Heyneke’s hope and headache
25 Jun 2012
JON CARDINELLI writes that while the Springboks weren’t consistent during the three Tests against England, there were a number of reasons for Heyneke Meyer to feel encouraged.
The Boks drew 14-14 with England last Saturday, producing a performance so insipid that Meyer felt obligated to apologise to local supporters in the aftermath. It was by far the Boks’ worst showing of 2012, and it didn’t surprise me to subsequently hear the Bok players admitting that they had let their country down.
There should be disappointment and frustration following the stalemate in Port Elizabeth, but there should also be perspective. The Boks have finished the series unbeaten, and Meyer, his team and the rest of South Africa should acknowledge that a big box has been ticked.
The quality and consistency of the performances is another story. There have been some brilliant examples of team work, moments of synergy that utterly humiliated and overwhelmed England. There have also been some inspiring individual performances by rookies and veterans alike.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Boks have been guilty of what Meyer has termed ‘soft moments’, periods of play that often allowed England to stay in the contest or keep the scoreline respectable. Defensive lapses, inconsistent and inaccurate breakdown work, as well as set-piece bungles – this series has had as much of the bad as it has the good.
Accuracy at the attacking breakdowns was identified as a problem following the first Test, and a drop in intensity was blamed in the second. The third was a combination of both, and the wet weather only served to exacerbate the situation.
It is something Meyer will need to address in his preparation for the Rugby Championship. As competitive as England were at the tackle, the challenge of Australia and New Zealand will be far more aggressive. Inaccuracies will be punished, turnovers will be translated into points. The Boks can be thankful that England weren’t more clinical in this regard.
There were exceptions, Willem Alberts proving the most valuable player in the first two Tests. Be it on attack or defence, Alberts dominated the collisions. He will be an important player in the Rugby Championship, and Meyer will also hope that Schalk Burger and Duane Vermeulen fully recover from injuries to ensure the Boks have some depth in that important No 7 position.
Juandré Kruger was asked to play the role of lineout manager in just his first series for South Africa, and did well considering the situation. It is hoped that a more experienced player like Andries Bekker will be available for the Rugby Championship, but what the England series did was provide Kruger with international exposure. Considering Bekker’s track record with injury, it also may not be long before Kruger is called on again.
His second-row partner Eben Etzebeth was one of the success stories, and should be another key player for the Boks later this year. Marcell Coetzee was not always technically sound at the tackle, but his work-rate was impressive and he will remain in the loose-forward mix.
In the backs, Frans Steyn did exactly what was asked of him in that inside centre channel. He will be expected to contribute more with the boot and play with more variation in the Rugby Championship, but what was clear in the England series was that the physicality he offers as a No 12 forces the opposition to explore other avenues of attack.
Jean de Villiers was rightly appointed captain and has been rightly retained in the position for the remainder of the year. He has thrived at outside centre and complemented Steyn in midfield. That combination has proved so important to the Boks’ strive for gainline ascendancy.
Bryan Habana and JP Pietersen have rediscovered the form that made them the outstanding wingers of the 2007 World Cup. The all-round contributions of these players has vindicated Meyer’s faith in them, and they certainly fit into a territory-based game plan where the kick-chase is paramount.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the halfbacks, as Francois Hougaard and Morné Steyn were disappointingly inconsistent. It is a concern, especially in the tactical-kicking department, where Hougaard has struggled with his accuracy.
Steyn has the tactical boot to enhance Meyer’s game plan, but he desperately needs to address his goal-kicking problems. He was wayward in Durban and Johannesburg, and missed three goal-attempts (four if you count the wayward drop kick) in Port Elizabeth. Clashes between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are often decided by a few points, and accurate goal-kicking can be the difference.
It was clear in the series against England that Meyer’s game plan, when correctly and accurately implemented, can bring the Boks results. The Boks will get together a bit earlier for the Rugby Championship than they did for the England series, and that should help them build more synergy before the start of that tournament.
But for the individuals who are hoping to overcome technical issues, the next few weeks of Super Rugby are massively important in the context of the Test season.
Follow JC on Twitter
Follow SA Rugby magazine on Twitter
217 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 [5] Show All
25 Jun 2012, 11:04 am
Ok, so for all those people frothing about the game plan. What exactly should they be doing?
From what I saw;
(1) The vast majority of up-and-unders were from our half, usually close to our 22. NZ, Oz, Eng all do the same. Especially when it is wet and slippery like last Thursday. To say that that is all we do is an outright lie.
(2) We kicked more than in the previous 2 Tests because of the conditions. If that is not “adapting” the game plan I don’t know what is. Just because the tactical kicking was horrendous from both Steyn and Aplon doesn’t mean that they should not have kicked.
(3) Our forwards made ground when we did not have a scrumhalf killing our momentum. The service was poor, going high, low or often behind the runner forcing him to stop. Pienaar was passing much flatter allowing the forwards to run onto the ball.
(4) The ball got to the backline plenty of times but unlike in the previous Tests they were doing so with little forward movement and thus England easily realigned their defense. This is down to (3).
So with the scrumhalf delivering disastrous service what would you change in the game plan? People keep on saying “change game plan” on and on and on. But change what? We did keep the ball in hand plenty of other times but due to (2) we could not get momentum or at least not for sustained periods. You want to run from the 22? Thank God you people are not the coach then.
The next person that says the game plan is at fault please tell us exactly what they are suppose to do.
25 Jun 2012, 11:10 am
@STBUR(STBUR)-201: Excellent Post. Throwing pearls at Keo swine though.
Farken majority of idjits here probably wont appreciate the post because firstly:
- you speak sense
- they got no farken real clue about the game of rugger
25 Jun 2012, 11:17 am
In any case, there probably is a max of about 10 individual posters that actually contribute here nowdays.
The plethora of different nics are actually by the same Cape Keo fckwits in different guises. They generally use other profiles to “go extreme” in order to “protect” their “honourable” primary profiles
Dawn = KeurBoomPark + 2 more (Possibly Doggy Ped)
UFO = Dirty Harriet + 1 more at least
Stormersboy = + 2 more at least
Capo = Very possibly Vrede (+ 5 to 6 varying profiles)
Actually Every Journo contributing to Keo has at least 2 other Pseudonyms.
Rumbled… Bunch of farken frauds
25 Jun 2012, 11:19 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-203: Forgot Transformation = Most of te “Transformation” nics you see.
Rossoneri = Approx 5 different profiles at least.
25 Jun 2012, 11:21 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-204: I also reckon WPTID = most nics that include variations of “Stormer” or WP. About 5 or 6 differing profiles.
Farken frauds I tell ya
25 Jun 2012, 11:26 am
Robzim@189.
It is indeed stupid @ childish.
Can you imagine any of these people sitting alone at home
in their armchair watching the game, actually doing this.Must be a herd instinct thing.
25 Jun 2012, 11:27 am
@STBUR great post. Agree with u hundred percent
25 Jun 2012, 11:33 am
STBUR @ 201.Good post.Execution of game plan atrocious.
25 Jun 2012, 11:37 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-203:
You sommer start early with your kukpraat huh.
Come in here fists swinging
Shut up already.
25 Jun 2012, 11:40 am
Heavens Game.My problem is that we played exactly the same way
for the entire match.England sussed us out very early on in the
game.We were innefective playing the same game for 80mins.
Not the biggest”kenner” b ut this pissed me off .I do post mortems
in my mind after every match,and this was my biggest disappointment.
Regards
25 Jun 2012, 11:54 am
@Dawn(Dawn)-209:
you are very woes today my angel.
talk to Gunther.
25 Jun 2012, 13:03 pm
@STBUR(STBUR)-201: great post stbur…fair summation of the game this weekend…
25 Jun 2012, 13:03 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-202: to true…!
25 Jun 2012, 13:07 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-203: so which one would louis schropnel be?…is he a journo or is he real?…coz i have images of him frothing at the mouth when he posts…screaming incoherently while he writes posts denegrating everything north of the apies…
25 Jun 2012, 13:12 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-203: Not sure about the rest. But I am on my lonesome here – no association to any of the names you mentioned, although I have met a few of them.
I do agree with ONE of your link ups though – I saw it last week
25 Jun 2012, 13:21 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-203:
You would not be among the “10″.
25 Jun 2012, 13:36 pm
Skopshyte now blogs as Dirty Harriette and louis scrumpledscrotum
. There is no ways that Dawn is Keurdoosvark. She’d have to know her rugger and she don’t know her rugger.
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 [5] Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.