Boks must make mental shift
25 Jun 2012
MARK KEOHANE, in his weekly column for Business Day, writes the anger Heyneke Meyer will feel this morning is that a new group of Springboks mentally couldn’t front for a Test match because a three-Test series against England had already been won.
The Springboks never had the mongrel to beat an opponent that – by rights of a season that has been going since the 2011 World Cup last September – should have been the disinterested and reluctant participant.
England’s players had the appetite for Test rugby in Port Elizabeth. They had the collective will to play for 80 minutes, motivated by a first win against the Boks in 10 starts.
That they didn’t get the win was because they were not good enough to put away a Bok team whose forwards were ordinary in what they produced as a unit and who individually offered very little intent in the collisions.
The Springboks, when dismissed as pretenders, invariably always rise to the occasion and find the extraordinary in ambition, persistence and resistance, but in 20 years of writing about South African rugby’s elite the one consistency is that when the players believe there’s nothing at stake there’s never quite the same urgency.
Springbok midweek teams, so many of them a collection of outstanding players, often played like a bunch of clueless club players and rarely produced performances worthy of their provincial pedigree.
Watching the Boks in Port Elizabeth was like watching a midweek Bok team with individual ambition but not collective hunger or cohesion.
Attitude is everything in Test rugby because with attitude comes intensity, confrontation and refusal to be beaten in the collisions.
We saw it with the All Blacks against Ireland in Christchurch a fortnight ago. Mentally they lacked the urgency because of a disregard of Ireland’s challenge and they nearly lost.
Not so in Hamilton where they apologised with the most emphatic performance in humiliating Ireland 60-0.
It was not the nine tries that spoke of New Zealand’s ambition and desire for sustained excellence. It was the refusal to give Ireland any consolation in the final minutes of the Test – a passage of play that saw All Blacks captain Richie McCaw chase down an Irishman with the urgency of a man whose team was defending a one point lead. Instead the All Blacks, 2-0 up in the three-Test series, were leading by 60 points.
McCaw, who as captain of the All Blacks, has won everything and lost just 12 of 106 Tests, was a man possessed in Hamilton, such was his embarrassment that the All Blacks had let themselves down in Christchurch.
McCaw’s attitude epitomised why the All Blacks are the only team in the world with an 80 percent winning record in the professional era. There is no such thing as a meaningless Test. He defended his tryline in a supposed dead rubber (with his team leading by 60 points) with the same conviction he did in last year’s World Cup final.
Meyer, if you asked him what he covets most as Bok coach, will tell you that every South African player understands the importance of every Test match – not just the ones at the World Cup.
The Bok coach has said he knows his team will lose matches, but he will only accept defeat when he knows his players were not good enough to win; not because it wasn’t important to win.
The mentality in South African rugby for too long has been that it is okay to deliver mediocrity as long as it does not happen at the World Cup or in a series decider.
In Port Elizabeth the Boks showed Meyer that the fight within his own camp to change this mentality will be his greatest challenge.
No Bok player ever wants to lose and there wasn’t a lack of individual commitment in Port Elizabeth. There just wasn’t the bloody mindedness you would have seen had this been the series decider.
The usual clichés of inexperience, human error in decision-making and a failure to adapt to the wind and rain were offered as mitigating factors, if never as an excuse.
Don’t believe any of it and don’t believe the purple prose so willingly offered in respect of England’s performance.
The visitors had determination, desire and enthusiasm, but they didn’t play particularly well. A team with greater attacking pedigree would have embarrassed the Boks and would have won comfortably.
South Africa’s determination and refusal to be beaten at home has historically masked the limitations of many a Bok team, but the greatest positive for Meyer is that nothing was masked in Port Elizabeth.
Some of those who wore green on Saturday are not good enough to wear it with the necessary authority if the Boks are to consistently be among the game’s best and the Boks will never reach the consistent level of winning that Meyer so desires if they can’t reach a consistent level of attitude the players need take to every Test.
It was a poor result for the Boks but it was also a very necessary one because it will force Meyer to acknowledge that he has players who talk about consistently being number one but he doesn’t yet have a group who plays with the belief and conviction every Saturday to be number one.
274 Comments
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25 Jun 2012, 10:05 am
So if the problem is a mental shift, is it time we consider people on sports coaching teams at this level to deal with it?
25 Jun 2012, 10:09 am
Alternatively, a scrumhalf that can manage the game tactically and a goalkicker that doesn’t miss 50% of his kicks.
Actually, just the goalkicker not missing 50% of his kicks would already have done it for us.
25 Jun 2012, 10:12 am
Meyer has already said it; unfortunately this is not something you can coach.
What you can do is make sure you select people with this attitude. And if you discover they don’t have it, then don’t be afraid to give someone else a chance – and quickly.
25 Jun 2012, 10:13 am
I like Morne. I would even keep him in the team, just for his tactical kicking, which is still spot on.
I would just swap Hougaard with Pienaar, and give the goalkicking duties to Pienaar until Morne gets his radar back.
Hougaard doesn’t have a clue when to pass, when to skip pass, when to go left, when to go right, or how to dictate a game with his boot.
He is great with sniping breaks, but that’s it.
Pienaar would solve both our scrumhalf and goalkicking woes with a single stroke.
That pass of his to put Pietersen away was a beauty. Hougaard doesn’t have that skill.
25 Jun 2012, 10:14 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-2:
The tight 5 was piss-poor, the loosies unbalanced and outplayed. Morne’s kicking wasn’t his only problem, he was indecisive caught in the pocket in two minds on two clear occasions and running in a direction where there were no support runners on another.
I agree with Keo, it was a team that played like the series was already won, not a team wanting to win a test match.
25 Jun 2012, 10:14 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-1:
absolutely PA… as discussed the other day…
complacency is still a persistent chestnut in all SA sports… crack that and we will be hard to beat… IMO
very definitely need as much training of the minds as we do of the bodies and gameplan
25 Jun 2012, 10:16 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-5:
Well, judging by the golf day at St Francis, the tag rugby clinics at whatever township, and the general laid back holiday week they had in PE, I reckon the Boks were taking this one easy.
Which is a pity, as 40,000 fans paid good money to go watch them beat the Poms.
25 Jun 2012, 10:16 am
Boks played the same game from the first test without Alberts and Frans Steyn who made that game plan work.
And we played without a flyhalve.
25 Jun 2012, 10:16 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-2: My biggest frustration was continuing with Morne when Pienaar was on the park. Made absolutely no sense to me
25 Jun 2012, 10:18 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-2: Well, Morne has already cost the Bulls 3 losses in the trot and missed 10 out 22 in subsequent 3 Tests, that adds up to 6 consecutive k@k games, surely something is wrong and especially when the guy offers little other than his “trusted” boot.
25 Jun 2012, 10:18 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-7:
All that said we can hardly blame players given the absolute joke of a calendar – no doubt some minds (with the series in the bag) were already on the business end of Super Rugby with 3 of our teams still in contention.
Bloody ridiculous.
25 Jun 2012, 10:19 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-1:
I think there are quite a few people who are working on the heads of the players. The problem, though, is one that is highlighted in the article: There is a general tendency among administrators, coaches in the past, players and supporters that the WC is the be all and end all of test match rugby. The famous quote of Streauli, “Judge me at the WC” a case in point. Effectively we have had this **** dished up to us for the better part of 12 years and this psyche has taken root in the minds of everyone involved in Bok rugby. To change that mindset is going to be like stopping a steam train at full speed – it does not happen instantaneously.
I commend Heyneke for identifying the single most debilitating subliminal paradigm present in the whole of SA Rugby. I wish him all the best in his attempt to change it and I urge the public to be patient.
25 Jun 2012, 10:21 am
hougaard was disgusting.
to get charged down even with a 7 man bear love train fully implemented to give you the space to make a box kick is nothing short of scandal.
morne steyn, this time round actually cost us a game due to poor kicking.
diabolical really and perhaps the coach should have switched to either pienaar taking the kicks or bringing jantjes on. i dare say he would have done any worse, in tactical kicking or penalties and conversions.
the bok play was so disjointed it would not have mattered what style jantjes may have brought to the game.
25 Jun 2012, 10:23 am
Morne was piss poor this weekend. I hope that was his last game for the Boks. Why didnt HM bring Elton on?
25 Jun 2012, 10:23 am
I think some of your conclusions are a bit harsh. Yes they were not at their best but dont forget about the other team. England were pretty motivated and made it difficult for the boks to do well.
I think if someone said to me before the 3 tests if i would be happy with 2 wins and a draw i think i would take it. We have had several new players and many injuries. We also have a new captain, coaching set up and many of players who made up the backbone of the springboks have left. When you put all that together I think they have done pretty well.
Im less concerned with the draw and more concerned with Morne Steyn who is really struggling to convert penalties. Considering our game plan he needs to be kicking around 80-90% if we are to win these types of games. Hopefully he can find some form in super rugby.
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-4: I also like Pienaar to start. It would be interesting if Pienaar replaced Morne as kicker seeing that is how Morne made his start
25 Jun 2012, 10:24 am
Definitely no Burger or Koster
——————————————————————————–
by Gavin Rich 25 June 2012, 07:18
The long awaited return to the playing field of regular Stormers captain Schalk Burger won’t be happening this week against the Lions, and may not be happening any time soon.
The Stormers management have confirmed that Burger is still struggling with the knee injury that has kept him out since an early stage of the opening Super Rugby match against the Hurricanes at Newlands in February. Burger was making good progress before the break for the international season, but apparently he is feeling pain in his knee again, and may not be back for a few weeks.
That is bad news for the Stormers as it looks like they will still be facing a loose-forward crisis as a result. Duane Vermeulen won’t be back from his injury until the final league game against the Rebels at the earliest, while Nick Koster is also set to miss this week’s match after initially being given the prognosis that he would be ready.
And with Rynhardt Elstadt, who has been solid for the Stormers at No 7, out for one match due to suspension, it leaves the Cape team in a big hole when it comes to the back-row, with Canadian Jebb Sinclair and Siya Kolisi having to be joined by one of Don Armand or, if rumour is to be believed, Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth, on the other flank.
Etzebeth playing flank will be made possible if Andries Bekker, who has made an impressive recovery from injury and looks likely to return to the playing field earlier than predicted, proves his readiness over the next few days.
The Stormers can probably afford to drop one of their remaining three matches and still win the South African conference in Super Rugby, but they will be wanting to start of the closing sequence of matches in the league phase with a win as they face a potentially difficult away game against the Cheetahs the following week.
25 Jun 2012, 10:24 am
A work collegue, Irish, went to Hamilton hoping for a win. After 20 odd minutes that was not going to happen and he was shattered by the end result.
Toward the end, he noticed the crowd were actually warming to any chance the Irish got to break the drought, but the AB’s shut the gate.
They gave the Irish nothing to walk away with.
That dosn’t happen too often, even with the AB’s. I suspect the close call the previous week. plus reading all the reports on how good they supposedly were after the first game had an effect.
I suspect Ireland got carried away with their press coverage as well.
25 Jun 2012, 10:24 am
Another question, why wasn’t a 90% kicker like Elton Janjties not brought on to kick or was his selection smokes and mirrors?. Elton, now offers more than Morne in all departments of play, why not play him like PDV did when Ruan was failing against the B&IL.
25 Jun 2012, 10:25 am
Xhosakid is quite right.
Steyn has cost the Bulls three games this season and now the Boks a game as well.
He needs to go away and sort himself out.
25 Jun 2012, 10:25 am
It is really a bit of a cop-out to suggest the terrible performance was due to complacency. Didn’t hear any of this before the game and the boks certainly looked up for it on the park.
Nah, limited tactics and for once all of the injuiries meant the players on the park weren’t good enough.
Mallet made some good comments after the game.
25 Jun 2012, 10:26 am
I would start Lambie in the rugby championship and have Morne on his couch at home just to make sure we get his support.
25 Jun 2012, 10:32 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-4: Our ball carriers were completely in-effective. Not sure why someone like Johnson isnt in the mix to get over the gain line like Alberts had. Again you cant carry an 8th man in test rugby, sooner or later it will catch you out like it did on Sat. Potgieter was also completely ineffective
Loosie pecking order should be:
8. Schalk / Vermuelen / Coetzee
7. Juan / Alberts / Johnson
6. Brussow / Coetzee / Kolisi
Etzebeth also needs to work on his ball carrying if he wants to live up to his potential
25 Jun 2012, 10:33 am
I don’t think its just a mental thing. The boks and Meyers game plan is all about momentum. Meyer said we don’t need another game plan if the boks execute it correctly. But surely when palyers like Alberts and Burger are injured (and they often are) we need a plan B?
25 Jun 2012, 10:34 am
@toulon says(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-13: I think Jantjes deserved a run and should have got most of the second half
25 Jun 2012, 10:34 am
Sorry Keo, but the problem was not a mental shift or what have you, it was a combination of injuries resulting forced selections combined with a bad tactical decisions by in inept half back pairing.
HM’s gameplan did not work because of the following:
1. Steyn is out of form, thus tactical kicking and goal kicking was poor!
2. Potgieter carried to little ball and was not effective enough when he did.
3. Only real ball carrier was Coetzee and thus this created little to no momentum.
4. With no forward momentum Hougard again fumbled and bumbled when with his tactical decisions.
5. Failed to adept and kept playing of 9 when the gaps where outside 13.
6. Mistakes, lost 3 line outs and a couple of stupid penalties.
Solutions :
1. Get a better kicking coach, Percy did a good job, so get him in, Koen is obviously not cutting it.
2. Hope and pray for our big boys to get back to fitness or else get a new gameplan.
3. Focus on decision making sessions with 9 and 10 players.
4. Select Pienaar when we have a less physical pack.
5. Have a plan B.
25 Jun 2012, 10:36 am
@Dumb Supporter(DumbSupporter)-20:
we did indeed talk about complacency last week…
25 Jun 2012, 10:37 am
I for one haven’t seen the supposed massive enforcer impact that Etsebeth brings to the game. In fact, I have found him to be vastly overhyped, to be honest.
Flip seems to have more of an impact when he comes on, and I don’t even particularly rate Flip.
It must be remembered that Etsebeth is 21. That’s very young for a nr.4 lock.
And this brings me to my real point.
Which is that Meyer doesn’t have half the quality players available that Divvy had when he started his tenure.
Meyer has to build a team from scratch, and this is doubly difficult without guys like Bakkies, Burger, Du Preez, Matfield, Gurthro etc.
All of them close to the best in the world in their positions when Divvy took over, and all of them gone when Meyer had to go into the English series.
Contrast that to an All Black team starting with Mccaw, Carter, Sonny Bill Williams, Dagg etc.
Du Preez’s loss at no.9 is absolutely massive. Meyer was so deserate to keep these guys, that he was willing to bring Matfield and du Preez back even in their relative old age.
Hougaard is a massive weak link in our gameplan. We have to bring Pienaar in at 9.
25 Jun 2012, 10:39 am
Since when do we post articles from other sports journos on this site???
Just wondering
25 Jun 2012, 10:39 am
@Bok fan(Bok fan)-22: Etzebeth NEVER goes backwards, he always makes a meter or two.
25 Jun 2012, 10:40 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-19: This is weird, you agreeing with me, the only thing we agree on is Mavis’s escapades and Lagavulin, LOL!!!
25 Jun 2012, 10:40 am
@Bok fan(Bok fan)-24:
perhaps.
there was a point in the match where boldness was required of the coach.
granted he did ring a lot of changes in the 2nd half half but they were conservative changes.
25 Jun 2012, 10:40 am
@XhosaKid(XhosaKid)-18: Good idea, time is right. Plus Jantjes has had to learn a lot about playing behind a losing pack
25 Jun 2012, 10:40 am
WO was not to bad, probably the best bok on the park, he obviously wanted to prove something.
25 Jun 2012, 10:41 am
@BreakdownBoy(goodstuff)-33:
Well, all you’ll hear is a deafening silence from his detractors.
25 Jun 2012, 10:44 am
@XhosaKid(XhosaKid)-30:
it’s the dynamic.
speaking of Maevis.
she is asking me for a youth wage subsidy.
deposited into her FNB account on the last working day of the month.
she is 37 (or so she says)
she must have it.
25 Jun 2012, 10:44 am
@BreakdownBoy(goodstuff)-33: You see how scary this is? All this talk of WO being the best Bok on the park – gives massive indication of just how k uk we were. An average player, who did absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, doing what is expected of him – nothing more, nothing less – and he was the best.
That should worry every single one of us.
25 Jun 2012, 10:46 am
Pienaar should be starting – Hougie is good but not better than Pienaar I’m afraid.. Hougie to play on the wing… or replacement..
25 Jun 2012, 10:46 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-34: I was one of them, but I ain’t gonna pull back what I have been saying, just because a man has one good game, doesn’t make the other 36 not matter.
He has had a good game, but his average is still slanted towards mediocre. But I would keep him in the squad.
25 Jun 2012, 10:46 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.(The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food)-36: Yup.
25 Jun 2012, 10:47 am
@BreakdownBoy(goodstuff)-33: @Tacitus(Deucalion)-34:
no,
he did not prove enough and he certainly proved a whole lot less than frans has.
25 Jun 2012, 10:49 am
More is being hung out to dry for poor goal kicking, quite rightly.
But have some perspective, how many potential points did Bismarck cost us with his poor lineout throws. Go back and analyse his skill at any level and he is not up to standard in that particular department.
25 Jun 2012, 10:51 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-27: A lie repeated enough times has a way of parading itself as the truth, here I’m referring to your consistent lie of saying Meyer has had to start from scratch, implying PDV didn’t.
“Which is that Meyer doesn’t have half the quality players available that Divvy had when he started his tenure.”
The above statement is a complete misrepresentation of facts, normally called a LIE.
25 Jun 2012, 10:51 am
@ufo(ufo)-26: And we were all told it wouldn’t be a problem.
Just think it is naive to think the guys weren’t up for it instead of referring to the real issues:
– No Alberts
– No F Steyn
– Morne having a mental breakdown.
Would have expected Heyneke to mention these more.
25 Jun 2012, 10:53 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-35: You shouldn’t have given her the “term-less” loans in the first place, now you have created expectations
25 Jun 2012, 10:53 am
@XhosaKid(XhosaKid)-42:
Prove it.
25 Jun 2012, 10:55 am
@Dumb Supporter(DumbSupporter)-43:
Heyneke doesn’t hang out individual players to dry in front of the media. Him saying a player “knows he has to do better”, is the equivalent of Mallet saying:
“The player is utterly useless.”
25 Jun 2012, 10:55 am
For me the biggest worry is that without willem alberts our pack doesn’t dominate the collisions in the way that is required to fulfil HM gameplan.
Also the lack of a quality goalkicker and Hougaard’s passing are further concerns
25 Jun 2012, 10:55 am
@BreakdownBoy(goodstuff)-25: Spot on!
25 Jun 2012, 10:55 am
The loss of Albert’s grunt was a major factor, which is pretty worrying when you factor in the extra long season, our confrontational injury inducing local derbys, and our penchant for crash and bash styled rugby which is putting extra strain on our looseforward stocks. I suspect longer term this will have less of an effect on our sansar brothers who tend to run for the gaps rather than the man.
Going forward i dont quite know how this will be managed.
Is it wise to build a game plan(no plan B) so heavily focussed around a group of players who will be consistently injured? HM needs a plan B, when plan A doesnt work.
Any idiot with half a pencil knows to beat the boks you just have to take out our forwards. This will become increasingly doable considering our myopic game plan and the injuries coming our way.
25 Jun 2012, 10:56 am
@Dumb Supporter(DumbSupporter)-43: I agree with you! see 23 and add D.Vermeulen.
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