Brutal & brainy Boks will triumph
5 Oct 2012
MARK KEOHANE says the Boks can beat the All Blacks if they are not suckered into turning Saturday’s Rugby Championship finale into a free-flowing spectacle.
Heyneke Meyer’s Boks showed the capacity to use the ball against the Wallabies, just as they did at times against England earlier in the season. There is no need to try and match the All Blacks to appease neutrals who like to see all out attack.
To beat the All Blacks will take greater discipline and won’t be as easy on the eye for those who believe that the game should only be played one way.
The appeal of rugby union is that every team has a different style. Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones once joked to the Bok players (when he worked with them during the 2007 World Cup) that if Australia had South Africa’s forwards and Fourie du Preez at scrumhalf the flyhalf would be lucky to get the ball.
South Africa’s strength has always been when the forwards, collectively, produce a pressured 80-minute display that suffocates the opposition attack. The opposition always talks up South Africa’s physicality and often it has only undermined the Bok performance on the day as individuals have erred with brutish ill-discipline.
The All Blacks traditionally have always had to fight hardest against the Boks and England for victories – and it is because both England and South Africa more often than not have had the advantage up front in size and muscle.
New Zealand, over a century, have always countered this disadvantage with the most incredible attitude in the collisions and in the tackle. Great All Black teams have always shown dominance in defence and it has been as potent weapon as their natural ability to counter attack or score the most spectacular tries.
The All Blacks, in Port Elizabeth a year ago and again in Dunedin, have tried to up the tempo of the game from the outset and played high risk rugby regardless of field position. It has suited the Boks because South Africa, especially at home and in the first quarter of a Test, are most comfortable when asked to make tackles than to use the ball on attack.
Those who seek a playing style similar to the All Blacks won’t like it but playing the percentages is the most intelligent approach South Africa can adopt.
The All Blacks rely on quick phase ball and on quality ball from lineouts and when the Boks have enjoyed success against New Zealand is when there has been enough disruption to ensure a lack of fluency.
The All Blacks battled with the Pumas’ physicality in the 21-5 win in Wellington. The weather contributed to the struggle, but the Pumas got it wrong in trying to play an expansive style against the All Blacks a week ago. The Boks will get similarly punished if they are lured into a match in which the All Blacks are allowed to settle early.
The Boks can win at home and whatever the Kiwis may say the desperation for victory will be greater for the home team. The All Blacks have already won the Rugby Championship, they are mentally exhausted from the strain of having to win the World Cup at home and their tight five is the most vulnerable unit in what is a very good outfit.
The locks are young, the front row has looked tired and laboured and Jerome Kaino, as an imposing blindside flank, has not been replaced. Liam Messan is a good player but he does not possess the Test qualities of Kaino.
The All Blacks are the best team in the world and consistently have been since the game turned professional. But like any team they can be beaten and they usually lose one match a season. They won’t lose on the end-of-year northern hemisphere tour, so the customary defeat (which gives the rest of the world hope) must come in Soweto.
Richie McCaw, in his 112th Test, will be aiming for an unprecedented 100th Test victory. The statistic is incredible, given he has played the Boks and Wallabies 45 times home and away. McCaw is colossal to the All Blacks and he was the difference between the sides in Dunedin.
But the Bok pack must believe they are stronger and equipped to negate their All Black opponents. They also have to be disciplined.
Meyer has made no secret about his approach as coach. It will be Bulls-like rugby at home against the Crusaders, and it is a recipe that has mostly been successful.
This does not mean it has to be one-dimensional or boring. There is skill in mauling, there is skill in controlling the ball with the forwards and their is skill in a kicking game that is accurate and in which the chasers turn even average kicks into good ones.
The global game needs the Boks to win on Saturday, just to keep it interesting for a bit.
My heart says Boks by six or seven points. And my mind says the same. The only proviso is they maintain their discipline, retain 15 on the field and dominate the All Blacks tight five.
Victory certainly must not add to the illusion that the Boks are better than the All Blacks. They aren’t because they haven’t had the consistency or success on the road of the men in black.
See Saturday for what it is – a match the Boks must win and one the All Blacks would like to win.
Meyer, in victory, will have a foundation to take into the end-of-year tour and next year’s Rugby Championship.
The All Blacks were brilliant in victory at the same venue two yeas ago. They silenced 94 000 with a stunning last five minutes.
The quality of the All Blacks is to be admired and applauded but if there is one team that can make them look ordinary for 80 minutes a year it is an imposing Bok team.
It has happened way too little since 1992. The Boks, on Saturday, need a new story against the All Blacks, but they don’t need a new style of play.
Victory won’t make the Boks the best team in the world but it takes them a bit closer to the goal of being the best team in the world.
271 Comments
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6 Oct 2012, 10:22 am
Richie looking to dash The Meyers hopes of a tenuous unbeaten home run like he plundered John Smits hundredth in the Soweto
6 Oct 2012, 10:24 am
The Boks should play it as they see it… PDV’s initial game plan until he got Brain Fked by Oberholzer.. I cant imagine HM ever instructing this even though it happened last week.
6 Oct 2012, 10:26 am
@Te Rangatira-201:
Sorry, he has already dropped the ball on that one.
Getting a draw at home amounts to a loss in my ledger.
6 Oct 2012, 10:27 am
My heart says the Boks to sneak it! My head is undecided!!!
6 Oct 2012, 10:28 am
@Brads-203: Especially a draw at home to the Soap Dodgers!
6 Oct 2012, 10:30 am
@shark4life-205:
6 Oct 2012, 10:30 am
Got to go catch you all later .. If the boks want to win then they should give HM a walkie talkie that has been disconnected and put him in a padded room with a TV with continuous reruns of the Argentina game
.. Mark Kokaine will provide the refreshments 
6 Oct 2012, 10:33 am
Hey, well it is the big day! just six and a half hours to go. Man, I have been waiting for this one. This afternoon’s test match will show us just how far we have come as a team this season. It should be a stonking good game of rugger!
6 Oct 2012, 10:40 am
@Brad .He is a proponent of creative record keeping
6 Oct 2012, 10:40 am
So far so good
6 Oct 2012, 10:46 am
@Dawn-210:
What’s gone far to be good?
6 Oct 2012, 11:43 am
Great sporting weekend! Can’t wait!
Go Bokke, Go Sharks, Go Arsenal, Go Alonso, Go West Indies
6 Oct 2012, 11:47 am
The mighty All Blacks will run out today,
In hope of defeating the Boks away,
With sneering and leering and sticking out tongue,
They throw down the challenge after anthems are sung,
Ritchie and Dan will fight for their cause,
But the stadium will shudder with thunderous applause,
When the Boks take the lead, through a rolling maul try,
For them they must win, it’s become do or die.
The battle will be tough, between two of the best,
For anyone watching, the ultimate test,
The struggle for Ritchie and his boys to dig deep,
The challenge of winning a rugby clean sweep.
The Boks give their all, for they must deny,
That last gasp penalty, or turnover try.
For victory is what we need as a nation,
To rebuild confidence in the Bok situation,
One thing we know is that our boys will give all,
And the game to be played will surely enthral!
6 Oct 2012, 11:48 am
A black day ahead for SA.
6 Oct 2012, 11:50 am
@mako-213:
“”Loud Applause”"
6 Oct 2012, 11:53 am
Game of the year no doubt.
The Springbok will have to play a blinder up front and on D to defeat this All Black team.
The All Blacks on the other hand are certainly beatable.If SA nail their goals , play territory and defend like demons anything can happen.They certainly could rattle the cage of this current NZ outfit.The ABs have been too out of step
too many times this season for us demanding AB fans.
Last week would suggest something different though.
NZ went up a significant level to hammer a very good Pumas side. If they go up again , the Springboks simply will not be able to score as many points as NZ. Whether tight and tense or open and flowing ,
NZ will be able to find its way to the try line. Carter will nail enough of the shots.Pressure will build and the Springboks will not deal with the opportunity and momentum created by the All Black halves and midfield. Boom, Game over,
A
excepting Habana who has been back to his creative best) if fall behind .
The experienced mid field of the All Blacks will be very hard to stop engineering opportunities and momentum.
6 Oct 2012, 11:59 am
@Mako213….Mate inspiring stuff…..once more into the breach
6 Oct 2012, 12:03 pm
Thanks Boys! I am super hyped for this game. Definitely the game of the year for me!
6 Oct 2012, 12:22 pm
I’m expecting the AB’s to play a territory game for much of this match. Without Frans, the boks have only one decent line kicker, goosen who can’t be everywhere on the field (and he will be put under a lot of pressure).
The AB’s on the other hand have carter back in the saddle, and crucially dagg at full back raking off 50m touch finders.
It is very rare for the AB’s to have a better kicking roster than the boks, and the bok lineout is not what it was during the matfield era. I think this is the key for all black success.
6 Oct 2012, 12:28 pm
Other advantages to this approach are:
- the bok forwards will be keyed up for us to run at them so they can smashnus and force turnovers in our half. A territory game from the AB’s will neutralize this strength of the boks
- pienar is likely to do more kicking in this scenario. He is inaccurate though, and this will give the AB’s attacking opportunities. Ditto kirschner.
- goosen will be f0rced by the above to cover from full back. This will tire him and limit his influence on the game from more attacking positions. This is how the boks used to work carter over, when mils was fullback.
Essentially, I see a repeat of the tactics the abs applied in the world cup semi so successfully.
6 Oct 2012, 12:33 pm
If every man on that field played to what we think of as their best? Who would win? That’s what’s going to happen tonight. 2 giants are about to collide and it is far more intense and closer when it’s played in South Africa. New Zealand are ranked higher for one reason dudes. We’re better. Still. Just.
6 Oct 2012, 12:36 pm
@corporal punishment-219:
“”I’m expecting the AB’s to play a territory game …………”"
Well CP.
I’m expecting the AB’s to kick the shiit out of the Springboks.
Well hoping anyway.
6 Oct 2012, 12:37 pm
If there is one thing I love to see……………………………………………..it’s a humble Saffa.
6 Oct 2012, 12:38 pm
On the other hand, if the boks can force the AB’s into a gain line battle of big collissions, it is going to be a tough night for the team in Black. Particularly if it is in the all black half, as Rolland is likely to award a lot of break down penalties.
I imagine the boks will target aaron smith as the key player to rattle and shut down. He doesn’t seem to like the physical game like weepy or Cowan, and this earned the boks a lot of turnover ball in Dunedin. Mccaw, messam and Reid need to protect smith better in this game too.
6 Oct 2012, 12:40 pm
Cane, I’m a kiwi, lol
6 Oct 2012, 12:40 pm
@cane-223:
mind you…………………………………………………….a humble Englishman is pretty nice as well.
6 Oct 2012, 12:43 pm
@corporal punishment-225:
I know Lance.
And one of the very best.
6 Oct 2012, 12:44 pm
@cane, I don’t think we have the forward pack to smash the boks physically in this game. That’s not to say we can’t smash them on the score board with superior tactics, skill and fitness.
Just cant see us bullying this bok team.
6 Oct 2012, 12:46 pm
I’m watching this game in surfers tonight, then flying back to welly early tomorrow. Won’t feel tired tho if the AB’s do the business
6 Oct 2012, 12:47 pm
Where are all the Bok posters? They can’t all be at the game?!
6 Oct 2012, 12:51 pm
@corporal punishment-230: They’re all busy getting the braai ready & making a list for the bottle store.
Oh, and Bakkies attends cake baking classes on a Saturday.
6 Oct 2012, 12:55 pm
You mean saffers drink? I thought they were all clean living god fearing types!
6 Oct 2012, 12:55 pm
You can just sense it’s Boks vs AB’s around town.
It’s gonna be epic for sure.
Boks by 25.
6 Oct 2012, 12:56 pm
@corporal punishment-228:
In my book ……………………..things are 50/50 here CP.
Match of the year.
And “for what it’s worth”, whatever team loses……………………………..fans shouldn’t worry too much.
6 Oct 2012, 12:57 pm
@wpstormerbok-233:
Boks by 25…………………………………………………Yeah Right.
6 Oct 2012, 13:03 pm
@cane 234 – agreed, this one is just about bragging rights
6 Oct 2012, 13:07 pm
@BrumbiesBoy-231: @corporal punishment-232:
Don’t forget, they got to get the Boerwors, Biltong, Castle Ale, Sour Cane and Tik, in before kick -off.
6 Oct 2012, 13:10 pm
@corporal punishment-232:
We are, that’s why we drink. Have you seen what God’s been up to lately?
6 Oct 2012, 13:12 pm
@corporal punishment-232:
@cane-237: They’ll “bliksem” you if you accuse them of drinking Castle Ale, mate, it’s Castle Lager or nothing!
Then when that gets too filling out comes the Rum, Brandy & all those nice things, it normally coincides with the first yellow card…
6 Oct 2012, 13:13 pm
@BrumbiesBoy-231:
Are the SAB trucks delivering? Petrols a problem, but I can always walk to the pub and bottle store until I get my own still productive.
6 Oct 2012, 13:14 pm
@David-240: I’m not sure, I’ll let you know later when I go buy my Castle Lager!
6 Oct 2012, 13:20 pm
Yep, Braai fires are burning, Castle lager is being consumed, coils of boerewors are sizzling over the coals, sticks of biltong being handed around, everybody round here is wearing green and gold. Lots of excitement and tension. This is the big one! three and a half hours to go to kick off!
6 Oct 2012, 13:25 pm
@mako-242:
“sticks of biltong being handed around’.
You all still have your own teeth then BB.
6 Oct 2012, 13:26 pm
The great thing is nobody knows how this game is going to go. How will the All Blacks play? How will the Bokke play? Is it going to be hard, attritional test rugby? You bet! There is no way of guessing the result, but we are in for a serious battle and some exciting stuff. Whatever the result, it is one of the great match ups of test rugby, and a spectacle worthy of the waiting. These are the games that are a great advertisment for the sport!
6 Oct 2012, 13:28 pm
@cane-243: Ha ha, yep! Actually we give biltong to our babies to suck and chew on when they are teething, they love it! So I guess some of the toothless wonders in the backwaters could do the same!
6 Oct 2012, 13:38 pm
@mako-245:
On occasions………………….two types of biltong are available in NZ.
One is like beef jerky in appearance. (Very finely sliced dried spiced beef).
The other like a mini salami, but drier.
Is there a REAL BILTONG. Or are both the real deal.
6 Oct 2012, 13:41 pm
@trupisero-106:
a very educational and illuminating trilogy is 50 Shades of Grey. 
6 Oct 2012, 13:43 pm
@cane-246: The one that is like a salami is probably droewors (Dried Sausage) Which is a type of biltong, but the real deal is strips of meat, which have been salted and spiced then hung up to dry. It is almost black in colour. It can be sliced and is often sold in packets like that. You also buy whole sticks of it from butchers etc. I like the whole sticks, where you can tear bits off with your teeth. Sounds a bit savage, but tastes good!
6 Oct 2012, 13:44 pm
@cane-246:
The first is the real stuff, the second is called droerwors or dried sausage.
6 Oct 2012, 13:48 pm
@Treehugger-247: If any of you have wives who have not read these books, I would advise you to buy them as a gift. It is the gift that keeps on giving. My wife took two weeks to read the books and couldn’t keep her hands off me, was almost like being on honeymoon again…
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