AB s are the no1 and bench mark, for now. If the Bok coaches can evolve their game we will force the AB play to respond which no tea likes … much like the Boks of 2009 did.

It was inevitable that former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers would have something to say about the progress of his successor, Heyneke Meyer.
Even more predictable was that South African rugby fans would jump down his throat for whatever utterances he made.

The website headline that got a lot of people’s backs up was “Div upset with ‘white’ Boks”.

My understanding of the article is that Div was warning the Bok coach not to alienate black supporters by giving the impression there is little space for black players in his team.

The key phrase here is “giving the impression”, something you could glean only from some of Meyer’s team selections.

When he has had to choose between a black player and a white player that he hasn’t coached before – say Siya Kolisi and Marcell Coetzee, or Johan Goosen and Elton Janjties – he has opted for the white player.

Some might point out that Coetzee and Goosen seem to be working out, but it is only because they have been given the opportunity and the requisite faith that determines whether a player succeeds or not.

Jantjies and Kolisi were basically told they needed a bridging course before they could run with the big dogs.

There’s something about being white in our rugby that implies you are likely to succeed.

Before I come under attack from the aggrieved white supporters De Villiers so enraged with his comments, I’ll always (maybe naïvely) struggle to believe that there is some evil genius plotting to keep blacks out of rugby.

But De Villiers has a point because from the outside it looks as though black participation in rugby is contained so as not to exceed certain points of influence.

South African rugby in general has to be careful of the message it sends to its black supporters, however unintentional that may be. There have been a few incidents of late that have left one wondering if there is a deliberate element sometimes.

The indecent haste with which Goosen was chucked into the Bok squad, and the Kings’ “inclusion” in Super rugby are just two examples.

By all accounts, Goosen is the real deal, while many experts, Joel Stransky included, aren’t so sure that Jantjies is test match material.

Ignoring the shades of Vernon Philander in this logic, how will any of us know if he is not given a chance in the Bok team – a shot he continues to earn week in and week out?

Wynand Olivier – not to mention Jacques Potgieter – was given 30-odd tests to prove he wasn’t test match material, and Jantjies can’t even be given a handful?

The truth may well be that Meyer mistrusts players he has never worked with, but how hard is it to give rugby reasons why he continues to ignore Jantjies?

Looking at the Kings’ token inclusion in Super rugby, they have been given a year to create miracles while the Lions were given 11 years to **** things up.

It’s an elaborate stitch-up where the SA Rugby Union can hold up its hands and say: “There, we gave you a chance”.

The general thinking in local rugby seems to be that the only people that count are the smug, self-entitled bunch who savaged De Villiers for raising a view that actually exists.

This is at the expense of the future market of the game.

M Van der Merwe would be a better TH potential than Oosthuizen I reckon
Both Marcel Vd Merwe of Cheetahs and JC Janse Van Rensburg of Lions would be first choice options as next up props for TH and LH respectively

Its also strange how not many realize that its actually Ruan Pienaar at the source of Boks woes in the back line.. Morne Steyn is the preferential kicking skop the game dood protagonist but he’s been exactly that since 2009 already – so nothing new, whether its FdP or Pienaar at 9 exactly same diffs.. But the real critical fall out which hampered Boks through Mendoza and Brisbane and Dunedin was specifically Ruan Pienaar not taking the game by the scruff of the neck and forcing opposition to defend.. which is what Hougaard would or should have done.

time to cut them loose…

Add the crowd in P.E booing Boks

And Boks drawing in Mendoza when they couldn’t put a single series of phase play together

Did I say embarrassing

Passengers…Boks effectively playing without a backline

No amount of tweaking mindsets of the above players will matter,they aren’t good enough

Furthermore the execution over innovation kick 60-70% of possession away is not going to suit players being touted to be selected to make Boks “better” ex: Goosen,Lambie,De Jongh,Aplon,Willie Le Roux,Mvovo,Jordaan etc

Continue to play that ideology,then keep talented ball players and runners at their provinces where their skill sets will be used and appreciated.

Likes of Kirchner Morne Pienaar can dominate selection in Boks archaic gameplan all they want.

What happened the following week, will haunt Irish rugby for years to come.

I say again: The All Blacks did not play particularly well at all while the Boks played very well but they were still able to beat us by 10 points.

What will happen if both teams play well in Soweto? Will they then beat us by 20 points?

We are not as close to them as some think we are.

But I’m just teasing. Bottom line is that SA has a good number of potentially great props, quite a few of whom do well in the S15 (even Bwok Hawwis) but who get drilled regularly in internationals. Probably the team with amongst the best potential props but the worst record is the Bulls. Remind us again who the Bok scrum coach is?

I think that the real problem with SA rugby is not the players. It is the coaches, administrators and officials. These guys do not work for SA rugby but for their own ideals, egos and often benefit (Rian (the Rat) Oberholzer and Alan (Guiness) Snollymans come to mind as typifying the breed). Some have noble intentions but ultimately ego, self-interest and good old plain SA incompetency dooms SA rugby to stagger when it should run.

De Koning is right in in his analysis on certain players – obviously Morne needs to be dropped and I especially agree that Ruan has been underperforming – but to say that one or two player tweaks could be the answer is definitely not right…. The Springboks played well against the All Blacks and certainly if we had played a different flyhalf, we would have won, BUT…. That game against the All Blacks is not the only game we’ve played this year… We played better than expected in that game, but against Argentina and Australia (and England for that matter), we played incredibly poorly and simple player changes would not have made the difference.

There is a lot more to Heyneke’s job than player selection….. I am not defending the man, but Jan De Koning’s article should not be taken as truth either because although his analysis on certain players is correct, it takes a lot more than player selection to improve a team’s performance.

PrevNextJan de Koning reveals what changes he will make to the Bok starting XV
Don’t expect wholesale changes, but a few ‘tweaks’ could help Heyneke Meyer turn the Springboks an ‘almost’ team into real winners.

Meyer will name a 30-man squad – for the final two Tests in Rugby Championship, against Australia in Pretoria (September 29) and New Zealand in Soweto a week later – at the conclusion of Round Seven of the Currie Cup.

While Meyer’s 42.9 percent success rate (three wins, two draws and two defeats) may not make for pretty reading, a proper analysis reveals that the Boks are a lot closer to world No.1 New Zealand than most of his critics would be willing to acknowledge.

Yes, those performances in Mendoza (a 16-all draw with Argentina), Perth (a 19-26 loss to the Wallabies) and Dunedin (an 11-21 defeat against the All Blacks) showed up some flaws in the Bok make-up.

But those should be put down to a lack of form by certain individuals, rather being using as a whip to keep flogging Meyer about his game-plan … or supposed lack thereof.

It is a fact the some of the team’s game-breakers and match-winners have not displayed their best form this year.

The main problem has been at halfback – where Morné Steyn has been a pale shadow of his 2009 and 2010 record-breaking form.

While it is admirable of Meyer to protect players – and all coaches do – he has also acknowledged that Steyn could do with a ‘mental’ break.

Most critics glossed over the surface of Meyer’s comments when he discussed the flyhalf’s lack of form. There is more to it than meets the eye.

“I do not want to knock individuals, but the missed kicks were crucial,” the coach told a media scrum in Johannesburg this week, following Steyn’s 22 percent (2 from nine goal-kicks) in the 11-21 loss last Saturday.

“Morné is mentally tough, though, and look at what happened to Bryan Habana.

“Bryan is now playing phenomenal rugby again.

“The mental break will do Morné good and we will look at the situation after the Currie Cup matches this weekend and decide who will play against Australia in Pretoria.”

Maybe a short holiday away from the playing field will do the trick?

Scrumhalf is another major issue.

Francois Hougaard is an undoubted match-winner.

However, is he a scrumhalf or a wing? The decision to keep shuffling him between positions can’t be good for his confidence.

Just ask Ruan Pienaar, who has played at scrumhalf the last few weeks, while Hougaard was on the wing. Pienaar lost all shape when he was used as a ‘utility’ for the Boks under previous coaches It was only at Ulster, when he played almost exclusively scrumhalf, that he started regaining his best form. Unfortunately he hasn’t transferred that from Europe to the Test area.

The other place where a ‘tweak’ could make a difference is at fullback.

Zane Kirchner had one of his better games against the All Blacks, but there is room for the skill of Pat Lambie. He may not get the same distances as Kirchner with his clearance kicks, but Lambie is no slouch.

What he will bring is some variation and that occasional ‘moment of brilliance’ that all coaches look for.

Against Australia at Loftus Versfeld next week it may be worth taking the risk and gamble of a couple of changes.

Meyer said he wanted to instill a belief in the team that they can beat any side in the world and there is no reason to doubt him when he said: I think we have achieved that goal.”

All it will take is a few ‘tweaks’ to the team selection!

Jan de Koning’s starting XV: 15 Pat Lambie, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jean de Villiers (captain), 12 Frans Steyn, 11 François Hougaard, 10 Johann Goosen, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 François Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Marcell Coetzee, 20 Elton Jantjies, 21 Juan de Jongh, 22 Willie le

FUTURE SPRINGBOK TIGHTHEAD.