Three starts a must for Lambie
8 Nov 2012
JON CARDINELLI writes that Pat Lambie must be granted an extended starting opportunity this November if Heyneke Meyer hopes to obtain conclusive answers to the flyhalf question.
Lambie will start this Saturday, but it shouldn’t be a case of do or die in Dublin. He must be given an extended opportunity to prove why he is a strong flyhalf option for next season as well as the 2015 World Cup in England.
Meyer has made it clear that Johan Goosen is his preferred pivot. Goosen’s season-ending injury has, however, forced the Bok coach to consider other options for this tour.
According to Meyer, it’s been a difficult decision to make. But now that Lambie’s been backed to start in Dublin, it should follow that he starts in Edinburgh and London too.
To chop and change in subsequent Tests against Scotland and England would be counterproductive. Give Lambie an extended opportunity. Allow him the chance to settle into the position.
Once the tour has finished, consider what he offers as a game manager in testing northern hemisphere conditions, and make the call on whether it’s worth persisting with him in that all-important position.
But don’t make a career-defining call based on one or two starts.
The 22-year-old Lambie has 17 Test caps to name, but has only started on seven occasions. This Saturday’s match will mark just the second time he has started a Test at flyhalf.
Meyer’s predecessor, Peter de Villiers, liked the idea of Lambie as No 10, although he used Lambie there just five times (once as a starter against the All Blacks in 2011, and then four times as a substitute).
Meyer needs to give Lambie more game time in that channel if he hopes to return from this tour with conclusive answers to the flyhalf question.
There isn’t a lot that Meyer can learn from the De Villiers era, but it is worth reflecting on how De Villiers approached the flyhalf problem ahead of the 2008 tour to the United Kingdom.
De Villiers surprised all and sundry by declaring that Ruan Pienaar would start at flyhalf. It was clear that Pienaar was going to be backed for the duration of the tour and that any assessment or decision regarding Pienaar’s future in the position would be made after the third Test.
Pienaar blew hot and cold in the tour-opener in Cardiff, and was rescued on more than one occasion by the tactically peerless Fourie du Preez. The Boks then struggled in the next match against Scotland, and it was only a late try by Jaque Fourie that saw them avoiding an embarrassing defeat.
But the Boks, and Pienaar, saved their most complete performance for that final tour fixture at Twickenham. South Africa smashed England 42-6, with Pienaar producing one of his most clinical and confident displays in a Bok shirt.
It was enough to win Pienaar the position for the 2009 British & Irish Lion series, where he played an important role in the first two Tests. Most will remember substitute flyhalf Morné Steyn’s contributions in the second Test as series-clinching, but Pienaar’s influence cannot be discounted.
I’m not saying that Lambie will spearhead another 40-point massacre at Twickenham on 24 November. What I am suggesting is that Lambie and this Bok side should be at their most settled when they arrive in London for the last match of the tour.
Lambie must be allowed to settle in the coming matches against Ireland and Scotland. He shouldn’t be judged too harshly if he makes mistakes. The Test against England will be the toughest of the three, and it is here that the biggest statement could be made.
Meyer told Lambie earlier this year that he needed to improve his tactical kicking if he was going to be considered as a Test flyhalf option. This Saturday, the pressure will be significantly greater than it was during the Currie Cup play-offs, where Lambie excelled as game manager, and Meyer will be watching closely to see how Lambie responds.
But Dublin should been viewed as the start of Lambie’s assessment, not a one-off examination. It’s taken a long time for Meyer to come to a decision that Lambie should start at all. It’s only fair that he now gives Lambie enough game time to state his case.
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20 Comments
8 Nov 2012, 05:55 am
For sure Dragons!!!
8 Nov 2012, 06:06 am
Backline should have been:
9. Pienaar, 10. Lambie, 11. Mvovu, 12. JDJ, 13. Mapoe, 14. Rhule, 15.JPP.
Mantashe would have shut his trap if this was the case. And so would I.
8 Nov 2012, 06:48 am
Mantashe should shut his clap trap in any case. Go to Marikana and serve the people!
8 Nov 2012, 06:48 am
Wow! Bring it on, Heyneke.
8 Nov 2012, 06:57 am
@BrumbiesBoy-4: Sorry, post meant for #2.
8 Nov 2012, 07:01 am
So EJ is surplus to requirements now JC?
8 Nov 2012, 07:06 am
This is now the third article in a row about Lambie. So boring.
8 Nov 2012, 07:08 am
@Robzim-7:
It’s pathetic. This is not a fan club ffs. Where’s the journalism? It’s more like a cheerleader blog.
8 Nov 2012, 07:14 am
Another Lambie thread? *Yawn*
8 Nov 2012, 07:47 am
Meyer is only setting Lambie up – he will bring Steyn on as soon as Lambie makes a few mistakes – why was’nt he given a decent chance on home turf – Steyn was given 4 weeks of failure – he should not be on tour.
8 Nov 2012, 07:48 am
So Lambie should get at least three games to prove himself and Jantjies gets one, and that was only due to the other white boy getting injured so early in the game. Otherwise, it would’ve been another 5 minutes cameo off the bench.
The fact of the matter is, had Jantjies played on the wing, or any other position other than a decision making position, he would’ve gotten an opportunity long ago.
Heyneke doesn’t trust a black boytjie calling the shots in the backline.
8 Nov 2012, 07:57 am
Linkin Park heading to SA
Cape Town – A woman has died at the Cape
Town leg of a worldwide tour by the US
rock band Linkin Park.
The woman, whom authorities have yet to
identify, was caught under a banner advert
for Lucozade, when gale force winds caused
the structure to collapse.
Twenty people in total where injured, some
sustaining bone fractures, according to
officials who were at the scene.
After the concert, Linkin Park released a
statement expressing their condolences to
the family of the deceased and the fans
who had been hurt.
8 Nov 2012, 08:31 am
Why is there no article looking at the decision to keep Kirchner but exclude JDJ?
Why is Keo not addressing the nonsensical nature of HM’s statements:
“The boy’s future is at FB, selects him at 13.”
What about that?
8 Nov 2012, 08:35 am
@goodstuff-13: Agree that will be much better Journalism.
@Transformation-12: Sad.
@skunk-6: I dont understand it too. Morne Steyn should be surplus to requirements and should be carrying tackle bags. Not Jantjies
I hope for the other 2 tests Jantjies gets some gametime like maybe 20 minutes each game.
And I hope Morne sits on the bench until the 77th minute and see how it feels to come on so late.
8 Nov 2012, 11:14 am
Spot on, Lambie has earnt above any other FH the right to be given three starts and pretty much the full 80 mins in each game.
In my opinion, Ludik shoud have been on this tour as well, with one of Ludik or Taute starting on the wing and moving to FB later in the game when ZK is subbed and the other taknig the wing spot. We should be developing some depth in this crucial position and ludik has done the business this season.
Jordaan should be our long term 13, but JDJ should be starting of the players available. Why is Taute starting at 13?
8 Nov 2012, 11:44 am
I still think having M Steyn on the bench makes sense. A tour is not the place to blood a young flyhalf like EJ or Goosen.
Playing Goosen at the RC was a mistake as he is now injured, Lambie should have earmarked as the successor to M Steyn and given plenty of game time during the England series at flyhalf, so come RC Lambie would have settled at flyhalf.
HM has showed no pragmatism with his selections and they are now getting out of hand, except in the forward
8 Nov 2012, 11:54 am
Crikey these Keo “journalists” can get repetitive.
If Meyer plucks Lambie off after 60 for Morne Steyn I am going to **** in my ******* pants.
8 Nov 2012, 11:58 am
oh, and everybody knows that JDJ should be starting at 13 and Taute at 15 and Hougaard on the bench, but god forbid only one Bull in the starting 15.
8 Nov 2012, 12:18 pm
The term “game manager” sucks, is Daniel Carter a game manager?
No he’s a match winner.
WTF is wrong with Bok rugby, when is it going to evolve like the All Blacks and the Wallabies have. I’m not suggesting replicating their playing styles but perhaps more a case of letting the players play the situation, you don’t see Carter kicking the ball away at the half way line if there’s an option to run or put other players into space. If kicking the best of option then by all means do it but kicking regardless of the situation is just forking stupid!
8 Nov 2012, 22:54 pm
How nice
Guess such consecutive starts are only deserving of a certain few
Not Jantjies De Jongh etc
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