Lambie set for Bok start
5 Nov 2012
RYAN VREDE, writing from Dublin, says Pat Lambie ran at flyhalf for the bulk of Monday’s training session in a strong indicator that he will play ahead of Morne Steyn at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Lambie impressed throughout the Super Rugby campaign in the position and was exceptional in Currie Cup semi-final at Kings Park, where his tactical game management and goal-kicking lead the Sharks to the final.
It had been a straight choice between Lambie and Steyn for head coach Heyneke Meyer, who remained hopeful that Steyn would regain his confidence after dropping him for the home leg of the Rugby Championship. He believes Steyn’s tactical kicking game is the best of his available flyhalves, but has acknowledged Lambie’s growth in this facet of play, most recently at Monday’s press conference which preceded training.
‘You can’t compare the Currie Cup and Tests but he showed great tactical awareness in winning the Currie Cup with the Sharks in 2010 as 19 or 20 year old. Suddenly I’ve seen some of that in him again and he is really improving and knocking on the door hard at the moment.’
Steyn is now unlikely to feature in the match 22 as Meyer doesn’t see him as an impact player, with Elton Jantjies expected to provide cover on the wood.
Lambie has an opportunity to stake a serious claim for the shirt and will be acutely aware of the importance of a strong performance at the weekend. Johan Goosen remains Meyer’s preferred pivot of those at his disposal, but with Meyer set to commit to a deputy for Goosen for the 2013 season and onwards towards the World Cup, Lambie has an inside lane.
‘I know Morne will get back to his best soon,’ Meyer said. ‘Dan Carter said to me a couple of years ago that he went through a difficult time and went to France and came back a better player, which gives me confidence about Morne [Meyer was intimating that a break will have done Steyn good]. But you also want to see who is the next guy after Goosen.’
Meyer lamented that nearly a year into his reign he was still deciding between flyhalves.
‘Because the three are young [Goosen, Lambie and Jantjies] the only way you’ll see whether they have it or not is by playing them. The difficulty is that if your flyhalf isn’t on song then you lose because he runs the whole game plan. I would have loved to have the opportunity earlier in my tenure to look at the 10s. But I didn’t have that luxury. We’re probably the only elite nation without an established 10,’ he said.
He did, however, express delight at the new-found depth in a position that has historically been troublesome.
‘I’m happy at what we have at present and then future looks good with Handre Pollard and others coming through,’ he said. ‘If you look at the last 10 years this is probably the best group of flyhalves we’ve had available. But how they respond in these conditions is key. They’re all good at running and distributing the ball, but with the World Cup being in England you’ll need guys who are tactically astute. They all have to work on that aspect of their games.’
Meanwhile, JP Pietersen is set to be reinstated on the wing after missing the Rugby Championship through injury. Francois Hougaard is likely to retain his place on the opposite flank.
Jean de Villiers and Francois Louw didn’t participate in the contact session but the former ran freely and is expected to overcome a hamstring strain to start. Louw has a neck injury that is being monitored. If he fails to respond to treatment he will be replaced at openside flank by Marcell Coetzee, with Arno Botha coming onto the bench.
Adriaan Strauss will keep his place at hooker ahead of Schalk Brits, who will be used as an impact player. Elsewhere in the front row, Gurthro Steenkamp was a notable absentee at training, the prop picking up an injury in Toulouse’s match this weekend. In the event of Steenkamp’s injury precluding him from joining the squad, Leinster’s Heinke van der Merwe will be called up.
Probable Springbok XV to face Ireland – 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermuelen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
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635 Comments
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6 Nov 2012, 10:38 am
@Rockn Rolla-243:
ok, i get it
morne is internet explorer and lambie is firefox.
i do not agree, but i get it.
6 Nov 2012, 10:38 am
@Rockn Rolla-234:
Surely your retort against me is misguided. I’m not the cause for my disposition.., no you have HM to thank for that.
I’m just responding to the silly way he’s going about his business. Although I encourage you to respond in kind its ultimately your prerogative.
But a damn shame if ask me…
And if I chose to get high I’d blaze up a blunt… prescription pills are for the ‘burbs man.
6 Nov 2012, 10:39 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-250: I am rocking and rolling and trying to control a bleeding ulcer, thanks to the Messiah Meyer….and we don’t even know the run on team yet. (Never mind kicked a ball in Irish anger)
6 Nov 2012, 10:42 am
@fishdish-252:
Hahahaha………..just remeber you always have that choice !!!!
6 Nov 2012, 10:42 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-244:
No one trumps the great PDivvy in the kak talking stakes
Dammm I miss him!!!! But yeah, Heineken surely has coined some great ‘Meyerisms’. Perhaps he read George Bush Jnr’s biography on how to royallyfuckup a good thing. If that’s the case he really is doing a great job!!!! Can’t fault him on that 
@jacoshark-246:
Personally I like a coach to get all worked up in the box. Some call it unprofessional, others call it emotional or always wanting to succeed. I have seen plenty of professional coaches from all sporting codes go OTT and blow a gasket. Surely its only because they want the best for their team. Look at the Americans in baseball and Grid Iron..Ferguson and Wenger. Mancini in last nights interview…They are only human after all. What would you say if he was sitting there with a stoic expression on his face while the Boks are being mauled by the Kiwis?
To me it’s good that he is showing some emotion. It shows that he has the interest of his team first.
6 Nov 2012, 10:42 am
@XhosaKid-249: That’s the oldest story in the book. They said the exact same thing about White and the Boks. And probably about every single coach who ever had success. If you don’t like the guy, the easiest criticism is to give the credit to a previous coach or to a talented squad. And quite conveniently, no one can prove or disprove this.
6 Nov 2012, 10:44 am
@jacoshark-246: I will grant him the rants in the coach box… were I the coach they would have had to paint a box to remain in like in soccer… cause I surely would be charged up when my team is playing and everything is on the line..
6 Nov 2012, 10:46 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-253:
ag look dogfoodsharkie, the boks are mostly made up of ABABP’s sure, and this ABABP squad has, admittedly, been struggling… a lot… but i asure we will walk this eoyt tour.
take that to the bank.
6 Nov 2012, 10:46 am
@Golden Boy-255: Tell you one thing. Meyer could take a few hundred pages out of P Divvy’s book in terms of man management, motivation and team environment.
6 Nov 2012, 10:47 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-251: Or…Lambie is a 2012 Mercedes GL top of the line and Morne is a 1987 2 litre Kombi…
6 Nov 2012, 10:49 am
@Skeppie-260: And Goosen is a Rolls Royce Phantom according to the Meyer…. (Hope there are plenty mechanics on hand, as Goosen seems to need a lot of maintenance and repair work)
6 Nov 2012, 10:51 am
HM has indicated that he wants to play Taute at 15 and JDJ is the inform 13.
JDJ and JDV are a settled combo and he will have an extra non-white in the team to keep the quota brigade at bay. Just makes no sense.
Its gonna piss me off if Kirchner is dropped for the game against Scotland and replaced by Taute and JDJ slotted in at 13 ’cause thats the way things have gone all season.
6 Nov 2012, 10:51 am
@katman-256: Like you guys did with PDV’s success against the New Zealand and the British & Irish Lions?
6 Nov 2012, 10:53 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-261: Yup…..for me my two FH’s for the next year at least would be Lambie as the no1 and Jantjie as the no2 (rotating based on form). Morne would get a loooong rest and I would give Goosen a year to polish his game and gain some physical strength.
6 Nov 2012, 10:53 am
@katman-256: BTW, you reckon Frans Ludeke is a coaching genius, after all he is the most successful South African coach in Super Rugby, more successful than Heyneke Meyer, in fact Frans Ludeke should have been ahead of Meyer in line for the Bok job
6 Nov 2012, 10:53 am
theres a difference between being emotional and just plain losing the plot in the coaches box
every single game so far- win or lose- HM has been spitting foul at whoever the poor soul is on the other end of the walkie-talkie
its a joke, we’re the laughing stock
and i thought it couldnt get much worse than divvy
clearly it has, hes white and affrikaans
now its acceptable
6 Nov 2012, 10:55 am
@XhosaKid-265: XK how would you rank the following coaches: Jake, PDivvy, Heyneke, Frans Ludeke and Alistar Coetzee in order? No race, personal preferences etc….just best coach?
6 Nov 2012, 10:55 am
@XhosaKid-263: Who is “you guys”? Does one comment by a white guy automatically apply to everyone? Or do we simply all look the same to you?
Racist little weasel.
6 Nov 2012, 10:56 am
id much rather have divvy making an arse of himself in interviews
than having HM making an arse out of all of us watching
with his absolute contradictory BS
6 Nov 2012, 10:57 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-258:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but is the current Bok squad not made up of EIGHT Bulls players? My math may be out, but that is one third of the current squad. How is that ABABP? Should there have been more? Perhaps two thirds? And this from a team that finished FOURTH in the CC and second in the SA conference of SR?
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-259:
Divvy certainly was the best when it came to man management. Pity he never had the webos to see through his plan. Also a disgrace that SARU (esp their president) never backed Divvy the way Heineken is currently being backed.
Even more of a disgrace when one considers that he was treated even worse by WP while he was coaching the ‘B’ team. This guy has been shafted from day one. I’m surprised that he actually made it all the way to the top considering the way he has been treated his entire career.
6 Nov 2012, 11:02 am
@Golden Boy-270: The simple reality is that PDivvy was not qualified enough for the top job. He was clearly not useless and added positive things to bok rugby but overall he was not the best man for the job.
6 Nov 2012, 11:04 am
@jacoshark-266:
That’s the South African, or rugby mentality of being ultra conservative. Again, there is nothing wrong with it in my opinion. He is venting his anger and frustration plain and simple. Some are just better at hiding it than others. And honestly, as long as we win on the field, I don;t care what the rest of the world thinks about our coach.
I suggest you watch other sporting clips or search for some YouTube clips to get my point.
6 Nov 2012, 11:06 am
They almost have the lineup right.
They need to bench Kirchner and bring in De Jongh.
Taute should move to 15 and DeJongh to 13.
If they change these elements, then the Boks will be ready.
6 Nov 2012, 11:07 am
Pathetic not to start De Jongh. Meyer is a **** coach hes actually worse then De Villiers.
6 Nov 2012, 11:07 am
@Skeppie-271:
How was he not the best? I would NEVER have picked him myself. I would much rather have chosen an overseas coach. PDivvy never had the support of the public, journalists and administrators during his tenure. I am surprised that he did so well actually considering all the obstacles he had to negotiate.
6 Nov 2012, 11:07 am
@Golden Boy-270: I am, always was and always will be a very loyal Divette.
The only thing I can fault him on, was for not showing the SA rugby public, journos and certain ‘kenners’ the middle finger when he 1st mentioned his long term plans in terms of gameplan, blueprints etc. Then again: the pressure the man was under, after being labelled a ‘political appointment’ by his employers and every other expert in the land……not surprised he folded to the whims of the rugby masses.
That’s been my pet peeve with the Meyer from Day 1…..he has been given the world, based on nothing more than his ‘brand’ and the positive public opinion his ‘brand’ seems to have garnered.
6 Nov 2012, 11:08 am
@katman-268: Don’t go off-track and bring race into this one, we are talking about coaches, Frans Ludeke is by right ahead of Heyneke Meyer, by right, I mean he has won more Super Rugby titles than any South African coach, so he must be a coaching genius, you can’t disagree with this statement.
6 Nov 2012, 11:11 am
How the hell was Rhule or Mvovo picked ahead of Aplon.
He says Currie Cup isnt enough to be picked for tests well thats the competition they play the bloody ***.
Picking Arno Botha over Keegan Daniel, Don Armand or Dewald Potgieter is a joke the guy wont even make the Bulls back row
will be: 8 Pierre Spies 7 Dewald Potgieter 6 Deon Steggman 19 Jaques Potgieter
6 Nov 2012, 11:14 am
@katman-248:
Well hey, this isn’t your daddy’s blog and HM isn’t your uncle…so don’t concern yourself with the words I choose and the context they’re used.
Shamefully for you its a language you should understand considering its the only one you probably know, so maybe thank me instead of bore me!
Besides what you don’t realise is, if you take away HM’s actions then you and I are best friends, pal.
6 Nov 2012, 11:14 am
@Skeppie-267: Allister, PDivvy, Jake Heyneke, Frans Ludeke and Alistar Coetzee in that order. In terms of of who I would prefer as a Bok coach
Alan Solomons and Gert Smal would have been my personal preference
6 Nov 2012, 11:14 am
@Golden Boy-275: Look I agree he didn’t get enough support, especially after Hoskin’s “merit” comment after P Divvy’s appointment however in my opinion P Divvy does not have enough technical rugby knoweldge or skill to be bok coach. It was clear through some of his statements that he lacked a lot of knowledge. As I said he was not useless but just not good enough to be bok coach. I feel really sorry for him personally as he seems a good guy and has bucketloads of passion.
6 Nov 2012, 11:15 am
@XhosaKid-280: You have AC twice? So you seriously think P Divvy is a better rugby coach than JW? Just based on technical skills, knowledge, etc?
6 Nov 2012, 11:22 am
Frans Ludeke and Meyer are one in the same. If he was Bok coach, I don’t see what would change.
6 Nov 2012, 11:23 am
@Skeppie-260:
ok, thanks for clearing that up.
@Golden Boy-270:
come now GB, we all know its about the match day 22′s for each game and i can assure you that will be a settled core. how many of them bulls?
@Rhys7-278:
mvovo must thank his lucky stars to even be in the squad.
6 Nov 2012, 11:23 am
@Rhys7-278: I agree, Aplon and Rhule would be my selections. Mvovo has had a nothing year.
6 Nov 2012, 11:26 am
@Skeppie-282: I have been fortunate to have a conversation with both PDV and Jake, just on the cerebral stuff regarding the game, PDV comes tops compared to Jake
6 Nov 2012, 11:27 am
Regarding Lambies tactical kicking “Suddenly I’ve seen some of that in him again and he is really improving and knocking on the door hard at the moment.’’
So he is saying that in all the time that Lambie has been with your Bok squad he had shown nothing (or Meyer would have played him at 10) but that within the first week back at the Sharks he has improved so dramatically that he now can get a starting berth.
Meyer, you are shooting yourself and your coaches in the foot. This is a clear endorsement of the Sharks coaches as opposed to those on the Bok payroll.
6 Nov 2012, 11:31 am
@XhosaKid-286: I reckon you are in the vast minority with that statement/belief. Mallet, Mitchell and HM are deep rugby intellectuals, AC seems very competent, maybe not as technical as those three but he seems to mix knowledge well with an approchable demenour and good man management. P Divvy is nowhere in the same class as those four, certainly not in rugby knowledge. I remember him once making a crazy statement about how his personal rugby intellect allowed him to see that there was an issue in our lineouts during one particular game and he relayed the message to throw to 2 as opposed to 4 or the back…..that’s the sort of thing a schoolboy coach would say.
6 Nov 2012, 11:32 am
HM has all along been having the lamest explanations for selecting or not selecting certain players. When it is a Blue Bull, he will have mitigating factors for poor play. When it is a player like Juan de Jongh, the reason for his excellent play is the low standard of Curry Cup rugby. So, “I am not totally convinced about Juan” He would then conveniently forget about Juan’s brilliant defence, his attacking skills and the fact that he has proven himself repeatedly in S15 games. He would rather make a discarded wing, JJ Engelbrecht, a centre then pick De Jongh. What about Elton Jantjies? Surely he should have been the first choice flyhalf and Lambie maybe the first choice FB. The thrash that HM is saying about Juan de Jongh’s abilities is startling enough. In that sense the discarding of Elton Jantjies should be no surprise! Similarly, Chiliboy. Thanx to Francois Louw, all overseas players are now all of a sudden the solution for all his problems. His selections smells of cultural favouritism. Watch this space: Pollard, like Engelbrecht, will be handsomely compensated for his move to Pretoria with Springbok colours. Even if there are 10 flyhalves better than him. HM makes me sick.
6 Nov 2012, 11:32 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-276:
I would like my brain cell back now please. We seem to be thinking exactly the same on this issue.
@Skeppie-281:
It would have been great to have PDivvy and Heineken as the Bok coaches
Divvy doing the interviews and man-management and Heineken putting his ‘structures’ and ‘coaching abilities’ to use.
Also remember that a good head coach does not need to be a good technical coach. He needs specialist support ala Eddie Jones and Rassie Erasmus. The Head coach is more there in an oversight role and dealing with politicians, structures and game plans, etc.
For a professional coaching setup I would have:
Head Coach (Admin, game plan and team selection)
Assistant (he should integrate the backs and forwards and assist in getting the HC’s philosophy over to the rest of the coaching staff and players)
Forwards Coach
Backline Coach
Specialist coaches: scrum, lineout
Fitness Coach
A N Other Coach (like a Sheryll Calder for example)
Medical team
PR person
6 Nov 2012, 11:34 am
Surely Taute should be starting ahead of Kirchener at 15
Juan de Jongh should be starting at 13
and hopefully Raymond Rhule gets a run as Houghaard isnt exactly
Setting the world alight. I would personally start Mvovo at 11 and have Houghaard on the bench as centre cover.
Kirchener to the bench only as backup. How to make a potentially devastating
backline toothless – typical Heyneke Meyer. His selection policy has been a bit off in most matches – at least Lambie looks set to start.
6 Nov 2012, 11:36 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-284:
Sorry for answering your question with a question…but how many Bulls do you think should be there based on their recent CC form?
6 Nov 2012, 11:38 am
@katman-256:
All the those coaches have one thing in common, the same core group of players…
To use a soccer analogy, Arsene Wenger is one of Arsenal’s most successful managers of all time, but he hasn’t won anything since 2006. At the height of their powers, they had Adams and Koewn (later Campbell), Vieira and Petit (later Fabrigas), Henry and Bergkamp (later van Persie). Without this core group, he’s won nothing since!
When Spain won Euro 2008, they had Casillas, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Villa and Torres (coach: Luis Aragones). In 2010 they added Pique and Xabi Alonso to that group (coach: Vicente Del Bosque) and become the first European team to win a world cup outside Europe, they also successfully defended the EC. Two different coaches, same core group of players. Same goes for the French side that won the 1998 WC and Euro 2000.
6 Nov 2012, 11:41 am
@Skeppie-288:
too bad he didn’t do something about the kiwis cheating in 2010 when they were either standing way more than a meter apart on their throw in or closing the distance to less than a meter on ours.
to consider the extent of the cheating which went on in 2010 is just breathtaking.
to his credit he did at least talk about this in public and call them out for what they are. as well did john and victor.
6 Nov 2012, 11:43 am
@Golden Boy-292:
this isn’t about how many bulls should be in the match day 22, its about the fact that so far this year, the match day 22′s in almost every single game the boks have played have been poor… very poor…
6 Nov 2012, 11:44 am
@Golden Boy-292: I can tell you straight up
5 Juandre Kruger (due to lack of options to some degree)
6 Arno Botha
9 Vermaak
Thats it.
6 Nov 2012, 11:47 am
@Golden Boy-290: P Divvy would not be ideal as a spokesperson or an overall leader. He was set-up to fail which is sad but he should never have been in the mix in the first place. If there were political agendas then AC should have been chosen.
6 Nov 2012, 11:56 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-295:
But surely the fault here lies with the selectors no? It’s therefore not an ABABP, but more of an Anyone Not a Bulls Player in your case (ANBP).
But I agree, some of the squads have been bad, although recently it is getting better. I can put this down to a weening process and the fact that Heineken has not worked with many of these players previously.
Hopefully he can now choose a good 22, and judging by the comments on here and elsewhere, it really is only one or two more positions that needs to be looked at before he gets the blend right. Maybe the correct makeup of the loosies (we have the players, just a matter of the correct mix), center and FB (Zane is OK, but we can do so much better). To me at least as if he seems to have an idea of what he wants to do.
As for your precious Bakkies. I REALLY HOPE he gets to partner Etsebeth on this tour. For me that would be a match made in heaven and it would be PERFECT for the NH conditions. although I hear that Heineken does not trust Etsebeth to make the calls from the 5 position
6 Nov 2012, 11:58 am
@Skeppie-297:
I was being tongue in cheek
6 Nov 2012, 12:07 pm
@Skeppie-288: Well, you asked about Jake White and PDV, and I answered in that relation, nothing asked about Mallet or Mitchell, just about Jake White vs PDV, and I happen to have had a rugby conversation with both, not in a press conference but in a chat.
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