Shocking Springboks must break shackles
27 Aug 2012
MARK KEOHANE, in his weekly Business Day newspaper column, says Heyneke Meyer’s game plan and playing philosophy is simply not good enough.
The All Blacks lacked accuracy in attack against the Wallabies, but that was all that was missing from a New Zealand display that made South Africa’s match against Argentina look like something from the Dark Ages.
If what the All Blacks produced in Auckland was high octane, then in Mendoza there was nothing more than grunt and growl. It was a shocker and the Springboks were the most shocking of the two teams.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has spoken of the need to win every weekend. He has spoken of mental toughness and the search for excellence. He has spoken of the potential greatness of players. Actions have always been more significant than words and the player actions in Mendoza, just like in Port Elizabeth in the third Test against England, were a contradiction on everything being said. The 20 minutes we saw against England in Johannesburg’s second Test was a hint of the potential within our rugby, but even that 20 minutes looks a decade ago when compared to the intensity and pace of the effort from New Zealand, the current world champions and without doubt the team setting the standards.
I thought the Australians were woeful as an attacking unit and there was no threat they’d get five points let alone a victory. They defended bravely and showed a desire for the scrap but they were simply beaten up in the collisions and given a rugby lesson.
This is a very good All Blacks team, stronger now than when they edged France to win the World Cup last October. Richie McCaw and Dan Carter will be managed carefully through to the next World Cup but the succession plan of Sam Cane and Aaron Cruden is already in motion. Very little else will change from now to 2015 so those who talk of the All Blacks being a side in decline in 2015 think again. The back three will be at their peak and so too a midfield that will include Sonny Bill Williams. The All Blacks have integrated as many players new players into the system as the Boks have. Two new locks, a new loose forward, a new scrumhalf and variations on the wing. The only position where there is no definitive answer in relation to 2015 is at hooker. They’re in a healthy position and they’re not making any excuses about World Cup hangovers, lack of desire, retirements, inexperience or players coming to terms with the demands of international rugby. They’ve set standards, especially on defence, and to keep two sides of the standing of Ireland and Australia scoreless this year is the kind of action that accompanies any talk of excellence.
The All Blacks were not precise in their attack in Auckland, but that will always be a possibility with the type of high risk, high tempo and absolutely enthralling game they play. In Auckland they offloaded in the tackle 30 times and most of the offloads were effective in advancing the play, sustaining flow, continuity and ensuring momentum. If you tuned in at 9:35am to Auckland and happened to be watching the same rugby channel 12 hours later you could excused for thinking that what was on offer from Mendoza was part of the ESPN Classic packages. My god it was awful.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, on reflection, spoke of the physicality of South Africa and Argentina, whom the All Blacks play next in Wellington. He said it was like watching two rhinos go at each other all afternoon.
His reference to rhino reminded me of former Wallabies coach Rod Macqueen’s rhino reference to the then Springbok coach Harry Viljoen. Macqueen and Viljoen are good mates and they were on a Safari outing when they saw Rhino. Macqueen said: ‘Look Harry there’s your team … big, strong and f**king dumb’.
The Boks certainly moved on from the dummy tag in 2007 thanks to the approach and thinking of some very special players, but the limited quality of player on display in Mendoza is no excuse for the kind of rugby produced.
Meyer, as coach, picks the side and determines game strategy and playing philosophy. What we saw in Port Elizabeth and Mendoza is simply not good enough, in intent, in ambition and in principle.
No player picks himself and not one Springbok in Mendoza would make a current World XV. That’s a reality but it is no excuse to draw to Argentina because no Pumas player would make a World XV either.
Mendoza should be a watershed moment for Meyer, who doesn’t want for rugby intellect but needs to be challenged to break his own shackles of conservatism.
The obvious reaction is to take fire at the players, but that would be misguided. Meyer is the one in charge and a team is a reflection of a coach. If the coach expected more of his players in Mendoza then I – like every South African rugby supporter – expected more of Meyer at this juncture.
860 Comments
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27 Aug 2012, 23:19 pm
Lmao – fkn looney tunes – I dunno where u get that **** from.
27 Aug 2012, 23:21 pm
@fitz1ella-798:
> some people today still swear the tutu’s are all knowing next to
Desmond or Trevor?
27 Aug 2012, 23:21 pm
from Disneyland .. where else ?
27 Aug 2012, 23:22 pm
Yes I think so – but believe it – fkn mal.
27 Aug 2012, 23:23 pm
@grant10-781: those players are available
27 Aug 2012, 23:30 pm
wait till a tutu come smack you across the back of your head and ask why the fck you been so fast asleep for the last 200 millennia.. then maybe you suddenly catch a wake up.
27 Aug 2012, 23:34 pm
@fitz1ella-806:
The only tutu’s I’ve seen were on ballerinas, and they were a bit to skinny for my taste except one
27 Aug 2012, 23:36 pm
@pat1-800:
I chuck him straight into Boks he’s at least a few billion light years ahead of Kirchner..
he’s our version of Christian Cullen .. before they go and coach all his natural talent out of him.. par for the g’damn course in this country… kick and bloody chase till the moo leaves the cow in the meadow chasing moonbeams up shadows in Commissioner street.
27 Aug 2012, 23:39 pm
@victoriabok-807: geez some ballerina’s can be goddamn beautiful.. only they way too highly strung… I reckon your Heyneke should take up ballet get rid of some of that severely strung out pent up emotional energy. Its way more demanding than rugby.. any ballerina will tell you that for free.
27 Aug 2012, 23:40 pm
Yeah but first ones have to actually be receptive to looney tunes so u could speaka da lingo and that would mean watching alotta looney toons cartoons, so I reckon that smack pass right overhead, ignorance is bliss..
27 Aug 2012, 23:44 pm
thats the state of homosapien.. remain ignorant.. thinking he’s in bliss.. meanwhile he’s in outright misery.
tra la la la lala live for today.. thats your motto and your memory .. tra la la la lala live for today
27 Aug 2012, 23:47 pm
enough of the balderdash
g’night
27 Aug 2012, 23:48 pm
Ain’t that how it’s all designed by the great spirit in da peace pipe that the tutus channel on their rocket carpets?
27 Aug 2012, 23:49 pm
@fitz1ella-809:
> geez some ballerina’s can be goddamn beautiful..
Have you seen their toes?
Due to the wooden insert in their shoes their toes are fugly
27 Aug 2012, 23:49 pm
I better go – sum funny ****
WTF do you get this stuff from?
27 Aug 2012, 23:50 pm
its all designed for a purpose.. long as you know what yours is.
time out .. kali nigta
27 Aug 2012, 23:56 pm
Last public update on Juan Smith I recall was this one (out till 2013) 2012-04-04 08:08 Cape Town – Springbok and Cheetahs flank Juan Smith has taken an indefinite break from rugby due to an ongoing Achilles injury.The 30-year-old told the Volksblad newspaper in an exclusive interview that he won’t play rugby this year.Smith injured his Achilles playing for the Cheetahs in a Super Rugby game against the Bulls on 25 February last year. Since then he’s missed the Springboks’ World Cup campaign last year and hasn’t featured in this year’s Super Rugby competition.Smith has since had four operations and was understandably very upset with the current state of the injury.”The right thing to do now is to give my injury sufficient time to heal 100%,” said Smith.Cheetahs coach, Naka Drotské, is shattered by the news. “Juan is the best No 7 flank in world rugby. He was also our captain over the last few years and to lose him is a huge setback.”It will be really difficult to replace a world class player like him.”Smith has now set his sights on returning stronger than ever in the 2013 season.His injury will also be a big blow to new Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer. Even though the Boks boast really good loose forwards, they are sure to miss Smith’s ball-carrying ability, lineout prowess and leadership.
28 Aug 2012, 02:08 am
Evolution is in order. When a company performs poorly and does so bad that they need to cut jobs what do they do?
They drop the people on the font line, the very people who dont make the poor decissions and have nothing to do with a company performing badly. Management under preasure will never put up their hand and say, I need to go. So the wrong people go and the wrong people say, and the kak continues.
SA Rugby as a company need to focus on a long run strategy that educates coaches at a level unseen and unheard of in SA. A level higher than high. Something not just better than what they have, but leaps and bounds better than what they have. This level then, should be an entry level for provincial coaches.
Meyer, is the new kid on the block, he is still learning and the extra pressure and public notice is something he needs to adjust to, which is normal really. So he has anxiety himself, so it is going to take a while before the structures fall inplace.
If we talk about the backline issues, dont we have a ” great setup”? Or is it the story of the old dog learns no new tricks, he is set in his ways…Crumbs
They should spend a bit of time in 7′s rugby, they are really effing poo.
And that Habanana fella, … i dont know.
Macaw and Carter “might” make it to the next world cup, but i recon they will be the Jon Smit of SA Rugby. too much respect and too little balls. They might fill their places but wont be the players they were when peaking.
28 Aug 2012, 03:05 am
@YoMama-608: hehehehehehe, world domination. lol
28 Aug 2012, 03:16 am
Plenty violence on the streets of Cape Town today. Cape Gangs attacked ANCYL in Salt River.
28 Aug 2012, 04:35 am
Another ‘season ending’ thumb injury, this time the prop from the Cheetahs Nyakana
The List included:
Spies – thumb
JPP -Thumb
Chiliboy -hand
Kolisie -Thumb
Nyakana – thumb
Interesting?
28 Aug 2012, 05:49 am
only thing more predictable than our rugga right now is keohane changing his tunes and making a u-turn on the coach when things go sour….
this little character is changes like the wind…should have been running for us president…
28 Aug 2012, 06:08 am
I take that back. Nobody more predictable than kirchner.
Catch, run 15m fwd, kick in air, run like dom doos after ball.
28 Aug 2012, 07:02 am
Bekker must go, inAfrikaans they call him a Slenter. And he’s bad at both. Need specialist outside centre, de Jongh has great potential. Need 8th man, Dewalt Potgieter has more talent and can catch, will take pressure off Hougaard. Flyhalf and fullback need to be replaced, Morne and Zane are steady at best, no creativity from either, bit like an electronic drummer in a rock band. We’ve got Lambie, Jantjies Steyn. My choice would be Lambie starting Jantjies on bench de Villiers inside centre de Jongh outside and wings the same. Steyn at fullback
28 Aug 2012, 08:31 am
Am I right in saying that Rassie was a retreaded 7 that was forced to play 6 to make the run-on team for the Boks? And since he has been coaching Burger, initially awesome at 6 he has lost all his fetcher abilities and playing on the wrong side of the scrum, while the best fetcher in the team runs at blindsider. Now advising for the Boks we are playing without a fetcher again, and in fact three 7s in the same pack. Is Rassie the cause of all the problems? Were WP happy to see the back of him?
28 Aug 2012, 08:33 am
How about:
9. Sarel
10. Goosen
11. Hougaard
12. Ebersohn
13. JP
14. Le Roux
15. Frans
28 Aug 2012, 09:44 am
@Hondo-821: NO DOOS, chiliboy – KNEE, a f.cuking KNEE!
Spies – LEFT RING finger!
earlier this year Kankowski – Thumb
28 Aug 2012, 10:36 am
After many years of watching SA rugby and being puzzled at the awful, old fashioned way of playing and poor use of the very deep talent pool (surely the deepest in the world), I have come to realise that the SA smash bash & kick way of playing is ABSOLUTELY INGRAINED into the SA psyche. It cannot be changed.
Part of the problem is that from time to time this kind of play does win big games against more skilled teams. Not often – but occasionally – when it all goes well – and the opposition have a bad day. Take the 2007 World Cup. Winning this competition with these methods further cemented into the SA psyche this style of play.
So the outlook is not good – SA rugby simply CANNOT change. It is a deeply ingrained cultural thing. SA could be the best in the world but probably never will again be consistently the best in the world. The win-loss percentage will remain about 60% with a very dated game plan.
28 Aug 2012, 10:41 am
Further to my comment above – all rugby playing nations believe that big men generally make better players than shorter or smaller men in most positions. But most rugby playing nations believe that very skilled smaller players can bring something very valuable to a team. Most in SA rugby just can’t see this and are absolutely obsessed with size. I have come to realise that this is an absolutely ingrained cultural thing and cannot be changed.
The outlook for SA rugby is predictable – the win ration will remain at only around 60%. There is no way of changing this because of the deeply ingrained attitudes.
28 Aug 2012, 11:29 am
One terrible fact remains, the BOKS have never done well under an afrikaans coach, they have always flourished under an english speaking coach. I fear the same is going to happen here!!
For all of HMs good qualities he maybe found out at international level.
Robbie Deans is not doing well either but is/was a phenominal S15 coach
28 Aug 2012, 11:38 am
Delki #828 – Your comments about Jake Whites Boks are very wrong. White was one of the few Bok coaches to get the Boks playing exciting expansive rugby whilst keeping their rock solid defense. Under White the Boks scored many tries. It was a similar story under Mallet and Christie.
THe biggest problem with the Boks is that they have never flourished under an Afrikaans coach, although most of the team is made up of Afrikaners, they have always done better under an english speaking coach. Which have been Christie, Mallet and White. The rest have been well under par.
28 Aug 2012, 11:43 am
“It is easy to throw players out and pick new ones, but that is not coaching, that is picking,” Meyer told reporters at OR Tambo airport on Monday.
So okes can ease up, the course is set and he will try to drill square pegs into round holes, period.
NZ/Aus can sleep peacefully. Maybe even Europeans.
28 Aug 2012, 11:53 am
@Nils-832: judging by the last few years, it appears that it is actually incredibly difficult to drop players and pick new ones
28 Aug 2012, 11:59 am
@fantasticbarnsmell-833: Yup, if facts contradicts belief, screw the facts.
28 Aug 2012, 12:13 pm
The Boks do not have a kick-and-chase game plan. They use that tactic as do the Argies, ABs and Wallabies or do you guys all watch these games with your eyes closed? The reason why it doesn’t look like the Boks are attacking is because of 9-10. As for other supposedly mediocre players, well the injury list is incredibly long and will rectify itself.
28 Aug 2012, 12:34 pm
@STBUR-835: The difference is the other teams have a few other tricks and tactics as well
We have fuckall else in our handbag.
28 Aug 2012, 12:35 pm
@garth-825: No you are wrong.
Rassie was a 6 at provincial and national level. He believes that the fetching role can be done by any of the loose-forwards, ie. that a 8 could be the fetcher.
28 Aug 2012, 12:36 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-836: It’s damn annoying. Our players CAN play into space, etc. The game plans just don’t allow them to do so.
28 Aug 2012, 13:16 pm
I think JPP is the answer at 15 for the Boks
28 Aug 2012, 14:00 pm
the unbearable shackles of being…
28 Aug 2012, 16:20 pm
ANALYST.GROW UP?How does a spelling error make me immature?
If anything is Freudian it is the first 4 letters of you nic.
You seem to have appointed yourself as an expert on all matters.
F.O..you suppurating chancre.
28 Aug 2012, 20:58 pm
@trupisero-454: “How many Bulls caps do you have Pat?”
Bwaaahaaaahaaa. Very well said.
28 Aug 2012, 21:16 pm
Amazing. Argentina have pulled sofar the result of the season and guess what, the BBC still have not mentioned it at all, as if the game never happened.
Now that’s a professional sports news site.
28 Aug 2012, 23:13 pm
We need a no nonsense coach..that can b friends
With The team but, when it comes down to business he wont b afraid to drop ppl.
29 Aug 2012, 08:34 am
@ryecatcher-841:
ryecatcher. I said nothing about your spelling – you obviously have a problem with it yourself.
The need for you to start referring to ‘anal’ is clearly very childish, don’t you think? I am sure everyone else on this blog thinks that it is childish.
About supposedly having ‘appointed myself an exert on all matters’, I have an opinion, like most people who come here to blog and put their opinions here as a discussion.
You obviously are too lazy or to busy thinking about all things ‘anal’ to bother to have an intelligent opinion here.
Or maybe you are just plain DUMB.
29 Aug 2012, 09:15 am
ANALYST.You a ccused me of being childish because of a spelling error.
I can assure you that I am neither lazy or dumb.How you a ssumed a
Freudian slip from a spelling error is beyond me.
I am not obsessed with anything anal.You brought it up.
By the way,do i assume that anyone who starts his posts with
“guys,guys,guys”is a scout master with all of its nasty connotations.
Remember it was you who started this fight.
29 Aug 2012, 09:21 am
@ryecatcher-846:
Please go back and quote the post # and words where I accuse you of a spelling error.
I am waiting.
29 Aug 2012, 09:58 am
@Gazelle-844: well that rules out Mitchell then as every team he coaches appears to hate him
@Nils-843: well spotted, poor show!
29 Aug 2012, 10:05 am
ST 683 I compliment you on your post 585.3 Words.”Amen to that.”
Unfortunately address you as ALALYST.Otherwise see nothing contentious.
POST 685 Make correction.
POST687.You make reference to A FREUDIAN SLIP and SHOWING
MY TRUE COLOURS.
If not to the spelling error of your nic then what.?
To my message of 3 words? You then tell me to grow up
Who the hell do you think you are?
29 Aug 2012, 10:27 am
ANALYST.I AM WAITING.
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