Bumbling Boks stutter to draw
23 Jun 2012
RYAN VREDE reports on an uninspiring performance from the Springboks in their 14-14 draw with England in Port Elizabeth.
In many ways this Test reminded of its equivalent during the British & Irish Lions series – an already defeated foe galvanised by the incentive of a morale-lifting victory and a champion lacking the sharpness and efficiency that had earned it that title.
This dead rubber taught us much about Heyneke Meyer’s Springboks, not least of all that there is a long road to travel before they reach the point he envisages.
Certainly you cannot discount the absence of Frans Steyn and Willem Alberts when assessing their poor performance. The duo have been constant sources of momentum at the gainline, something the Springboks sorely lacked for the bulk of this contest.
Herein was the root of their struggle. Their kicking game was efficient if not outstanding, with Francois Hougaard enjoying his best Test in this regard, but once in England territory their play was then rudderless and lacked any discernible threat.
In addition, their ball protection at the breakdown was compromised by that lack of gainline punch and they surrendered possession or allowed England to stifle their recycle, the latter further undermining their attacking play. Too often the ball was shovelled from hand to hand with little purpose, and, under pressure, Springboks, often senior ones, took options that were unbecoming of players of their calibre.
It would, however, be remiss not to credit some part of the host’s impotence to a vastly improved defensive effort from England. Their tackle fight was accurate and physical and this enabled them to defend with greater structure than they had in the decisive opening quarter of the Johannesburg Test last week.
The Springboks led 9-8 at the break. England had taken an early lead through Danny Care, whose quick-tap penalty caught the Springboks cold. Morne Steyn would, however, boot his side ahead and it is almost certain that Meyer’s half-time message would have been delivered with an appreciable degree of gusto given his charges’ poor showing.
But unlike in Durban where there was a marked improvement in their play across the two halves, the Springboks continued to toil, their efforts growing increasingly disjointed and desperate. Fears of such a performance had been central to Meyer’s desire to recall seasoned players for this series, and he would surely have been wishing for some of the composure, tactical intelligence and accuracy of execution those men would have offered him.
Instead he had to hope for the superior individual skill of his players to shine through or pray for the exhibition of the magic his game breakers had the potential to offer him. There was no such magic evident in JP Pietersen’s 62nd minute score, only grunt and fortune, the latter evident in the pass to the winger so nearly being intercepted.
Steyn missed the conversion, his third miss of the evening. A stiff breeze and steady rain made goal-kicking difficult but not impossible, and the kicks were ones he would have been expected to bank. His indifferent form in this regard has endured throughout the series and will fuel the fire of his critics who believe he is a liability if not for his usually precise boot.
Sensing the prospect of breaking a nine-Test losing streak against the Springboks, England upped the ante, Owen Farrell levelling the scores with eight minutes to play. Two minutes later Steyn’s attempted drop goal floated wide and when the Springboks drove into the England 22m shortly thereafter they again failed to convert pressure into points.
England had the last shot at victory but they too butchered that opportunity to end a series that will leave both coaches with more questions than answers.
Follow Ryan on Twitter
Follow SA Rugby magazine on Twitter
369 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 [8] Show All
24 Jun 2012, 15:12 pm
338 the Bokke dont look that much different from the last couple of years, you wont win the 4N this year
24 Jun 2012, 15:31 pm
JUNIOR WORLD CUP NZ CAPTAIN
To all of the hagriographers of this individual an article in RAPPORT
newspaper gives a different perspective.
When the ref called te 2 players and their captains aside the first player
red carded was the SA player.The NZ captain gave a taunting laugh,(Belly laugh according to article) only to be
crestfallen when seconds later his teammate was also red carded.
Yet the NZ captain is being hailed for his sportmanshipwhile our captain is
described as being a “plank”with all of its inferences.i.e.”As thick a ,uncouth
etc.Lets stir a bit here.Is it because he is Afrikaans?
24 Jun 2012, 15:33 pm
@ryecatcher(ryecatcher)-352:
And if its in Rapport – its unbiased and true????
24 Jun 2012, 15:34 pm
And lets be honest about it.
24 Jun 2012, 15:36 pm
353 Biltong.Did not say that.Just said that a different perspective had been raised.
24 Jun 2012, 15:42 pm
Fair enough – I haven’t seen the speeches in question – so have no idea. Actually, quite surprised at the focus on these.
Most young Kiwi “professional” footy players have spent most of their time in the Academy system, and less at school. Most of them struggle to string 3 or 4 sentences together – beyond assembling the well-known cliches into some form of order (eg, “full credit to them”, “game of two halves”, “played to our game plan”, etc, etc, etc).
24 Jun 2012, 15:49 pm
Good point.Just got a bit miffed when our catain,bubbling over with joy,
was considered not decourous enough in after match speech.The”focus”
on this site was fairly intense.I remain convinced that off camera congratulations etc.were proffered.We are in the main a courteous nation.
24 Jun 2012, 15:51 pm
decorous. captain
24 Jun 2012, 16:43 pm
@ryecatcher; enjoyed your comment. The PE game reminded me why I started riding my bike rather than watching the Boks. Interesting note on the Baby Boks as I thought the big Boks turned up like the Baby Bleks; go through the motions and we’ll win. Big surprise; see how Care went through them dozing. But Meyer must take most of the blame. Morne escaped the axe by scoring in Durbs, he wobbled in Jhb and came off his perch completely in PE. Meyer needs to consider a reliable kicker and coach very carefully otherwise the Boks (and him) will have a hard time.
As to the rest; Meyer will have to wise up very quickly. The set pieces weren’t great and this is where the rot starts. If Bissy (and his replacement) is too brain dead to throw to 2 or 4 on a windy day, he needs to have it drilled into him. Ditto with kick and chase. You have to chase and either compete for the ball (Basson??) or tackle then best to have a fetcher to compete for the tackle ball on the ground.
Olivier was good but had little support on his shoulder; shades of PDivvy. Potgieter tried but the Poms had sussed out how to bring an Alberts type behemoth to ground quickly on attack with a low tackling rush defence and they executed well. Willemse and Mallett explained at half time very clearly that the forwards were tired or dozing. Meyer needs to either sort this out with rotation or conditioning. I can’t see any players taking an Alberts type stampkar beating, week in and week out and still looking sharp.
Walsh was his usual wobbly alkie self; missing the Pom hand scoop and calling a Bok knock on then allowing the Poms plenty offside leeway before carding. That the Boks couldn’t take advantage must rest with M Steyn who failed to keep ball in hand; kicking largely aimlessly, hopefully not to Meyer’s instructions. So I wish Meyer would shut up about tactics, get some good set piece coaches and develop depth.
24 Jun 2012, 16:53 pm
@ryecatcher(ryecatcher)-352: The Rapport is correct. When the captains went up and our player was red carded first by the ref, the kiwi captain laughed and started to clap as well, just to be silenced a second later when his player was given a red card as well. Some never mentioned that here about that side of the kiwi captain. However he was gracious with his speech after the match.
I still have that game on my pvr and watched it again today. The Rapport speaking the truth.
24 Jun 2012, 17:27 pm
Hello Husky @ 359.Thanks for your comments.Was very(and still am) angry at
our players attitude to the game.
Puma @ 360.Thanks for the confirmation.The debate was getting 1984
Orwellian.”New Zealand good–S.A.Bad”
Why do we always feel the need to apologise without confirming the facts?
Regards.
24 Jun 2012, 17:31 pm
Husky @ 359.Excellent analysis.
24 Jun 2012, 19:01 pm
Amazing how silent the site becomes when you take bloggers.
on.Johnson”.Patriotism is the last resort of scoundrels”.Agree when it
is blind and unquestioning.However.Nothing wrong with loving your
country and all of its people.In our country this finds expression in sporting
success.Let us celebrate that.
24 Jun 2012, 23:16 pm
@Puma(Puma)-360:
100% Puma. I watched the replay (On Moari TV can you believe….not on the main sports channels in NZ) and the NZ captain clapped his hands in glee and gave a big smile to his teamates when the baby Bok was given red. A few seconds later the tosser looked like someone had kicked him in the balls when his man got red.
Nice speech afterwards but clearly two sides to this fraud captain. Must take lessons from Fitzpatrick.
25 Jun 2012, 04:14 am
@whatever(whatever)-364:
So lets get this right here.
What you suggest is that the captain of the opposing team should be sad and mope around that the other team got a player sent off.
**** i would be stoked. Its a final, nothing better than the opposition to lose a man.
Strange but i wonder how the South African captain reacted when the Junior AB was sent off. Was he sad?
Fraud Captain is way to harsh. I know fraud is rampant over in SA but not every person is a fraud. I mean look at you whatever, you are no fraud are you?
You love your country NZ, always speak highly of the place…….. spot the fraud now.
25 Jun 2012, 05:32 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-365:
Spin it anyway you want bud, but a captain outwardly showing glee and gloating about a card is p iss poor. Our captain did not show anything………poor sport by the NZ captain IMO.
Dude, you are the fraud, show me one post where I have knocked NZ as a country……….you can’t cause I have never ever done that, on the contrary I have only had positive stuff to say. The NZ rugby fraternity, media and fans on the other hand are on the whole arrogant wan kers and I make no bones about my feelings in this regard
Get your facts straight ******!
By the way, theres a wee bit of fraud in NZ as well and some bankers don’t know the difference between $100k and $10mil
so careful with the crit therel!
25 Jun 2012, 05:33 am
Oh, and please show me where I said the opossing captain should be sad?
You really are a prize doos Hurricane!
25 Jun 2012, 09:29 am
husky – Hougie is a real problem for the Boks. They were a different team when Ruan came on, better team!! Hougie is not a very good scrummie, good runner, brilliant wing, but a lousy scrummie. Heyneke has got some tuff decisions to make.
25 Jun 2012, 10:18 am
@whatever(whatever)-366:
“The NZ rugby fraternity, media and fans on the other hand are on the whole arrogant wan kers and I make no bones about my feelings in this regard”
So that makes up over half NZ population.
You can sit back and accuse someone else as being a fraud but get all emotional when someone accuses you.
If you cant take it then stop spouting ya big gob around. Getting a bit sick of your cr@p lately.
Ok so i cant find where you said something bad about the country but you have no problems accusing people in NZ of all sorts of things.
Trust me, name calling on a blog really shows how far into maturity you are.
I sure as hell know you would be a coward and not say it to my face.
Tough guy on a blog lol fukn joke
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 [8] Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.