Meyer’s selections have restricted Boks
10 Sep 2012
MARK KEOHANE, in his weekly Business Day newspaper column, says Heyneke Meyer’s dream of coaching the Springboks has become a nightmare.
The Springboks will lose in New Zealand against the All Blacks. They won’t be smashed but they will be beaten.
Johan Goosen will provide greater variety on attack at flyhalf; Francois Louw, selected primarily to slow the pace at which the All Blacks recycle the ball, will ensure there isn’t guaranteed flow and rhythm to the New Zealanders; and the Boks, fronted by the black jersey, the haka and the belief that this match represents the game’s fiercest rivalry, will produce 60 very passionate minutes that will again give South Africans belief, hope and very little perspective.
The Boks will then beat the Wallabies in Pretoria and possibly sneak a win against the All Blacks in Soweto and the Currie Cup play-offs will be wonderful occasions, in which the rugby will seem new age and the sold-out attendance will seem indicative of what makes rugby such a priority to South Africans, if only a minority.
The Boks will head for the UK with renewed hope in November, our media and public will continue to question just how good the All Blacks really are — because they may have lost or come close to losing one match — and present arguments about just how good the Boks could be because they beat or came close to beating the All Blacks in one match.
And then we’ll be in 2013.
You don’t need a crystal ball to know this; just an hour to go through the Boks’ history will show that since professionalism in 1996, every Bok coach would take a team to New Zealand and Australia every year and host New Zealand and Australia every year.
Bok rugby is not in crisis but in a familiar cycle and I think the vitriol being aimed at Heyneke Meyer is because of a belief that he would be the one to break the cycle and be a leader of change.
Instead he, like every Bok coach who has arrived with pomp and ceremony, has been forced to change because of defeat and selections that were stereotypical in design.
Meyer, in discussing his philosophy on rugby, simplified it to there being only two types of rugby — winning and losing. He’s won three from six and it will be three from seven after the weekend. His way currently, based on his philosophy, is a losing one.
The Bok coach has also said that if his players can’t apply the basics to Plan A then why the need to look for a Plan B? Again, by what he has said, he is currently losing.
That is what I have found dispiriting about the draw in Mendoza in Argentina and the defeat against Australia in Perth. Both could have been avoided with more applicable selections to a more applicable way of playing, which is not a South African or a New Zealand way, but — to quote Meyer — a winning way.
We have players in South Africa who can offload in the tackle. We have 10s who can play close to the gain line, ask questions of the defence and make tackles. We have skilled players. We have mongrel in defence. We have players with an appreciation of how the offload in the tackle takes structured defence out of the game and adds pace to the game because it avoids collisions, which can bring the pace to a standstill.
The All Blacks, in picking a scrumhalf whose strength is the speed at which he can move the ball from breakdown to first receiver, have added a dimension to their play but that does not mean they believe this is the only way to be successful.
The talk is that the more physical Piri Weepu could be a better counter to the physicality of the Boks.
The point here is that there is no right or wrong way, but there is a restricted way — and that’s where Meyer has let himself down and made the South African rugby public feel particularly let down.
The view — and I am among the man’s biggest cheerleaders — was that he had the rugby acumen to identify the right mix of players to produce winning rugby, be it playing percentages or blowing opposition away with dominance at the breakdown and with backs running at pace and into space.
For the first 20 minutes of the second half against England in Durban and the first 30 minutes against England in Johannesburg all the signs were there that this could be a very special era of Bok rugby, in which it was accepted that to attack from your own goal line is not necessarily to risk, and to put boot to ball is not necessarily a no-risk option.
I don’t understand the refusal to try out different things, to select a squad that allows for different approaches and to live the dream of coaching a national team.
Instead Meyer is turning it into a nightmare, for himself and supporters.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
It was never supposed to be this way, even if the history of the cycle told us that it would be this way.
396 Comments
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10 Sep 2012, 09:31 am
Restricted Dragons -
10 Sep 2012, 09:34 am
Meyer has the ability to turn this around – he might be many things, but he is not stupid. For me he has to let go of this ‘me vs. them’ mentality I have picked up wanting to prove people wrong.
Rugby is not about proving anybody wrong, or right for that matter.
He needs to clearly identify the shortcomings and address it logically, not in a panicked state which I fear is where we are now heading.
10 Sep 2012, 09:35 am
And as I said yesterday, Meyer might believe he has the ability to coach players back into form, but you don’t do that at test level.
10 Sep 2012, 09:38 am
Ah, yes, the knives are out.
10 Sep 2012, 09:40 am
It’s make-or-break time for him.
Does he now go into laager mentality, defending his selections and gamepan?
10 Sep 2012, 09:43 am
Good article KEO….essentially he’s being his own worst enemy by being rigid and narrow minded. He needs to broaden his horizons, only then will this job become enjoyable. I fear his stubborness stems from an underlying dictatorial streak. Many great dictators are only found to be such after taking the reins of p[ower. They usually start out as selfless men commited to helping the greater good.
10 Sep 2012, 09:46 am
I would hope that Meyer speaks to and consults with coaches who have bok experience. Its foolish if all his stooges are nothing more than provincial aides.
Why was mallet good? He had good and trust worthy assistants on top of him being a good coach.
White brought in Eddie Jones when his current assistants were not up to scratch.
I believe that there is sufficient experience in RSA who can help if asked. Naas, Mallet, Rassie to name a few could add significant thought process.
10 Sep 2012, 09:47 am
“The Boks, fronted by the black jersey, the haka and the belief that this match represents the game’s fiercest rivalry, will produce 60 very passionate minutes that will again give South Africans belief, hope and very little perspective”.
Such a classic line. It happened many times before and it will happen again..and again.. probably forever..
10 Sep 2012, 09:48 am
As mentioned on another threat, the likes of Steenkamp, Bismark, Rossouw, Brussow, Burger, Du Preez, Jacques Fourie and JP Pieterson could and should go a long way to executing the game plan more effectively.
But right now Meyer has none of these players available to him.
In fact, he could be without the experience of Jannie Dup and Habana (the best Bok playe against Aus) and Etzebeth (potentially the Bok’s best forward currently) for the test against New Zealand, compounding Meyer’s problems.
The positive outlook is that he has nothing to lose now.
No astute rugby enthusiast expects the Boks to beat the ABs on the weekend.
Which means Meyer should look to loosen up a bit and experiment a little more.
If he is loathe to start a greenhorn like Goosen at 10 because of the painful memory of Gaffie Du Toit’s implosion during the Mallet era, then go with Lambie – who has more Bok experience – at 10.
Or if he simply refuses to drop Morne Steyn for this one then at least start Lambie at 15.
But all in all it is not looking good for Saturday. Bok traditional strengths and dominance at lock, loose forward and nine just aren’t there anymore.
Pack is greener than green.
Many backs playing out of their preferred positions…
10 Sep 2012, 09:49 am
I think this year is a transition year for the Boks, so rathe rHM must do the transition thing and select players that have a future for the Boks. Lievremont did it in his first year and it paid dividends in the end!!
10 Sep 2012, 09:50 am
Now is the time for HM to take a few calculated risks.
I doubt he will be fired after 1 season in a rebuilding phase so why he isnt taking the risks now for good results later is beyond me.
Cmon HM show us your versatility and flexibility. Show us that you can take the reigns and produce rugby that is worth cheering for.
Even if we had won by 7 last on Saturday, I dont think you would have seen much cause for celebration from supporters. Such was the monotony from M Steyn and a few others. That game plan is dead and buried.
I continue to hope.
10 Sep 2012, 09:51 am
You guys don’t give the new coach much time do you! He inherited a team heavily hit by retirements and injuries, that wasn’t playing that well anyway, and he is playing the number 1 & 2 teams in the world, plus the Argies at home which is hard for anyone. I agree with much of the comment on here about the dinosaur game plan, getting rid of M Steyn etc, but can he really afford to just gut the team even further and try to bring in what would be quite a radical change in playing style all at the same time? Even the AB’s don’t try that sort of stuff against the Boks and Wallabies. That is what EOY tours are for. Give the man a little time.
10 Sep 2012, 09:54 am
@John Galt-11:
You believe Heyneke Meyer has versatility and flexibility?
We shall see, time will tell…
10 Sep 2012, 09:55 am
@race of tan-10:
It is unfortunate that so many experienced players are either injured or unavailable.
Boks weren’t handed any favours when Bismark and even Spies went down before Rugby Championship.
It’s frustrating that better planning and communication can’t take place during a hand-over.
Yes, everyone knew that the likes of Smit and Matfield would retire after the World Cup.
But it would be great to be able to tap into the services of some experienced campaigners for the youngters to settle.
Imagine Etzebeth alongside Danie Rossouw.
Vermeulen alongside Brussow and Burger.
Coenie Oosthuyzen alongside Bismark and Gurthro.
Johan Goosen with Fourie Du Preez on his inside and Frans Steyn on his outside.
Lambie at 15 with Habana and Pieterson as his wings.
10 Sep 2012, 09:55 am
All very disappointing.
I expected a 75% win ratio from him in his first year. What is currenlty being dished up is not acceptable.
10 Sep 2012, 10:00 am
What struck me on Saturday was that it is the experienced players in the team that are not stepping up.
On one occasion in the first half, we had a 2 man overlap on their 22, and Frans Steyn skips out 2 players to pass straight to the wing, who was then easily smothered.
How do you coach a talented, experienced guy like that to just pass it through the hands in that situation so the wing can run in unapposed?
Similarly, a while later we have a great attacking opportunity and Jean de Villiers instead of cutting back in, just runs it into traffic on the touchline, despite his inside player clearly expecting him to make the switch.
Then of course you have the Mvovo Pele wannabe moment from the kick off, and Cillier’s bad scrum on attack. But those are to be expected of rookies. It’s the experienced guys who aren’t coming to the party.
And there are precious few of them as it is.
10 Sep 2012, 10:02 am
Week in week out we repeat the same things here. Sort out the breakdown with a specialist or at least a balanced loose trio and get a decent FLYHALF. These 2 aspects of rugby are the most crucial, the breakdown more recently and the flyhalf (always been key to success in a team). You would have to have 14 of the best around to hide an average 10 and we dont have that luxury.
This season so far would have been very different had Janjes or Lambie started at 10 and Brussow or a specialist 6 been there from the start.
Meyer swallow some pride and make the changes snap snap
10 Sep 2012, 10:06 am
boks to win the championship folks!
you heard it here
10 Sep 2012, 10:06 am
without any doubt this has been the poorest selection era I can remember [ 1974 was before my time ]…..and hell we have made some royal stuff ups in the past….
Started with the snubbing of Brussow
and been all downhill ever since…
Just get rid of M Steyn once and for all man….thats half the bloody backline problem sorted right there….
10 Sep 2012, 10:06 am
@BULLET-7: Rassie is already in the mix and Im seriously starting to question his abilities. Some coaches get caught up in stats which can be very misleading at the best of times. You just need to watch the game and realise how pathetic we look at 10 and the breakdown. Not rocket science
10 Sep 2012, 10:07 am
Will he learn or not?
“True genius is always inborn and never cultivated, let alone learned” – Adolf Hitler.
Makes me wonder
Mind you, I do not think HM is really THAT bad or as stupid as some people are trying to make him out to be. We must accept that we currently do ot have the greatest players in the world available for selection and I am not so sure that other local coaches would have adopted different gameplans or even have selected different plyers. We should at least give him a chance till the of the year… one never knows….
10 Sep 2012, 10:07 am
@BULLET-7:
@Bok fan-20:
Thats directed at the coaches not you by the way
10 Sep 2012, 10:08 am
@grant10-19: Na closer to 80% of the backline problem sorted, rest of the players will start clicking again
10 Sep 2012, 10:12 am
puff – I blame PDV for this.
He was relentless in persisting with the old guard that the new guard had no time to build!!! PDV had a few chances to take all the new players on EOYTs to get them to gel, build up experience, but he refused, he also continued with an under par JSmit instead of letting Bissie build up experience etc etc.
Now they all retired and we have team with no experience or littel experience.
How did Duane Vermualen play?
How did Flo play?
10 Sep 2012, 10:14 am
@Tacitus-16:
Habana stood tall, seems hungry to lead by example and be proactive.
Centre pairing just isn’t firing.
JDV looks tired and in need of rest.
10 Sep 2012, 10:14 am
I don’t rate Jantjes as a Bok fly half. I think Goosen or Lambie at 10 with Lambie or Taute at 15.
Also, what do we do about our wings-JP is injured and Mvovo looked out of sorts, not the normal barnstorming game from him. Also, can someone tell me objectively in Juan de Jongh is good enough at this level in this era of man mountain centres? Although Conrad Smith is not that big.
Someone pointed out the other day on the Keo comments that Brussow only weighs 2 kilos less than McCaw, and when I checked it out I saw its true. But Heyneke, like White, wants height as well.
Mark Keohane, you say we have the players-please give us your opinion on those players that YOU rate.
C
10 Sep 2012, 10:15 am
@puff-9: None of that excuses the most important selection blunders: At 10 and the unbalanced loose trios we keep going with unfortunately
10 Sep 2012, 10:21 am
The players have also been shocking IMO.
Re. Tacitus’s earlier point, that skip pass by Frans Steyn sums him up for me. The guy has no clue how to be creative and is SCARILY slow. Morne Steyn is definitely not the only problem here.
Also our senior players are just hopeless barring Habana. Beast in particular has been terrible. Willem Alberts continues to unimpress me when not used as an impact player and JdV is hopelessly average but then who else can captain us at this point?
I do feel for Meyer, it’s a horrible situation to be in in his first year, but his stubbornness to carry on with the ancient gameplan that doesn’t work especially with the personal available indicates he’s not up for this job IMO. A coach that can’t adapt and continues to use the same excuses just loses all my respect.
For example the Wallabies were hopeless on the weekend, but were able to beat us because we kept giving them the damn ball. Every bloody time Morne would hoof it up in the air and give it back so they could continue to attack again, and again, and again, and of course eventually it comes right with our tired defense and they’re warmed up attack.
When we force them to defend and add some variation with a new 10 things look completely different. It’s not even about Goosen vs Morne is just that when Goosen came on we dropped the gameplan because we had to score points and we came damn close.
So come on Heyneke, let the lads run it a bit, you’ll learn valuable lessons about our players and you’ll gain some public sympathy regardless if we lose.
10 Sep 2012, 10:22 am
There is some truth in Meyers belief that no gameplan is better than his gameplan.
Deans has proven that having no plan at all clould be more effective than a bad plan.
10 Sep 2012, 10:23 am
I would hypothesize that Meyer is too good a man manager at the moment and by what I mean in that regard is that he is showing too much loyalty?
The fact that the very few senior players are playing kak should make it a much easier task to drop them and replace with youngsters.
I would alsohypothesize that he is very concerned about throwing youngsters like goosen and lambie into a nz test match….we also know from experience that things can go tits up very quickly in nz with us taking a 50 point hammering. Mental scarring to talented youngsters such as those 2 could be a concern. Experience has also shown us that mental scarring is more prevalent amongst backs than forwards.
10 Sep 2012, 10:23 am
@race of tan-24:
It’s all part and parcel of the same problem.
I cannot say for certain but I would not be at all surprised if Hansen and co as well as the NZRU sat down with McCaw and Carter and said let’s talk about the next few years as well as your goals and our goals to see if they can co-incide.
I wouldn’t be surprised if similar discussions took place with the likes of Woodcock and Mealamu.
Wouldn’t it have been helpful for there to be better timing and greater transparancy so that the likes of Fourie Du Preez, Danie Rossouw, Jacques Fourie and Gurthro Steenkamp knew who was going to be Springbok coach before signing for overseas?
I am not begrudging them their right to go earn the big bucks in the twilight of their careers, but Du Preez is on record as saying he’ll play for the Boks if Heyneke is coach.
Meyer started out looking very thorough and in control.
I reckon calling in all those players from all over the country to assess and to have one-on-one meetings was inspired and a master-stroke.
But he has been robbed of so much experience through players retiring, going overseas and now being injured.
I am not saying I agree with his game plan, or the fact that he seems to get even more conservative when under pressure…
But Hansen and Deans have a lot more continuity at their fingetips than Meyer does.
10 Sep 2012, 10:24 am
@race of tan-24:
Blame Div, fine.
Who did you blame on behalf of PdV when to the old guard refused to adopt the game plan which is ironically being perfected by the AB’s at the moment?
Back then nobody said give him some time with new players, most of the media and fans were adamant that we had to stick to our WC game and those players who won it in 2007 as many were of the opinion they would still be good enough to defend it 2011.
I have no problem with you defending HM but taking cheap shots at Div for where we are now is way off the mark.
10 Sep 2012, 10:25 am
Duanne should never have had to play being half fit….AC told HM loud and clear….
Vermeulen will get better….
Marcelle not a 6….never will be…
JDV not a 13
R Pienaar flatters to decieve….again…
M Steyn is M Steyn…..being the only player he can be….you cant make that oke change…DNA…
Rather go to gym….this just makes me nuts…
10 Sep 2012, 10:25 am
I say introduce small changes each week. Like this week, play your current game, but just get the guys to offload a bit in the tackle. Baby steps.
Once they manage that, then we can move on to the next new thing.
Oh and Goosen continues to impress me immensely. He should definitely start on Saturday. And I’d give Lambie a go at fullback too.
Thing is, how many of the current Bok team would make the All Black team?
That’s the real question.
10 Sep 2012, 10:27 am
@Phantom-26:
Up until now J. De Jongh has never had a bad game for the Boks.
10 Sep 2012, 10:30 am
@Tacitus-34:
Nah.
The REAL thing is what would the AB coaching staff do if they were in charge of this Bok team?
10 Sep 2012, 10:31 am
@wpstormerbok-36:
come now, thats any easy one.
they’d make all the bulle bokke.
10 Sep 2012, 10:31 am
@Tacitus-34: Kirchner was fine at FB.
Not a single Bok player would make the All Blacks barring perhaps Etzebeth.
10 Sep 2012, 10:31 am
this week
15 Lambie
11 Mvovo
14 J D Villiers
13 J DE Jongh
12 F Steyn
10 Goosen
9 Hougaard
8 Vermeulen
7 M Coetsee
6 Flo
5 Bekker
4 bakkies
3 FARKS KNOWS WITH cILLIERS AND jd pLESSIS UNFIT
2 Strauss[ on a wake up call ]
1 beast….[ on a wake up call…
10 Sep 2012, 10:33 am
@wpstormerbok-36:
they’d spend the entire day wondering what to do without carter and mccaw.
10 Sep 2012, 10:33 am
@Tacitus-15: you think? I warned Heineken, 90% win ratio at home and 80% win ratio in his first year.
It seems that he (and Ludeke and Pine tree) relied too much on Matfield, Bakkie, FdP and others for success.
Bring back Divvy … Keo I know you are thinking the same.
10 Sep 2012, 10:35 am
@Bagel-38:
Now is isn’t that an alarming reflection of the state of our rugby at the moment?
Where are all the players?
10 Sep 2012, 10:38 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-30: showing too much loyalty is what divvy was castigated for.
and meyer had two tests against the argies to get lambie on the field but didnt.
no man, he duffed this year and will forever rue not having been a bit more brave.
p.s. if he is so loyal then why was keegan dropped after 50 mins whilst potgieter, morne steyn and hougie have been given time.
jdv as well.
meyer need to wake up, he still has time but his gameplan is clearly lacking be it through lack of personnel or whatever. a great coach ADAPTS.
10 Sep 2012, 10:39 am
puff – How did Duene Vermuelen play?
How did Flo play when he came on?
10 Sep 2012, 10:39 am
@rangerman-43:
I think we’ll see some changes this week.
Nothing dramatic, but Goosen in, and possibly Lambie.
10 Sep 2012, 10:40 am
Tac – I would still keep M Steyn on the bench!! But yes HM is now forced to play Goosen, which may be a blessing in disguise!!
10 Sep 2012, 10:41 am
@race of tan-44:
Vermeulen was ok. Stood up well in the tackles. Made a few handling errors, but that’s down to rustiness.
I’d keep Vermullet at 8 against the All Blacks.
Not so sure about Louw.
10 Sep 2012, 10:45 am
@Tacitus-42:
Once cannot ignore the fact that Meyer more thank likely thought that, after Smit and Matfield retired, he would probably have the leadership services of:
Juan Smith and Schalk Burger
to spearhead the team.
But this wasn’t to be because of injuries.
Then the two most effective backs to marshall this particular game-plan (Du Preez – territory and Fourie – defence) became unavailable.
So Meyer had to look at the next tier of experience.
JDV, Spies and Bismark.
Bismark and Spies both injured now.
JDV looks tired and in need of rest.
And, truth be told, if Jacques Fourie was available would JDV even be in the run-on 15?
So from a core leadership and experience perspective, out of the players Meyer must have assumed he’d be able to user, Boks are without
Burger
Smith
Du Preez
Fourie
Add
Gurthro
Bismark
Rossouw
Pieterson
And the inexplicable omission of Brussow.
AND YOU NO LONGER HAVE THE PERSONELL TO EXECUTE THE BOK GAME PLAN.
What you have are newbies on a learning curve with not much experience alongside them to make that learning curve a little smoother.
And that’s when a learning curve starts to get ugly.
10 Sep 2012, 10:49 am
Heineken learns slowly. Very slowly. By making mistakes mainly. Depressing.
10 Sep 2012, 10:57 am
@TheTackler-49: Over and over again and then it eventually may sink in…. not patient enough for that.
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