Brutal Boks blunt Scots
17 Nov 2012
RYAN VREDE, in Edinburgh, watched the Springboks deliver an almighty defensive performance in the second half to beat Scotland 21-10 at Murrayfield.
This was not a wholly clinical performance from the Springboks on a number of fronts, but one that will nonetheless please Heyneke Meyer and galvanise his side ahead of the sternest Test of the tour in London next week.
It was undoubtedly a victory built, once again, on brutal, accurate and disciplined defence. This has been the hallmark of all the Springboks’ victories this season, and they will have to sustain this if they are to become the dominant team they envisage being.
At the heart this success has been Francois Louw. Irrepressible and seemingly omnipresent since his installment in the side, Louw is now surely among the world’s pre-eminent opensiders and undoubtedly the most valuable player in the Springboks’ ranks at this stage.
Louw was not alone in his excellence. His back row brothers Willem Alberts and Duane Vermeulen shone on attack and defence. The trio are gradually growing into a triumvirate, formidable in their combination, all possessing power and fearlessness in equal measure. Their form and indeed that of Eben Etzebeth, who surely was created for the sole purpose of playing Test rugby, and others like the industrious Adriaan Strauss and unrelenting Jannie du Plessis, is promising, not only for the showdown with England but beyond that. Meyer has the makings of a truly great Springbok pack, and the addition of Bismarck du Plessis, Andries Bekker and Schalk Burger next year will further amplify their potency.
There was little to excite from an expansive attacking perspective, but this is how it will be until the back division settles and finds cohesion and synergy. Meyer has been criticised for myriad reasons, but today he deserves praise for what was a clear directive to pound Scotland into submission through his heavies. The hosts never looked capable of repelling their surges in the first half, losing the gainline battle which consequently robbed them of contesting the breakdown in a meaningful way. When the momentum swung they looked equally inept at bossing the tackle fight, which undermined their cause.
For the first 40 the Springboks were able to control possession and, more pertinently, territory, from where they relied on the best rolling maul in the game to ravage the Scots. Pat Lambie banked two penalties before converting Strauss’s try after a maul.
So dominant were the Springboks that their hosts’ first entry into their 22m came in the 35th minute and their ambition was duly blunted by the brilliant Louw, who earned a breakdown penalty on his 5m line. It was 14-3 at the break, with the Springboks looking supremely comfortable.
That changed in the second half, with Scotland summoning a spirit that was reminiscent of the one that drove the Springboks to a second-half turnaround at Lansdowne Road last week. Strauss got his brace, anticipating and intercepting a pass, and Lambie added the extras, but that was the sum total of the time the Springboks spent in Scotland’s territory.
The home crowd’s belief was stirred with a well worked try off the lineout, scrumhalf Henry Pyrgos slicing through a hole engineered by intelligent splitting of the Springboks’ lineout formation. Greig Laidlaw converted and Scotland’s siege continued unabated. The composure and unfailingly accuracy the Springboks exhibited under extreme pressure was inspiring. They will take heat for what will be perceived as a struggle. But this Scotland team scored three tries against the world champion All Blacks last week. That is the perspective that should inform any assessment of this match.
The tourists held on, even when Flip van der Merwe was sin binned for cynical play. Are there major improvements needed in the week ahead? Absolutely. England are a far superior side and more capable of exploiting the Springboks’ deficiencies. An attacking edge continues to elude them. They again failed to convert their first-half time in the goal zone into more points, which would have made their passage more comfortable.
But this inexperienced Springbok side has passed another important test, one a superior team failed in 2010. Their education continues. The journey is long.
743 Comments
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18 Nov 2012, 15:48 pm
Yes, Pienaar is the problem
JDV us the other problem, should not be in the team
Lambie is not shaping, gameplan or no gameplan…if you cannot think for himself then he needs to go back to the guppies, end of
You either make the step up or you don’t.Keegan Daniels also showed that he could not man up
18 Nov 2012, 15:48 pm
@Heavens Game-405:
‘the Borg’…
you’re a larf Hg, but i must say i love the imagery and association created when comparing the boks to the borg.
they are far and away one of my most favourite alien science fictional races and no other scifi phrase is quite as fun as; ‘resistance is futile, assimilation is inevitable’.. hahaha.
clearly the work of a slightly overactive, and possibly drunk, HG imagination. your lovechild needs to get his s.hit together bigtime from what i’ve seen so far,
both morne and goosen shade the boy.
@JL1-435:
the funny things is when goosen played TO INSTRUCTIONS the keo kenners saw what they wanted to see as an explanation for his sublime linebreaks and when lambie played TO THE SAME INSTRUCTIONS the keo kenners had other handy ‘explanations’ as to why he did not/could not do the same.
18 Nov 2012, 15:48 pm
@NZINCHINA-432: don’t watch them if you’re only going to come here and be a t.wat about it.
18 Nov 2012, 15:49 pm
@Hondo-448: Meyer is not a head coach’s back side and its showing bad.. and dumb klutzes like you and the rest of the anti De Jongh brigade are singing his praises..
Mallet was seething with rage at the sheer inept useless inadequacies of this dumb caught in the headlights of his own deficiency moron not being able to step out of the fear induced straight jacket he has wound around his head and shoulders for outright petrified frozen fear at the thought of losing
Had Scotland taken their kicks I reckon they might have won yesterday.. and by the tale of the stats second half they should have…
HM might have been a reasonable forwards coach in his day but as a head coach of a country that requires far more latitude of thinking that he would ever be capable of utilizing he is one pitiful abject failure and is showing outright lack at being capable to bridge the gap between a one dimensional forwards coach and an out of the box thinking general and strategist and clear sighted fearless head coach.. His decisions and play patterns are bordering on utter conservative cowardice and he is pushing Streauli and Markgraaf hard for the title of the worst stuck in the ideological syndrome of dead end fear induced deficient Bok coach of all time.
18 Nov 2012, 15:49 pm
Ou doosie
You reckon hey – nope the only one you right on is D fourie. Elstadt also should be selected but as susspected maybe not worldclass yet.
The others I woulda had in a couple of years ago already.
18 Nov 2012, 15:50 pm
@Treehugger-450:
So did the Democrats…
18 Nov 2012, 15:51 pm
@452
Yes, we all see what we wanna see, my eyes saw not much of HGs love child as you so kindly pointed out
18 Nov 2012, 15:52 pm
@Treehugger-450: Name me one thing to be positive about the backline play in the last two games.
18 Nov 2012, 15:53 pm
I think Gaffie had more talent!
18 Nov 2012, 15:54 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-452: Goosen played his more natural game. Lambie played far more robotically.
18 Nov 2012, 15:54 pm
I laughed as I read one or two know-nothings like Iluvubakkies and tacitus, try to slimily slip in some criticism of Lambie.
Lets be very clear Tac, Lambie has the ability to execute what is perceived as ‘Meyers gameplan’ far far far better than Steyn.
Think about it…… he gets his kicks at goal.
Steyn’s goal kicking has been shocking. Tactical kicking, they are similar with Lambie ahead due to variation of play and imagination.
When you consider that Lambie is the best defensive flyhalf with maybe Grant pushing him, it is clear that Lambie would be, and is, streets ahead of Steyn at executing this so called Meyers Game plan.
However. Lambie has far far more in terms of playing flat and attacking the gainline, getting a backline moving and game management.
He has done exactly the right thing by playing a simple, understated and effective gameplan in these first few tests. For a 21 year old, starting at flyhalf away in Europe, he has done brilliantly and will continue to grow in stature. Lambie can introduce his natural game at the correct pace.
Honestly….if you don’t know rugby, rather hou jou bek.
18 Nov 2012, 15:55 pm
Mallet can scream as much as he wants, not much better when he criticised Gaffie and Dave von H, or selecting his favourites and dropping the captain before a RWC
Now he has lots to say in the cheap seats
18 Nov 2012, 15:55 pm
@skopdiekan-454: Wish I had seen Mallett’s analysis. The BBC naturally didn’t show it and I can#t find it on youtube.
18 Nov 2012, 15:56 pm
@JL1-462: Mallett learnt from his mistakes quickly and his record is far superior.
18 Nov 2012, 15:59 pm
@Brendope-461:
He is 22 and was utter K.A.K in both tests. Little pea shooters 20m in to the air and maybe 10m forward and average line clearance of maybe 15 m
Any FH in SA can Do better!
He completely folds under pressure!
18 Nov 2012, 15:59 pm
@464
Maybe he will get another chance to coach the Boks and then we can see if he has learnt his lessons
18 Nov 2012, 16:01 pm
@mikeybrass-463:
Mallet calls it how it is… He doesn’t pretend all is kosher…
He said you might as well play Alberts at centre if you wan’t to stick to this outdated game plan.
Now you get a few here with blinkers and think that winning against such opposition is like the second coming… Fact of the matter is our rugby is regressing so fast, unlike the days when Mallet won 17 in a row… I doubt we will ever see that record being beaten with this coach or coaching staff…
18 Nov 2012, 16:02 pm
@cab-455: that team you selected there is my team down to the last player.. if I were selecting a team those the players I would have chosen so since when you been seeing rugby along the same trajectory as me.. ? took you long enough to come around to my way of thinking, but like HG and his assertions that HM was the messiah that was going to bring the Boks to their promised land only a few moths ago.. and now has started singing the exact opposite tune, I won’t go claiming any more I tol you so’s till it gets clearly shown how right I was all along.
15 – Taute, F. Steyn, Lambie, A. Coetsee, W. Le Roux, Aplon
14 – JPP, JdV, Aplon, Taute
13 – JdV, JPP, Mapoe, Serfontein, Jordaan
12 – JdJ, Serfontein, F. Steyn, De Allende
11 – Rhule, Habana, W. Le Roux, Aplon
10 – Goosen, Jantjies, Pienaar, W. Le Roux, A. Coetsee, Lambie, Grant
9 – Hougaard, Pretorius, Groom
8 – Vermeulen, A. Botha, M. Coetsee
7 – Psdt, A. Botha, M. Coetsee, Alberts, Elstadt
6 – F. Louw, Brussow, D. Fourie
5 – Etsebeth, Bekker, Franco Vd Merwe
4. – Elstadt, Alberts, Psdt, Bresler
3 – Cilliers, JdP, Mujati
2 – Bismark, D. Fourie, S. Brits, Strauss
1. – Steenkamp, Janse Van Rensburg, Heinke, Kitschoff
18 Nov 2012, 16:03 pm
@465
Exactly, no game plan to mention when you have to kick to get distance, he needs to man up
18 Nov 2012, 16:03 pm
@Gumboots-456: pity it wasn’t Hilary Clinton
18 Nov 2012, 16:05 pm
Fark this… these Meyer acolytes can have their “winning rugby” bullshitt… I dont have to like it…
and I dont like it…
Far better for rugby to be played the way the Pumas and France are playing…
I will continue supporting the Boks with obligation but i will watch and support other teams with enjoyment…
The only challengers to the ABs are France… Boks must content themselves with beating the Aussies more regularly… A win against the ABs will be rare under Meyer…
18 Nov 2012, 16:05 pm
@Treehugger-470:
Hehe!!! How ya doin? Watched a great programme on ‘tree culling’ in the Amazon and went right outside and hugged a few…
18 Nov 2012, 16:06 pm
@Hondo-448: ignore you say? no hondo mallett CALLED first before meyer had coached even one game!
31 May 2012
Mallett: Meyer’s style will stifle players creativity
Mallett says Meyer would stick to his accurate
kicking game and Springbok scrumhalf Du
Preez would be a crucial proponent of his
plans.
“You have to have the best box kicker or
tactical kicker in world rugby for him to be
successful and that is why he is banking on
Fourie, also Fourie knows his personality,”
Mallett said.
“I think it is going to be a very conservative
team and a conservative game plan.
“He’ll be happy to win 25-18 with a handful
of penalties, a drop goal and a breakaway
try.”
Mallett said fans should not expect
enterprising backline play from the Boks in
the first three Tests under Meyer.
i guess mallett was wrong in only thinking stampkar will only last the england series.
18 Nov 2012, 16:09 pm
@Treehugger-450:
hear hear
have a bells
18 Nov 2012, 16:10 pm
@skopdiekan-468: I laugh at your hypocrisy and flip floppery… the most programmed team in SA was the Stormers through S15… no wonder Proudfoot nearly had awank in the studio… the Boks are playing the Stormers way who are copying the Bulls…
Farken rugby heathen
18 Nov 2012, 16:13 pm
@mikeybrass-460:
and this is the coaches fault..?.
18 Nov 2012, 16:13 pm
HG
The coach is not the be all and end all, LAmbie and Pienaar must pull themselves towards themselves and shape up or ship out
18 Nov 2012, 16:14 pm
@skopdiekan-468:
not your way of thinking, your way of thinking would not have alberts or concentrated on some heavy hitters in the pack. you picked everyone thats new under the sun – i would had de jong and hougaard and flo way before you okes. fourie was your one star pick – but he needed to be watched cos he was a tad small but he is unbelievably good – its a crying shame that he cant even get into bok squad – imo boks currently got the three best hookers in world rugby, and two of the most exciting in brits and fourie who are having to playing 2nd fiddle to an overweight player who is good but not in their league.
the new english hooker looks outstanding too – watch that bugger, he’s going to rip into the boks.
18 Nov 2012, 16:14 pm
@Heavens Game-475:
At least the Stormers have the players to match the game plan… Now that is the difference…
Province also won the Currie Cup and the Conference trophy… Now which team could match that?
18 Nov 2012, 16:15 pm
@mikeybrass-463: He was f’ng angry and I was just as angry.. the man is passionate about Bok rugby and when he sees it being p1ssed against the wall of conservative cowardice the way it has stagnated into one dead end syndrome of 9 man rugby.. not even 10 man rugby .. Bok rugby stops at scrum half that where it ends..
the backs are not even a meager feature of events and Mallet is quite correct.. if Meyer is looking for kick and charge rugby protagonists to force the advantage through the gain line by sheer weight of mass over agility then rather play Alberts and Etsebeth at center.. that way you sure to achieve your target at breaching the gain line.. they will be far more efficient at Meyers game plan than any of De Jongh or JdV or Any back line player required to carry out the task
Rather just play 15 forwards because Meyers strategies have no use for any one bearing any thinking or off loading or game breaking capacity.
The devolution of rugby since Mallets team of 98 to now is as retrograde and deficient as any one would ever hope to ever accept.. and the chief proponents of the degradation and devolution were White, PdV under player management of Smit, Matfield and FdP, and now Meyer following in the same downward projecting spiral
The entire country is up in arms about it.. only a very few die hard Bulls supporters still support this garbage and I reckon its going to blow.
18 Nov 2012, 16:16 pm
forgetting that lambie was playing to instruction for a second, his kicking was useless.
18 Nov 2012, 16:17 pm
@Brendope-461:
please refer post #265
@phil72-465:
it is harsh to say, but it is true.
there’s no point in his fans blaming the coach for his obvious and clear shortcomings shown this far.
18 Nov 2012, 16:18 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-482:
@Brendope-461:
please refer post #265 = please refer post #465
18 Nov 2012, 16:19 pm
@skopdiekan-445: wrong – he is part of the problem – the main cancer in the backline is Jean.
18 Nov 2012, 16:20 pm
@Heavens Game-475: You talk absolute garbage .. now you want to bring your pet hate Stormers into it..
I told you HM was going to fck Bok rugby into his nether plan of stereotype one dimensional Bulls patroon conservative dead ended deficiency right at the outset when he showed his hand with his first squad selection and you were at the forefront of the HM glory singers when he was picking your little sharkshit darlings.. now you suddenly catch a f’ng wake up and you wanna be the cheerleader of the hate HM brigade…
when you going to wake up BEFORE the fact.. not AFTER you awaken out your brain dead slumber.. stupid moron up your own sad flip flopping inconsistency
18 Nov 2012, 16:21 pm
I reckon even the die hard bittereinders are starting to question the HM game plan…..
Fark it is a horrible way to play the game….
I wonder how some of those Bok players must be feeling having to carry out these staid and predictable tactics?
18 Nov 2012, 16:22 pm
@phil72-465:
Your parents must be dissapointed they produced a waste of space like you.
Lambie played very well yesterday. He showed great variation in his kicking game early on, adapted to the Scots trying to rush up by keeping it direct, probing behind and correctly playing territory. He had a very good defensive performance (a million miles away from what morne has proved himself capable of) and kicked his his goals, missing one. (don’t make me say it again)
He is growing in each game, and his natural style is becoming more and more apparent.
Meyer should select Lambie at 10 next week, he is playing well and deserves it.
With Lambie at ten, we should beat England.
18 Nov 2012, 16:22 pm
@mikeybrass-458: Not the point….take joy from the fact we still won even if it was not up to the standard that you want. There is so must to be miz about in the world and this was a victory for a team you support.
Nothing you do or say is going to change the way the game is being played or the players selected. I am pretty certain the coach has more knowledge than any of us about the game. Right or wrong he is doing it his way and it will be his head on a platter if things should implode. Right now we number 2 in the world rankings and NZ is always difficult to pass and they don’t have the politics in any form like us to deal with be it the choosing of to many players from certain provinces or not enough POC,s or to many POC,s.
They just have to worry about their hairstyles and the color of their boots they want to wear on the day.
18 Nov 2012, 16:23 pm
bresler and franco should not be there, kitshoff i called first up, but needs to be watched for a season or two yet, heinke looked outstanding, cillers v good said so way before any of you, but perhaps not got the size to be wordclass but def worth a shot and i think is better than jan dup who is making me eat my word a bit under meyer, but still not in the worldclass league. Janse got massive heart, but not worldclass. Your first 3 choices at 7 are not worldclass blindsider, not by a long shot, far too light. Only worldclass one’s we have are Alberts, Juan if fit and maybe Kolisi with a few tests under his belt. your scum,halves are good, i called groom before you, but he still needs to be watched, s pretorius is v good u right there, but maybe missed his chance, they treated him wrong too, jantjies and lambie ordinary, goosen special, watch willie and coetzee another season but not sure they flhalves, one of those twins from the freestate would make v good running flyhalf until goosen pushed him out
18 Nov 2012, 16:24 pm
Seems like the coach is being conveniently blamed for your shite backline play as PDV was blamed for all your losses in 08/10 and 11, your backs just don’t have the same vison and skill set as NZ backs hence the reason why they score very few tries against quality teams, if the game plan is to blame how does that then explain your lack of tries from broken play where a moment of indvidual brilliance can bust a game open like we see just about everytime the Ab’s play, or are we blaming Meyer for that as well?
18 Nov 2012, 16:24 pm
@Transformation-481:
i could swear there was one line kick which he took after a free kick/penalty to the boks which after making about five meters in distance, the touch judge was then still obligated to set the lineout the mandatory five or so meters fron the point at which the ball had crossed the line…. so basically the boks ended going absolutely farking nowhere… they might as well have just taken the lineout right where they were… oh wait… they did take the lineout right where they were.
18 Nov 2012, 16:25 pm
next year going to be more of the same…..watch HM get FDP, M Steyn, Spies back in the mix….
skop en jag to a whole new level….
18 Nov 2012, 16:28 pm
@Gumboots-472: hahahahaha ja makes you want to howl when the tree comes down and all you have is a barren landscape with no beauty or that sustains so many life forms.
18 Nov 2012, 16:29 pm
@Slumtown-484: You are wrong.. Pienaar is the root cause of the problem.. not De Villiers… De Villiers is playing in wrong position but so are about 50% of Meyers run on team
Hougaard must go back to 9, and Groom or Pretorius should be on bench
Goosen or Jantjies to 10.. and Pienaar could actually contribute from 10 which is where I would have kept him since 2009 I would never have dropped Pienaar for Steyn back then already… You people are all retrograde.. you don’t see where the problem actually transpires its in the selection process and the deficient game strategy..
Pienaar at 9 is the first port of fallout.. that is directly where Bok backline play gets nullified from the very first phase of play..
Change Pienaar for Hougaard, and you will see an immediate difference.. but if HM continues to play his old 2007 play patterns he will never get any joy out of any one.
JdV must play at 13 or 14 where he can switch with JPP for more direction through the back line and De Jongh at 12. Mapoe can also contribute from 13 as so could Jordaan or Serfontein, but De Jongh should play at 12 ahead of JdV who should play at 13 or even at wing.
The real cause of the entire back line deficiency is Pienaar that is where it starts and ends… The Back line will NEVER progress as long as either Pienaar or FdP play at no.9 that is where Bok rugby gets killed off at the source of everything before it gets past the slow thinking general at the base of the scrum.
18 Nov 2012, 16:29 pm
As for whether meyer was going to be a fkup, no-one really knew, you give ppl the benefit of the doubt, there were moments against england when the Boks looked sublime, in fact i cant remember seeing a better performance – however, the pressure is getting him more and more conservative – white succumbed eventually but meyer is even more conservative.
meyer knows how to drill the forward, jannie du plessis playing amazing well under him, all the pack are, but his selections are poor – as for the backline play that is completely worrying, he’s basically got 55% of the job done, which is why we getting 55% win results – with this set of players you cant really go that wrong but he’s def not maximising it.
etsebeth has been a revelation, who knew he was going to come thru so quickly but he should be playing at 5. Kruger is not a test tight 5 player tho got a big workrate so keep him on bench – we need a cleaner lock in there as andrews points out.
18 Nov 2012, 16:30 pm
The difference in our winning rugby and the AB’s winning rugby is the opposition fears and respects them. They have the ruthless streak we clearly lack.
When sides like Scotland talk up their chances of beating us and believe they have a shot, we need to do introspection.
I’m obviously all for us winning, but we would all like to see something more than our current one track pony.
18 Nov 2012, 16:31 pm
@skopdiekan-494:
why do your backs score no tries from broken play either?
18 Nov 2012, 16:35 pm
474@I love Bakkies…..no thanks..am of booze…had birthday bashes Wednesday, Thursday and big one last night…..the highlight seeing an award winning humanitarian Doctor just past middle age doing the Gangnam thing up and down the Deck…..tears were rolling down faces with laughter and to much booze.
18 Nov 2012, 16:38 pm
morne to start next saturday!
18 Nov 2012, 16:39 pm
patrick lambie is an inside center to my mind
he has the makings of a brilliant center, without the pressure of kicking and/or decision making at 10.
at worst a fullback
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