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, 16:41 pm
HMs comment about being a young team is a bit of a stretch, unless by young he means the newness of his squad, as I only noticed EE and Lambie as young in the starting side and Marcel on the bench.
18 Nov 2012, 16:41 pm
@cab-489: ip I left out Kolisi,, he would auton=matically be at 7 before either of Coetsee or Botha.. but those are the best young loose forwards coming through
Kolisi, M. Coetsee who offered far more than Alberts when he came on yesterday injecting far more aggression and dynamism to the cover tackle and the ball carry role.. and Arno Botha.. and the accurate read of that situation is all of those youngsters are retreaded 8′s they all played No.8 in their youth rugby… Alberts is too heavy for a 7 for more than 30 minutes he should switch to 4.
PSDT will be the next No.7 No.4 hybrid with a little more speed than either of Elstadt or Alberts.. Psdt maybe closer to Juan Smith than even you realize.
My start Bok team
F. Steyn
JPP
Fourie / JdV
De Jongh
Habana
Goosen
Hougaard
Vermeulen
Kolisi
Louw
Etsebeth
Alberts
Cilliers
Bismark
Gurthro
Heinke, Fourie, JdP, (Elstadt / PSDT), Coetsee, Groom, (Lambie / Taute / Serfontein), (Rhule / Mapoe)
18 Nov 2012, 16:41 pm
It’s a pity that there is no Barbarian match this year.
Would love to see Lambie picked at 10 with instructions to go for it against a team like the AB’s.
One way of settling the debate as to whether he belongs or doesn’t.
I believe he can become a great with more open minded coaches and a different gameplan,
FH should call the shots on the field without fear of failing or fear of upsetting the coach
18 Nov 2012, 16:42 pm
@Treehugger-498:
congrats, sounds like you guys had an absolute ball of a time and you clearly ‘earned’ your right to go off booze for a bit.
18 Nov 2012, 16:43 pm
cab: skop was one of the people singing meyer’s praises when he was appointed and doing 1 on 1 gesig to gesig wankathon meetings with players earlier in the year.
18 Nov 2012, 16:43 pm
lambie is too slow off the mark, he’s a good player, but he’s fundamental lack of pace counts against him becoming a great, never going to ghost into gaps like larkham or carter – he’s probably akin to mike catt in that he’s strngth is that he distributes very well, but meyer has managed to stifle that with an insistence on kicking when not exactly in the right field position, which is hardly ever.
18 Nov 2012, 16:43 pm
@cab-495:
Pieter de V probably has more influence on the front row than HM.
18 Nov 2012, 16:44 pm
@Transformation-505:
yep i know – ou doosie the groot bullduster.
18 Nov 2012, 16:44 pm
@skopdiekan-494: well firstly Houghaard has played 9 on numerous occasions and every single time the problems were the same – slow distribution, indecision and very slow boxkicks getting charged down on numerous occasions. How moving him back there will sort anything out is beyond me – Houghaard is a cr@p scrumhalf end of. Pienaar is there precisely because he was so poor. Now Pienaar is not much better but marginally yes. Pienaar has never had the mental fortitude to be a 10.
De Villiers on wing? And you complain about Heyneke playing people out of position – the guy is way too old and slow to be a wing. Why play him in wing when you have perfectly good wings such as JPP, Habana, Mvovo and Rhule? Doesnt even begin to make sense. He is better at 13 – he seems to be less selfish with the ball for some reason at 13. 12 he is not. The ball got killed every single time it got to him at 12 (which it did on numerous occasions) ergo the backline play gets killed right there where he goes to ground with the ball – De Jongh got 2 passes the whole game and broke the line with the first one. Terribly sorry but Jean is the problem in Boks and Stormer backlines for not scoring tries. Once Frans Steyn is back its him, and hopefully Jan Serfontein – id keep De Jongh as a possible 12 or 13 if we could get Jacques Fourie back at 13 and draft in Ebersohn or Jordaan as backup. In fact the only position I could envisage Houghaard making any headway in the Bok setup is at 13.
In principle I agree with most of what youre saying but De Villiers is the main prob in our backline and Pienaar nor Houghaard are any better.
18 Nov 2012, 16:45 pm
Seems no one can answer the broken play question, the answers pretty simple, goodnight.
18 Nov 2012, 16:46 pm
@skopdiekan-502:
coetsee is not what you need, the balance is not right because our tight 5 is not right, but when alberts came off the scots were all over us, i dunno what the possession stats were but we got no attack whatsoever, coetsee is too light, he runs hard but they stop him dead. There is a place for Coetsee but then you gotta have a genuinie tight 5, not teddy and the two locks picked to start – this is why meyer is having to pick a slightly too heavy tight 5 that is getting worn out early on.
18 Nov 2012, 16:47 pm
sorry, slighty too heavy backrow.
18 Nov 2012, 16:47 pm
@JL1-466: Mallet doesn’t have to prove anything, he’s already done it all. Superb win/loss record coaching the Boks, longest winning streak for ANY test team since professionalism with the Boks, Tri Nations, had the Boks playing proper 15 man rugby where they weren’t regarded as pantomine villains, bores and flat track bullies. Didn’t win the world cup but so what, the Boks were never more feared or respected than under his reign.
18 Nov 2012, 16:48 pm
@cab-495: I gave him the benefit of the doubt till his first squad selection with Potgieter and Spies and Kankowski and his closed mind to Brussow and Kolisi and De Jongh and Aplon along with his insistence of playing M. Steyn and his cry out for help from FdP and Matfield.. that is when I knew already that this coach is going to take a LONG way around to learn what it takes to coach a Bok team from inception.. trial and error knee jerk reactions later and we now have Louw, Vermeulen in the mix but his back line strategy is a LONG way from ever coming right..
At Bulls in 2007 he had Tod Louden showing him what to do.. now he has to rely on his own rugby acumen for any ideas and he is sorely lacking in any creativity anywhere near his brain dead calculations.
18 Nov 2012, 16:49 pm
@Transformation-499:
i dont know if you’re stirring here or not, transie
but, from a rugby point of view i would pick morne at 10 too. if lambie’s having jitters he needs to get over them in super rugby and make sure that when he gets another shot he takes it with both hands in the way goosen has.
still feel he’s more a 12 (even if its a hybridised kiwi 2nd 5/8th version) than a bok style 10, or a 15 at the worst (which isn’t a bad thing).
18 Nov 2012, 16:50 pm
@David-507:
maybe you right actually – but **** even heinke is looking outstanding, did you see him plough in there yesterday – we got some bladdy good props at the moment, cj always had problems with the scrummy but a decent selection – need to have some regte egte tight 5′s – im surprised meyer actually picked him such is his need for discipline. poor old flip proably not going to get picked again when that is exactly what is needed v the scots, he should be starting at 4 v england with etsebeth at 5.
18 Nov 2012, 16:53 pm
@Transformation-505: what.. wtf you talking about now? when was I singing Meyers praises.. the only time I backed Meyer was when White took a swipe at him .. or when Matfield said he was a better coach than White a while back before he ever became Bok coach..
the moment I saw his first squad I knew we were in a for a long learning curve under this slow learning nincompoop.
18 Nov 2012, 16:53 pm
PR: You’ve said publicly that the Springboks
rely on their forwards dominating their
opposition. There’s a popular catch phrase
doing the rounds suggesting that when that
doesn’t happen, there is no ‘plan B.’ These
days you can’t expect to dominate
physically every week, so does that mean
your plan is outdated?
HM: The need for dominance up front is
true of every side in world rugby. The All
Blacks struggled in Dunedin because our
forwards put them under pressure. If the
Wallabies play England and get smashed in
the scrums, their whole game suffers.
Even if you have a plan B, C, D and E,
you’re still going to struggle if your
forwards don’t dominate. Eight of the
fifteen guys in the side are forwards so if
they don’t play well, you’re in trouble,
especially if they can’t get you quick ball.
The kick-offs are the most important
because if you miss it, you’ll get kept in
your own half until the opposition scores.
So you can have a plan B, C and X if you
want, but if you don’t do the basics right,
you’re never going to win.
Plan ‘B’ is a fallacy. You should plan every
situation on its merits.
Johan Goosen did well at Loftus because he
got quality ball. There is no set game plan
where players are told to go out and kick
everything. You want them to read the
situation.
People think there are two types of rugby -
kick and run. That’s not true. Everyone
thinks we played fantastic attacking rugby
against Australia but we made 185 tackles!
That’s the most we’ve ever made. We
scored most of our tries from their
mistakes, because that’s where tries come
from – turnovers.
Ask any guy and he’ll say that because
Goosen was there we played ‘running
rugby’. We didn’t. They ran more than us.
But our defence was awesome and forced
them into errors to create opportunities.
People say we should just keep the ball all
the time, but you can’t. If the opposition
sends in one tackler and we need three
cleaners in a ruck, then after a few phases
there is a mismatch of numbers and you
have to kick.
ou heyneke is a HOOT…if they send on tackler then there’ll be a mismatch so play safety first rugby & get out of dodge!
18 Nov 2012, 16:55 pm
Lambie proved these past 2 games that he’s not an international flyhalf, he proved it under Pieter de Villiers and Now he proved it once again.. No reason for blaming HM for Lambie’s shortcomings.
You always have to follow a game plan!!!!! Goosen was more that able to fit in.
Lambie is maybe to one dimensional to alter his way of playing slightly. Goal kicking was OK, will give him that but his kicking in general play was way below par.
We all had this vision of Lambie becoming a world-class player that can change a game with good decision-making… We have been talking about it for 3 years now…. When will it happen?
HM is here to stay and if Bambie cannot play under his Game plan he obviously is not the right FH for the Job!
If he had speed we could have played him at 15, but that is also not the case!
18 Nov 2012, 16:57 pm
@Transformation-518:
HM can also talk maar kak – who thought they played excellent against australia? propaganda of the highest order = they played kak against australia and new zealand – where the Boks played excellent was against england who had to make twice as many tackles. meyer has not had one decent performance since the 2nd test v england. any time you have to make twice as many tackles, like the Boks did against Scotland yesterday, you know they played kak. that test could have gone either way yesterday, many times over.
18 Nov 2012, 17:00 pm
@cab-520: yep fully agree – the Boks have been dismal – their best moment that first half peformance vs England in the 2nd test. That was exciting stuff to watch. What happened since then god only knows.
18 Nov 2012, 17:00 pm
@Slumtown-484: Exactly… Well said… Not only for the Boks, but for the other teams he plays, as Munster found out soon enough and sent him homeward ta think again…
He proceeded to replace a very successful Juan De Jong to all Stormer supporters delight… That is why I laugh at their flip floppery when they have a hissy fit when is not first choice centre… He is not at the Stormers… If Mossie had to come back JdJ would find himself gathering splinters…
What price Taute ending up at 1st choice 13 next year, JdV 1st choice 12 and JdJ on the bench anyway…?
It can happen at the Stormers…
18 Nov 2012, 17:01 pm
@NZINCHINA-510: so why are you asking if you already know.
18 Nov 2012, 17:03 pm
If Meisiekind was still playing in SA it wouldnt surprise me in the slightest if he was first choice centre after the Bok cancer of the backline…
18 Nov 2012, 17:04 pm
@NZINCHINA-510: Can you not understand that players who are coached and encouraged to attack will be better at attacking than players who are coached and strongly discouraged to attack? If your first thought is to attack, you will be better at it when the opportunity presents itself than someone whose first thought is to kick the ball or run straight and set up a ruck. Why do you think the Boks are so much better than the ABs at rolling mauls? Pure chance? Meyer levels of stupidity.
18 Nov 2012, 17:05 pm
@Slumtown-521: who was the scrum half in that test.. go check it again.. it was HOUGAARD.. and that is PRECISELY why Boks were pumping on all cylinders that half a test,, because Hougaard was whipping the ball to the backs at flat out front foot dynamic service..
You numbskulls are all arse about face wrong way around.. now you and HG here reckon its De Villiers who is the cancer in the back line, when it is the two half backs.. Pienaar and Lambie or M. Steyn.. that is where the rot STARTS and sets in.. not at first center,, at SCRUMHALF.. and SECONDLY at 10.
18 Nov 2012, 17:09 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-500: Nothing wrong with Lambie at 10 for the Sharks…
Everything wrong with Lambie at 10 for the Boks playing a brain dead Bulls/Stormers (not WP currie cup) skop en jaag style of game…
Lambie is not the right player for this… Neither is Jantjies…
Maybe Goosen because he has that toemaak farken closed minded netjies tendency that the others can’t have… However unless they are pumping full of roids at this present moment he will break down again by about June next year if not sooner…
18 Nov 2012, 17:09 pm
@skopdiekan-526: ja ja he has his moments just a pity about all the rest isnt it?
18 Nov 2012, 17:10 pm
I could fix this team in two ticks I know exactly what is wrong with it
and the first problem area is definitely not JdV at center.. correct he should be at 13 not 12.. and de Jongh should be at 12 not 13.. but the first problem to fix here is directly behind the scrum where Hougaard must start and Groom or Reinach or Pretorius or someone as efficient in distribution is on the bench.
18 Nov 2012, 17:11 pm
@cab-520: Yeah the 2nd test against England- well, the first half of that game only, has been the only good Bok performance under HM’s watch where we were actually building towards something great. Quick ball from hougaard, big strike runners, retaining possession, good handling, spreading the ball a bit. That’s all it took and most of us were very happy on the day. So only one genuinely good half of rugby since Heyneke took over along with the trouncing of the Aussie C team at Loftus.
18 Nov 2012, 17:13 pm
@phil72-519: Of course he is not an international flyhalf – for the Boks, playing braindead in the pocket “quarterback” rugby…
No flyhalf will be an “international” flyhalf unless it is Morne Steyn or Derick Hougaard… or Johan Goosen… with a 70m line clearance ability.
You poor closed minded dumbfuck…
18 Nov 2012, 17:13 pm
@Slumtown-528: Hougaard should have been first choice scrum half in 2011 maybe even in 2010 ahead of FdP and Boks would have won the WC..
some you people can’t see actually where the game plan breaks down.. it is directly behind the scrum where HM is secretly seeking another FdP to run his kick chase game plan he still thinks will be successful 6 years later after it was the last time.
18 Nov 2012, 17:14 pm
skop: you can’t deny that both our starting Bok 12s are bloody ballhogs!!!
to make matters worse jean de villiers cannot even pass without the ball going forward! he did it australia last year, in durban and aplon scored vs sharks, twice vs australia @loftus. he currently is a LIABILITY!!!
18 Nov 2012, 17:15 pm
@skopdiekan-529: From this post it is clear as day, sharp as a hot knife through butter that you know absolutely farkall about backline play…
You’re clearly as closed minded as Heil Heynecke…
Farken blind supremacist apologist c*nt.
18 Nov 2012, 17:18 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-476: Goosen ignored the coach’s instructions. Lambie played Steyn Mark II.
18 Nov 2012, 17:19 pm
@Transformation-533: 100%. And no matter who the Bok 12s are – that is the way they are expected to play… Actually, maybe this suits JdV to a Tee… Dumbfuck route one reguit play with no requirement to pass the ball at all…
18 Nov 2012, 17:20 pm
Correct slumtown 520 and spies 530 – that was an outstandng perforamce – in fact, the only stat really worth monitoring is the no of tackles made because it tells you which team has go-forward and is playing rugby.
You keep defending like that and you will lose every other game you win against tier 2 oppo, and will lose everytime against tier 1 oppo.
18 Nov 2012, 17:21 pm
@skopdiekan-480: Thanks to you and the others for the summary of Mallett’s analysis.
There is distinct similarities between the way Meyer started his tenure at the Bulls and the way he has started with the Boks in terms of playing style. He has gone back to square 1.
18 Nov 2012, 17:22 pm
@Heavens Game-534: I know more about back line play than you will ever know.. I played both 9 and 10.. and Boks rugby starts and stops behind the scrum.. that is exactly where it breaks down you numbskull imbecilic arsehole that got f’all clue about wtf is ACTUALLY gone wrong…
9 and 10.. that is where Springbok rugby has stagnated since 2007 and that is precisely where the entire rot has set in and needs one massive re think overhaul.. Meyer and White and PdV ALL play a 10 man game where back line does not feature.. it stops at 9 or 10.. that is as far as Boks coaches can strategize or think.. No.9 and No.10.. further than that they are absolutely brain dead..
Just like morons such as this schmuckass HG who thinks he knows wtf is cutting when he don’t… HG was singing glory hallelujahs when Heyneke was appointed now he changed his tune.. like every other time I told him so.. I’m telling him again.
18 Nov 2012, 17:23 pm
I have to laugh at how the Boks were copying the Pumas style of game, the style they started the Rc that is, yesterday where they tried to set up a maul at every opportunity – even in midfield off a backline player…
Meanwhile, the Pumas have moved on from this way of play… Truly, Meyer and his braindead Blouballas, Stormers systematised rugby acolytes are taking Bok rugby backwards at a rate of knots…
18 Nov 2012, 17:24 pm
@Treehugger-488: Take joy from a team winning and showing they are evolving. So again, how can any enjoyment be taken from the devolution of Bok backline play?
18 Nov 2012, 17:25 pm
The harsh reality is that Heyneke Meyer is going no where. Well, not in a hurry. I have advocated giving him time and space, but my patience has become tested.
HM has these goals of being ranked #1 in the world, having an 80% winning record. What coach wouldn’t? The things is, Heyneke has surrounded himself with yes men who are there for the ride. If HM wants to achieve these lofty heights, then he has to bring in people who can challenge him. He is not going to do it on his own. If those people are unavailable locally, look globally. HM just has to break out of this conservative mind-set.
SARU are not going to fire HM. Just as many of us wanted PDiv’s head, SARU didn’t. Pdiv wanted to fire his assistants, HM should now consider doing the same.
18 Nov 2012, 17:25 pm
@NZINCHINA-490: Wrong players are being picked and it also has to do with the environment where players feel empowered to attack without fear of failure.
18 Nov 2012, 17:25 pm
England will beat us next week if they force us into making the amount of tackles we did against Scotland – in fact they will beat us comfortably if we don’t get go-forward and this is nit a great England pack – that truly is a young pack – far younger than current bok pack.
Dank die vader we not playing France on this tour.
18 Nov 2012, 17:26 pm
@Heavens Game-536: change scrum half and fly half and you see an immediate transition.. that is the cancer in Springbok rugby.. Pienaar and Lambie or M. Steyn.. can’t get their backs away..way too slow and way too one dimensional
Check how Freddy Michalak and his scrum half do it for the French.. or even the limited amateur Argy scrum half and his fly half.. they are passing to backs running at speed from depth.. Boks are flat as a pancake with nothing happening beyond 9 or 10.
18 Nov 2012, 17:27 pm
@skopdiekan-539: Not only do you know farkall as clearly indicated in your last post… You at best are fantasising about your knowledge for what, I dont know…maybe as one big egowank, at worst you are lying about it… Not just to me, but to yourself… Like Heil Heynecke and Herr Van Graan do with the Boks…
Wipe the shittt out of your own eyes, before trying to even attempt wiping the shittt out of anyone elses…
18 Nov 2012, 17:27 pm
@Heavens Game-531:
Both Lambie and Chillie should go and gain some valuable experience in Europe… They both could return better players!
18 Nov 2012, 17:28 pm
@Heavens Game-540: you were front of the cue singing the messiah has arrived.. since when did you change your tune.. when he dropped Keegy.. or before or after then?
18 Nov 2012, 17:30 pm
@skopdiekan-539: The Boks need a Garth Wright Mark II…
18 Nov 2012, 17:30 pm
The best thing for the Boks would be if England give them a PK with Morne and the backline cancer JdV “leading” from the front the Heil Heynecke way… Dont think it will happen, but who knows, maybe the Rugby Gods will have mercy…
Outtahere
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