Meyer’s men must enjoy the adventure
12 Nov 2012
MARK KEOHANE, in his Business Day newspaper column, says a defeat in 2012 should not be seen as a disaster by the Springboks.
What should be an adventure seemingly has the restriction of a chore. The Springboks are playing with fear of failure when they should be playing with the freedom of fantasy.
It starts with an inexperienced management whose passion for the job is being transferred with too much tension and not enough enjoyment.
Somebody within the leadership of South African rugby has to give Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer comfort that it is not life or death each time the Springboks play.
It may feel like we’ve lost someone on those Saturday evenings when the Boks stumble but sport’s cruelty that a team is only as good as its last game is also its kindness, because there is always the next game to win to allow us all to feel life again.
Meyer needs a soundboard. He needs a man of integrity, with the necessary international experience to allow him to talk out loud without a judgement being made that he is inadequate for the job.
He is good enough to guide the Boks to a position of strength in the world order but he must feel he is operating in a vacuum, a lot of it self-inflicted because of a belief that to ask is to show weakness.
I write this as an observation.
The desire to get it right for fear of letting down a nation is causing anxiety. The players deliver on passion but there has been minimal fluidity in the Tests played this season.
I worked within the Bok management a decade ago at a time when the playing talent was not as inspirational as now and when results were poor. No player ever lost deliberately.
They lose because in most cases they aren’t good enough on the day. The Boks won in Dublin because Ireland weren’t good enough, player for player, or as a collective.
The Irish passion lasted for 40 minutes — 20 minutes more than is the norm for any home team with fantastic support. The 12-3 scoreline, however, was not a reflection of any superiority.
The second half was comfortable for the Boks because they were stronger in the collisions and were never threatened in defence.
The Boks were rightfully expected to win but the pressure the coaching staff are feeling was illustrated in Meyer’s post-match admission it would have been a disaster had they lost.
It would have been difficult to accept given the Boks’ superior playing pedigree but it would not have been a disaster.
The coaching staff ideally want to win every weekend, but there has to be realism that the heart of the Bok pack is new to international rugby and that the coaching staff are feeling as vulnerable. If ever a team is given a pardon it is in the first year after a World Cup when most rebuild in the hope of peaking at the next World Cup.
Meyer’s approach that every Test has to be viewed as a World Cup final is not flawed in that he never wants to diminish a Test match but the execution is creating trepidation when there should be expectation.
There have been short bursts against England and Australia in Pretoria to confirm a player’s ability to play with width, keep the ball and be effective on the attack.
But the overriding sense when watching the Boks is of a conservatism that fears mistakes, fears getting it wrong and doesn’t want to contemplate defeat. The All Blacks, as they did in South Africa, would have punished the hesitancy we saw in Dublin. The context is it wasn’t an impressive rugby performance from the Boks, but it isn’t down to a lack of coaching, game plan or limited player pedigree.
The pack selections are a reflection of the best available but playing Jaco Taute at outside centre and Zane Kirchner at fullback is to limit mistakes and not create opportunity.
Taute at fullback in the place of Kirchner, and introduce the flair of Juan de Jongh, and the backline would be transformed.
The rugby isn’t hard to get right, but it’s the mindset from within that isn’t proving as easy.
The Boks will develop into a very good team, but they’ll get there quicker if the management and by extension the players accept that the stumbles are part of the adventure and not the curse of the adventure.
Meyer, in his first meeting with Bryan Habana this year, told him to find his smile again and he would find his international form.
Where others viewed complexity Meyer recognised the simplicity in the equation.
Smile, Heyneke. It could just be what transforms fractured performances into fluid ones.
258 Comments
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12 Nov 2012, 20:05 pm
@Big Hit-249: I didn’t think Alberts was too bad on the weekend Biggles?
12 Nov 2012, 20:10 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl-71: @Brigadier Van Zyl-71:
Floral, his so called concern for lack of x factor players, he certainly hasn’t done much to remedy it. He has them available yet he bungles it time and time again.and he is king of double speak, he speaks of proud record for Boks then he makes excuses regarding injuries,experience etc yet all teams have this problem
Now he has been lending his opinion to central contracting dynamic etc all which previous coaching were almost forbidden to mention and journalists would mock them if the did.how pathetic, we heard all this methodical, analytical talk about his cerebral approach to the game yet he is nothing but a bumbling fool with his Wilkie talkie who misguided conviction and little to no creativity to gameplan or selection.
Reds still made playoffs this year and my example was on 1st year coach McKenzie last year of Reds winning superrugby which is more in line with Meyer first year Bok year.not reds this year which is mckenzie’s second year where they still made playoffs.Shows how much you’re reaching,read carefully and recognize context.
So again,spin spin spin.still smell like faeces
12 Nov 2012, 22:02 pm
@WP-Forever-214:
Yeah that is amazing.
Scottish winger scores 2 against the ABs in one match…the Boks scored 2 tries as well against the ABs in the RC……. just took them two games to do it.
13 Nov 2012, 00:45 am
@Big Hit-249: the SA forwards are decent. Many are in the top 2 or 3 in the world in their positions. Pienaar has had the luxury of a dominant SA scrum, dominant SA lineout and recently (with the addition of Flo) some great work at the breakdown. Before Flo, Bissie fulfilled that role.
Even with that armchair ride, we have lost more than half the games we have played when Pienaar has been our starting scrumhalf.
Let Lambie control the game and get a scrummie who recycles quicker and snipes every now and again.
The 2nd test against England we looked unstoppable in the first half (with Hougaard at 9), and we looked appalling in the 2nd half (with Pienaar at 9).
13 Nov 2012, 02:19 am
@Daddy-254: we are at cross-purposes, I was saying the current Bok pack is average, that is, the Bok pack which played at the weekend.
Looking at the matches in which Pienaar has started 9 for SA, most of them have been behind second string or weakened Bok packs.
He won man of the match last weekend, let’s see how he fares against Scotland.
@Yetirat-251: he was not bad, but Alberts at his best is a force of nature, imo he has been overplayed in 2012 and is not at his best.
13 Nov 2012, 02:41 am
@Big Hit-255: Actually Mike McCarthy of Ireland won man of the match.
13 Nov 2012, 03:18 am
@Daddy-256: The Beeb announced Pienaar as man of the match post-match, but you’re right I think the Irish TV station gave it to McCarthy. Either way, assessments of his performance have been pretty positive.
13 Nov 2012, 03:30 am
@Big Hit-257: I’ll finish with this…
We once played the ABs with (Ithink) Pierre Spies at 8th man, Juan Smith at blindise and Schalk at openside… Each of them played well individually and got high player ratings. Made many tackles, carried well and did good work in the lineout…. But we didnt compete at the breadown and ended up losing the game…. Although Schalk played well individually, perhaps a different type of opensider would have made the team play better as a unit.
Such is my assessment of Pienaar,
Just food for thought.
Anyway, Im outta here. Nice chatting.
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