White-hot Boks thrill
29 Sep 2012
RYAN VREDE reports on a 31-8 victory for the Springboks over Australia at Loftus in which they produced the type of performance they hope will become commonplace.
The Springboks were good, but hold your unbridled praise. The result was not unexpected. This was the weakest Wallabies side the Springboks have faced in their last nine encounters, and at a venue they have never won at. The measure of these Springboks will come against the All Blacks in a week.
The Wallabies were never in this one, a brutal and organised defensive effort blunting their ambitions. It is in this facet of play that most Test matches will be won and lost. That the Wallabies scored once (through a slipped hit) gives me more joy than the bonus-point the Springboks earned.
And they could have and should have won by more, six missed kicks and host of squandered try-scoring chances ensuring that the scoreline flattered the Wallabies.
However, it would grossly remiss not to applaud this win, particularly since it provided reasons for optimism in some key areas.
Flyhalf Johan Goosen will have better Tests, but he certainly isn’t an impostor at this level. His tears during the anthem humanised the kid many what to believe has supernatural ability. He showed his rawness with two hooked penalties, too lateral a running line and poor option-taking at times. But he also stirred hope of a bright attacking future with a couple of linebreaks and generally slick play. He doesn’t have Henry Honiball’s defensive punch and will be targeted by their opposition, but he isn’t a defensive liability and his attacking skill makes up for what he lacks there.
Then there’s the Boondock Saints – Francois Louw and Duane Vermeulen – who hunted in tandem, both outstanding at the gainline and on the deck. They lend the Springboks an air of menace and mongrel, with their efforts amplified by an industrious and highly effective pack.
What else? Ruan Pienaar looked composed and sharp. Andries Bekker was influential at the lineouts and in general play, Jaco Taute was impressive defensively in the most difficult channel for this discipline, and Bryan Habana reconfirmed that has left the fraud he was under Peter de Villiers behind him with a throwback effort.
And their much-maligned game plan? The tactical kicking was poor…when they did kick. This was a wholly different approach from the Springboks, a more expansive one than we’ve become used to. This doesn’t, however, herald the start of a bold new era from Heyneke Meyer’s men. The Wallabies allowed them to play in this manner. The Blacks will demand a tighter approach. They are some way off mastering either, but there are signs that should encourage.
Their rolling maul is unmatched by any team in the game, and it was from this platform that they opened the scoring, with a touch of tactical intelligence (two decoy runners) creating space for Zane Kirchner to score in the corner. Pienaar had taken over the goal-kicking responsibility from Goosen and duly banked the touchline conversion.
The Springboks were in business again seven minutes later after Habana finished a disjointed move that went right then snapped left. Pienaar’s conversion attempt struck the post and the teams went down the tunnel with the hosts leading 14-3, Kurtley Beale’s penalty all the Wallabies could muster in the face of an immense defensive effort.
The Wallabies huffed and puffed after the restart but the Springboks killed their ambition superbly, first Louw peeling off the back of another unstoppable rolling maul to score, then Habana catching them napping with a quick lineout feed to Adriaan Strauss, who drew a defender and offloaded to put the winger away.
The Springboks’ defensive intensity and precision tapered off in the closing stages, allowing the visitors to breach their tryline, but they never seriously threatened a comeback. With time nearly up the Springboks launched another expansive assault, this time Louw finding Habana with a left-pass most elite scrumhalves would be proud to boast.
The Springboks will believe this performance is a good example of what they can achieve when things click, and they’ll be right. But there is a sterner examination ahead in the form of the world champions. For now, however, they deserve to be lauded on the strength of this showing.
By Ryan Vrede, in Pretoria
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174 Comments
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29 Sep 2012, 22:34 pm
@katman-93:
Gosh, she is very pretty!
Now find me the male version please!
29 Sep 2012, 22:34 pm
@Predawn-86:
Ever played the game?
it not that easy to get a player like beale in the open field
He missed him but give credit to beale for beating him
29 Sep 2012, 22:35 pm
@fitz1ella-96: Yes, that’s exactly what I am proposing. When a player merely has to place the ball to score a try and he fails to do so, instead losing it forward, then he has butchered a try. I am glad you understand.
29 Sep 2012, 22:38 pm
@carol-101: Not really my field of expertise. The women seem to find the Aussie Adam Scott a bit of okay.
29 Sep 2012, 22:38 pm
Putting the blame on Lambie for another players farkup is also unfair.
29 Sep 2012, 22:40 pm
Love this, Boks have good game, albeit against pathetic Aus team. Goosen in debut was good, Lambie got game time (still my no 1 choice for flyhalf), Jantjies got intro, and Boks won, well. But on this blog we have to go overboard, bring a bit of race, provincialism, stupidity, sort of thing that would get you properly blik…’d in a bar anywhere and make you llook stupid in normal conversation. Criticism is fine but the stupidity above would be amusing only if I knew guys were too pissed to make sense and apologise in the morning
29 Sep 2012, 22:41 pm
So, what do you suppose Ryan is up to in Pretoria tonight?
29 Sep 2012, 22:45 pm
The same cretins make the same lame monotonous race related cowardly internet rants month after month. Nothing changes on keo.
Rugby is a sideshow for them.
29 Sep 2012, 22:45 pm
@katman-93:
I wouldn’t kick her out for eating biscuits in bed.
29 Sep 2012, 22:46 pm
Frankly, if you don’t like it go away
29 Sep 2012, 22:47 pm
@katman-104:
Well spotted, he seems to suit Pringle!
My chum’s cousin is a professional lady golfer, Catriona Mathews!
She will not be treading on Kate Moss toes any time soon!
29 Sep 2012, 22:47 pm
@fitz1ella-69:
Its all SARUs fault. They messed up the timing of the Bok coach appointments.
HM should have been appointed ring leader of that aging bunch of has beens after 2007. We all know what happens when a clang of nitwits succumb to delusions of aristocracy, faced with the demise of a falsely puissant regime. They would have coped far better with HM leading the laager to the promised land rather than Pdv.
Now as it is players with genuine talent must adapt, accept or die. No room for democracy here my friend.
29 Sep 2012, 22:48 pm
@I am a stormer-109:
Where do you stand on toast?
29 Sep 2012, 22:49 pm
@kaksioek-103: you proposing wrong.. where were the rest of the support staff after JdV bust out to send Pienaar away who couldn’t quite make it because his legs weren’t fast enough and ONLY De Jongh gets to the breakdown in time to go DIVING through the air… landing few cm short missing by a ball hair … yeah thats a botch up for sure… pity wasn’t you following up the play I reckon you might have made it easy over the try line from that pisseasy situation.. where was Lambie.. where was Habana.. where was Hougaard .. where were all the holy capable supremacists when Pienaar came short of the tryline.. the little brown scapegoat obviously botched the try.. when Taute botched a couple on his own earlier on. Pity De Jongh only gets 4 minutes to make good while Taute gets all of 75 to stuff up
29 Sep 2012, 22:52 pm
@fishdish-112: that’s pretty much the long and the short of the short straw.. unfortunately that’s how the cookie had to crumble with this setup… now try get it through some of these supremacists heads that is what is ACTUALLY going down.. they’ll tell you you’re the racist and the’re as pure as the lily white driven snow…
29 Sep 2012, 22:54 pm
@carol-113:
No problem with that either – but I draw the line a peanut butter toast. That clucking sound afterwards – no thanks.
Anyway, nice chatting everyone. Been a long day. Speak soon.
29 Sep 2012, 22:56 pm
You’re the only one harping on race here Skop, accusing people of being racists left, right and centre. The Boks won – let’s leave it at that.
29 Sep 2012, 22:57 pm
@Dawn-110: Probably will, sad to think you believe you in good company here, not that I know you but at least you erased any doubt that I want to.
29 Sep 2012, 22:59 pm
@kaksioek-117: Leave him alone. He’s just a crazy bum. Those okes occupy a different reality. Always angry, always muttering, always onto some kind of injustice or conspiracy. Let them prance around in their stokies and their tinfoil hats. For all their bluster, they’re harmless.
29 Sep 2012, 23:07 pm
Boks won.. Meyer leaving Jantjies and De Jongh hopping up and down the touchline for 15 minutes smells like dead rats to me and don’t look too grandiose in terms of his so called non racist slant on life… what he so afraid of that at 26-3 up with 20 to go that De Jongh and / or Jantjies actually going to chuck the game away from there.?.. something smells kinda dodgy back at the jacaranda tree lodge.
Goosen hobbling.. Lambie bobbing.. and Hougaard wobbling.. but Jantjies and De Jongh are far more risky options in the Caucasian tank to bank on at 26-3 up with 20 minutes to play.. that certainly sends the ‘right’ message out to the rest of the ‘wrong’ color out on the fringes in HM’s Disneyland parade
29 Sep 2012, 23:08 pm
Not quite white-hot, but pretty damn good. Pierre Spies and Morne Steyn’s Bok careers are probably over. I’m not too concerned by the missed kicks at goal, especially if Goosen keeping on asking the tough questions and keep them guessing. And we all know he can kick better than that. i’ll put it down to nerves. Our support play was better at times but we still need to work on our technique at the breakdown on our ball. We’re probably the only team that get pushed of our ball so easily. And at times Pienaar still had to dig over bodies for the ball. Sometimes even our own players! But congrats Bokkies! A well earned win. Will next week be Dean’s last game in charge?
29 Sep 2012, 23:22 pm
Looking at the game now, Gooseneck was like a revelation for this bok backline! He carries the ball at pase and passes players into space instead of into pressure! Vermeulen has found his place in the book squad, Spies will at best be a super sub that is if he play better than Coetzee which I doubt. Ysterbeth is a monster both on the defensive line and the line out. Flouw is revelation at 6, great set of game she has strung together!
This set of players have amazing promise.
29 Sep 2012, 23:33 pm
I feel that Kirchner had a good enough game. Solid, no Dagg, but we have stars in other positions.
29 Sep 2012, 23:54 pm
If Goosen and Jantjies both put in big performances next week and Lambie does well wherever he plays, I don’t think Morne Steyn will ever get a sniff of the Number 10 jersey again, even with all the lavishing praise Meyer gives him
30 Sep 2012, 00:09 am
Well done boys…..much better stuff. nice to get a bonus point for tries.
Kicking still an issue, hope they out there now practicing……can’t have another game of missed kicks costing a game.
Much better by Bekker, alberts a bit quiet, Beast needs a kick up the a rse and Hougie likewise!
30 Sep 2012, 00:13 am
Oh shame……skop being a racist tw at again……….what an a hole!
30 Sep 2012, 00:27 am
“Flyhalf Johan Goosen will have better Tests,…”
So, what are you actually saying here?
He didn’t have a good test????
30 Sep 2012, 00:31 am
You Yarpies make me laugh. You get all excited about a win over a depleted 2nd rate Aussie side. You should have beaten them by 60 points.
30 Sep 2012, 00:35 am
@fishdish-112:
“No room for democracy here my friend.”
What do you mean by this?
@fitz1ella-114:
say it like it is, as always Skop.
De Jongh and Jantjies warmed up for freakin TEN,/b> minutes before they were sent on. Jantjies created TWO tries in the few minutes he was there.
What more do you need to see?
30 Sep 2012, 00:38 am
Well ****** done Bokke. Yes, I know it was against the Aussie C-team but still….
A really good game today.
Ruan Pienaar
Adriaan Strauss
ANDRIES BEKKER
Francois Louw
TAKE 5
30 Sep 2012, 00:40 am
@Black Power-128:
Have you ever…..?
Even in the 70′s before they became a world force?
30 Sep 2012, 00:43 am
nama1, My you are going back, What for? we are in a new centry
30 Sep 2012, 00:54 am
@Black Power-132:
OK…tell me then, have you ever beat them by 60 in the new century?
You also played against a “depleted 2nd rate Aussie side” a few weeks ago, didn’t you?
OK, you did nilled them but still, to suggest that we shoud’ve beat them by 60, is way off the mark my friend.
How do you see your game against the Argies?
I say the AB’s by 12.
30 Sep 2012, 00:55 am
Bok played as well as they were allowed to by a below average Aussie team
30 Sep 2012, 00:56 am
meyer and jdv both saying that the game plan did not change. well then if the players were told to vary play and offload before, there was bugger all execution! and if morne was told to play the situation, then he must have seen EVERY situation as a reason to kick. which makes hm`s refusal to change morne even more ridiculous. ah well, now its done, and the only way that morne gets back into the test frame is by reinventing himself as a balanced flyhalf. I just hope HM keeps giving elton and lambie chances at flyhalf as back up to goosen.
30 Sep 2012, 01:05 am
@SjamBok-135:
I also can’t understand how they can say there was no change in the game plan.
From where I sat, the only player who kicked the uppies was Pienaar.
His game was so much different also in that he cleared the ball from the rucks so much quicker.
Meyer is again talking kak thinking that the supporters know vokkol about rugby.
30 Sep 2012, 02:11 am
Flo, Bekker & Habana were absolutley brilliant… Top drawer
Taute had a good debut
This was a team without JP, Bissie, Schalk, Frans, Aplon and J Fourie…wow
The team for All Blacks for me would be:
15 Patrick Lambie
14 Jaco Taute
13 Jean De Villiers
12 Francois Steyn
11 Bryan Habana
10 Johan Goosen
9 Ruan Pienaar
8 Duane Vermeulen
7 Marcell Coetzee
6 Francois Louw
5 Andries Bekker
4 Eben Etzebeth
3 Pat Cilliers
2 Tiaan Liebenberg
1 Tendai Mtawarira
16 Craig Burden
17 CJ Van Der Linde
18 Juandre Kruger
19 Willem Alberts
20 Francois Hougaard
21 Elton Jantjes
22 Juan De Jongh
30 Sep 2012, 02:31 am
@Rhys7-137:
cant see why people are so hung up on lambie at 15. i think he second choice 10 behind goosen.
Krusty/niknaks was good today and has been solid all season. he is quicker than lambie, kicks further and is better under the high ball. so why drop him for lambie? if you want something different then aplon should be considered coz he has that game breaking ability. but for me he is an impact player when your first choice is fit.
30 Sep 2012, 02:59 am
Who was that team playing in green?
Was that the sharks?
I haven’t seen a boks side use such width, angles & pace for about 6 years.
This side will truly test the ABs, especially if you kick more than 2/10.
Habana & JdV had their best games of the season, but honestly Aussie are dogtucker.
Well done boks, I hope to see more next week, but I hope you don’t win!
30 Sep 2012, 03:28 am
@munkiboi-138:
Lambie is 3rd behind Jantjies, Goosen at FH and 3rd behind Kirchner and Aplon at FB.
30 Sep 2012, 03:34 am
nama1,
No we have not beat them by 60 in this century, and neither have you.If i recall it was 1997 you won 61-22 if my memory is right. And since then Aussie have prevailed 20 tests wins to your 15 and the Allblacks 25 to your 12. So whats your point?????
30 Sep 2012, 04:07 am
@Black Power-128:
Here’s my point. You made a comment:
“You Yarpies make me laugh. You get all excited about a win over a depleted 2nd rate Aussie side. You should have beaten them by 60 points.”
I then asked you: “Have you ever…? (p. 131)
You then answered: “No we have not beat them by 60 in this century,…” (p.141)
That was all.
Case closed. No problem.
30 Sep 2012, 04:30 am
nama1
Hit a touchy nerve did i
30 Sep 2012, 06:17 am
Great for the players and Meyer that the Boks won. Glad Habana found a bit of form. But it may be a little early to get carried away in celebration. The Aussies were already a depleted side and had a debilitating run of injuries in the game itself. The Boks place kicking wasn’t good. What is going to happen if we need a conversion or penalty from the sidelines to win by one point? More importantly; how is this fixed? By Louis Koen??
The protection of the ball and support running wasn’t great – we got shoved off, outnumbered or over powered more than once while Bekker et al lolled in the backline. The AB’s could exploit this. Strauss was lucky not to pick up a yellow.
I thought Taute was something of an unsung hero but I guess he has had lots of experience defending with the Lions.
30 Sep 2012, 06:40 am
Wel done Boks! Many positives, especially the win. Flo, Bekker, Vermeulen were huge. Goosen got the line moving nicely – the opposition had no idea what he would be doing, unlike with Morne.
What is going to happen to Frans now? Taute was really good on debut too and linked nicely with de Villiers. Maybe move either Frans or Taute to Fullback. You don’t easily change a winning team and I hope the coach doesn’t.
It was great to see the positivity back in the play. It took the coach quite a while to listen to us, but now that he has, there will be no room for his love children anymore. I guess they are gone for good…
30 Sep 2012, 06:49 am
In a melting pot of anger,
A young buck sheds a tear
Overwhelmed by
the realization of
Love that moves his heart
and a realization
Of the Land that has nurtured him.
While the drills that hammer
The Rock we survive on
And the Sweat that is buried in the Deep
Screams for Justice
and a clean home with running water,
Another heart beats in
Time with this deep desire for Respect.
One young man’s tear
Borne by a lifetime of dedication
Under the tutelage of privilege,
Presents the Furnace of the Underworld
With a new question.
Can I enter?
Because I hear you.
Who is the Judge of
Who is born
Into the role of Victim
Or Victorious,
When Both
Are Bonded by the
Land they Love?
I wonder.
Will the tear and the drill
Meet to expose
The Machinery that corrupts
And interrupts
Their Meeting?
30 Sep 2012, 06:52 am
@143…….. no you were just being a typical arrogant kiwi doos, so hey no problem, its to be expected.
30 Sep 2012, 06:57 am
@whatever-147: Hit the nail on the head,excellent.
30 Sep 2012, 07:00 am
@snivelling little kiwi pricks-148:
yer but go figure he lives in NZ, your boys did quite well against a depleted 14 man Aus team at least the backs have learn’t to catch and pass, how do you think you’ll go against the world and RC champs next week?
30 Sep 2012, 07:11 am
Well done to your Bokks, more enthusiastic and physical than what we could manage, A wins a win, I’m not holding much hope for our team this year, the only positive is that some new blood will get a run, The real test comes next week though, I wouldn’t celebrate too hard yet
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