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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9 Sep 2012, 07:14 am
When the rugby on show in the curry cup is better than the rugby on show at an international level, i think it’s time for the coach to look himself in the mirror.
Really? Is that the culmination of this nation’s vast rugby resources?
FOOK ME
9 Sep 2012, 07:29 am
What do you think of Hooper now, JC? Still not up to test standard?
9 Sep 2012, 07:39 am
@Horsepower Jones-202:
lol
He played better than all the loosies SA had out there.
9 Sep 2012, 07:52 am
You guys were woeful. A complete lack of attacking with Steyn. I think you are too predictable for opposition, every time the Springboks front up its the same old game plan. Its been like that for years now,
You guys are also picking players out of position (12) and below the standard of international rugby (15).
I know this is not going to go down well with alot of you but you need a kiwi coach because you have so much talent but it get wasted becuase of a one dimensional game plan.
I’d offer Wayne Smith money he couldnt turn down. You need a complete transformation in your game and I dont believe any South African can do it.
You have the forward power but its not getting turned into time and space for the backs.
Pity the All Blacks played average last night, they will come back next week and Thrash the boks. It will be a cricket score
9 Sep 2012, 08:04 am
@NZMaori-204:
Spot on! Every team in the world knows exactly what is going to happen. So predictable and such an outdated plan, if one can call it that.
9 Sep 2012, 08:06 am
The boks have lost now so we can change our team and change our gameplan…
15-lambie 14-pietersen 13-de jong 12-steyn
11-habana 10-goosen 9-hougaard 8-spies
7-alberts 6-burger(c) 5-kruger 4-etzebeth
3-du plessis 2-ralepelle 1-oosthuizen
16-strauss 17-cilliers 18-coetzee 19-brussow
20-pienaar 21-taute 22-basson
23-bizzy(long term injury but 1st choice by miles)
24-beast(lost his mojo needs to regain it)
25-bekker(his fitness and lower back needs sorted)
26-kolisi(he is a must as he is the future)
27-vermeulen(we need another danie rossuw)
28-de jong-(have nothing to say don’t rate him)
29-de villiers(we need his I don’t know)
30-jantjies(best flyhalf in south-africa)
9 Sep 2012, 08:07 am
Feckit, Sunday morning and apart from WP winning, the CT weather today sums up
What p#sses me off, is that even though one sees the oncoming train, and prepares for impact (and tries to warn others) it still sucks when it hits you…..
my mood
9 Sep 2012, 08:11 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-207:
That pretty much sums it up, yes!
Spies has gone and I hope for good, now get rid of Steyn and Niknaks man…
Once they are gone, send the coach into exile… That is a nutshell is the only way forward…
9 Sep 2012, 08:11 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-207:
Maybe Someone should warn HM about this train
9 Sep 2012, 08:12 am
@NZMaori-204:
You know the Boks will be chomping at the bit on Saturday.
Like the late Bernie Mac’s famous line “I ain’t scared of YOU”.
Yes, the Wallabies might be scared of you, and all the Northern Hemisphere teams, but the Boks ain’t scared of you.
We wounded and will be playing for pride, expect a different animal this Saturday.
9 Sep 2012, 08:13 am
@CoachPete-209:
He is pretty much living in a dream world. I just hope the train wakes him up at least…
9 Sep 2012, 08:13 am
@ nzmaori-204
Mate you 100% spot on… I’d even put john mitchell in there… I think that all we need now is a attacking specialist(wayne smith) but I’ll go with hawies fourie as I know we won’t look further than south-africa… I believe frans steyn is more suited to fullback but he is our go to men @12 imo.. Lambie is best for no15 now for his attacking flair…
Hougi/goosen/lambie combo is the answer to our prayers-but not to heineke…he is a d………………!!!
9 Sep 2012, 08:14 am
@Jeraldjay-210:
Are you serious?
9 Sep 2012, 08:14 am
@Gumboots-208:
yep Howzit Boots
Done with Steyn Cant he see it?? Try Goosen now please
Pienaar also not the answer did some good things
And we need a true fetcher to start
9 Sep 2012, 08:15 am
@Gumboots-211:
maybe someone should be screaming things to him in his walkie talkie
Like …….. WAKE UP MAN
9 Sep 2012, 08:17 am
Vermeulen was possibly brought in too quickly
He tried hard and his “off load kept the ball alive which eventually resulted in the try
And the important steal too
9 Sep 2012, 08:17 am
@CoachPete-214:
Hey boet! Really good but rugby wise pissed off… Pienaar was so slow behind the pack and waited too long to clear the ball. A few times the Ozzies bullied us off the ball and we lost the ball. He is far too slow, but I actually have no idea who can take his place.
9 Sep 2012, 08:18 am
I can’t really work it out. I’m beginning to think that the Bok team are not fit enough.Is their size actually working against them as there were times in that game where they looked pedestrian.
Meyers game plan may work if he has probably around ten of the best players in the world in the key positions at his disposal, then it could still come unstuck. I am at a loss of what may befall the Mighty Bok if Meyer does not don the sackcloth and admit his strategies are wrong, the time has come to be a real coach and devise structures around the skills and capabilities of the players.
9 Sep 2012, 08:19 am
@CoachPete-216:
He was ok for a debut. He will get match fit and play a bigger role. Was very disappointed with Alberts. Two games in a row now he has been nowhere but you can’t really blame the players…. They are playing to a dinasour game plan
9 Sep 2012, 08:19 am
@CoachPete-209: Mate………I have been staring into the lights of the oncoming train since Meyer was 1st appointed. The train just picked up speed a helluva lot quicker when he announced his assistants, his 1st squad, his master plan etc.
Now the drunkfuckingtrain driver has lost the plot and picked up speed, the train is literally bearing down on SA rugby.
Meyer either jumps off the tracks or he gets splattered.
9 Sep 2012, 08:20 am
@Gumboots-213:
Howzit Bill.
Live in hope. What else can we do. Can’t change the colour of our blood.
Sal altyd groen wees….
9 Sep 2012, 08:20 am
@Gumboots-217:
its a bad habit form HN rugby where they dont counter ruck as well and instead rest on ruck defense
Yes thats the problem who else
Hougaard played well looking for work but somehow he has not been effective at 9
9 Sep 2012, 08:21 am
@Te Rangatira-218:
We have a coach
Nick Mallet
9 Sep 2012, 08:22 am
How come Zane is cutting so much flak? I think he was one of the better boks on the field today. His positional play was pretty good and he was an integral part of the boks keeping the oz’s pinned back in their own half.
9 Sep 2012, 08:22 am
@Jeraldjay-221:
The lean years is killing me mate…. It is been far too long now… We live in hope but that is even wearing thin… I don’t even get depressed after losing anymore and that is what is worrying me…
9 Sep 2012, 08:23 am
@CoachPete-216: I don’t think he did too badly for a fellow who played his first full game (bar the 10 minutes when Beast was yellowed) since The Stormers/Reds game.
His 2 Currie Cup appearances were 40 and 50 mins I think.
So while all of us agree he is not match fit, or match ready (especially at international level) he performed admirably under the circumstances I reckon.
9 Sep 2012, 08:23 am
@Jeraldjay-221:
Ja but its annoying, frustrating and drives us all crazy
9 Sep 2012, 08:25 am
@Gumboots-219:
I tell you something. I feel Alberts is a ball carrier type lock
or off the bench at lock or flank
9 Sep 2012, 08:25 am
@Pencil-224: Zane was good yesterday. But he isn’t the long term solution at 15.
I don’t really wany to blame any of the players, when it should be obvious to even the blind the problem is with the coaching, selection and blueprint.
9 Sep 2012, 08:26 am
@CoachPete-228:
I feel for the team though. They are playing to instructions and the frustration is showing…
9 Sep 2012, 08:28 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-229:
Too true…the coach must now stand up and take accountability. He either changes before it is too late or walks away…
Mallet is waiting…
9 Sep 2012, 08:28 am
@Pencil-224:
Yes i somewhat agree based on the kick and chase game plan he is ok
It appears HM game plan is based around brute forward play (not really happening) and the kicking at 9,10 and 15
Its minus one dimensional.
With Pienaar’s slow service and Steyn been useless we dont have a chance to score out wide
9 Sep 2012, 08:31 am
Anyways guys and gals, time to take the wife shopping…
9 Sep 2012, 08:33 am
@Gumboots-233:
thats a sport in USA
Cheers
9 Sep 2012, 08:35 am
@Gumboots-225: @CoachPete-227:
We just lost 5 in row to the Wallabies…. And on paper yesterdays team appeared to be their for the taking. Going into half time we were 13-6 up. So there’s no way we should have lost that game.
During Straueli’s tenure when we narrowly lost to the Wallabies and All Blacks we were satisfied with the result ’cause at least we competed.
I’m not going back to that mindset again.
9 Sep 2012, 08:39 am
@Jeraldjay-235:
Ja we all know we should have won that game
But we did not
2nd half was very poor
maybe time to try Goosen starting
Maybe lambie at 15 or A Coetzee
Another scrum half??????????????
leave Hoiugaard at 11
Brink in Le Roux at 14
Beast not playing well either
Maybe Louw, Coetzee and Vermeulen ?
Alberts off bench or Lock?
and change the game plan try running the ball a bit more
9 Sep 2012, 08:51 am
@CoachPete-236:
I’ll back HM for 1 or 2 more games, but he is a bit conservative in his thinking and I don’t think he will make drastic changes.
I was surprised he threw Goosen in when the game was on knife edge.(why didn’t he give Janjties the same opportunity against the Poms?)
I think Skop’s right. If things continue the way they going at the moment and the media, politic’s and finally the players start revolting, HM will throw in the towel.
9 Sep 2012, 09:01 am
@Jeraldjay-237:
Skop is right quiet often
9 Sep 2012, 09:02 am
Lambie in – Niknaks out
Goosen in – Steyn out
Alberts to lock – Kruger out
Hougaard to SH – Pienaar out
Flo to openside and Coetzee to blind. Adopt a more attacking gameplan and see Hougaard flourish. With Flo and Vermeulen there are line out options so we lose nothing there.
9 Sep 2012, 09:05 am
Thats it, we are absolutely farked at the moment.
When Kiwis, YES KIWIS, are extending sympathies to Saffas about the Boks then we should know absolutely for certain that the sky truly is falling on our heads.
The ONLY thing that is going to save Meyer from losing support of all fans, and maybe even the locker room, are victories in all the remaining RC games.
More losses in this fashion and woe betide a loss on the EOYT and his Goose is cooked…
At the moment the only expertise the King is showing, is how to go from near universally accepted best man for the job to failure in 6 games…
A 50% win record is not good enough for a man who’s whole credibility and philosophy is staked on winning rugby…
AAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH! Fuckit!
9 Sep 2012, 09:15 am
These players embarrassed the Boks and their supporters yesterday:
M. Steyn
JdV
Mvovo
Vermeulen
These players were passengers:
Alberts
Kirchner
Strauss
Beast
These players played well:
Etsebeth
Kruger
Doc DuP
Frans Steyn
The others were playing in fits and starts…
Glimmer of light:
Goosen and Lambie when they came on… Both took up the ball more than Steyn or Kirchner did the whole goddamn game…. and yet, Goosen still kicked the ball away when the Boks needed to keep it.
Fuckit… This depresses me.
9 Sep 2012, 09:16 am
@nama1-183:
Fran Styen and Hougaard were actually the better players yesterday, they tackled and attacked with ball in hand,
The forwards’ collective effort was poor, the basics at the rucks and scrums simply aren’t there, it took Pienaar ages to extract the ball each time against a seemingly poor Wallabies pack because of no clean-up and no support from the two props, the alignment of the backs was also too far and too deep to be effective (Morne).
Worst as usual were the Beast and Mvovo: two parasites nurtured at the Sharks and the Boks camps, the Boks will keep get the hiding from the ABs with those two clowns on the field!
Kirchner was better, could you imagine, but as usual he flagged in 2 tries at the ‘gate’, should have made Percy proud of the legacy
9 Sep 2012, 09:19 am
I’m done talking about players. Who must come in, who must go, it’s all become redundant. Only person that needs to fuckoff is Heineken Meyer. This palooka will NEVER be able to change. Kicking rugby is firmly ingrained in his psyche. His 9 needs to kick, his 10 needs to kick, his 12 needs to kick, his 15 all need to kick kick kick kick kick.
9 Sep 2012, 09:22 am
@NZMaori-204:
Maori, that is not like something new(one dimensional play). Many of us in this site have mentioned it before.
The problem started not so long ago, after rejoining international rugby ie preoccupation with size and taking the shortest route possible. It is the same at school, my boys who are at boarding school are being taught the same **** at under 11 and 15.
Jonah Lomu at his bulldozing best was taught to run around opponents, and here we are, we teach them to bash it up. OIt is insane if you ask me.
Smart and relatively small players are called midgets and at some stage not so long ago a plyer who offloaded when tackled was called a showman believe it or not. And one of the players who started it here was Luke Watson and he was called a midget at plus 1.8m tall and plus 100kg. Who perpertuated that kind of thought is one snake who won the world cup by beating England twice. Whatever he said was gospel truth.
Hopefuly it will change soon. How I hope the Blacks hammer us back into modern reality!!! LOLO
9 Sep 2012, 09:23 am
@W.P-239: Wont make a difference. Heyneken will ruin them all. He’s already tuning Hougaard towards kick first tendencies like the other abomination of the same suname. I actually dont want to see Goosen play under Heineken. A guy with that kind of talent needs an equally talented mentor, the best of the best, like for like, Meyer will sink him as a playmaker.
9 Sep 2012, 09:26 am
@Heavens Game-240:
Unfortunately, it is not going to happen. The Boks do not have it in themselves to win the last 3 games. There is a likelihood that we will lose at home to the All Blacks.
9 Sep 2012, 09:27 am
I feel for Frans Steyn…
He gets the ball from a 10 who telegraphs exactly what he is going to do, and when he does it, it is near 10m behind the advantage line…
He also has a 13 outside him who clearly is struggling with his current role…
Frans Steyn is covering the cracks, trying to do his job, but also doing the job of 10 and 13 at the same time, but these cracks are too goddamned wide…
I bet he wishes someone like Freddie or Pat were inside him, and Jordaan, Whitehead were outside…
9 Sep 2012, 09:29 am
@Peter Mkata-244: i don’t care how clueless the coach is or how bereft of intelligence our game is, i will NEVER wish for my team to lose especially against the all blacks…
SOZE MHLEKAZI!
9 Sep 2012, 09:29 am
@Peter Mkata-246: You are right….. But my point was, the only thing that could save Meyer’s credibility was to win the rest… I also dont think its going to happen.
Winning rugby… Pfft!
9 Sep 2012, 09:31 am
Not sure if it’s the coaching, conditioning or game plan (actually all 3). What’s the point of having mastadon-like loose forwards, when they always go into the tackle high and consequently get held up and often forced back? Also this myth that all SA men are bigger and stronger than the rest of the world is BS. We’re no bigger or stronger than the opposition, everyone’s a pro nowadays: works out in the same gyms and takes the same USM supplements. Believing that SA genes are stronger than those in Aus or NZ is like believing in Hitler’s theories of the Uebermensch. Finally the “little guy” Hooper did more damage with a couple of well timed and powerful leg pumps to get over the ruck than our so-called big men who are supposedly chosen to stop just that. Stength whilst always important is second to technique and tactics. Seriously disappointing yesterday. Enough has been said on Morne already and HM should consider Goosen’s last 10 minutes as evidence enough. Case closed.
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