JdV: ‘Boks have a point to prove’
7 Sep 2012
Jean de Villiers believes the Springboks have plenty to work on if they want to achieve victory over the Wallabies in Perth this Saturday.
The Boks have endured an inconsistent start to the Rugby Championship, beating Argentina 27-6 in Cape Town before being held to a 16-16 draw in Mendoza. Their next opponents, the Wallabies, were dominated in their opening Tests against the All Blacks as they were beaten 27-19 in Sydney before going down 22-0 in Auckland.
Both teams have been criticised for these performances, creating plenty of pressure ahead of this weekend’s Rugby Championship Test Down Under.
Bok skipper De Villiers said his team enjoyed a good week of preparation, but stressed that they will need to improve if they are to beat the Wallabies – a side they have only beaten once over the last seven encounters.
‘Preparations in Perth have been good,’ De Villiers said on Friday. ‘We weren’t happy with our last performance against Argentina. We have a lot to work on. While the preparations have gone well, the trick will be implementing those plans for the full 80 minutes on Saturday.
‘I don’t think we can read too much into the Wallabies’ defeats to the All Blacks. They were up against a quality side, who are ranked No 1 in the world and are the World Cup winners. The Wallabies still showed a lot of positives over those two Tests.
‘Over the last seven games, we have only beaten them once. And that says a bit. Both teams will have a point to prove on Saturday, and we will go out to do that.’
However, De Villiers noted that victory in Perth won’t be easy. Despite the loss of hooker Stephen Moore (hamstring), he believed there were several other players who will be expected to play a big role for the hosts.
‘The Wallabies won’t be weakened by the loss of Stephen Moore. They have three world-class hookers, and Tatafu Polota-Nau and Saia Faingaa provide quality back-up. [Lock] Nathan Sharpe also brings a lot to that team up front, and the guys around him will make an impact … like [openside flank] Michael Hooper, who has the abilities to change the game.
‘The Wallabies are a skilled team. As as a backline, they are difficult to play against. On attack, they are very good and they are defensively solid. We need to up our game if we want to win.’
This weekend’s Bok match 22 will have a different look compared to the last one that faced the Wallabies – an 11-9 World Cup quarter-final defeat in October 2011. There’s a huge loss of experience, especially among the forwards, but De Villiers believes the young players will use this opportunity to prove they deserve a starting place.
‘In the pack of forwards, we have about 112 Test caps,’ said De Villiers. ‘Last year, we had John Smit, who had played in 111 Tests, and Victor Matfield, who had played 110 Tests. So there is a big difference in terms of experience.
‘But the guys who have come in have done really well. This is a new Springbok team, and this is an opportunity for players to put up hand and stake a claim for position in the side. The guys have realised that.’
112 Comments
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7 Sep 2012, 19:32 pm
@bokfan1-88:
trendsetters ja, dont forget lifting in the lineout
7 Sep 2012, 19:36 pm
Post it again with a hyphen so you can read the reality a little better before you deduce who’s the bees knees of rugby coaches and who ain’t
JW win ratio vs NZ – home and away (3N)
Played 9
Wins 3 – 33.3%
Losses 6 - 66.7%
PdV win ratio vs NZ – home and away (3N)
Played 11
Wins 5 - 45.5%
Losses 6 - 54.5%
JW win ratio vs Australia (3N)
Played 11
Wins 6 - 54.5%
Losses 5 - 45.5%
PdV win ratio vs Australia (3N)
Played 11
Wins 4 - 36.4%
Losses 7 - 63.6%
JW win ratio vs France home and away
Played 4
Wins 1 - 25.0%
Losses 2 - 50.0%
Draws 1 - 25.0%
PdV win ratio vs France home and away
Played 2
Wins 1 - 50.0%
Losses 1 - 50.0%
JW win ratio vs Home Unions Eoyt
Played 10
Wins 5 - 50.0%
Losses 5 - 50.0%
PdV win ratio vs Home Unions Eoyt
Played 10
Wins 7 - 70.0%
Losses 3 - 30.0%
JW away wins vs Ireland
Played 2
Wins 0
Losses 2 - 100.0%
PdV away wins vs Ireland
Played 2
Wins 1 - 50.0%
Losses 1 - 50.0%
JW away wins vs England (Eoyt)
Played 3
Wins 1 - 33.3%
Losses 2 - 66.7%
PdV away wins vs England (Eoyt)
Played 2
Wins 2 - 100.0%
Losses 0
JW win ratio vs Wales home & away
Played 3
Wins 3 - 100.0%
PdV win ratio vs Wales home & away
Played 6
Wins 6 - 100.0%
PdV win ratio vs Br-Ir. Lions
Played 3
Wins 2 - 66.7%
Losses 1 - 33.3%
7 Sep 2012, 20:17 pm
Nothing like Kaptein Donkey stating the obvious…
Farken clown…
Leader my foot.
7 Sep 2012, 20:21 pm
yeah little Keegy Danny boy.. now THERE’s a goddamn leader for you .. like you gonna follow a will o the wisp little dandelion all the way into war…
7 Sep 2012, 20:23 pm
I reckon besides King Heyneke having a distinct lack of imagination in the selection stakes, half the problem with the Boks is a distinct lack of leadership on field… Whether that leadership is actually suppressed or whether true leadership ability is lacking from the Captain of the moment, I reckon the latter is why this is actually missing from the Boks on field and is a big factor in underperformance…
As nice a guy Donkey might be… he is no real leader.
7 Sep 2012, 20:26 pm
@fitz1ella-104: Follow will o the wisp over Blondie the ex Munster Clown any day of the week…
And I reckon most of the Boks would too if it really came to the wire…
Fact is, Kaptein Donkey does not inspire.
7 Sep 2012, 20:41 pm
Like that fatfunk self righteous useless punk who LOST the following games he ‘led’ Boks in the last 2 whole years of his IMMACULATE leadership…
13 Nov 2009 AI - South Africa v France 13-20
28 Nov 2009 AI - South Africa v Ireland 10-15
10 Jul 2010 3N – South Africa v New Zealand 12-32
17 Jul 2010 3N – South Africa v New Zealand 17-31
24 Jul 2010 3N – South Africa v Australia 13-30
21 Aug 2010 3N – South Africa v New Zealand 22-29
28 Aug 2010 3N – South Africa v Australia 44-31
04 Sep 2010 3N – South Africa v Australia 39-41
23 Jul 2011 3N – South Africa v Australia 20-39
30 Jul 2011 3N – South Africa v New Zealand 7-40
13 Aug 2011 3N – South Africa v Australia 9-14
Played - 11
Wins - 1 - 9.1%
Losses - 10 - 90.9%
Now THAT is world class LEADERSHIP for you
If JdV EVER returns such abysmal f’ng HOPELESS leadership capacity I will be the FIRST to scream blue murder for his Hopeless Head..
7 Sep 2012, 20:51 pm
@fitz1ella-107:
Heres a simple equation:
Tricky Dicky + Goldilocks + Dippy = Farken Madness
Yup… Smitty could only do so much… and he did as much as he could… Nearly superhuman leadership. If it wasn’t for him then there would have been far more funnies than those you have listed…
By far… Smitty was the difference between Dippy and Co being average, and farken downright historical flops…
7 Sep 2012, 22:26 pm
@katman-28:
ha ha 
Mr ***** =^. ^= Katman… Every so often when I’m on the road and not logged in some1 comes up with pure comedy gold.. I heard the developer keo paid off to code them calls them “Keorythums”
7 Sep 2012, 22:28 pm
And ‘WeepArythums” respectively, deul algorithms..
7 Sep 2012, 22:44 pm
Time for a late night pizza and some rugby replays.. May even watch couple has of the last round starting with Kiwis vs Auz don’t think can watch Boks last game again 1 and a half times was more than enough :O let’s hope Jean was not bedding a cover to cushion any potential fall and Boks come out firing! Hopefully Heynek will do some of the real talking tomorrow if the new changes and bench get used right..
8 Sep 2012, 08:09 am
The comments from the Bok captain seem a tad too nice…..fire and brimstone….go out there on a mission to destroy….talk it up.
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