Meyer admits Morne mistake
16 Sep 2012
Heyneke Meyer says he may have erred in keeping Morne Steyn on the field against the All Blacks in Dunedin.
Steyn, whose missed penalty kicks cost the Springboks wins against England in PE and Argentina in Mendoza, had a poor first half with the boot at the Otago Stadium and many expected him to be replaced by Johan Goosen at half-time. Meyer, though, kept faith in his No 10 and it proved costly as by the time he was subbed in the 59th minute he had been successful with just one attempt out of five.
‘Sitting here afterwards it is easy to make calls but it is a life and death situation for me and maybe I made the wrong call but Morne usually comes back and kicks well,’ Meyer told a news conference after the match. ‘Frans Steyn is a great goal-kicker and Ruan Pienaar can kick as well. You don’t just take a guy off for his goal-kicking.
‘I’ve always said that I am going to bring Johan Goosen through and give him game time. But Johan had struggled with his goal-kicking in training during the week and he is still only 20-years-old and he hasn’t played for almost three months. I thought he did superbly for the 25 minutes he was on the field.
‘But we could have changed the goal-kicker. We talked about it at half-time. I thought Morne would find his rhythm.’
378 Comments
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16 Sep 2012, 22:57 pm
*** = J.A.P.
16 Sep 2012, 23:13 pm
@Spiesisworthless1-28: you need to start thinking about beating Aus first and getting over your draw with Argie before you even consider the number one spot mate.
Boks last 3 games – draw, loss, loss – you cant tell me that deserves a ranking of number 2 let alone number 1, even if you do beat us in SA. Which I do not think you will – SA lacks a definitive game plan.
Most RWC teams re build after their victory – we too are doing this. Yep we have lost Thorne/Kaino/SBW/ and currently have our best 10 out. Thats 4 pretty key players – and we are still winning – not a bad effort at all.
As this current AB team play more, they will develop the right combinations and be better for it, so too will SA, but which team has the fitness, the mental strength and the belief is another thing.
16 Sep 2012, 23:15 pm
HG NIce win our team on SAT>Compare captains.One a demented thug==(Very good player though.)
One One who plays the game as a sport.
16 Sep 2012, 23:43 pm
@KiaKahaNZ-352: I’m a Bok supporter and will happily admit that they MIGHT be worth of the 4th spot. NZ, Australia and Wales are all ahead of us and possibly France as well.
16 Sep 2012, 23:46 pm
A bit late Meyer…………..duuurh.
How come the majority of the Bok rugby fraternity could see the problem but you could not???
The horse has bolted, the milk is spilt. We could have won again in Dunedin, but you Mr Dof coach blew it………….big time. Doos!
16 Sep 2012, 23:57 pm
If you read what Meyer actually said it becomes apparent that he had no intention of taking Morne off any earlier than he did:
“Frans Steyn is a great goal-kicker and Ruan Pienaar can kick as well. You don’t just take a guy off for his goal-kicking. But we could have changed the goal-kicker.”
So the only decision of his that he believes can be questioned is the decision not to pass the tee to Pienaar or the other Steyn – Morne was going nowhere. So we will most likely see Morne in the 10 jersey again in a couple of weeks.
And that is unbelievably dom. What the hell is he actually doing that we need him on the field exactly?
16 Sep 2012, 23:59 pm
With some tweeks to this side (read selecting the best players) we can improve and, I believe beat both Aus and NZ.
Crusty the clown at 15 must go………..Play Lambie or Taute or Gio
I’m sorry Jean but I really think your time is up, even Linel Mapoe would be a better bet………..Play JP if fit
Goosen at 10, Steyn to Vodacom cup
Pienaar gone………useless, play McCloud or Vermaark
Eben back to partner Becker, but give Becker a raaak up, kick his ar se and tell him to hit some rucks
Strause to captain
This side would have a much better chance at winning……………IMHO
17 Sep 2012, 00:09 am
I understand Meyers predicament – he wants to introduce Goosen to test rugby slowly (the way PdV should have), but the incumbent is frnkly wuite shocking right now.
so its a case of, if you are good enough, you are old enough. But HM should not make teh same mistake of not introducing Lambie or Elton to Bok rugby until Goose is sinjured. They must be given time to acclimatise with ten minutes every game as well. Frans steyn to 15, and Lambie or Elton to 12. JdV on the bench or 13.
Another thing – did you notice how, if teh AB’s forwards are not winning collisions or making ground by forward domination, they start offloading out wide. they match a big guy with a little guy out wide, and use their height and weight to go over the gainline and offload, creating a break. When our plan A is not working, we need to use a similar strategy.
17 Sep 2012, 00:20 am
Our Plan A last worked in 2009. Scrap it and come up with a plan B and a Plan C, any other plan other than the k uk one used at the moment.
17 Sep 2012, 00:39 am
@SjamBok-358:
Good post man, and this is where the old fashioned thinking of HM is being exposed, he barely has a Plan A, and definitely no plan B.
How can the Boks present a challenge without the right type of coaching to actually win games rather than reduce score lines? His lack of a dynamic attacking platform in favor of a defensive, then kick and hope style will never produce the right result
Take away Habanas moment of brilliance, and the Boks looked a bit static most of the game. Yeah you can say the same thing about Smiths try for the AB’s, but where we were developing ascendancy, the Boks opted for luck – you can only go so far on luck.
Whatever – I do not even think its the change of personnel you propose. Its the development of an attacking game plan, coupled with the right troops to do the right job and make all the right decisions out there. The AB’s have a key decision makers, there is an expectation and a plan to support that.
Having said that – the AB’s are playing some very bad rugby at present, the flow has gone, and the credit must be handed to Argie / SA /Aus for shutting us down and forcing us to push passes. We are not playing with patience.
17 Sep 2012, 01:37 am
Well at least Meyer has admitted the mistake and it is still early days, so fair play there.So the stuborness is not intrenched which is great to see.
But like one said above and something i said way back, why not give the other guys the kicking duties if you are having a bad day. What amaised me in the Oz game, and i have huge admiration for that is, Cooper places the tee looks at the kick, decides he is UNABLE to make the distance, tells Beal to have a go instead, and he was like” me..?” -pointing at himself. Takes the kick and puts it down the throat of the uprights. Are the Boks, (yes they are) so stupid, they cant make such brave decisions to admit, hey team comes first before me Im kicking like poo,you take it instead…One would think its pretty simple but they sure make it complex.
With this B team we are fielding, and I hope the black match was not a one off, we should start to realise that the depth we are going to have next yr is going to be amaising. If these dudes continue like this, imagine, Burger, Brusow, Smith, Louw, Alberts, Vermeulen,Coetzee as a line up. Pretty hard to beat i think.
Now we just need locks and a backline and we should be sorted…and…lol
17 Sep 2012, 01:50 am
That was tense & intense. At the game, it was hard to believe we won.
Boks tactics are 1 dimensional yes, but with a different goalkicker…
Scoreboard pressure does funny things, look at the RWC final. If weepu had kicked his goals it would have been 17-0 at halftime. The fact Morne & Franc missed all those meant the pressure never built on the ABs.
The gameplan is not fundamentally flawed, but without a 85%+ goalkicker it will not work against the top teams.
The sad thing is how dangerous the boks were when they played with width, Habanna overran that pass by 2m in the 1st 5 mins or it would have been 7 nil…
Richie is incredible. He was better then Read & Biz on saturday, he was possibly the difference between the teams.
Kiakaha Richie
17 Sep 2012, 02:06 am
@KiaKahaNZ-360:
The game plan would automatically change with Goosen at 10…………its actually quite simple
17 Sep 2012, 03:03 am
@whatever-363:
What plan?
The kicking plan or the other kicking plan?
Point is you can have Usain Bolt recieving the ball but if he has been instructed to kick it for territory when in own half….thats is whats going to happen.
Goosen does not make the plans.
17 Sep 2012, 03:37 am
@Hurricane-364:
Yes but Goosen is a running 10, just watch the Cheetahs games. I’m giving HM the benefit of the doubt here and assuming he would not instruct Goosen to sit in the pocket and kick………..I hope I’m not wrong!
17 Sep 2012, 04:11 am
@whatever-365:
You would think Meyer would allow Goosen to play whats in front of him when he sees an opportunity to run or take it to the line and look to pop a pass, yet I think under Meyer there will be a reliance on the kick even when the Bok have a talented first five like Goosen
17 Sep 2012, 04:19 am
@Te Rangatira-366:
Probably right to an extent Te Ranga, but each time Goosen has come on (allbeit for only short stints) I could see the difference. Running and jinking 100 times more than Steyn. They will still play the percentages but I just think it will change for the better.
Saturdays game gave me hope, cause it is glaringly obvious that if some changes are made we can win those games………..I think the AB’s are pretty much at their peak whereas the Boks will get better. They came close with a cr ap gameplan and a few cr ap selections……
17 Sep 2012, 04:24 am
and it should get better at home………………
17 Sep 2012, 05:13 am
@whatever-367:
Yep…the Bok start to look very dangerous with Goosen stepping and jinking around the place. I think you’re right about them still playing the percentages but Goosen brings a dynamic that Morne does not and with the right changes to the game plan you will win those games. As for the Abs they will look to shore up the mistakes at the breakdown for a starter and from there hopefully there is a flow on effect to rectifying other aspects of their game.
17 Sep 2012, 05:19 am
Whatever talk is cheap though buddy, we’ve won 14 straight you are a long long way off emulating that and you also need to cut out the filthy play.
17 Sep 2012, 05:25 am
@NZINCHINA-370:
Oh please go cry elsewhere, so the cheater copped one on the shnoz, build a bridge………
17 Sep 2012, 06:51 am
Like I said buddy talk is cheap and thats all you’ve got, if you condone players attacking players head when it happens to one of your players ill expect the same reaction then a pretty immature one.
17 Sep 2012, 07:38 am
@whatever-357: Yes agree, just need to select right and we will beat both Oz and Abs. Actually we would have beaten both right now, had we had the right flyhalf start. Most definitely too need another fb.
Have to admit Jean is not looking the part any longer. Jordaan, Mapoe or even JPP there, though prefer JPP on the wing.
17 Sep 2012, 08:16 am
@grant10-332:
@cab-337:
Brusouw never lost a game against the AB. MOTM awards in two of the 4 games played. HM is insisting that his penalty count is to high to include him in the team but he selects the 3 players with the highest penalty count in the super 15 play-offs in his squad (Coenie, Bismark and Alberts).
How many penalties did Brussouw really concede in a springbok jearsy and how many penalyies did he won?? Hoe many of these penalties were converted into points? How many turn-overs from Brussouw prevented the opposition from scoring tries when they were on our goal line?
Sorry guys: Brussouw 4 and Heyneke Meyer 0.
My looseforwards would be Brussouw, Flo and Alberts. Dwaine is a lock rather than a loose forward.
17 Sep 2012, 08:27 am
@whatever-363: he maybe a running 10, but HM is an up n under fortuitous gambler. The threat then becomes – what happens when it goes pear shaped out there against the counter attacking flair of the AB’s – was HM worried about that too?
I’m not sure Goosen is your panacea, it could make matters worse because all the other parts of the game bok plan lack inventiveness, creativity or flair. The one area they are strong is defense around the gain line – damn good effort on Sat night.
17 Sep 2012, 08:30 am
Steyn should have gone earlier, we all agree on that. But … and here is the rub, we have haemorrhaged a massive amount of experience and it is plain to see that HM has been trying to hang onto what little of it he has left. It has obviously not worked but it is a logical tactic.
17 Sep 2012, 08:31 am
By experience I mean spingbok test matches.
18 Sep 2012, 15:50 pm
PETITION AGAINST MORNE
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