Boks banal then brilliant
10 Nov 2012
RYAN VREDE, in Dublin, watched the Springboks deliver one of the great turnarounds in their history to beat Ireland 16-12.
How the Springboks managed this victory after the deep sterility of their first half will go down in folklore. There are probably a myriad reasons for it, some more significant than others. Heyneke Meyer has been heavily criticised by some sectors of the press and public for his pragmatism. Tonight’s performance would have done little to quell that criticism, but he won’t care.
The importance of this victory in the context of his career and sanity cannot be overstated. Had they lost this I fear Meyer, a man already showing the physical strain of his tenure, would have suffered a serious lapse of self-confidence. The spin-offs of that for the team are self-evident.
Meyer needed this win on a personal level as much as the collective did. So intricately entwined is his identity in the result that a win or a loss defines him as a winner or loser. This is not baseless nor romantic and he is not the first coach inflicted with this condition. It is an assertion based on a close professional relationship with the man.
And on this bitterly cold Dublin night, his charges, depleted through injuries and without the consistently good Beast Mtawarira, warmed his heart. There was nothing particularly spectacular about the way the victory was achieved. But there didn’t need to be. Indeed it was awful at times. Their first meaningful foray into Ireland’s 22m came in the 15th minute and they blew that by turning down a mauling opportunity (their standout strength) in favour of an elaborate backline move that would have made a club coach cringe.
The Springboks will never know the extent of what they’ve done for their coach with a come-from-behind win.
The booming pyrotechnics pre-match was the most explosive thing about this event, with the game initially settling into a kick pattern, a battle Ireland undoubtedly won in the early exchanges. As did they the collisions, which gave them the ascendancy at the breakdown, a series of turnovers the consequence.
Ireland’s defence in the first half was excellent, but their examination was a weak one, the Springboks impotency and utter lack of imagination allowing their opponents to pick off strike runners with relative ease.
Predictions were for a duel of the goal-kickers, and Jonathan Sexton, among the most accurate in the world this year, capitalised on Ireland’s territorial advantage and the Springboks’ ill-discipline to open a 12-3 lead going into the last 10 minutes of the half, Pat Lambie’s three pointer all the visitors could muster in response.
The Springboks’ problems were compounded when JP Pietersen was yellow carded in the 31st minute for an early and dangerous hit on Chris Henry. It was a holding job until the break, one they crucially negotiated successfully, to trail 12-3.
Only they will know the nature of Meyer’s message to them. I suspect it was a desperate plea. Moments like that rarely feature considered thought. His team hadn’t inspired. Far from it. They never looked like scoring. Any salvaging of their situation, so deeply dire, looked completely beyond them.
Then something changed. Their luck turned. No that’s only part of it. They got some field position. They tightened up their attacking play, the forwards asserting themselves in a manner they hadn’t until that point.
There was a rolling maul at last. Slow inches. Penalty. Jamie Heaslip gone for cynically collapsing it. Another maul from which Ruan Pienaar exploited a depleted defence to score. Lambie kicked the conversion and shortly after that sent his side ahead with a penalty. An act of defiance from a team reborn.
Test experience is not a commodity the Springboks have in abundance, and the next 20 minutes would have been an invaluable education for them. Their defence improved markedly. Particularly notable was their work-rate which saw them cut off and often smash the inside runners. They denied Ireland for waves of attack, but also spurned a couple of good opportunities in the red zone, which would have eased their plight.
But with 10 minutes to play the Springboks got an immediate return on what was a gamble on Heinke van der Merwe. The loosehead prop shoved like he has spent his time with Leinster doing only that, earning two penalties, the second converted by Lambie for a slender four-point lead. The discipline, physicality, nay brutality, and accuracy of the Springboks’ defensive effort in those dying minutes could only be truly appreciated from the stands of the Aviva Stadium. The Springboks refused to relent, refused to lose. Just refused to.
Ireland’s belief drained with every tackle inflicted on them. South Africa’s soared at the final whistle. It wasn’t pretty. But who cares? It was a small step in a long journey. But how important a step it was.
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176 Comments
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11 Nov 2012, 01:28 am
@jet jungle-150:
Hy’t jou goed geleer
Moet nooit haastig wees met stadige goed nie. Vat jou tyd.
11 Nov 2012, 02:02 am
How many times can skop say the words “aggrandised”, “pseudo” and “whitearse” in one thread?
11 Nov 2012, 02:03 am
11 Nov 2012, 02:27 am
Since last year, these players were not available today.
Habana
Fourie
Steyn
du Preez
Guthro
Beast
Smit
Bismark
Burger
Spies
Rossouw
Botha
Matfield.
Bekker
Also take into account Goosen also out.
Ignoring retired players, we still played without 1st choice players like Habana, Steyn, Beast, Bismark, Bekker …. today.
To still beat Ireland in Ireland
after trailing by 9 points says a lot. So all the nay-sayers can kiss my hairy jack and smile.
Pathetic pipsqueeks.
Till next time.
11 Nov 2012, 02:58 am
@Big Jack-154: Sorry, but I am going to call you out.
Before readmission, the Boks had only lost once to Ireland. 1965. Lansdowne Road. 9-6.
Once.
We then stumbled to a loss in 2004. A huge, epic loss in the context of history and the fact that we had just come off winning the Tri Nations for only the 2nd time. This was when Jake White fired up the Irish by saying only 3 Irish players would make the Bok team. A very silly thing to do in hindsight.
The Boks lost the next two in Dublin too.
So we lost 3 consecutive games in Ireland – 2004, 2006 and 2009.
Thank the gods but we have curtailed that shocking aberration of a record by winning the last 2 in Ireland. Normal order is restored.
We have only lost 4 times to Ireland. But that is already 4 times too many. Wanna know why?
The All Blacks have NEVER lost to Ireland in the long history. So when I hear Bok supporters like you saying we should be grateful for a win in Ireland, it really drives home how mediocre the Boks have become in comparison to the All Blacks. Also, it sickens me to hear the Irish commentators saying they have no fear of the Bok, they have vivid memories of defeating the Boks in Ireland.
Here’s to many, many more consecutive wins in Dublin. Here’s to stamping out the winning memories the Irish so smugly cling to when dismissing the Boks as the All Blacks poorer cousins.
ps every team has to deal with injuries. The Irish had their own stars out too. How come we never hear the New Zealanders complaining about injuries (even when Carter or McCaw are injured, they just get on with it….)
Nope. I REFUSE to accept mediocrity like you and so many others are starting to do.
11 Nov 2012, 02:59 am
pipsqueak
11 Nov 2012, 03:10 am
@Liewe Luiperd-155:
Thumbs up
11 Nov 2012, 03:13 am
@Liewe Luiperd-152: racist little beggar that he is.
11 Nov 2012, 03:20 am
@Liewe Luiperd-155: whether you like it or not, there is a massive gap between All Blacks and rest of the world. So that gap was closed momentarily in 2009 when the Boks fielded their best team since 1997/8 and smashed the Blacks in 3 consecutive tests (can any other nation claim such an achievement?). Other than that annomaly, the Boks have been the Blacks’ bitche s for a loooong time. So please stop comparing our record to the Blacks – we are a world apart, Luiperd.
11 Nov 2012, 03:33 am
Deans believes it’s vital that an agreement is made between the two parties when it comes to resting Australia’s elite players during the year.
‘It has to happen and that’s what we’re spending a lot of time discussing at the moment,’ he said. ‘Just the fact that the Irish have won more European Cups than anywhere else and New Zealand’s won more Super Rugby titles than anyone else and those two groups are the ones that are rotating their international playing group. And it’s not just the international side, it’s the franchises that are thriving.’ In the words of the formerly great coach Robbie Deans.
11 Nov 2012, 04:04 am
Bwahaha… old toothless Chihuahua Skop-shite’s ‘predictions’ smashed again by the Boks and HM…
11 Nov 2012, 04:07 am
@kwas-159:
Yet the ABs didnt field there best team in 2009…so it seems a bit odd dont you think?
France beat us at home that year as well. We had no carter but you seem to forget about that.
11 Nov 2012, 05:44 am
@Bouts-29: Almost lost?
11 Nov 2012, 07:36 am
Seriously??? Do these writers get paid for writing k@k like this? Wtf? Lmao, Ryan sounds like HM’s PR officer!
11 Nov 2012, 08:09 am
Heinke van der Merwe still the most destructive scrummaging loosehead we have produced in last 4years.
derserved a start ahead of powderpuff vdLinde
11 Nov 2012, 08:45 am
@Big Jack-154:
It’s not just about the win.
It’s about the performance. Very unconvincing, don’t you think?
11 Nov 2012, 08:51 am
In today’s game it was quite evident, yet again, what goes wrong in South African rugby. Over coaching…
The players don’t play, they simply follow the set instructions. HM is the biggest culprit in this and because of his success with the Bulls, the rest of SA took this script on-board and we’re now starting to pay the price for it.
11 Nov 2012, 09:07 am
@Kaizan-59: this man has probably got closest to the truth about our rugby than anyone I’ve read this far. Plaudits. Take a bow.
11 Nov 2012, 09:12 am
@kwas-159: well I wouldn’t argue with that prognosis. We should/could have a better record but don’t. Fact. Aside from Mallet, our coaches have been less than impressive than one would’ve expected. Maybe one could also point to politics but under Meyer this cannot be blamed as a factor. This time its pretty clear that poor management and coaching is the primary influence. No question about it.
11 Nov 2012, 09:16 am
Anyway I’m outta here. St James(the beach not the bloke) is calling. Need some mussels for the pot and low tide only visits twice today and the water is rising as I type. Cheers boys(and Dawnie).
11 Nov 2012, 11:06 am
@skopdiekan-92: Hi Skop.I thought that Pienaar had a fairly decent game except that the ball never went beyond
can not remember a single backline movement.
Quiite impressed with MC for the short time he was on.
11 Nov 2012, 11:59 am
@TheTackler-8:
That’s because your team are awesome and the Springboks are just average. That makes you a better person than us too. You should celebrate by going somewhere nice. Without internet access. For a long long time.
11 Nov 2012, 16:22 pm
Wow what a lucky win…thank God!! Cause i dnt think SA supporters or HM wld have survived a loss!! That said…boy did our back line look ordinary, honestly point out any one player besides JPP that stood out and i’m sure you wld come to the same conclusion that no one made a dif!! Sad yes cause i believe as most on this site that there are better players in certain positions thats playing at the moment…shld i name them?? Thanx for asking…ok Taute ****…want to see him at fullback…is he good?? Dnt knw cause he’s pretty k@k at the moment…JdJ better!! Ruan scored the try but not a real 9 sorry boet…hougaard too good to be on wing?? Well all everyone tlked abt was Lambie and…? Well not good i’m afraid…give Jantjies a go, he will be better as he is a much rounded player..! HM is n vol k@k en sal nooit change…what a pitty!!
11 Nov 2012, 22:04 pm
South Africans love to tackle. We just do. The combative aspect of it is fun for us. the establishment of physical dominance in a collision is amusing. And ist great that we re-found tis aspect of our game.
BUT over the years we have fogotten how to attack. The glorious interchange and strategy at pace, trying to out think our opponents instead of overwhelm them. When we havea good balance, we will be unstoppable.
I believe that teh only thing Meyer said at half time was: ” The next f%$#$%#$ that gives away a penalty gets dropped for a season.”
The Boks weren’t executing badly with abll in hand – but they were being lazy in thinking. The penalties that we were giving away were stifling our attack and defence. You simply cannot be an international player that is too lazy to think. That is what rugby is about – thinking under pressure.
12 Nov 2012, 06:46 am
Everyone says that Lambie did ok in the frst half “considering his forwards were not going forward”. But here’s the thing: even when we put Carter’s forwards under pressure, he still manages to get his backline away. How is that? Lambie must have a look at Carter’s play in those matches where we dominate forward play, posession and territory, and see where and how he dictates play.
Could Goosen/Steyn/Jantjies find time to make play under pressure if his forwards were going backwards? I have not seen it yet.
12 Nov 2012, 11:14 am
Boks always struggle in Ireland so i think it was a good win, definitely an important one. I just hope HM plays the same team again, especially LAmbie let him play 10 throughout EOYT and get some game time.
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