Boks aim to squeeze Blacks
2 Oct 2012
Heyneke Meyer says the Springboks’ best chance of beating the world champions is through a superior forward showing as well as a pin-point tactical kicking display.
The Boks thrashed the Wallabies last Saturday, running in five tries. It was a superb all-round effort where the Boks executed their game plan perfectly and a change at flyhalf made all the difference to their attack.
The Boks have not, as some fans and critics suggest, changed their game plan. Meyer has made it clear that not much will change when the Boks tackle the All Blacks at Soccer City, although he did concede that it would be a far tighter match, a real arm-wrestle.
‘We will never beat them by playing them at their own game,’ Meyer said. ‘We won’t out-manoeuvre or out-run them. No, if we’re going to beat them we must force them to play our game. We will have to put the necessary pressure on them, on defence, at the breakdown and through our kicking game.’
The Bok pack has been in outstanding form recently, turning in a powerful display in Dunedin that unfortunately wasn’t translated into scoreboard dominance.
The forwards produced another platform-setting performance in Pretoria, and Meyer lauded the collective after Saturday’s game. On Monday, he was still reaching for the superlatives, and stating that another hard-nosed display was needed to upset the All Blacks.
‘I’ve been very happy with them, and I think [assistant coach] Johan van Graan must take a lot of the credit too. We’ve suffered some big losses this year. We lost three quality locks [Victor Matfield retired, while Bakkies Botha and Danie Rossouw are now playing abroad]. We’ve also lost a number of loose forwards to injury [Schalk Burger, Juan Smith and Pierre Spies to name a few], but the forwards that have come in have done an outstanding job.
‘They were superb in that loss in Dunedin, and again in Pretoria. I think Andries Bekker played his best Test last Saturday, he had a very high work rate. He is really starting to hit form. Francois Louw and Duane Vermeulen have also stepped up, and I’m happy with the way that loose-forward combination is working, also with Marcell Coetzee coming off the bench.
‘Suddenly we’re competing against the best in the world,’ Meyer continued. ‘It will be another huge test for us again this Saturday.’
The Bok coach did concede that dominance up front is meaningless if you can’t convert that pressure into points. Last Saturday was the first time that the Boks played with confidence and converted their attacking chances. Meyer hopes this will be carried through to the next Test, and that the Boks will also improve on their erratic goal-kicking.
He intimated that the side that fronts the All Blacks won’t differ from the one that started against the Wallabies, unless of course injuries force his hand.
‘I like to plan for the long-term, I don’t like to chop and change. They are playing with more confidence, and they are starting to execute the game plan. That confidence can be contagious.
‘Somebody told me today that we are now ranked No 2 in the world. I don’t like to talk about myself, but when I started we were ranked No 4. So we are doing something right. It’s a process, and if we win this weekend, we would have not lost a home game in 2012. It will show that we’ve come a long way.’
By Jon Cardinelli, in Johannesburg
133 Comments
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2 Oct 2012, 10:41 am
@Hurricane-100: I can’t wait for the day when we embrace a game that uses our natural strengths but also uses the pill a bit more. Once we get that right I think the old rivalry is going to get even better.
2 Oct 2012, 10:41 am
@97….Skeppie..
I have heard some excellent interviews given by no players…Burger and Brussow…good speakers and intelligent
2 Oct 2012, 10:43 am
no =bok
2 Oct 2012, 10:44 am
@Te Rangatira-103:
Too late
You really meant “no” players!
2 Oct 2012, 10:44 am
@Te Rangatira-102: Thats the funny thing…as fans we all end up slating the bejesus out of each others teams but the players seem to be a lot more philosophical and seem to have heaps of respect for each other. Funnily enough my least favourtie rugby player is Brian o Driscoll specifically because he seems to lack respect for other nations players and teams.
2 Oct 2012, 10:44 am
If I hear one more person calling the ball “the pill” I will moer someone
2 Oct 2012, 10:45 am
Cory has a stunning fend
2 Oct 2012, 10:49 am
Skeppie – I enjoy listening to Fitzy(Sean Fitzpatrick), i know we all hate him but he is an excellent interviewee!!! Thinus Delport is not bad either.
Francious Pienaar is definitely our best interviewee/r, him and fitz are very good together!!
2 Oct 2012, 10:50 am
Skeppie – Kobus Wiese is also a very intelligent panel speaker!!!
2 Oct 2012, 10:53 am
If the Boks are as competitive on Saturday as they were in Dunedin, and they finish off the opportunities they create, I will be a happy man, win or lose.
2 Oct 2012, 11:04 am
@Dawn-106: Ok but what if it’s used in the same sentence that compliments CJ’s fend? so…..”Cory Jane would love to use his fend on Dawn, after he is finished practising with the pill at training”?
2 Oct 2012, 11:09 am
@Nils-54:
i wasnt implying that the boks would run in 7 tries that would be arrogant , Im saying they could easily score 40 points at home this weekend.
Hmmm now can the AB’s score 40 points ? sure they can , but can they do it against a fired up bok team, with a flyhalf who doesnt kick the ball away, playing in Soweto and after traveling from NZ to Argentina and now to Joburg after a hard grueling season ?
@gonzo-61:
Habana covering Fb is not a bad idea but he is more effective in the first line of defense and running in from first receiver. I dont know if he as counter attack from as far as fullback so he probably will never be selected in that capacity
As for Dagg he’s dropped off a gear or two over the year ,but he is still a threat
2 Oct 2012, 11:17 am
@Skeppie-111:
If Cory uses that word “pill” instead of ball I will smack him
Then we will play a game of fend and tackle.
Fun it will be.
2 Oct 2012, 11:34 am
@Te Rangatira-92:
Meyerisasneakyfucker and I don’t think I will every trust him or his bloody ‘tactics’. It’s a shame really, as he is going to be a coach who is blessed as all hell in terms of some seriously YOUNG talent. He has the opportunity to mould, work with and build a group of fellows (most of whom could play in 2 World Cups guaranteed, and many of them 3) – and yet I don’t trust him with these youngsters development.
I don’t want to be a paranoid b i tch RE: Meyer, but I honestly can’t seem to ‘snap’ out of it
@Hurricane-100: Bakkies, bless his heart, is currently trying to work out just how it was the Boks managed to beat Australia without Morne Steyn……
2 Oct 2012, 11:40 am
You see I read sh y te like this, and I want to break something (or someone).
http://keo.co.za/2012/10/02/koen-keeps-faith-in-morne/#comment-2240144
2 Oct 2012, 11:41 am
@boktillzero-112: Look, I do believe that Boks are capable of winning on Sat. No matter what they always are and will be among the top dogs, sometimes leading the pack.
I just find it slightly weird that 40 points are “easily” expected after even less points earned vs pretty much decimated opposition (who are nowhere near Blacks class), plus your own team ain’t scaring anyone right now, to be honest. Yes, Blacks weren’t too shining either this season but if a saying “you are as good as your last game”, I’d say they were more impressive than Bokke.
Travelling may be an issue as it always is for anyone, nevertheless Blacks record in South Africa doesn’t read too bad, unlike poor Ozzies. So there’s no need for desparation, Boks may win, of course, but so can Blacks. Pretty even, I’d say.
2 Oct 2012, 11:56 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-3: Surely he cannot be daft enough to call Morne Steyn back?
2 Oct 2012, 11:57 am
@rossoneri-117:
What do you think of Cory’s fend?
2 Oct 2012, 12:14 pm
@rossoneri-117: He was daft enough to play Morne 7 games on the trot
Maybe I’ve just become so filled with parameyer that I can’t see the wood from the trees anymore 
2 Oct 2012, 12:35 pm
@Dawn-118: Fabulous. It’s amazing how he does that and never loses his footing. Gifted!
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-119: He had a fetcher phobia, and got over that right quickly when he played Francois Louw, and now Louw is his go 2 guy. He is the sorta oke that bangs his head on the wall, and gets forced into making the right decisions. Goosen, has layed the golden egg for Meyer in Pretoria, in front of his faithful disciples. There is no turning back now.
2 Oct 2012, 12:37 pm
@Dawn-118:
Not that fend …. THAT fend!
2 Oct 2012, 12:39 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-119: Then again. I agree with you. His past record, and the words he is using now is not inspiring much confidence.
2 Oct 2012, 12:55 pm
I think we will kick, but we will run more. We will try to be more unpredictable, as we should be. You can run everything, or kick everything…. we need some balance. So when we do kick, i hope the crowd doesnt start to boo because really, they dont understand the simple fact that we are trying to create some confusion in NZ’s defense as to what we are going to do. Goosen will kick it a few times, and if its pin point and we win it in the air, thats a good thing… we’ve then made 30m in 1 kick, whereas we could make maybe 10m, in 7 rucks, with 7 chances of losing the ball. Dont buy into the rest of the worlds hype about our tactics, The Boks know what they are doing and if it works – it works well.
2 Oct 2012, 13:00 pm
@rossoneri-122: I’m cooked in parameyer. I can’t rid myself of the negativity that has engulfed me since his appointment. At least I am consistent though
(I didn’t appreciate a lot of what went down when he was with the Bulls either, and I have never bought into the BRAND that is The Messiah Meyer, nor the worship….)
I’ve always believed the man was just a luckyfucker who happened to have a few of the best players on the planet in their prime to work with.
I would love to have to chow my words, not just short term (1 or 2 wins), but long term……over a few successful seasons. (and then he will have to up his man management as well…)
2 Oct 2012, 13:02 pm
Jake no it doesnt you’ve won 4 from 8 this year, how can you say it works well?
2 Oct 2012, 13:06 pm
@Jake_White-123: kuk man – it doesn’t work. You rely on opposition mistakes instead of creating your own chances.
There is a time and a place to kick, but its not the whole ******* time and from all over the place.
2 Oct 2012, 13:08 pm
Just read graham Henry’s book. A few interesting snippets about how he and the AB’s viewed the Boks:
- since Henry’s second year in charge, the abs have invited the boks into the Ab changing room post match for beers.
- the boks have always accepted, and the players and coaches have gotten to know each other well
- after a few years of this they invited the Aussies for a drink post match. They said No.
- Henry liked and enjoyed the company of jake white, pdv and Jon smit. He rated smit as a leader as much as he rates mccaw
- for Henry, the team he most wanted to beat was the boks. However, he found the players were more fired up by beating Australia. He put this down to the dominance aus had over the abs from 1998 to 2003, when the current crop of abs would have been at school and watching us get beaten by eales’ last minute goals etc
2 Oct 2012, 13:17 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-124:
I love you to chow your words too.
However there are so many out there that I don’t think this is realistic expectation my lovely.
2 Oct 2012, 14:14 pm
@Dawn-121: We get the picture !
2 Oct 2012, 14:45 pm
In other words ‘Stamp en skop’ Heyneke ?
F*kkit maar jy is a dikker beenkop as wat ek gedink het.
If they going to try play kick and chase rugby – bring maar useless Morne back.
2 Oct 2012, 23:49 pm
@boktillzero-112: this is where you stumble
You state “the boks could easily put 40 on the AB’s” yet you question if the AB’s could do the same
Confidence is one thing, one eyed blindness is another, and in this case you contradict yourself.
Simply put – it will be difficult for either team to put 40 against the other, but if I had to place a bet – I would back the game plan of the AB’s to do this over the boks because we generally go for far more width and we are always looking to secure 5 pointers. Its purely an observation of the way both teams tactics are displayed
3 Oct 2012, 00:52 am
@KiaKahaNZ-131:
would you have prefered it if i said the boks would win 6 – 3?
Read my post again at no one point did i say the AB’s are incapable of scoring 40 infact i said “sure they can” but theres a lot going against that happening biggest factor travel despite what anyone says travel will always play a part especially back to back long distance journeys
Am i confident – yep , one eyed blinded – nope
I just said the Boks are more likely to score 40 whether they kick 13 drop goals or score 8 unconverted tries it doesnt matter. My feel is that it wont be close as most people expect.
Good luck to both teams they’ll need it regardless of who wins
3 Oct 2012, 01:05 am
@boktillzero-132: It may be more realsitic if you hoped for a 6-3 scoreline, but I think its a little disingenuous if you feel the boks have a higher chance.
the travel factor may be slightly in your favor compared to previous visits as the AB’s traverse from Argentina into SA – a 9hr journey in a different direction to what they normally do. Their preparation will initially be unsettled, but I think they will adjust quickly as the game draws closer.
Back to the actual game, the AB’s defence has been quite strong in recent games. When playing with freedom as they did against Argie, their structure yielded 2 tries. However, in a tighter affair expected against the Boks, our defence lines will be deployed with far more accuracy.
This is shaping to be a great battle, its a one-off test match, and for all the history, that alone between these 2 great rugby sides will be more than enough motivation.
I’m picking NZ to beat SA by 8 points.
BTW – who is the ref?
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