Stuttering Boks down Pumas
18 Aug 2012
RYAN VREDE watched the Springboks secure a comfortable but flawed 27-6 victory over Argentina at Newlands.
There was nothing unexpected here, besides perhaps the Springboks’ failure to bank the bonus point. Those who predicted a closer contest were deluded. The Pumas, barring Juan Martin Hernandez, were vastly inferior man for man. And while they were always going to be passionate, that characteristic counts for little against the southern hemisphere’s elite if not accompanied by a high level of tactical and technical competence.
They had both, but not in the measure required to come close to troubling the Springboks. A greater challenge awaits the Springboks in Mendoza next weekend, where the Pumas’ combativeness is sure to be elevated by the energy and confidence drawn from rabid home support. A new level of physicality will be required on defence and more grunt will be demanded on attack from their key strike runners.
Both those facets of play will be compromised slightly if Bismarck du Plessis, substituted in the third minute with what appeared to be a serious knee injury, is absent. However, in Adriaan Strauss they have an able deputy, while the likes of Eben Etzebeth, Willem Alberts and Marcell Coetzee supplement some of the potency lost.
The trio were all outstanding this evening, Etzebeth and Alberts granitic on defence in particular, while Coetzee carried the ball effectively throughout.
The collective defensive punch and synergy was most encouraging. In a press conference this week assistant coach Johann van Graan peddled the rugby truism: ‘Attack puts bums on seats but defence wins championships’. There are sterner examinations to come but their defensive platform is sound. They simply refused to give a inch at the gainline, which in turn nullified Hernandez’s threat. The pivot is a class act but he lacked the calibre of supporting cast to be a greater influence.
However, the Springboks’ defensive excellence wasn’t matched by sustained attacking precision. They did well to gain field position with their kick-chase method, but given their territorial dominance one would have reasonably expected a better return of tries.
They started well enough in this regard, scoring twice in the first 28 minutes, Zane Kirchner rounding off a move that featured powerful phase play, while Coetzee profited from an unstoppable rolling maul.
Leading 20-3 at the break, the Springboks then went through an attacking lull in which they made fundamental errors and were disjointed on attack. They briefly sparked to life to put the match to bed when Bryan Habana collected a perfectly weighted Morne Steyn cross-kick to score.
It would be remiss not to dedicate a couple of lines to Steyn in light of his recent struggles for form. Meyer predicted he would have ‘a great’ game given the rejuvenating effect of a break after Super Rugby. It would be an exaggeration to deem his showing here ‘great’, but he certainly looked more like the Test player he was in 2009, with his goal-kicking (5/5) a throwback to that memorable period. Australia and New Zealand will be better measure of the man, but this performance will have contributed to healing his fractured confidence.
The Springboks pushed hard for the bonus-point that could to be decisive in the final analysis, given that the Wallabies and Blacks are expected to put four tries by Argentina when hosting them (the latter will probably score four against them in Argentina as well). But they lacked the patience, invention and ball protection at the breakdown to achieve their goal.
Meyer won’t be pleased with their patchy attacking showing. He will demand significant improvements in the weeks ahead. He can take heart from the fact that his squad’s cohesion will grow, which in turn will amplify their threat. It is a base from which they can and will build.
45 Comments
18 Aug 2012, 19:00 pm
It’s official. We are now the BORING BOKS. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
18 Aug 2012, 19:03 pm
Now that was very disappointing from the Boks!!!!!!
18 Aug 2012, 19:04 pm
I konw the Argies are new and all the rest but man they should have recieved about 2 or 3 yellow cards.
18 Aug 2012, 19:06 pm
Scrappy sleepy wings dragons
18 Aug 2012, 19:07 pm
4 wins out of 6 will be mission accomplished for Heyneke this season. Bonus points are just that. A bonus.
We aren’t gonna win the Championship this season anyway.
18 Aug 2012, 19:08 pm
How long since newlands saw a 4th try bonus point
18 Aug 2012, 19:10 pm
Agreed there should have been some cards issued to the Puma’s forwards but the boks are delusional if they think NZ wont score 4 tries vs Arg at home (and we have to keep up with them obviously to stand any chance of lifting the trophy).
Sideways rugby, players playing the ref not the ball, all in all we can beat Aussie like this but NZ will be a step too far if we don’t DRASTICALLY change our playing style.
18 Aug 2012, 19:10 pm
@JA-JA-3:
I promise you if the Argies play exactly like they played tonight against the All Blacks, Reechie will have milked at least 1 yellow card from the ref for their constant, blatant ruck infringements, and would have had the All Blacks playing against 14 men for 10 minutes.
Jean should have pressed harder for that card.
18 Aug 2012, 19:12 pm
@outrightrugby-7:
We don’t have to keep up with the All Blacks this year because it is unrealistic to expect us to win the championship with the players we currently have.
NZ have better players than us this year. This was not the case when Victor, Bakkies, Du Preez, Gurthro, Rossouw etc. were still around.
18 Aug 2012, 19:13 pm
Where was the boom dynamite tonight
18 Aug 2012, 19:13 pm
Granitic boring Boks.
18 Aug 2012, 19:15 pm
@Tacitus-9:
Not to mention Juan Smith and a younger Schalk Burger and Brian Habana.
18 Aug 2012, 19:23 pm
lots of work to be done
definitely a few passengers in the team tonight
18 Aug 2012, 19:29 pm
So, how many line out balls did we steal today? (Not counting overthrows by the Argentinean hooker).
18 Aug 2012, 19:32 pm
you numbskulls thuoght it was going to be that easy? the boks would have been an azz plumbing if they tried to play 52% win rate aussie candyfloss rugby. was pretty good hit out. already an improvement over snor and new zealand aint gonna win that easily in argie country thats for damn sure.
18 Aug 2012, 19:35 pm
@Blitzbok-15: Kak man. The Kiwis will put a big score on the Pumas.
18 Aug 2012, 19:38 pm
Blitzbok still at 12 on the Richter scale
18 Aug 2012, 19:39 pm
Blitzbok:You use the blitz to start the fire…,not to smoke it.That was a poor Bok performance.
18 Aug 2012, 19:42 pm
Where the sharks game thread
18 Aug 2012, 19:50 pm
When the Boks were focussing solely on beating the Pumas in the first half, they looked really good especially with ball in hand. But when the 2nd half started and they assumed that the match was in the bag, the objective became “get the bonus point” at this point, they lost the plot.
Its really a mental hurdle, that they will have to work on. They couldn’t play the full 80mins in the England series, but they are a young team and with a few tweeks in selection and a bit more experience, they will be getting the full 80mins out of the team as well as the big wins.
18 Aug 2012, 19:50 pm
Wonder how many gigs at this level the Bok backline coach would land with other test unions. Between him and Heineken we have the recipe for years of endless frustration, under-achievement, narrow, nerve wracking wins 63 % of the time and above all, boring, mind-numbing rugby that hardly leads to any respect for our Boks in any case even when we win.
Nick Mallet and Wayne Smith, that’s a fucken coaching team. Both unattached. Heineken is a great long term developmental coach. He clearly set superb structures for the Blue Bulls to flourish and build a dynasty but that took years of blood, tears and sacrifice. Do we have the patience for that? Is he a master coach who can think and adapt gameplans on the fly, innovate like JWhite did with the rush defense when he took over? I suspect not friends.
18 Aug 2012, 19:56 pm
Ricardo Loubscher as backline coach? For the third best (at least) team in the world? Really?
18 Aug 2012, 20:02 pm
Well this is good confirmation that Hougaard should not play 9 and be let loose as a sub wing. Pienaar much better when he came on. Crisp passing and good defending around the fringes.
Kirchner had a solid game, hate to admit it.
Daniel not the answer at eight… Bring in Kolisi and play Alberts at 8… Coetzee needs a rest imo.
18 Aug 2012, 20:02 pm
just read on Planet Rugby that Bismarck is out for the rest of the year…??
18 Aug 2012, 20:04 pm
@kaksioek-22:
He was Todd Loudens understudy, so Id give him some time to prove his worth. It was scrappy play from the players and Hougaard misfired, you cant really blame the backline coach. With Pienaar starting next week they should look better imo.
18 Aug 2012, 20:04 pm
@fantasticbarnsmell-24: Knee ? Bummer.
18 Aug 2012, 20:08 pm
Why all the biitching? It was the first game of the comp and the boks won convincingly… No tries scored against them. Scrappy game from the boks but that can be fixed. A lot of positives. Steyn much better etc
18 Aug 2012, 20:14 pm
@Jeez-26: ja… it’s a real bummer
18 Aug 2012, 20:21 pm
The result was OK, but the play wasn’t very inspiring. And the Boks needed a bonus point win. Hell, this could leave us third.
18 Aug 2012, 20:23 pm
@Spiesisworthless1-21: Nick Mallett and Wayne Smith would be an immense dream team, the boks with them at the helm would be scary.
18 Aug 2012, 20:25 pm
Good result pity no 4 try bonus point.
Daniels at 8 a huge improvement form Spies
Credit to Steyn for picking up his game and playing a huge part in the win
18 Aug 2012, 20:45 pm
Today’s bok win should leave people concerned, there’s no attacking variation, there’s no fluency on attack, counter attack, well a bit wishy washy, frankly the boks don’t know what they are doing on attack. This is the concern it’s not about being rusty, the bok attack is one dimensional and dull, they may beat argentina but the wallabies and the ABs are an entirely different proposition.
18 Aug 2012, 20:49 pm
@mpundulu-32:
Nothing new Its bulls rugby basically
We rely on dominance at forward
To beat the boks we have to protect our ball and defend the execellent counter rucks by ABs and have much quicker ruck ball, especially when we cross the gain line
18 Aug 2012, 20:57 pm
Just arrived back from a 3 week break in the Tuscany area and saw only 15 minutes of the test. No internet in Tuscany so have been starved of rugby.
Saw that Bizzie is injured and that Jannie also had to go off. If I was HM I’d consider bringing in Kitshoff and Coenie and let Kitshoff,Strauss and Coenie start off with Beast from the bench. Reason being that Strauss needs a good TH to support him whereas Bizzie being a strong scrummager can do with his boetie at TH. Why not try the youngster , I think he will upstage JDP.
18 Aug 2012, 21:03 pm
@bananaboy-34: Coenie is injured.
18 Aug 2012, 21:12 pm
@kaksioek-35: pity , really rate him at LH.
19 Aug 2012, 01:33 am
Nothing to excite about that performance, positively pedestrian.
Hardly a creative moment either, just downright boring play from start to finish. Compare the tripe we dished up with the earlier game in Sydney and, unless there’s huge improvement, we’re also rans this year.
Ah for some exciting, creative rugby from the Boks but I guess that’s asking too much under Meyer’s watch!
19 Aug 2012, 01:38 am
Joe, to be fair the AB’s walla game was boring as well, all abit ho hum!
19 Aug 2012, 03:18 am
I forgot Abintines are dirty players they seem to have this in their blood. Mardona in the WC “Hand of God”. I supose the they need to keep the ways alive, it won them a world cup. Now we two cheaters in the 3Ns – 4Ns
Deliberate penilties then looking at the ref and saying , who me, no way man!
The compo now gets deluted a bit like having Italy/Scotland in 6Ns, garrenteed wooden spooners. It will take a long long while to better the best but definately better the Northies alot sooner.
And to even think a rebuilding team has any chance this year and possibly next year at a trophy must question their rugby knowledge. Dreaming is one thing…
19 Aug 2012, 05:38 am
There is a problem with player management in SA. There seems to be an unending stream of injuries to key players. It’s also unclear that or whether the coaching team considers bold selections e.g. from under 21 teams etc. NZ seems to be strong no matter what. What is it they are doing that we are not? Or is it a delusion that we do have the talent? Watching those boys; there never seems to be a serious weakness. They play brilliantly at the breakdown with remarkable cohesion. They run the ball, kick tactically, chase, defend. All we seem to do is kick and chase and once in a while, when we’re under pressure we stop surrendering possession and run the ball. But we do as Vrede says, stutter all the time. It is a pity.
19 Aug 2012, 06:41 am
If we are going to rely on the kick chase plan to get out of our half, we need to expect to be on defence a LOT. We also need to retain possession, protect our rucks and elevate the attacking intensity intensity a LOT more in their half., We gave away WAY too many turnovers in their half.
The forwards are looking very disjointed, and I believe that JdV is teh heart of teh problem for teh Boks. He does not seem to register that he is there to make space for teh fat runners on his outside, and tries to hit teh outside gaps all the time – unsuccessfully. If he tried to straighten and pass once in a while, he would be less predictable.
19 Aug 2012, 14:26 pm
credit to Argies
Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe was my man of match
Zane has establish himself as no1 fullback with this performance.
20 Aug 2012, 00:01 am
@rex-40: Maybe its the Boks current lack of cohesion, where players do not have expectations on other players and so theyre not collectively forming a unit. No doubt the Boks have the talent, but its about building continuity with the players, something PDV didnt really develop, or was forced to stick with old heads.
The boks will get there – they always do, they need a few more games together. Does Meyer just say stuff the championships etc, lets start building a squad of 30 for the next RWC so by the time we all arrive in UK in 2015, he will have a well oiled machine.
It takes that long to develop really good test teams.
20 Aug 2012, 00:05 am
@Tacitus-8: The Argies always play cynical rugby when they play the top teams – France excepted. They back themselves against France as so many of them play there and their confidence/familiarity is higher.
Against NZ/Oz/SA it will be damage control, niggly rugby with a calculation to ride some luck.
At home they lift, the Argies are very emotional people.
20 Aug 2012, 12:16 pm
Very boring from the Boks. All that possession and territory and still couldn’t get the 4th try. Simply not good enough. No chance we can beat the Aussies or NZ boys like that. HM’s record after this series is not going to be where he wants it…..that’s for sure!
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