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, 10:58 am
The spine of a team is so important.
2
5
8
9
10
12
15
Compare
Smit
Matfield
Rossouw
Du Preez
James
Steyn
Montgomery
To
Strauss
Kruger
Vermeulen
Pienaar
Steyn
Steyn
Kirchner
10 Sep 2012, 11:01 am
@TheTackler-49: Heineken does not have the luxuary of time – he cannot afford to build with baby steps – this is test match rugby – keep that building and structure shitt for superrugby. All that matters is winning.
10 Sep 2012, 11:02 am
Twice now Frans Steyn has killed attacking opportunities with his skip passes. The guy has zero decision making abilities. He should swop places with Lambie and him go to the bench.
We simply cannot persist with Morne Steyn at 10 either. He has been off form since 2009 year end tour, but many ignored this because of the highs of the preceding Tri Nations.
Lastly, after 2 starts and a 65 minute game its time we ended the Strauss experiment. He hasn’t made the step up to test rugby.
10 Sep 2012, 11:03 am
@puff-51:
2 Biz (Fourie)
5 Etsebeth
8 Vermeulen
9 Sarel
10 Goosen
12 De Jong
15 Steyn
I’d say that a fetcher is much more key to your success than a number of these positions. I’d play Brussouw and Fourie on the bench to cover 2 and 6.
10 Sep 2012, 11:05 am
@puff-51: puffy Heineken is the man picking the team – no-one put a gun to his head and said pick Kirchner or pick Morne or pick potties. He is the spineless picker responsible for the no backbone players.
Heineken may be a good manager but he is a pathetic selector – his selections will sink him.
10 Sep 2012, 11:06 am
HM is straying away from what made him successful at the Bulls. He has an opportunity to build a team of talented youngsters and experienced players into a great team. I don’t believe there is only winning and losing rugby, there is also developing your team and game plan rugby. A team takes some time to believe in itself and the gameplan. He needs to decide who is going to be there beyond two years and make plans. With that in mind:
M. Steyn, Jean De Villiers, Habana (29 is getting on for an international winger and he can’t play centre), Kirchner, Juan Smith, F Du Preez, D Roussow are too old or just not good enough. J Fourie, Bakkies, G Steenkamp have their WC winners medal and are now chasing cash for their retirement (which I dont have a problem with).
In addition, HM has an unbalanced back row with too many of exactly the same kind of player, a second row that doesn’t believe in it’s own abilities and a front row, that despite it’s bulk can’t even dominate the Aussies.
I’d like to see the following players being trialled in the next 2 years:
Lambie/Taute, JPP, 13 is a big problem for HM, F Steyn, Goosen, Habana/Hougie, Pienaar, Spies/Duane, Burger/Alberts/Coetsee, F Louw/Brussouw, Bekker (he needs some serious man mangement), Etzebeth/Flip, Jannie/Cilliers, Bissie/Chillie, Beast/Coennie.
His problems (injuries aside) remain at 13 and the Locks.
10 Sep 2012, 11:08 am
@The Bok Identity-53: well he knew that passing to JDV would have resulted in him taking the ball back into contact not even getting to the wing.
10 Sep 2012, 11:24 am
puff – Right now HM should not make wholesale changes that will install panic into the team and himself.
The only change he should make is give Goosen a starting berth and shift M Steyn to the bench!!
10 Sep 2012, 11:28 am
@race of tan-58:
Agree. Don’t throw all the bath water out.
Goosen for Steyn and Flo for Coetsee.
I’ll even go with JDJ for JDV and make Strauss capt. but that would be too drastic.
10 Sep 2012, 11:32 am
Maybe Heyneke should quit and come back to the Bulls where he will bring through the youngsters at the Bulls and convince some senior players to end their careers at Loftus. This will bring through a lot of youngsters for the Boks and whoever the Bok coach is (Robbie Deans will be my first pick) will be able to select world class players.
It is nearly impossible for a Springbok coach with a connection to a provincial union to build a team. The format of the Super rugby tournament will not help Heyneke as Etzebeth, Coetzee, Vermeulen and Goosen may be injured when he selects his first team in 2013. Then he will need to start from scratch.
Heyneke, Muir, Rassie and Jake formed a much better hierarchy than Ludeke, Plumtree, Ackerman, AC, Naka and Heyneke.
10 Sep 2012, 11:34 am
It must be real kak being Tacitus right now, from predicting that WP will lose the first 3 games, we know how that turned out, now HM is being found wanting and the Bulls are on 2 loses on the bounce, Tac must be really hating rugby right now, poor buggar
10 Sep 2012, 11:35 am
@XhosaKid-61: Jip.
10 Sep 2012, 11:36 am
Excellent article by Keo.
Really articulated what many in the Rugby Fraternity think and feel, whether supporters, coaches or players.
10 Sep 2012, 11:39 am
What we need a strong core in 2013 to allow experimentation in other positions.
My ideal core would be:
1.) Gurthro (BRING HIM BACK!)
2.) Bismark
3.)
4.) Etzebeth
5.)
6.) Brussouw
7.) Juan as Captain (If fit – the man is just incredible)
8.)
9.) Hougaard (He is fine at scrumhalf just let him play his natural game!)
10.) Goosen/Elton
11.) Habana (His last year of tests)
12.)
13.)
14.) JP (Da man)
15.)
Those are world class players who can hold a team together. The blaring problem is at centre as Steyn and JdV are both terrible. A lot of great youngsters but still a bit green.
At flyhalf both Goosen and Elton are fantastic and just need to backed.
10 Sep 2012, 11:44 am
It does NOT matter who you select if the team particularly forwards don’t have support-runners with ball-in-hand, smash the ensuing rucks and clean-out opposition en-masse as a unit in quick succession if that ball goes to ground… and ensure quick ball for the backs or pacey pick-n-goes up the middle…
Otherwise expect more pilfering, being counter-rucked, uber slow ball and plenty of standing starts… add the lack of counter-rucking on opposition ball… and nothing has changed since the RWC 1/4 final exit…
No Goosen, Le Roux, nor Serfontein is going to change that…
10 Sep 2012, 11:46 am
A big problem with Heyneke is his supreme belief in his abilities to coach and develop a player… He rather looks down on selection…
However some very good SA coaches of the past 20 yrs, namely Kitch Christie and Mallet, saw themselves almost as selectors first – before coaches…
That is, at International level – the elite level in rugby – selecting the right team with the right balance should come first, before any thoughts about preferring to coach a certain player because of his convergence with the coaches outlook on life, beliefs or physical attributes.
Meyer might be a great coach, but he is proving himself to be an abysmal selector of a diverse player pool in SA for International level as opposed to a more homogenous setup at the Bulls…
10 Sep 2012, 11:47 am
@Horings-60: Bulls flirting in the relegation zone – I like. Would love to see the Kings play Pine trees bullies for a spot in the Currie Cup.
10 Sep 2012, 11:51 am
it doesnt matter who the players are if your coach are kaaaak dom you will lose
10 Sep 2012, 11:52 am
i reckon everyone should appologise to PDV.who now can be seen as the genius he is.
10 Sep 2012, 11:53 am
@XhosaKid-61: yeah Tac is close to emigrating right now, the clincher will be if Zuma takes another wife
10 Sep 2012, 11:54 am
@saru1983-69: Sounds like you went to the technical school of logic.
10 Sep 2012, 11:54 am
Besides half of this team doesnt buy into meyers dinosaur game plan.
They just plainly dont like the guys retarded ideas.
10 Sep 2012, 11:55 am
coaching a player back into form at test level is bulls h it.
i dont pay to see that k u k.
morne must go.
10 Sep 2012, 11:57 am
@Tacitus-15: I like your honesty.
10 Sep 2012, 11:58 am
I’m wondering why Heyneke so stubbornly refuses to look at Brussow…do the two of them have some sort of history of bad blood, or is he just too stubbornly entrenched in his size ethos? McCaw’s gonna have a field day, the way our loose forwards are playing at them moment
10 Sep 2012, 12:00 pm
15 taute/jp pietersen
14.aplon/ jp pietersen
13. dejohng
12.steyn
11. habana
10.goosen/lambie
9. hougaard only if his ordered not to kick the ball
8. vermeulen when fit
7. Alberts
6. coetzee while the schulck is gone
5. bekker
4. etzebeth
3. ???????? they all kaaaak
2. chilliboy
1. Beast
10 Sep 2012, 12:00 pm
@Heavens Game-66: meyer said he will pick a player he percieves to be “mentally tough” – duane over a player percieved to be “talented” – “the christian cullen of loosies daniel”
this philosophy is all over the park: zane over lambie & aplon, msteyn over goosen, pottie over kolisi, olivier over de jongh,
10 Sep 2012, 12:01 pm
o **** i left out brussouw
10 Sep 2012, 12:01 pm
lambie is too slow for a fullback
10 Sep 2012, 12:03 pm
and mallet for coach the man knows his ****
10 Sep 2012, 12:03 pm
Etzebeth has been found guilty, hammer says 2 week ban.
10 Sep 2012, 12:03 pm
I rate HM. Far too easy to sit in your armchair and claim that different selections would have resulted in different results. We’re rebuilding, we’re not going to win every game just yet. Consistency in selection is the hallmark of any winning team. Be patient.
10 Sep 2012, 12:04 pm
I still prefer Frans Steyn at fullback. He had the greatest impact for the Boks when he played 15 and he has a bit more time to make decisions.
10 Sep 2012, 12:04 pm
It seems everyone agrees that Morne Steyn is not up to it anymore… Hope HM sees that!! Missing Coenie quite bad too!! And Chilliboy seems to be a better back up to Strauss…
10 Sep 2012, 12:08 pm
@Atreides-75:
The way the entire 22 are playing at the break-downs…
10 Sep 2012, 12:09 pm
@Yetirat-82:
Why is it that The AB’s manage to blood new players without disrupting the team? Why can SA not emulate this? We are having to gift other nations wins because our selectors cannot blood new players gradually, but opt to press the reboot button?
10 Sep 2012, 12:09 pm
@Transformation-70: LOL!!!!!!
!!!
10 Sep 2012, 12:11 pm
@Bagel-64: Agreed, although I think F Steyn would look a lot better with a decent 10 on his inside.
Also I would consider JPP at fullback. Only player that can be mentioned in the same breath as Dagg and Beale
10 Sep 2012, 12:18 pm
@saru1983-76: Would switch Brussow with Coetzee and let Coetzee fight out/rotate for 7 or 8 with the other 2.
Agree about 3, major problem, need to look abroad, WP Nel, Daan Human etc
10 Sep 2012, 12:24 pm
@pokkel-83: I disagree, his greatest impact was at the past 2 world cups playing 12 IMO
10 Sep 2012, 12:25 pm
Morne should have been dropped almost two seasons ago. He is just not up to the standard of test rugby and needs to be axed. Meyer needs to get over his loyalty towards his Bulls players, as it is just moving the boks in the wrong direction. By saying this i am also questioning Zane Kirchners selection. This guy has never, not once been up to Test standard, and frankly to me, he is just plain useless, a waste of space on the field. Ludick, Viljoen, Aplon, Joe Pietersen, Lambie, are just a few guys that deserve the 15 jersey more.
To get back to the No. 10 spot. Morne must be sent on his way. Goosen is a great prospect, but a rushing a 19-20 year old in to that role,could do more harm than good, but i am open to be proven wrong. At this stage, i feel Lambie is the go to man at 10 in the Boks current situation, and even give Jantjies a go, as it seems he is the best goal kicker in SA at the moment, and boasts an exciting attacking game.
The 10 & 15 spots are the boks biggest hurdle at the moment, and need to be addressed urgently. If Meyer sticks with Morne this weekend, and he plays a blinder and wins the game with a drop goal, i fear that the public will be so naive as to suddenly believe Morne is the man and back to his best, so to Meyer. One good game does not make you a great player, and one poor game does not make you a bad player. Need to take his performances of the past seasons and put them in to context.
This is a 22 man squad i would give a go this weekend ( not just picking guys from the current touring squad)
15. Francious Steyn
14. Bryan Habana
13. Juan de Jongh
12. Jean De Villiers
11. Francious Hougaardt
10. Patrick Lambie
9. Ruan Pienaar
8. Duane Vermeulen
7. Willem Alberts
6. Marcell Coetzee
5. Juandre Kruger
4. Eben Etzbeth ( not sure if been cited or not)
3. Jannie Du Plessis
2. Adriaan Struass
1. Tandai Mtwrira 16.Craig Burden
17.Pat Cilliers
18. Andries Bekker
19. Francious Louwe
20. Johan Goosen
21. Lawazi Mvovo
22. Gio Aplon
10 Sep 2012, 12:26 pm
@Tacitus-16: i see you left out MSteyn’s dom decision not PASS the ball to open JdV & habana with only Ioane to beat!
10 Sep 2012, 12:32 pm
@pokkel-83: frans had NO attacking impetus at fullback, at least not consistently…he kicked longer distances but not always with accuracy – kirchner can do the same too
…
he doesn’t have the pace we need from our 15 to break especially now that he is heavy!
10 Sep 2012, 12:33 pm
@Transformation-92: honestly, whats the point of passing to jdv?
the oke is so pedestrian its frightening.
bring in JdJ immediately.
hell even fransie is skip passing the bok captain.
10 Sep 2012, 12:35 pm
@Transformation-93: zane is also quite poo.
he seemed to have a decent-ish game on sat to be fair but really, is this oke bok quality over lambie or aplon?
not in my books.
10 Sep 2012, 12:35 pm
@PissAnt-2: You obviously have some info we do not. Is he developing a “ME VS SA RUGBY SUPPORTERS” mentality?
Just asking. Trans showed me something yesterday where the Physio said that she is used to relay messages from the coach to the field at times, and she said the worse message to relay is when Meyer tells her to tell a player that if he does his own thing one more time, he will be pulled off the field. Very concerning. Something like that can disrupt a players intensity, concentration and mood.
Aside for all the obvious problems with the game the Boks play, they just don’t look like a happy unit. When Brian scored the try, they didn’t look happy, vs the Aussies that looked delighted when they scored. Ag well. In four years time Jean de Villiers, or someone will release a tell all book and then we will know for sure.
10 Sep 2012, 12:37 pm
@Sharkie10-91: only a sharkie will be arrogant enough to punt a weak Lambster ahead of a rugby freak like the Goose – newsflash guppy he is the same age as Lambie when all the varkies were calling on Divvy to drop the useless Steyn for their baby who we were told had an old head.
10 Sep 2012, 12:37 pm
@Transformation-92: Morne did that twice in the same half, but I guess its ok to let him off the hook. Now, the question is, what does he bring besides his goal kicking?, we know what he takes away from the team.
10 Sep 2012, 12:40 pm
@rossoneri-96: Wondering when any of the Boks did anything creative enough to upset the coach…..
Maybe someone skipped Morne or Zane, so they couldn’t up and under?
10 Sep 2012, 12:42 pm
@rossoneri-96: Sadly I think you spot on. Very scary
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