Olivier aims to shatter perception
19 Jun 2012
Wynand Olivier says he will use a start against England to convince everybody including himself that he belongs at the highest level.
Olivier is set to replace Frans Steyn at No 12 this Saturday, as Steyn has plans to get married and has been granted a release from the squad.
Saturday will mark Olivier’s first start for the Springboks since 23 July 2011 when he played for a dirt-tracker South African side on a winless Australasian tour.
The last time Olivier started for a full-strength Bok team was back in the 2010 Tri-Nations. Then coach Peter de Villiers was swayed by senior Bok players to give Olivier a final chance, and unfortunately it was a chance Olivier didn’t use to alter the perception that he wasn’t Test quality.
De Villiers then dropped Olivier completely, only recalling him in 2011 when the majority of the first-choice players were not available. Once again, Olivier blew this opportunity to impress, and was not picked for the World Cup squad.
His most recent recall to the national side has come as a shock, although Meyer has responded to criticism by pointing to Olivier’s experience. Nevertheless, there is a sense that there will be no more chances following this Saturday’s Test, and nobody is more aware of the fact than Olivier himself.
‘I don’t want to say I’m going out there to prove a point, it’s more about proving to myself that I can make the step up to international rugby,’ he said.
Olivier has played off the bench in the last two matches, and it’s been clear that England prefer to attack the Boks’ 10-12 channel when he is on the park.
Defence coach John McFarland confirmed that Olivier made more tackles than any other Bok back in the second Test, and what this stat indicates is that the England attack have targeted his channel as a potential weak point.
Olivier feels that he can cope with the hard-running England backs this Saturday and that he will also offer the Boks some strong options on attack.
‘Manu Tuilagi is a big guy and I’m looking forward to the challenge of stopping him,’ he said. ‘I am enjoying playing alongside Jean [de Villiers]. We haven’t played [as a midfield combination] since 2006 and 2007. He’s a guy with a lot of experience and I believe he will also bring something else to my game.’
Olivier believes he can succeed where he has failed before, that he can show his coach and team-mates that he is more than just a solid Super Rugby player. While there is pressure to perform in this situation, Olivier said that he won’t let it affect his confidence.
‘I’ve been out of the team for a while now, but it feels different now compared to when I was involved with Jake White’s team and then Peter’s, I was young back then. I’m more experienced now and more relaxed and focused on what I need to do.’
By Jon Cardinelli, in Port Elizabeth
453 Comments
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19 Jun 2012, 23:39 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-398: Forget your fucked up hatred of everything Stormers.. and JdV… this is about the Boks..
De Jongh is the next best prospect to take the inside center channel responsibilities after Frans Steyn (if not perhaps the best).. and Heyneke Meyer is the Bok skaapwagter after all.. the one with all that supposed ultra gifted rugby acumen and insight … so stop diffusing the issue back to AC or anyone else.. HM is blou benekde blind surrounding who should be his stand in man at first center
Beside if you so antipathetic towards JdV WHO in your fucked up estimation SHOULD be leading Boks.. if it was NOT for JdV.. Heyneke might already be 2 losses down by now.. TWAT.!!
JdV leaves that fatfunkarsewipe dunce of yours who could NOT win an international test for toffee apples as captain the past 2 years of his overrated legacy by a thousand light years or more in the shade.
19 Jun 2012, 23:42 pm
this has to be last chance saloon for meisikind…no more free Test to “prove yourself” for the affies boytie!
shape up or ship out…
spies last month said heyneke is “the only coach that knows how to press his buttons” we can’t have that s.hit for all the bulletjie non-performers while other deserving players are sidelined summarily & not handed kanse to prove their aptitude…
the ABs tried isaac ross, sione lauaki, rene ranger & when they werecfound wanting they were shown the gate…heyneke please respect our green jersey meneer!
19 Jun 2012, 23:43 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-399: how come you and this kittykattycunt haven’t tied the knot and climbed up each others poepols in your boetie boetie sense of unanimous unity yet?
19 Jun 2012, 23:45 pm
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-401: Donkey by self admission has shathimself doing the Bok Cappie thing for two weeks against opposition who you reckon are mediocre….
Legend Barney did it for 8 years against all comers with the last 4 under a madman who by his own admission in his book, was over his head.
Donkey not even in the league of polishing Barney’s boots in the Captaincy or Leadership stakes by a long shot… I mean WTF has he won as Captain – 2 tests against YOUR mediocre opposition…
Come Now… You’re as blind as your “esteemed” coaches, AC and Fleck with regards to backline play and players. Not to mention substantial leadership either…
19 Jun 2012, 23:49 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-402: You are so confused… Hopping from one side of the fence to the other… Coconut, Liquorice… Liquorice, Oreole…
Your principles are about as certain as a flick of a coin…
Heads, Tails…
19 Jun 2012, 23:51 pm
Over and out
19 Jun 2012, 23:51 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-404: your fuckup fatfunk legend Barney LOST every last goddamn proper test he captained the past two years.. GO back and COUNT ALL those goddamn gimme LOSSES he led this team to… 11 of them from 13 starts.. ALL the last important tests your Barney f’ng overrated fatfunk dunce LOST..!!
JdV has WON the last 2 tests.. if not for JdV it would have been FdP .. or Who ELSE would you give the esteemed responsibility to?
Because if it were not for JdV they might have LOST it just like that overrated fatfunk Barney fckup pathetic useless dunce did.
20 Jun 2012, 00:06 am
HM selects WO a player he has worked with in the past and had success with. No one who watches rugby is unaware of his limitations as a center but he is a solid option and carries something key…………………experience. HM
‘s only target as self proclaimed is to win test matches so in HM’s gameplan he has decided that WO is best suited to carry out his instructions on the field.
I am amazed about the fact that we have won the first two tests under HM minus a raft of senior players against a well prepared English team and yet the Boks are still slated. It reminds me of how desperate some people were to see PDV fail during the BIL series. HOW PATHETIC!!! It seems as if provincialism trumps everything in SA, wonder why the AB’s have and will continue to dominate us, our collective heads are shoved so far up our own jacks that its not even funny.
The best part is watching the agenda driven media zig left and then right depending on who”s waving the buffalo’s . Really is any of this about the Bok or are we all a bunch of self seeking and serving and glorifying idiots.
**** just can it already and get together behind the Boks or is that impossible. If the Boks are winning are you entitled to say a damn thing, one would think not.
20 Jun 2012, 00:14 am
HM’s statement was that I come to win test matches, no four year plan, no building, no in a wee while……………..I come to win test matches. Until he loses he gets unqualified support from me.
20 Jun 2012, 00:15 am
He could play Bekker at center and bring Jorrie Muller back at tighthead, I couldn’t care less if he wins!!!!!
20 Jun 2012, 00:17 am
After the last two years and our failures in the tri-nations and world cup, I dont care how he gets it done as long as he gets it done!!!!!
20 Jun 2012, 00:37 am
What HM did in this series is nothing new and reminds me very much of Christie. Like Christie HM decided that I need settled combinations and structures I need 22 players who know exactly what I want them to do………………….Now I have four days to prepare a team and win a test and then win a series within two weeks……………….where do I find the spine of the team who know the structures and game plan that I want to play with minimal coaching from me, cause as sure as night follows day I cant teach it to a team in four days………………hmmmmmmm, lemme put on my thinking cap here…………….maybe I could select a bunch of players who are familiar with basic structure and game plan that I want to play considering they have been playing it for…………maybe eight years…………….me only have 4 (FOUR) 2plus2 four days to prepare a test side.
They may not be the best in their collective positions but they know what I want them to do……………..hmmmmm I recall another Bok coach doing this on short notice an being slated and written off and then with “transvaal mafia” in tact won a world cup…………………hmmmmmmm maybe that could work for me to cause he also had like very short notice well………………lemme try that and see if it works………………hows that it worked what a trick…………………..how clever is I !!!!!!
20 Jun 2012, 00:40 am
@Captain Sam Vimes(Captain Sam Vimes)-411:
You got that off your chest yet?
20 Jun 2012, 00:44 am
@whatever(whatever)-413: Sheesh sick of the inmates running the asylum lol but yeah all griped out!
20 Jun 2012, 00:48 am
@Captain Sam Vimes(Captain Sam Vimes)-414:
Good man!
I agree with you re winning and supporting the coach …… give him stick if(when) he screws up but not before.
HM needs to be carefull how he introduces our subs, thats my only crit so far.
As for all this inter provincial hatred on this site, I just don’t get it!
20 Jun 2012, 00:49 am
Clever Trevor .. now stretch the envelope a little bit and stop being so sh’t scared bang broek to go for broke beyond your narrow perspective of safety first options…
If it were NOT for FdP being the chicken he is and baling out of the captaincy yoke that Heyneke wanted to wrap around his neck.. Heyneke might just have gotten exactly what he didn’t want.. a captain so cocooned in his own closed minded philosophy that I reckon under FdP Boks might very well have LOST these 2 last gimme tests to a middle of the road England.
So by DEFAULT.. not by HM’s preferable design did he actually get GIVEN the captain that could lead him to his promised land.. Yeah JdV was NOT Heyneke’s first choice captain.. BUT JdV was most certainly the very best option for the task..
SO in like manner when it comes down to selecting an inside center for the all important task of containing Tuilagi and busting some holes in the tight knit English mid field.. Heyneke SHOULD start thinking OUTSIDE his all too familiar old hat safety first comfortable compromised ‘experienced’ solution… and go for the BEST option and not necessarily the second best familiarly selected safest.
20 Jun 2012, 00:54 am
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-416:
You should go to bed, you are talking k uk as usual!
20 Jun 2012, 00:55 am
all the glorious references to inmates and asylums all over.. what is it with these hyper acute intellectual snob noses that think they have the patent out on sanity… did their intellectual capacity for snobbery get rewarded same time they obtained their honors degree in highfalutin rugby epistemology ?
20 Jun 2012, 00:56 am
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-416: Okay agreed so if you were the BOk coach with and again I say FOUR days to prepare a team for a test against a well rested side who had allready played an entire tournament together and had longer prep time, would you have gone with free flowing basketball rugby and given the ball air and made it expansive. I am not knocking the approach just not my first choice.
I know what I would have gone with………….the same recipe that brought me success in the past. I dont think I would have been brave enough to risk a test defeat in my opening test as coach to try and be innovative but that’s just my opinion.
20 Jun 2012, 00:58 am
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-418: That makes no sense whatsoever I actually dont know what you are saying…………slower and in English please.
20 Jun 2012, 00:58 am
@whatever(whatever)-417: and what are you talking … high handed horse manure articulation?
20 Jun 2012, 01:01 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-376:
hahahahahaha……………….yeah right!
20 Jun 2012, 01:03 am
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-421:
Horse manure better than the human kind bubbling out of your mouth doos!
20 Jun 2012, 01:08 am
@Captain Sam Vimes(Captain Sam Vimes)-419: If he would have gotten his initial wishes which was to play Matfield or FdP as captain.. I reckon he might very well have lost.. I reckon providence been kinda kind to HM first series up because he probably deserves to be successful.. in that the decision was taken out of his hand and the BETTER captain and better leader was chosen out of necessity rather than by design..
SO if he realizes he been given a pretty good start to his tenure by the powers of open minded lateral thinking he can actually progress beyond the scope of the limited one dimensional approach he first set out on.. which was to go completely into safety first mode and select ONLY those who he had familiar background affinity with..
He should rather stretch his thinking beyond any narrow frame of prior experience and consider what presents itself to him in the moment and the occasion.. Just like as happened in selecting the better captain for the task through adapting to circumstance.. so should every position and every strategy be openly considered without resorting to programmatic narrowly conditioned perspectives.
20 Jun 2012, 01:10 am
@whatever(whatever)-415: Yeah I dont get it but I guess its bred in the jeans or something at least I have always been a Bok supporter first and a FreeState supporter second. There are some serious concerns about how HM introduced his substitutes and I agree there and I remember how vitriolic people were in the second test against the Bil when PDV did the exact same thing, although to be fair some of HM’s were injury induced.
Amazing how the previous gripe was that players coached themselves and PDV was a puppet and now apparently JDV coaches the team and that’s cool. The more things change the more they stay the same.
20 Jun 2012, 01:11 am
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-424: okay so if the Boks lose whose fault will it be HM’s or JDV’s?
20 Jun 2012, 01:12 am
@whatever(whatever)-423: another fuckup who thinks he’s smarter than he actually is.. misplaced mystified moron
20 Jun 2012, 01:12 am
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-424:
Leave HM out of the equation for a moment
Please tell us who you would have picked if you had access to the same players (also excluding injured players like Bekker) and less than a week to prepare?
20 Jun 2012, 01:16 am
@Captain Sam Vimes(Captain Sam Vimes)-426: It really is a simple question, whose fault would it be?
20 Jun 2012, 01:17 am
@victoriabok(victoriabok)-428:
This should be good!
20 Jun 2012, 01:18 am
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-427:
Lekker grootbek behind the keyboard ne?
20 Jun 2012, 01:22 am
@Captain Sam Vimes(Captain Sam Vimes)-426: Who’s fault was it that England lost.. Lancaster or Robshaw’s.. they in it together win or lose…?.. and losing is as much a part of life or rugby as winning is.. and I reckon some time if not sooner than perhaps later HM is going to have to handle losing.. at some stage.. unless he is absolutely invincible as a rugby strategist and motivator..
He got given a very good platform to kick off on through the availability of JdV when he needed a clear sighted and lead from the front team man leader .. so now he should run with the momentum and not step back into conservative fear of losing strategics.. JdV will always drive the team with a very positive strong leadership dynamic.. and in this situation Meyer is very fortunate that it wasn’t FdP or Matfield running the show..
But JdV must get given the best support structure in the best available players to compliment that dynamic.. and therein lies the crux where the coach gotta select the best players for each position to optimize the momentum going forward.
20 Jun 2012, 01:26 am
I tend to think that all of the blame would be laid at HM’s doorstep and rightly so. The buck stops with the Bok coach and particularly one who has left himself without a parachute of any kind. I very much doubt that JDV would be held to account on the same standard that HM would be and again rightly so.
I doubt that you would be so quick to acknowledge a JDV loss and lay blame at his doorstep the same way you are lavishing praise on him now. For the record I think JDV is an outstanding player and Captain, very astute and bright.
20 Jun 2012, 01:29 am
@victoriabok(victoriabok)-428: I wouldn’t have picked Olivier for inside center for starters.. I would likely have picked Brussow ahead of Daniel in the 22 and definitely ahead of Kankowski in the squad.. Same for Aplon and JdJ in the squad upfront and not as a belated knee jerk reaction through injuries.. and I would have had Elstadt in the squad to provide the mongrel he now gonna be short on when Alberts is absent.
@whatever(whatever)-431: you the groot bek behind your computer actually .. just like some other groot bek ponces here who reckon they know so much when they actually know so little.
20 Jun 2012, 01:29 am
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-432: I agree with your post. I think that they are in it together and yes I agree that JDV must be given the support he needs, I think that HM is doing this but he cant please everyone and like I said until he loses he gets unqualified support from me same as every Bok coach before him.
20 Jun 2012, 01:42 am
@Captain Sam Vimes(Captain Sam Vimes)-433:
JdV was the very BEST candidate for the position whether HM could recognize it initially or not.. he got handed the captain by providence or by circumstance and not by his own decision… HM is damn lucky that is the case because not only is JdV the best candidate he might actually have been his only possible candidate given the unveiling circumstances…
So he has hit the ground running by a very fortunate set of circumstances and now he got to run with the momentum and not stall the potential .. and that means select the best available players and combinations to bolster the entire team dynamic…
JdV does not lose easily – like John Smit did.. so in this respect HM is actually highly fortunate to have a leader of such caliber running his team on the field of play.. the captain is almost as responsible as the coach for the success of the team as a whole.. think Francoise Pienaar, Martin Johnson, John Eales, and even John Smit in 2007 (but not after 2009), without a winning mentality captain the coach is only half as capable to produce the goods.
If HM didn’t have the availability of JdV currently and had to resort to Spies or Daniel to lead this team I reckon he might have found himself in deep waters initially till he bred a capable captain to follow through.. so by default HM is rather fortunate the decision was taken out of his hand.. but from here on out he will have to build his coaching legacy with the aid of his captain and by his overall clarity of team building vision.
20 Jun 2012, 01:52 am
@Captain Sam Vimes(Captain Sam Vimes)-435:
anyway night..
and btw I don’t wish HM to fail.. but I don’t unconditionally offer him unilateral unconditioned support if he is unable to grasp what is good for the team and country as a whole beyond a narrow perspective of preconditioned overly conservative thinking.. he must succeed or fail by his own decision taking .. and Bok coach job is not one you take if you too afraid to fail… to me a brave failure is as valuable, in fact I would say is more valuable than a cowardly lucky packet success..
Integrity and honor in my view is not gained through winning some tinsel town lucky packet crown after 4 years of poor selection and strategic mediocrity.
20 Jun 2012, 02:50 am
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-437: I hear you look you prefer JDJ and Heinrich, neither of which are in any way bad selections, I’m probably the biggest Brussouw fan out there. Sorry had to leave without answering but old Captain Sams powder ****** is sick and been trying to get drops and stuff in her and get her to sleep.
You are entitled to your opinion Sir and respect you for having one. Sometimes circumstance produces a unique combination, ala Craven and Morne, dont think there could have been dissimilar personalities but it worked.
I am a Bok fan who holds the party line regardless so I wont criticize a coach until he has done something I believe is worth it. I have my own reservations about HM but will keep them to myself for now. I agree that one defeat does not mean you should be castigated but when you lose you must be held accountable the Bok job as Meyer has stated is all about winning, he should feel under immense pressure after a Bok loss, all of his predecessors have been and with the exception of Christie each has had the fall back position of the building, four year plan, learning curve, cycle mantra to fall back on.
HM is the only one recently who has left himself without that parachute and for that I commend him. The Boks should go out and play till they die in every game if that’s what it takes to win. And a Bok loss should not be tolerated by fans or the South African rugby fraternity at large.
anyway goodnight Sir.
20 Jun 2012, 03:00 am
I for one think that HM’s tactics have been spot on in this series and he has played basic and simple rugby, trying to keep errors to a minimum and with such limited prep time I can understand that and would have been the same path I would have chosen. The fact that he has an expanded group that contain some very promising talent leads me to believe that this Bok team is far from the finished product.
I think HM may surprise a few come the championship.
20 Jun 2012, 03:45 am
@Captain Sam Vimes(Captain Sam Vimes)-439:
I agree and if you ask any of the naysayers who have the most to say about all the Bulls and Sharks in the team they either avoid answering or come back with some minor changes. He did great given the time he had and we will only see the real way forward when the S15 finishes.
20 Jun 2012, 05:25 am
@Captain Sam Vimes(Captain Sam Vimes)-439: Agreed.
20 Jun 2012, 05:59 am
Barney, a great player? Bwahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahha! HG you’ve got more k@k coming out of your big bek than your pooper! Whatapw00s!
20 Jun 2012, 07:22 am
HG you runtcunt…the WO debate was being reduced to a narrow ’1 try in 36 games tunnel, the fact is that ‘stat’ is not the reason why WO is still trying to ‘prove
to himself’ that he can play Test rugby, he is & has been mediocre to putrid for the Boks on so many occasions.
Jamie Roberts with his 2 tries in 30 matches is poles apart from Timotei in terms of aptitude for Test rugby!
Get that through your thick skull HG.
20 Jun 2012, 08:14 am
I have no problem with WO, think his defense is solid, when he gets the ball he doesn’t slow down when crashing through, he is also not a gloryboy, he has no problem passing the ball when he is near the tryline and could give it a bash himself.
So I think he is solid and dependable with other qualities like good team player and not an international try scoring machine.
Oh he is also uber hot with a fab bod
20 Jun 2012, 08:21 am
Fuckadilly the only knot that should have been tied is the one in your pappies ballsack.
20 Jun 2012, 09:55 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-443:
I see you are trying to talking logically to our resident DUMBASS. Dont you realize just how dumb he really is? All his posts are quite simply gutter talk with strong homosexual undertones.
He cant help it. He is dumb as mud.
20 Jun 2012, 10:20 am
Making a tackle is one thing.
Dominating the tackle is a different story alltogether, if we can indeed agree on a definition of “dominate”.
Can Olivier dominate the tackle point?
A more useful stat would not be the absolute amount of tackles performed by a player, but rather the meters conceded in the tackle by that player.
There is no such stat at the moment.
20 Jun 2012, 10:42 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-3: Yes clearly it’s all Cardinelli’s fault that WO has only scored once, against minnows in 36 tests, can’t step, forgets he has a backline, and can’t pass (but is a decent defender) and disappears against opposition of substance in a position that requires a certain ‘x-factor’…. but a repeat star performer against top opponents, who doesn’t wear blue or pink, like Heinrich Brussow, isn’t even selected because he ‘gives away too many penalties in Super rugby’….. yea, go ahead ostrich man, kill the messenger!
20 Jun 2012, 11:05 am
cardenelli is a nob
20 Jun 2012, 11:23 am
Maybe Frans Steyn should have asked Wynand Olivier to be his best man…
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