that is all that matters…
if we all liked the same music life and the world would be so boring… rather celebrate musical diversity and that there is music out there for everyone…
from the animals to the zombies and everything in between there’s something for everyone and someone for everything…
13 Mar 2012, 07:13 am
@ufo(ufo)-371:
Some old fella’s are truly insular, narrow-minded and tunnel-visioned despite their protests to the contrary…
13 Mar 2012, 07:26 am
yeah bryce…
but that doesn’t make him wrong… or right…
only time music is wrong imo… is when people pretend to like something to impress or fit in..,
13 Mar 2012, 07:29 am
Poor old fuckadilly is in a state.
He’s probably making mixtape after mixtape in order to validate his miserable life.
With the odd Bok team scribbled down for good measure.
And let me just say this.
No musical debate is complete without a discussion on the merits of Bryan Ferry.
Let’s stick together on this one.
13 Mar 2012, 08:08 am
I spoke to Ferry once.
Admittedly it was only to point out where the toilets in the restaurant were. But still, he smiled and thanked me.
13 Mar 2012, 08:17 am
A job is a job katters.
London is an expensive place to live.
13 Mar 2012, 08:28 am
It was in Cape Town, many moons ago.
13 Mar 2012, 08:35 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-350: Wow dude…thanks, what a performance, gave me goosebumps!!
13 Mar 2012, 08:38 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-366: lol now I’ve heard it all… a bakkie builder spouting off about how Springsteen’s not a leader
LOL
13 Mar 2012, 08:39 am
@Atreides(Atreides)-378: Now worries. Here at Katman Inc. we aim to please.
13 Mar 2012, 08:42 am
@Atreides(Atreides)-379: Cue 14-line filthy diatribe……
13 Mar 2012, 08:43 am
@Atreides(Atreides)-379: He’s boiled in the melon, that Skoppie. If it’s not his all time bestest best guitarist or flyhalf or lentil recipe or headband then it’s rubbish. Problem is, he changes his mind more often than Steve Walsh after a scrum collapse. So you never know quite where you stand with the crazy little ******.
13 Mar 2012, 08:48 am
Sigh
All this brawling over music.
13 Mar 2012, 08:49 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-382: He’s the most violently angry hippy I’ve ever come across!
13 Mar 2012, 08:50 am
@Atreides(Atreides)-381:
Old Skop
When he’s good he’s very good, whwen he’s bad he’s horrid!
13 Mar 2012, 08:57 am
@Dawn(Dawn)-385: Yea…I frankly enjpy his posts when he’s talking about rugby,, but god when he goes off…you spend more time having to scroll past all the garbage than you do reading other posts….does he really think anyone reads all that drivel?
13 Mar 2012, 08:57 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-382: Speaking of hippies, whatever happened to that old queen Grantie?
13 Mar 2012, 08:58 am
@Atreides(Atreides)-384: All we are saying is give peace a fcking chance, for fck’s sake.
13 Mar 2012, 08:59 am
@Atreides(Atreides)-384:
lmao
i guess this is what happens the day the music dies…
13 Mar 2012, 08:59 am
@Atreides(Atreides)-386:
He killed a shark in Vishoek the other day.
Beware!
Grant and Justrugby are boycotting the site.
13 Mar 2012, 09:00 am
I wonder if Skop listens to classical music.
13 Mar 2012, 09:01 am
@Atreides(Atreides)-387: I don’t know. But when he has a mishap it usually involves either an alsation, a jacuzzi or lycra. Or a combination.
13 Mar 2012, 09:03 am
@Dawn(Dawn)-390: Are they on honeymoon?
13 Mar 2012, 09:47 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-393:
I think they are renewing their vows.
There will be some sort of Mardi Gras involved for sure.
13 Mar 2012, 09:55 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-394: Mojitos and open neck shirts.
Her name was Lola…
13 Mar 2012, 10:02 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-395:
Going loco down in Acapulco.
13 Mar 2012, 10:34 am
Come on, shake your body baby, do the conga, I know you can’t control yourself any longer.
13 Mar 2012, 10:54 am
I see a bad moon a risin’…
13 Mar 2012, 11:23 am
I got my first real six string…
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