Blacklash buries Boks
6 Oct 2012
JON CARDINELLI, reporting from Soccer City, watched the All Blacks punish the Springboks in the latter stages of Saturday’s Test to win 32-16.
Usually you have to wait until the end of a game for the climax, but for the South African fans at Soccer City, the best time to be around was in that period before kickoff, and the 20 minutes thereafter.
The Calabash wasn’t filled to capacity, but then 80 000 people can still make one helluva racket. Picture the majority of that 80 000 screaming the lyrics of Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika and then drowning out the Kapa o Pango, the All Blacks’ special haka reserved for big contests. If you didn’t feel the prickle of gooseflesh in that opening salvo, you must be made out of stone.
And then the Boks played. They clattered into the collisions. They pilfered lineout ball and assaulted the All Blacks’ scrum. They used that set-piece platform to good effect, scoring from a lineout near halfway.
Not many teams score against the All Blacks, and very few do it from first phase. And to go 50m for that five pointer – well it would have to be something special. It certainly was.
From the lineout, the ball flew to Duane Vermeulen who immediately turned his back to the opposition and offloaded to team-mate Francois Louw. Louw then did the same, and the move worked in that the other member of the Bok loose trio, Willem Alberts, was free to hit the gap.
The All Blacks managed to bring Alberts down but not before the big man tossed the ball up for a support player. The All Blacks attempted to intercept this pass, but only succeeded in knocking it further backward and out of reach. Jean de Villiers succeeded in coming through and winning the ball, and then finding the omnipresent Bryan Habana. When the winger rounded the poles, the crowd erupted. It was a thrilling standalone moment.
Johan Goosen had missed two difficult penalty attempts earlier in the half, but he made no mistake with this conversion or his subsequent penalty attempt. The result was a 10-0 advantage for the Boks. Against all expectations, the underdogs had raced to a commanding lead.
But soft moments – a phrase coined by Heyneke Meyer to describe his side’s tendency to lapse – have cost the Boks all season, and it was a series of soft moments that saw the Boks relinquishing this big lead.
The Boks lost concentration in the period before half-time. Bad decisions and unforced errors allowed the All Blacks back into the game, first through a try by Sam Whitelock and then another by Aaron Smith.
Elton Jantjies, on for the injured Goosen, kicked some important goals to keep the Boks in front, but as the two teams headed down the tunnel, you got the sense that the momentum had shifted in the visitors’ favour.
This was confirmed when the All Blacks scored in the first movement of the second half. The kickoff wasn’t claimed and the ball was shifted wide. Kieran Read found space down the right-hand flank and raced 40m before popping the ball to Ma’a Nonu for the try.
The Boks’ defence went from bad to worse. The All Blacks succeeded in stretching them out wide on a number of occasions, and worryingly, the Boks were starting to fall off tackles.
It was an embarrassing moment when the All Blacks cantered in for their fourth try, Conrad Smith scoring from a first-phase move. Having trailed by 10 points at one stage, the All Blacks were now 10 points ahead.
There was no way back for the Boks. Dan Carter, who looked all too mortal at times with some unforced errors of his own, began to find form as the game progressed. He booted a 60m monster of a penalty to extend the lead to 13, and then nailed a drop goal a few moments later to widen the gap to 16.
A 16-point win can’t be called ugly. The All Blacks came to play the Boks on the Highveld, and while they had already secured the Rugby Championship title, they needed to win to keep their dream of breaking the record for most consecutive Test victories alive.
The pressure was on, and when it mattered, they delivered.
The Boks played well in patches, but their effort and precision wasn’t on point in the second stanza.
They will lament the mistakes that led to try-scoring opportunities for the All Blacks, and what amounted to a hiding on the scoreboard will serve as a reminder that while they are rated No 2 in the world, they’re still a long way behind this mighty All Blacks side.
591 Comments
Pages: « 1 … 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 [12] Show All
7 Oct 2012, 22:12 pm
@Te Rangatira-548:
Cab, The Meyer would have been best to build his defensive patterns around the Stormers proven blueprint of stoic defense in Super rugby, then build his attacking platform from there.
7 Oct 2012, 22:13 pm
We supporters are only too aware that defense wins test matches and that to defend well it’s not about the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.
Could this be why our Flouw loosies were comprehensively Messam’ed to the man from Alberts to Vermeulen, or why a scrawny 104kg Whitelock and a metalic Retallic could put our 2+ meter, 120+ kg highfalutin’ Capie b(r)e(k)kers to Etsebeth, or why the Franks brothers and a sausage called Woodcock of all things could shove our mighty Beast up the intrepid Doctor Jannie’s bum while our happy hooker did a Strauss waltz to stop their Hoare from cooking our Goose while their winger stepped up a Gear and smoked our Habana by running over him like he was a Taute member in a limp Jane making Weepu Dagg(y)-style with a Reid up his Nonu while a Pienaar Kirchner watched Carter set up Conrad like Aron. All of which is East-Moldovian for the Boks having been well and truly Mealamu’ed by an irritating McCaw singing ke sera sera while pulling dance moves to the haka on the green green grass of home as the world watched in awe as Hansen said they could become so much better while the Meyer fiddled with his walkie talkie and muttered something about having taken a fourth ranked side to number two during his brief tenure.
Won’t the last spectator to leave please tell him second isn’t even good enough to get to kiss your sister before they lock the gate at Soccer City.
.
7 Oct 2012, 22:14 pm
@Te Rangatira-545: @Te Rangatira-545: strange that isn’t it. A top professional outfit like this, seemingly running out of puff. Maybe it the size of the boys. The pack held a 50kg ‘advantage’ over the AB’s according to the commentary. All but 1kg of that was found in the back row. Could account for the lapse in the cover defense.
7 Oct 2012, 22:16 pm
@fitz1ella-537:
So tell me then. We did the Bok last have a good defensive pattern?
Instead of saying soft tries, you should be saying tries scored through soft defense, sounds alot better
But in reality, our attack makes soft defense.
And i think no Bok team in the last 15 years would have stopped that AB attack.
7 Oct 2012, 22:17 pm
@fitz1ella-547: beginning to look that way Skop.
7 Oct 2012, 22:18 pm
@Te Rangatira-551:
Dude, i think there attack needs more work than there defense.
If they could turn all the pressure they had into 5-7 pointers, they could have closed us out of the game in the first 30 mins
7 Oct 2012, 22:19 pm
@Hurricane-554: there I agree wholeheartedly. That was a mighty fine backline you guys fielded on saturday. One of the best I’ve ever seen.
7 Oct 2012, 22:22 pm
@Hurricane-554: maybe one exception. Gary Teichman’s side would have kept these guys honest I think. One tackle from Henry on Carter would have spoilt his whole day.
7 Oct 2012, 22:22 pm
cab536
I have this view on judges, policemen, politicians, local government officials, and rugby referees – actually, human nature. They make their decisions to favour power and money. I don’t think rugby officiating is well controlled.
Internationally, there is a hierarchy of favour that goes roughly along the lines of England, Australia, home nations, SA, NZ, and France, “dagoes”, and poor old Islanders (aka headhunters) at the bottom.
So, yes, SA has got it rough often enough, but not as bad as Barnes or Watson or Dickinson have served up for the docile Kiwis.
If the IRB was a professional organisation there might be a chance that people like Rolland would be properly answeable.
Do you think that Joubert is the best ref for years?
7 Oct 2012, 22:23 pm
@TASSIES-558:
hahaha yeah i believe so.
7 Oct 2012, 22:25 pm
Te rang
yep de Jong would offer more in defense and attack.
In fairness to Boks, their scrum gave the ABs a going over yesterday, no doubts. Beast crunched the highly-rated scrummer franks, which I found v surprining. Flip van der merwe, who I thought is too slow and without impact, has actually been phenomenal under meyer and now deserves a starting spit at 4 if elstadt is not going to be selected. Jannie dup scrumming and general play v good under meyer but I stillrather see Cilliers given a run. Teddie strauss and bekker are poor selections, bekker can either be mercurial or totally MIA and vs tge ABs it’s invariably tge latter and I dunno if EOY tour is his cup of tea. Hougaard is being played out of position, he is a phenomenal 9, it’s also keeping out tge best wing in sa JP, de Jong is not even being selected and neither is brussow, both of which are barking mad decisions, there are at least 4 better fullbacks in SA than kirchener and the bloubul biases selections of potgieter and Arno Botha complete a crazy picture.
Forget the disciples whom you can mould, select tge best, the ones with character who have taken their respective s15 franchises to tge top consistently. These are battle-hardened phayers at the peak of their powers simply being overlooked.
7 Oct 2012, 22:25 pm
@Hurricane-556:
Hurri….the Bok need to pull all aspects of their game apart and build/rebuild again, starting with fitness levels, defense, skills and attack if they are going to be a consistent match for the Abs. I watched the game again yesterday in the pub and some of the basic passing skills coming from their captain made us giggle.
7 Oct 2012, 22:26 pm
@Hurricane-556: totally devoid of creativity. I disagree with you on Habana. I rate his creativity. Ditto Aplon, Lambie, De Jong and there are a few others lurking in the wings(Paul Jordaan being one that springs to mind). But they need to be played(off the bench to start with) and coached into a unit for the long term. But they’re not. Because they don’t fit the coach’s style he want us to play. Stuffing annoying really.
7 Oct 2012, 22:35 pm
@56boks-521: Cheers mate. I do watch no my PC usually via wiziwig.eu (if live) or just download from torrent sites (if I have missed the game). And yes, labvakar tev ari.
@gonzo-549: Before that Dagg thing was outrageous fwd pass (another one in the evening) by the Bokke so he should not have been there involved is the first place.
7 Oct 2012, 22:36 pm
@cab-561:
Yes Cab, The Meyers player selections have been inconsistent and trying to mould players into certain positions through his own prerequisites of size has been hit and miss stuff.I agree Hougaard should be nine, the Bok scrum began great but when the bench player came on lost some of its momentum.As for Bekker,needs a bomb up him.
7 Oct 2012, 22:37 pm
I don’t think Strauss had a bad game yesterday. Bekker was okay. No they weren’t the problem. I’d have subbed Coetzee for Alberts at half time to prop up a sagging cover defense with specific instruction to do just that. A 120kg Alberts is a big unit to run around like a spring chicken more more than 40 mins. Vermeulen has been injured for ages and cannot be as match fit as is required against a rampant AB. So there would be a problem and a solution. 9 to 13 are uber weak defensively so I’d make wholesale changes here, starting with the captain whose tackling technique is not the greatest. A back three of Habs Kirchner and JP is solid enough if defense is your problem. Would be a very different result then I’d think.
7 Oct 2012, 22:37 pm
549gonzo
re Dagg. He was certainly legal in his position. That Rolland felt he needed to justify himself with the comment “entering from the side” looks like post facto
spin.
Was it a ruck? one green jersey on the ground with the ball around his ankles?
What would the rules require Dagg to do when he is dominant, as he was?
7 Oct 2012, 22:38 pm
The clear difference between the teams was the way that their backs wre coached. Ours looked disorganised and did not know what to do on and off the ball, while the AB’s had set moves from BROKEN play. every time they got teh ball, they scored. They know their moves so well that regardless of what backs are available and where they are in the field, the players can take on different positions and STILL carry off the set moves to cut the line. They are that flexible in structure that they can do this. Our guys could not possibly do that because:
1) they have hardly played together;
2) because our backline coach is useless and cannot seem to figure out ANY set piece moves; and
3) (maybe) because our players are too dumb to be flexible enough.
SARU, this is what happens when you have continuity and no loss of IP when coaches are changed. Take heed, and makes sure that we have similar structures.
7 Oct 2012, 22:40 pm
Te rang 562 and that is key, your handling skills are unbelievable, jdv actually supposedly meant to be one of our best but ABs in a different league – I’ve never understood how springboks with so much coordination have such poor handling skills – should be virtually no excuse to drop a pass at that level, but the reality is shocking, ab handling so slick and that was tge difference yesterday but Boks can def beat them if they starve ABs of ball as they did in first 30, let this AB team run at you and they gong to clean up regardless who you got on defense ir what systems. Man-for-man they going to beat you virtually every tine and that’s not even witho carter there. Boks shoulda continued to attack and steamrollered them as they were doing, the Blacks were getting totally outgunned.
7 Oct 2012, 22:42 pm
I have been just enjoying the highlights of the test, i thought you Yarpies would love to see them again. Enjoy
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/our-experts/7780405/Untouchable-All-Blacks-take-game-to-next-level
7 Oct 2012, 22:49 pm
Black Power
what u going on about Yarpies for u thick as a plank muttonhead – put sone gdam fush and chups down your gizzard and stop talking kak.
7 Oct 2012, 22:53 pm
@cab-569:
Yeah Cab, the Ab were slick with their handling yesterday and are refined and well oiled in that area usually. The Bok had them back pedaling at the beginning for twenty minutes or so, but could not keep the foot on the throat.Only through an organized defence and commitment would they have stopped Abs scoring. The Bok have the players in my mind, some are injured at the moment but Meyer needs help to realize the potential.
7 Oct 2012, 22:55 pm
571.cab
Hope you enjoyed the highlights
7 Oct 2012, 22:59 pm
572 yeah u spot on Te Rangi maybe you should come coach the Boks.
573 not bad actually. The Boks will fight again another day. I reckon 2009-style beatings will become more commonplace, but enjoy the good times while they last.
Night.
7 Oct 2012, 23:03 pm
@cab-574:
Good Night Cab.
7 Oct 2012, 23:51 pm
@56boks-559: Rolland yellow-carded a record 4 players in the Eng v NZ ’08 match at Twickenham, kind of makes a mockery of the idea he is biased against NZ.
As for Dickinson, wasn’t it him who refused to give Italy a penalty try after a 10 scrum goal-line where NZ gave away penalty after penalty. Never mind the two yellow cards he gave England in 2003, the illegal intervention to red card Shaw in 2004 and turned a deliberate blind eye when Brad Thorn speared Smit into the turf in ’08.
Hell, a ref handed NZ the World Cup at home, that’s as big as charity gets in rugby, what more do you want?
7 Oct 2012, 23:59 pm
@56boks-519:
It’s a huge pay out well in advance, Rolland, like Craig Joubert is firmly on the taking.
Any bookie in J’oburg would have told you that
The ABs were not disturbed though, themselves they did the same last year at the RWC Sinal, it might get you some true insight at the Boks situation
It all started in 2009.
8 Oct 2012, 00:37 am
@Big Hit-576: Thats cantankerous nonsense BH, the ref was arguably lenient to France allowing them to hold players and the ball in all the rucks. It was the only way they could stop NZ from playing, by simply suffocating the ball.
8 Oct 2012, 00:50 am
@KiaKahaNZ-578:
An All Black fan having a go about players “suffocating” the ball. HA. To be fair though I think most rucks have some sort of infringement going on in them these days. They are quite out of control in my humble opinion.
8 Oct 2012, 00:50 am
The Springbok squad under my management:
Tightheads: Jannie, Coenie, Marcel VD Merwe, Bj Botha
Hookers: Bismarck, Schalk Brits, Craig Burden
Looseheads: Beast, Gurthro, Kitshoff
Locks: Bekker, Etsebeth, J Kruger, Flip
Opensiders: Francois Louw (captain), Heinrich
Blindsiders: Alberts, Burger, Coetsee, Josh Strauss
Eighthman: Vermeulen, Ashley Johnson, Keegan Daniel
Scrumhalves: Hougaard, Fourie Du Preez, Ruan Pienaar, Charl Mcleod
Flyhalves: Jantjies, Goosen, Lambie
Inside centres: Frans Steyn, Jan Serfontein, Jean De Villiers
Outside centres: Jp Pietersen, Jaqupaul jordaan, J Fourie,
Wings: Habana, Gio Aplon, Daniel Adongo, Chavangha, Spies, Mvovo
Fullbacks: jaco Taute, Andries Coetzee, Zane Kirchner, Willie Le Roux
8 Oct 2012, 01:13 am
@lightie-579: And youre probably right – I guess it comes down to how long does a ref wait to make teh call at the time. I noticed this year NH refs were very quick in dishing out penalties, whereas the SH refs let it go. It swings both ways – with SH the advantage law can be applied more liberally, but the rucks and mauls can be shut down more effectively (legal or illegal)
For all teams, to beat NZ, its about slowing the ball down, and then pressuring the 12/13 channel. If you cant do that, you come second in the contest.
Watching the final, thats all France could really do, with the one exception where they chanced their arm and scored a great try – you have to ask the question, why dont more teams play like this – ie with a bit more flair?
Whenever Aus have beaten NZ, its always by playing full on running rugby. Not sure about the Boks, I guess its where we get starved of possession, then forced into errors, giving away penalties, then playing catch up rugby.
I watched the NZ-SA game again last night. There is not as much between these sides as what many may think. A couple of defensive errors by SA – caused by lazy forwards and confusion in the backs allowed 3 NZ tries. Having said that, NZ were good enough to capitalize on the opportunities given.
What used to be a big strength of SA – their flat line defence – seems to have gone missing this year
8 Oct 2012, 01:14 am
@TASSIES-517: ha ha, this post made me laff! Why do we love to torture ourselves so much? As an AB supporter I was really nervous going into this match as I thought we would be off the pace, and our bad first half performance was gut wrenching to watch.
I guess it is the hope of winning/turning the corner/continuing a streak is what brings us all back….
8 Oct 2012, 01:19 am
@fitz1ella-524: Good post. Yep, this was not the defensive effort we associate with the Boks. Your team made it far too easy for the AB’s.
As well as the inexperience in your side, I wonder if fitness was a problem? We seemed to be outplaying you even when we were down to 14 players?
On the other side of the coin, how good is this AB defence? Twice our forwards kept you out when you were smashing the ball up only 1-2m from our try line. In years gone by, you got a lot of tries off the AB’s soft defending in this area of the field. (Or maybe your forwards aren’t as hard as we all think???)
8 Oct 2012, 02:09 am
@Big Hit-576:
You are kidding.
Tell me what team was the best at the RWC then?
I will tellyou….NZ as they beat all the team in front of them.
I recall 2008 BH on here saying NZ lost the RWC,not good enough and cant blame the ref.
Well 2011 and BH is blaming the ref….lol Typical Pom.
Get a better team and we might take your point of view seriously,until let the big players of international rugby talk please.
8 Oct 2012, 02:16 am
@Big Hit-576:
Do you mean this illegal intervention??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktz59Uvpd4o
You are ******* insane….red card in anyones book, dirty thug
8 Oct 2012, 03:35 am
SA won plenty of ball but the entire backline had not a clue of what to do with it. Man for man, from 9 through 15, the ABs were better than the Boks. With less ball they played more rugby. MUCH more rugby. And if the game had lasted another 10 minutes, they’d have hit 50 while the Boks drastic lack of fitness would not have brought them any second-half points. The Boks still come to the ground with only a 60 minute game.
8 Oct 2012, 04:52 am
@TheTackler-586: All Black forwards also look for gaps and to play the game at pace. While the bok forwards were able to keep it tight and bash us up for the first 30 mins, they got tired and couldn’t keep it up. Our forwards then came into their own.
A couple of issues I saw with the All Black first half performance:
- Aaron Smith’s kicking was extremely poor. ZK was able to regather his kicks easily, and not under pressure. This allowed him to return the ball into our half, from where we gave up (kickable) penalties.
- Carter probably kicked too much in the first 20 mins as well. I understand we were playing for territory, but we were not able to regain the ball (lost a couple of our own lineouts for instance, and intially weren’t putting the Bok lineout under any pressure). Combined with Smith’s bad kicking, this meant we spent long periods without the ball and were unable to impose our game plan on the Boks.
Carters’ kicking did lead to Whitlock’s try, when we stole the ball off a Bok lineout in their half. But on the other hand, I think we put ourselves under more pressure than we needed to.
I guess that is the sign of a good side though – we obviously changed things at half time, and by the 70 min mark the Boks had stopped trying.
8 Oct 2012, 09:29 am
Until Lambie starts (and Zane returned dropped out of the squad) we will never fulfil our attacking potential. Will be a different team if Bismark, Marcel Coetsee, Lambie, Frans and JPP starts, whilst Brussow and Kanko should also feature in any 22.
8 Oct 2012, 09:57 am
@samoa_shark-588: Marcell Coetzee is really a bit useless. Dont know how much of a diff Lambie is going to make overall. He has been far from convinving coming on in the 2nd halves of last 2 matches. Too many problems in current Bok squad to mention but if I had to choose my best combination of Boks for a game this would be it.
1 Beast
2 Bismarck
3 Jannie Dup
4 Bakkies or Danie
5 Becker
6 Brussouw or F Louw
7 Juan Smith (if he comes back)
8 Kanko (based on form before he went to Japan)
9 Ruan Pienaar (no one else good enough)
10 Goosen
11 Habana (needs a clout regarding the leaving his wing open)
12 Frans Steyn
13 Jacques Fourie
14 JP Pietersen
15 Lambie or Taute (not really convinced by either)
16 Gurthro Steenkamp
17 Adriaan Strauss
18 Etzebeth
19 Willem Alberts
20 Houghaard
21 Elton Jantjes
22 Aplon perhaps?
8 Oct 2012, 11:10 am
@Hurricane-585: it was illegal, Shaw was cleared. England were going 9-0 up in NZ and Dickinson ensured they played with 14. I’m sure you’ll note the NZ player lying all over the ball – as usual.
8 Oct 2012, 13:41 pm
@KiaKahaNZ-581:
Your team can win on the backfoot which is pretty scary. Clobbered in the tight, 15 points ahead.
Pages: « 1 … 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 [12] Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.