Boks to seize Loftus lifeline
24 Sep 2012
JON CARDINELLI writes that Heyneke Meyer’s Springboks will record their first victory against Australasian opposition when they return to Loftus Versfeld this Saturday.
Consider the excuses for the recent run of results: A new team is building; they’re missing key players due to injuries; wins Down Under are rare; and their once flawless goal-kicker is horribly out of form.
These are excuses that may explain why the Boks are under-performing, but are we to accept that things are so bad that the Boks cannot beat the Wallabies and All Blacks in South Africa? Certainly not.
These are desperate times in the sense that the Boks are desperate for a winning result. They haven’t won since that opening Rugby Championship game in Cape Town. Their last three results have been a draw, a loss, and another loss.
Forget about winning the Rugby Championship title, that opportunity has come and gone. The Boks need to do whatever it takes to get back to winning ways, and in terms of the two matches that remain in this competition, the first in Pretoria represents the best opportunity.
The significance of where they are playing shouldn’t be understated. The Boks have a remarkable record at Loftus Versfeld, especially against the Wallabies. Since the first game played at this venue in 1963, the Boks have beaten the Wallabies in each of the five Tests.
What will also encourage the Boks is that the Wallabies are missing some key personnel. Injuries have taken their toll this year, and the team that plays at Loftus will be sans David Pocock, Will Geina, Quade Cooper and James O’Connor to name a few.
The Wallabies traditionally struggle on the Highveld, and only recently broke a 47-year losing streak. Kurtley Beale’s last-gasp penalty in a 2010 Test played in Bloemfontein gave the Wallabies their first win at altitude since 1963. It showed that they are capable of winning in that difficult environment, that not every game played on the Highveld is a guaranteed win for the Boks.
Meyer and company will be mindful of this as they plan for the coming match. But then again, Meyer will be desperately hoping that Loftus works its magic, that the partisan crowd lifts the Boks, and reduces the Wallabies to quivering wrecks.
A loss at this stronghold would be a disaster. The Boks have already lost the last five Tests played against the Wallabies. They need to break that spell. If they can’t do that against a young Wallabies side, playing at the fortress that is Loftus Versfeld… well then where can they do it?
The Boks will win this Saturday. They will break their losing streak against Australia, and record their first win against Australasian opposition under Meyer.
I wouldn’t be as confident if this Test was to be played at sea level. Up on the Highveld, Meyer’s Boks will use their Loftus lifeline. They will beat the Wallabies and take some much needed momentum into the following fixture against the All Blacks.
Mediocrity should never be tolerated, and Meyer himself has been open regarding his ambition to attain an 80% winning record. His current stats are nowhere near as impressive, but this coming Saturday could be seen as a start.
If the Boks can beat the Wallabies, then there is another big opportunity the following week when they host the All Blacks in Soweto. New Zealand may arrive in South Africa having already won the title, and so may not possess the type of motivation needed to beat the Boks at altitude.
Two wins in these last two matches would give Meyer a 50% record against the Australasian teams. It is a record that is no worse than what Jake White achieved in his first year in charge (2004), and is better than the Peter de Villiers-driven side of 2008 that won just two out of six.
Two wins for the Boks wouldn’t be significant in the context of the Rugby Championship or in terms of climbing the world rankings, but it would restore the status quo.
For a side that is missing key players and struggling for form, Meyer’s Boks will certainly view a two from four return against the Australasian sides as a satisfactory outcome.
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130 Comments
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24 Sep 2012, 10:27 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-33:
Didn’t I say that?
However I still have faith. Just not blind faith!
24 Sep 2012, 10:29 am
45.
Yeah, very clever Brads. Like a bank robber or murder who gets away with it. A sure sign of intelligence with a dismissive wave of the hand to the crime.
Sociopathic are you kiwis.
24 Sep 2012, 10:29 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-50: Ek het jou al seker 6 keer gevra oor jou opinie oor Morne.
Maar jy ignoreer my nog heeltyd.
Okay.
24 Sep 2012, 10:33 am
53. 6 times you say?
Can,t you take a hint?
24 Sep 2012, 10:33 am
@NZINCHINA-49: we are talking about you here buddy, dont deflect ok?
your arrogance is noted.
24 Sep 2012, 10:33 am
@Brads-45: We agree .. grey matter/intelligence is where tight games are won. I am not condemning or condoning the ABs, just observing they know their way around the refs and rules .. We dont !
24 Sep 2012, 10:35 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-54: Sure.
I take your ignorance as evidence that you agree with me
24 Sep 2012, 10:37 am
funny thing is that i am of the opinion that bok rugby is on the up.
superrugby took us a long time but every year saffa teams are becoming more and more competitive. wont be long before the sharks or wp finally win it and with the kings in, it could be sooner rather than later thanks to the pts system.
the 4n is still a hard comp for us but i believe will start improving here steadily too and am not all doom and gloom after two losses that showed an upward trend imo.
24 Sep 2012, 10:38 am
Practice what you preach sonny.
24 Sep 2012, 10:39 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-52:
Wow, what an extreme attitude.
There are three, I say again three, on field referees looking at the game.
Playing to the ref is playing to what the guy is blowing, not what your slo-mo reply SUGGESTS.
Where on Earth is this murder and bank robbery business coming from?
Perhaps you are pissed the instinct of an intelligent rugby player is being coached out of the Bokke, in which case direct your phlegm at the people responsible.
24 Sep 2012, 10:41 am
57. Fast are you becoming skopskiets sidekick.
As if saying something often enough makes it the truth or like a broken clock defacto gets it right. ?.even if by accident.
24 Sep 2012, 10:42 am
57. By the way did you see how superkak brussouw was on the weekend. And you want him to start for the boks, yeah right
24 Sep 2012, 10:43 am
@Doughnut-56:
There is no way in Hades NZ has cornered the market on intelligent rugby.
However, SA are leading the way toward cornering the market in ways to stifle natural instinct.
24 Sep 2012, 10:49 am
60. Just because the ref doesn,t see it does not mean that you are intelligent….just means that he is blind in my opinion, coerced and often intimidated by his own boss, paddy.
24 Sep 2012, 10:49 am
Please Heyneke just drop the one dimensional skop jag en bid artist M Steyn….
Please man…rid our rugby of this useless 10 once and foe all….
choose anyone of Jantjes, Goosen or Lambie…..
but FFS please please please drop this M Steyn once and for all ….
24 Sep 2012, 10:51 am
@Slartibartfast-18: I’m still trying to figure out if it’s possible. I thought I’d read he’s signed to the Reds for three years but there is still some option to leave? Anyway, not sure the Roosters will have any cash to spare after they sign up SBW. Unless Quade wants to play the Lions series next year then jump straight in the RL world cup for the kiwis with Sonny. Despite his knee on McCaw I’d accept him with open arms.
24 Sep 2012, 10:51 am
@grant10-65: Morne will start on Saturday, bud.
24 Sep 2012, 10:52 am
@rangerman-58: don’t bank on us being gimmes boytie
march 9th…you will see your gat!
24 Sep 2012, 10:57 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-64:
What ever Zyl.
If you believe that, why bother following the sport.
24 Sep 2012, 10:57 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-61: Leave Skopskiet out of this.
He is more on the money than the majority of bloggers here, and had reservations about this dictatorship from the beginning.
Bok rugby at current is characterised by forced mediocrity. The continued selections of witbroodjies and the continued exclusion of the best players.
24 Sep 2012, 10:57 am
@grant10-65: morne is a WARRIOR!
he is mentally tough, his game is not that bad but he is just not striking the ball well at the moment, now that he has had a mental break he will be back.
*me channelling heyneke meyer
24 Sep 2012, 10:59 am
@Transformation-71: And he is back at comfort zone Loftus.
24 Sep 2012, 11:01 am
@willievz-67: so sad Willie….he is killing our backline 6 love man…
24 Sep 2012, 11:01 am
69….well, it is a similar line of thought to bob dwyer, use it dont use it, whatever
24 Sep 2012, 11:02 am
@Transformation-71: M Steyn can go back to the Bulls now that Fouche has a knee issue….
24 Sep 2012, 11:04 am
70, yes willie… In his first season with only 2 loses, and those away from home in nz and oz with a match 22 with as many as 14 test newbies……the bok coach is characterized as mediocrity.
Yes, well okay then…
Do you read the tripe you write before posting…
24 Sep 2012, 11:04 am
@grant10-65:
I obviously never saw Morne play at grade level, but surely he was better than just a goal kicker.
***** bells, at grade level in NZ, if a players was a one trick pony the opposition would target him and he would either evolve or drop out.
I suspect the same is the case in SA.
It wasn’t until he got to the Bulls environment that he stopped his skill development.
24 Sep 2012, 11:08 am
Because he doesn’t really believe it, hes finding it hard to accept that SA doesn’t dominate world rugby.
24 Sep 2012, 11:09 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-74:
Okay then, I will not use it,
and leave it to you to enlarge the cancer growth you have developed.
24 Sep 2012, 11:09 am
77, just out of interest….why is it the Bulls are associated with “lack of skills developement”.
Surely, if they are the only sa franchise that actually ever wins the opposite is true…
24 Sep 2012, 11:11 am
@grant10-75: pine is on the phone with meyer as we speak
24 Sep 2012, 11:14 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-80:
Institutionalizing traditional play is not development.
It is stagnation.
24 Sep 2012, 11:20 am
Okay, but just to point out that this institutionalized rugby had us finishing ahead of 11 others on the log and what could have been 2nd in all honesty.
24 Sep 2012, 11:20 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-76:
The irony is that he could have had a 80%+ record if his selections were better.
Now he is drifting at a mediocre 47%.
So far, Heyneke also
(i) created a negative relationship with Cape supporters (the unjustified initial exclusion of Aplon and JDJ),
(ii) scythed a relationship with one of the best opensiders on the planet (and in my opinion, to an irrepairable state),
(iii) capped the likes of Jacques Potgieter and JJ Engelbrecht, who would not have been capped if they were playing for any other franchise.
And last, but not least, he coaches with an aim to tell the world that he and only he (well, and maybe you and a few other Bulls) are right.
24 Sep 2012, 11:20 am
@grant10-75:
step up handre… good enough is old enough…
24 Sep 2012, 11:23 am
I guess the difference in opinion is that you will see the object of rugby being “entertainment”…..i see the object as winning.
The 2 have never been mutually exclusive.
And before you hypothesize that 1 style is better than another i will point to last years worldcup final and the borethon that, that was.
24 Sep 2012, 11:25 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-83:
I have nothing against playing to your strengths, but suffocating innovation is surely not pleasant for you as a Saffa supporter to experience.
24 Sep 2012, 11:25 am
A 47% win ratio shows that we are not playing winning rugby.
24 Sep 2012, 11:30 am
Perhaps it might be a good idea to wait until the actual teams are announced before picking a winner…
24 Sep 2012, 11:31 am
1. The cape supporters are mostly all shite choosing to support anyone from wp to the crusaders to the spears on any given day depending on how a pigby non white performed the previous sweekend.
2. Brussouw is playing shite, that was evident again this past weekend. Put that fact together with his injury record and why would any coach actually bother with him these days. Can you remember him stringing 3 games together in a row.
3. Potgieter was kapped as the next best blindsider. I really dont see the problem given the players who were out and are still out.and before you mention a lion, they are shite that is why they are not there. If potgieter was wearing a spears jersey everyone would love him.
The coach knows more than you and i.
Get over yourself.
24 Sep 2012, 11:34 am
88.
Come now willy.
With only 2 loses we arent exactly playing losing rugby either are we.
24 Sep 2012, 11:34 am
this Boks style has been absolutely terrible….and we are still losing !
Winning rugby se moer man…it is Coward rugby….no bravery at all….simply raising the white flag saying we cant compete because we dont have the skills in the backs….
Nie fok sies man! Cowards…
24 Sep 2012, 11:34 am
@Transformation-68: haha, i knew the sensitive amongst us would take that the wrong way.
transie, i seriously hopr the kings are competitive and have no problem with them as i have already stated but history has shown us that it takes time for a new side to find their feet in superrugby.
maybe the kings will be the exception and win the comp in their first year but i doubt it bud.
i think they will battle personally and that will be to the benefit of other saffa teams simply because we play them twice.
how long this will be the case is the only variable that i am unsure of.
24 Sep 2012, 11:37 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-90: Your comment no 1 is sad….
you are now officially demoted to Sad Sack….
Brigadier se moer man…
24 Sep 2012, 11:39 am
i dont agree that the boks gameplan has been absolute rubbish.
i think our finishing has let us down on a number of occasions and our kicking has been horrendous (both the weighted kicks from the base and the goal kicking).
but our forwards are ever improving and if our backs click we will be fearsome.
how i long for JPP to return and for morne to take a break.
24 Sep 2012, 11:40 am
@grant10-94: you are getting hormonal again.
take a break pel.
24 Sep 2012, 11:42 am
95; exactly
24 Sep 2012, 11:44 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-91: We only drew the 3rd test against England as Farrell missed a last-second drop goal.
We only drew against Argentina because we scored a charged down try.
England and Argentina are not rugby superpowers. A draw against them is as good as a loss, in my book.
We are talking about the BOKS, for goodness sake.
24 Sep 2012, 11:46 am
@rangerman-95: Meyer needs to get his selections right and make changes to the gameplan as Rassie says will happen (latter).
24 Sep 2012, 11:48 am
Haha, winning rugby indeed. Cant even call it rugby, just hoofing the ball and waiting for the opposition to make a play, either good or bad. It’s all about the opposition: Meyer’s so terrified of what they can do to us he’s lost sight of what we have available.
Watching us kick to that rabble of an Aussie side ad-nauseam because apparently we cant match them with the ball was just laughable. Meyer’s continued selection of Steyn and Kirtchner the only thing he can use to justify that we cant match anyone. Those two worse than any of their opposite numbers in test rugby.
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