Wallabies compound Bok woes
8 Sep 2012
JON CARDINELLI watched the Wallabies record their fifth consecutive win against the Springboks with a 26-19 victory on Saturday.
It was bound to happen, it was only a matter of when.
The Boks have suffered their first defeat of the 2012 season, their first under coach Heyneke Meyer. To make matters worse, this inevitable result has been inflicted by one of the worst Wallabies teams in recent history.
There were times during this Test where the Boks were as many as 10 points ahead. The Wallabies were desperately poor in the first half, a series of mindless grubbers and chip kicks contributing to an unforgivable loss of both territory and possession. It was during the first half where the tactical kicking excellence of Ruan Pienaar and Zane Kirchner came to the fore.
There was even an instance were the Boks rounded off a good build up with a try. Granted, they had done their best to butcher this opportunity with flyhalf Morné Steyn neglecting to use an overlap out to the right. They were extremely fortunate that they were able to recycle the ball and score from a subsequent phase.
Indeed, it was a first half where all the luck seemed to go the Boks way. The Wallabies played their part with a shocking performance, but there were many examples of Bok incompetence and indiscipline that went unpunished.
Lock Eben Etzebeth was fortunate to escape censure. At a break in play, experienced No 5 Nathan Sharpe goaded the South African youngster, and Etzebeth responded by headbutting Sharpe. It was an incident that was missed by the officials, and for that the Boks can thank their lucky stars.
But they didn’t learn from that incident, as moments later Beast Mtawarira ran into Kurtley Beale off the ball. The Bok prop was shown a yellow card and the visitors spent the final seven minutes of the first half with 14 men.
The Boks survived the period of sanction without conceding a point, but the Wallabies were far more structured and accurate in the second stanza. They attacked the Boks at the breakdown, with Michael Hooper winning several important turnovers, and also began to enjoy more continuity with ball in hand.
Just as the Wallabies began to lift their game, the Bok effort started to flag.
The Boks conceded a soft try in the 56th minute, their defence battling to repress the Wallabies at source and their first-time tackling letting them down in the wider channels.
It was another instant of poor defence that cost the Boks in the 68th minute where Ben Alexander cruised down the left hand touchline. The cover tackle attempt by lock Juandre Kruger was nothing short of pathetic.
Steyn had another forgettable night with boot, missing two drop-goal attempts as well as a penalty. For the umpteenth time, Steyn battled to get the backline going and blew a couple of try-scoring opportunities through poor option taking.
Johan Goosen provided the backline with more direction and posed more of a threat when he was introduced in the final minutes. With Steyn struggling to perform in his primary capacity as a goal kicker, Meyer may finally be forced to consider another option at flyhalf next week.
Saturday marked Meyer’s first loss as Bok coach, and defeat will force a rethink to the current formula. With Goosen or even Pat Lambie at 10, the Boks should be able to ask more questions of the opposition defence.
The Boks were excellent in terms of their tactical kicking in the first half, but overall they failed to dominate the collisions and their lack of variation on attack was a major problem.
That they battled to kick all of their goals, not for the first time this year, is another reason why Meyer should revise his selections ahead of the clash against the All Blacks. That their forwards weren’t able to overcome a feeble Wallabies eight is also great cause for concern.
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490 Comments
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8 Sep 2012, 22:38 pm
Well, at least WP have won and the Bulletjies have lost.
Makes up for the Bok defeat.
8 Sep 2012, 22:40 pm
the Boks were the better side today. Some indviduals in the green jersey, let the down. But generally the game plan was the instrument which screwed the camel’s back. Not the players.
8 Sep 2012, 22:40 pm
@TASSIES-148: nope you are wrong
all these Hougaard to wing protagonists and Pienaar to 9 soothsayers are ABSOLUTELY and decidedly WRONG.. and its a damn shame pity I can’t prove it to you but I KNOW I’m right about this one…
Hougaard at 9 with Goosen at 10 and Boks would become a COMPLETE different animal OVERNIGHT.. I give you 100% GUARANTEE on that…
Hougaard is WASTED on the wing.. and Pienaar KILLS the game at source before it ever gets going off the ground…
Pienaar would be a damn sight better than Morne Steyn at 10..
Hougaard / Pienaar at 9/10 would be a HUGE improvement over Pienaar / Steyn
8 Sep 2012, 22:41 pm
@nama1-126:
I thought he was going to be the new Zinzan Brook. But in fairness Nama his shortfall/weakness was lack of discipline. He oozed class though on the field of play.
8 Sep 2012, 22:44 pm
@fitz1ella-153: Skop I’m not convinced. The primary job of a 9 is to despatch quick ball to whomever, preferably his flyhalf. Hougardt does not do that. He has other skills but that is the first priority and he fails in this department.
8 Sep 2012, 22:45 pm
So if one is to believe this s hit, the better team always seems to lose especially if they wear green.
‘Dis nou die redinasie van ‘n boer’.
8 Sep 2012, 22:45 pm
@Peter Mkata-154:
Jip. He was a class act, Ron Cribb.
8 Sep 2012, 22:47 pm
The Wallabies won that 2nd. half hands down – 20 pts. to 6. That is domination.
8 Sep 2012, 22:48 pm
@fitz1ella-153: Morne Steyn’s problem is; he is not a flyhalf’s backside. Sure he can kick. He’s an acomplished kicker of a rugby ball. But where he lets the side down is his vision and distribution. His natural inclination is to kick first and worry about the other stuff a flyhalf is meant to do, lster. After the fact. We lsot today’s Test because of Moren. Nothing more and nothing less.
8 Sep 2012, 22:51 pm
@TASSIES-155: did you watch Hougaard vs Argentina last week before he was subbed for Pienaar… he was distributing at the speed of light compared to the laborious garbage that Pienaar painstakingly dished up today.
if not or you can’t remember tune on the PVR and watch it again.. Hougaard was HOPPING the ball to backs on the front foot EVERY time he touched the ball.. was NOT Hougaard at fault last week .. it was pretty much EVERYONE ELSE BUT HIM..!!
Hougaard / Goosen would REVOLUTIONIZE Boks game.. play Pienaar with Goosen and we in for almost much of the same as today only at least 50% better.. with Hougaard at 9 it becomes 100% better IMMEDIATELY
8 Sep 2012, 22:51 pm
@TASSIES-155:
Tassies, Hougie has played two games at SH where he concentrated on his primary job alone. The 2nd test against England and last week against the Argies. He looked very, very good doing that. If he just concentrate on that for the short term until he feels more comfortable as a test 9, I think he will do really well.
It is when he starts to do all sorts of things (box kicks, line kicks, breaking around the fringes) that he starts to go haywire.
He should just concentrate on dispatching quick ball, as you rightly say, for now and leave it to somebody else to be the decision maker on what to do with the ball.
8 Sep 2012, 22:53 pm
before I hit the pit….let me say one thing…..if Heyneke Meyer persists with his current gameplan, then we are in for a long dry season of Test match rugby which we wont enjoy very much. Sad but true.
8 Sep 2012, 22:55 pm
haha nama1 has a MASSIVE boner for Frans Steyn, can’t stop finding reasons to blame the guy! Frans Steyn was actually one of the better Boks today (and there weren’t very many). Drop the man-crush nama1, we all know you’re about as impartial on the subject as Agile-titty is on his pet project Steggers!
Now, 6 games in to the season, with 3 games against Eng at home, 2 against Arg, and 1 against a woeful ozzie team who had just been SMASHED by the kiwis…. and who would have predicted Meyer would have a 50% record?
Is JDV the best man for the captaincy role? Does he command an automatic starting place? He was dropping off tackles today like a little girl…
Juandre Kruger dropped off Alexander as easily as a toddler spits out a brussel sprout. What a woes.
M Steyn is kaput. We will win NOTHING with this charlie at 10, I just hope Meyer sees it now like the rest of us. Goosen and Lambie showed MUCH more in 10 minutes than M Steyn and Kirchner all year. We have nothing to lose anymore. Meyer MUST become more adventurous and we MUST adapt…. or die.
8 Sep 2012, 22:58 pm
@nama1-161: I respect you view. But, from what I saw, he took a long time in deciding to collect the ball and pass to his flyhalf or whoever. It was slow. He’s too busy worrying about perferal stuff it seems. Pienaar simply got the ball away or box kicked as per the coach’s instruction.
8 Sep 2012, 22:58 pm
Coetzee’s stats will show once again that he played well but really, there is something amiss with this kid at 6. There is just something that he does not bring to the table and I can’t put my hands on it. I’ve been thinking hard about what it is that I miss with this boy but I just can’t.
Maybe it is because he just does what is expected of him and there is not that EXTRA thing you get from world class players in his position.
I don’t know but I am not convinced by him.
Utility back row sub maybe his best position after all.
8 Sep 2012, 22:58 pm
@Mostofyou-156: what are you a whatnot or a nogganot.. wtf are you domfck moersemoronic miserable doos?
@TASSIES-159: Morne was 50% responsible for the loss Pienaar 20% and rest of useless selection policy like Strauss at 2 .. JdP at 3, Etsebeth and Kruger BOTH No.5 locks – NO enforcer.. Coetsee at wrong position at open side.. Vermeulen not up to full international fitness .. F. Steyn and JdV totally at sea playing uncoordinated non combining individualist rugby.. and Kirchner not a top caliber full back..the remaining 30% of the fallout..
Was a POOR display by Boks against a VERY mediocre Wallaby team.. we should have WALLOPED this lot if the coach had any idea wtf he’s actually about..
8 Sep 2012, 23:03 pm
@Humphrey-163:
Yes, I know he kicked over two penalties and therefor he had a good game in your view.
I also take it that you thought it was a great pass by your golden boy.
You know the one before half time, when we were on the attack, had a 4 on 2 situation and he threw the pass straight to Habana instead of letting the ball go hand to hand in order to suck in the defenders and free up Habana to score in the corner.
8 Sep 2012, 23:04 pm
Is jy dan nie die ware joodnot wat nou ook a boknot probeer wees?
8 Sep 2012, 23:08 pm
Whatever our issues with the front row, at this point there ain’t any better options, I thin. These guys will just have to bite the bullet especially the props. Strauss proving to be a real softie at this level.
This is test rugby not CC or S15 where you can get away with being a ballerina/centre. You should be willing and able to do the hard stuff.
8 Sep 2012, 23:09 pm
Frans Steyn is good and solid with a very destructible boot on him and has the big temperament for the big occasion.. better than most.. Hougaard is another with the big BMT that is required at top level of international rugby..
BUT Frans Steyn is overrated as a highly efficient distributing inside center.. that aspect of a no.12 center I still got to see him produce this year… nowhere NEAR as proficient and creative as Sonny Bill Williams or even Ma’a Nonu .. even Brache of WP had a more influential game at 12 vs Cheetahs today.. granted its a lower level of rugby.. but a higher level of distributing skills were shown by Brache tonight than by F. Steyn either today vs Australia or last week vs Argentina.
8 Sep 2012, 23:12 pm
We were always going to have problems this year (might be next year as well) at lock after Bakkies and Matfield were entrenched in their positions for so long. Bekker playing with an injury and being out of form did not help us either. We’ll just have to trust that the two newbies will get it right at some stage but in the meantime, Elstadt should be thrown into the mix as well.
8 Sep 2012, 23:16 pm
That was actually HM’s 1st Test without ‘assisting’ referees, a new situation for the good man
I lost a small fortune betting for the Boks, I estimated the Boks would have built an un assailable lead of 12-14 points before Deans replacing Samo, Timani and Pall Mall, but Deans pulled a trick and replaced the PIs around the 55th minute and the Wallabies didn’t look back from then.
Pienaar shouldn’t pass 80% to MS, he is mature enough to know that, his dad must have told him the same
8 Sep 2012, 23:16 pm
jy kan probeer lieg dat jy iemand anders as daai tiepiese expat, ex rat, ex splat, ex spat dokter doolittle lab rat wat uit Philadelphia hier gepos het.. maar jou whatnot rot pot anti bok anti boer anti wit anti lief anti life antithesis is presies en heeltemaal spesifiek die selfde.. so jy is definitief een en die selle ou wotnot wat probeer a mislukte misrepresentation aandeel.
8 Sep 2012, 23:21 pm
anyway thats it..
time to bale out.. or is it bail out.. and hit the hay
at least there’s still a sun to shine tomorrow..
unlike the dismal dreary dysfunctional dereliction that was dreamt up destitute desolation today.
8 Sep 2012, 23:21 pm
173:
Is dit dan nou nie maar net rassistiese taal van jou?
8 Sep 2012, 23:22 pm
@fitz1ella-170:
Well said. I agree 100%.
I give him credit for his defense and his kicking ability but when people start to use his performance against the likes of Namibia as a measure of his ability as a distributor, I draw the line.
I said a month or so ago that this RC will be the acid test for Frans as an inside centre. In 6 test matches so far this year, I still have to see him put JdV in a gap.
People are now either blaming Morne for his poor showings or feel that full back is his best position. Me, I just don’t think he is all that. Another player I would rather play off the bench.
8 Sep 2012, 23:22 pm
Boks looked good with ball in hand 1st half. Got to parity & panicked, kicked away too much ball.
Really disappointing
Hoping for a better showing on saturday… but not too good, don’t want to lose or anything!
8 Sep 2012, 23:23 pm
And the Humping wooden spoonist makes a quick entry and hasty exit in defence of his last outpost Frannie Stain.
8 Sep 2012, 23:24 pm
@nama1-171:
It’s a lesson you can’t teach those with the looting culture (WP, Bulls):
Your team should be good enough to win fair and square without on the taking referees, because the away games become as twice as difficult to win!
Lesson not learned
Goosen kicking the ball away in the 78th minute was the cherry on the top: the Boks must score a try and see what that prodigal son is doing
8 Sep 2012, 23:26 pm
Currie Cup Logsemail | print
Rank Team P W L D PTS
1 Western Province 5 3 2 0 15
2 Golden Lions 5 3 2 0 15
3 Sharks 5 3 2 0 15
4 Free State Cheetahs 5 2 3 0 11
5 Griquas 5 2 3 0 10
6 Blue Bulls 5 2 3 0 8
Tacitus…..Bakkies…..Blueboy….and all the other skop en jag disciples….
read and weep
and repent your ways….
wakey wakey…..smell the moerkoffie….or sink into a morass of mediocrity….
8 Sep 2012, 23:31 pm
n boer se redinasie en n whatnot se redinasie is min of meer die selle .. dit hang net af wie hul pa of hul ma is wat beslis die verskil van die diepte van die redinasie wat saak maak. .. so watookal rasisties is vir die een is net so rasisties vir die ander.. wie ookal probeer besef dat hulle nie rasistiese haat in hul harte hou.. is maar ook net bullshitting themselves…
8 Sep 2012, 23:32 pm
GRIQUAS!!!! Woot!
@Hondo-179: Goosen 78th. What a ****. Scared to play the game
8 Sep 2012, 23:36 pm
@Hondo-179:
It was horrible, wasn’t it?
78th minute, 7 points behind and you kick the ball away!!! Why?
Game plan…or can he not think for himself?
He is hailed as the next coming, remember?…yet another one after Fransie, Hougaard etc.
8 Sep 2012, 23:44 pm
@grant10-180:
Nice!!!!
8 Sep 2012, 23:54 pm
Clusterfucking Clowns.
No leadership by Captain on field.
No insight and imagination by Coach onfield…
Tactics farked..
Selections abysmal
Thats all I have to say tonight.
8 Sep 2012, 23:56 pm
I am sorry to say this…
And it disappoints me badly
BUT
The King is Dead…
Heyneke is pulling a Rudolph Straeuli on us.
9 Sep 2012, 00:00 am
Heyneke + Jean = Rudolph + Corne
9 Sep 2012, 00:29 am
Ha ha said the clown
has your ship hit ground
is your time for self reflection showing ‘dumbass’
Heyneke don’t have the balls nor the gall nor the call for this gig.. he’s simply out of his tree.. out of his league, and out on a whim of self made fantasy
This ain’t a S14 gig where you bought in the brains of an Aussie strategist who taught you the reigns of how to buck with a bull bucking rocking horse
Here you gotta think on your feet go with the flow and roll with the punches that are administered by fate and fortune indiscriminately
If you can’t read the script or see the gunk for the crapshit then you simply ain’t the holy messiah they all so desperately wanted to believe you were..
Not a one faces facts that the man with the aces stacked on some puny fantabulous dance of mesmerizing romance when fortune favored braves who pranced after the fat lady wobbled her belly aching blast of reverberation long after the hooter had sounded the end of an era of bombastic brainlessness.
We still stuck in the past of an hour glass flask where the sands of surreptitious delusion are slipping through funnels of confusion due to unsuspecting delusion that heilig is heavenly or that hereditary heritage is not as heavy as the hegemony that is busy crucifying it.
Be the clown.. rather than the crown prince.. cos if you can’t learn to laugh.. you ain’t ever gonna dance to the sounds of the clown who was crying in the alley of hallucinatory halos of those slipping reels in time when romantic revelations of regurgitated last pasts breathed their last excruciating gasp of a crestfallen cremated catalyst.
9 Sep 2012, 00:35 am
The current team is not mobile enough and there are far too many dummy Bulls in the team to play test rugby. I’d go for this bunch and most certainly change the couch as he struggles with the basics, i.e. picking players and pinking a winning game plan.
Steyn
Le Roux
Ebersohn
De Jong
Hougaard
Goosen
Sarel
Duane
Burger (Daniels)
Brussouw (Flo)
Etsebeth
Eldstadt
Coenie (Cilliers)
Biz (Fourie)
Beast
Other youngsters like A Coetzee and Rhule must be on the bench.
9 Sep 2012, 00:56 am
@grant10-180: Feel sorry for the Cheetahs. The y should also be on 15 with the rest of the quality sides. It seems SARU kicked the wrong team outta SR. Next years wooden spoon gonna be a dogfight between Bulls and Kings. But I am sure the Greek and Puke will hand it to the Stain and Spoes.
9 Sep 2012, 01:17 am
@Manona-177:
The Boks only had ball in hand long enough to ensure it got to morne to kick away. Boks wanted to do the kick and chase and put pressure. they nearly got the wallabies to succumb but deans got thear heads right.
The wallabies played ball in hand and booted poorly in the ist half. second half wallabies played more ball in hand and kept it in longer.
But HM has signs of a good side.
9 Sep 2012, 01:18 am
The AB’s hand the Wallabies over to the springboks pschologically & emotionaly damaged. What do the springboks go & do? Let them play. You guys are one of a kind. Look like Tarzan, play like Jane. All talk & all kak!
9 Sep 2012, 02:43 am
@wallabie.-191: Managed to start penetrating midfield too.
I may have to reassess Barnes & Faianga. Barnes looked good & had go forward for the first time in a long time. For a patched up outfit, the 2nd half was better.
Robbie keeps his job for another week.
What the hell is up with Beale? He was on fire for the Rebels at 10, now he just sucks, bad hands, bad under highball & nothing on attack.
Genia has 2nd season blues in his 3rd year. He is at least kicking now instead of shovelling sh it to poor old cooper, but its not accurate & his running game is nothing, although he may be being shut down by Bokke forwards.
9 Sep 2012, 03:17 am
@Manona-193: Genia is out for 6 months, Timani out now too. Possible replacements?
9 Sep 2012, 04:12 am
@garth-189:
Great selection.
9 Sep 2012, 06:22 am
Yeah I agree, Bela has looked horrid. Poor boot, bad under the high ball, weak kicking game and impotent on the counter. He really needs a big game next outing to justify his continued inclusion.
9 Sep 2012, 06:54 am
With no Bismarck (or Schalk or Victor) the pack doesn’t have a leader – there’s a huge part of the problem: we were dynamite this year while Bismarck was leading – the pack has to have a leader: at the moment it doesn’t have anyone who can do it.
Bring back Bakkies, if for no other reason than that.
9 Sep 2012, 06:55 am
Our cappie JDV was poor tonight. I respect the dude but he ain’t cutting it at international level anymore. Missed tackles and sub standard leadership. That said there ain’t much happening inside him. Time for Jean to pack up and ship out.
Apart from his booming penalty kicks Frans Steyn is average. Some posters on this site for some reason thinks that he’s the best thing since sliced bread but he has shown zero creativity nor have I seen him as an effective ball carrier / defender. I haven’t seen him break the line once nor create space for JDV. Los daai fokkin k@k skip passes uit – especially when all that is required is hand to hand passes when there are overlaps.
Morne Steyn…………..well the least said the better. I could write an essay on him but I aint wasting my time on a Vodacom Cup player. Play Frans Steyn or Lambie on flyhalf and get this joker out. My personal choice is Goosen but Meuer won’t have the balls to select the kid!
Lastly Juandre Kruger. Nobody listened when I warned that he’s a big softy. Vrek scared to get his hands dirty he stands in the backline and off rucks and mauls like a terrified schoolboy. He’s meek attempt at a tackle when the prop ran through him was nothing short of pathetic then he botched another backline move later. He’s a lineout jumper and that is all. He brings nothing for any other asset of play. I can’t believe that fool who rated the Boks gave him a higher rating that Eben. Is he befok?
9 Sep 2012, 07:01 am
And yes Deon Fourie is pomping every opensider this year since his conversion to openside flank. Brussouw wasn’t himself but I guess that’s expected after an injury. That said Deon Fourie is going to be a major loss to WP rugby. He has no problem making tackles, stealing opposition possession and is a very effective ball carrier. He could teach some current Bok players about determination and heart.
9 Sep 2012, 07:03 am
I never really comment on here anymore , and I did not have time to read all the posts…. but I had to say this: No numbers at the breakdown+ kicking your ball away =Zero wins against reasonable oppisition , let alone stronger teams.
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