Demanding more from awful Boks
19 Nov 2012
MARK KEOHANE, in his weekly Business Day column, says this has been a desperate end-of-year tour for the Springboks, and to criticise them does not make one unpatriotic.
From a distance this Springbok tour has only depressed me. Does that mean the Springboks depress me? No. Does this mean there is no hope? No.
Forget what next year could hold. Let’s deal in real time with the considerable disappointment for those of us who appreciate the potential within South African rugby and the quality of player that makes up South African rugby.
Each to his own, be it in acknowledgment or denial, but I find it an insult to South African rugby that so many are so willing to call a win a win and dismiss any dismay as disparagement of the Bok coach, management, players and just anti-South African.
Why is there such irrational and ignorant investment of energy? I can’t explain the conservatism of the Springboks’ approach — and I am referring to the coaching staff.
I expected more and rightly so. I’ll take an ugly win in the World Cup final and I’ll take an ugly win every time if it is against the All Blacks. There are times a team will win ugly, but very good teams with aspirations to be great teams mostly win with a swagger more than a stagger.
I know the Bok players have character and that they take seriously the responsibility of playing for South Africa and excelling as national players. If you have to applaud them for this then they’re in the wrong profession. It’s a given.
I understand that among the goals of the Boks between this year and 2015 is to concede the least points in world rugby and to concede the least tries. Nowhere is there talk of scoring the most points and scoring the most tries.
Christmas can’t come soon enough, and I hope the gift of introspection comes wrapped with whatever else makes its way to the home of Bok coach Heyneke Meyer and his support staff. Nothing has been gained from this tour. The Boks can tackle. The Boks can maul. The Boks have character.
I don’t want South Africa to be New Zealand. I want them to be South Africa. Good Springbok teams have always played rugby. The good ones have had more than just character, a desire to tackle and an effective mauling technique.
The good, very good and great Bok teams have trusted their basic skills and believed that the true expression of their talent is in scoring tries and points — and not in how few are conceded.
I have never understood the flippancy with which the words ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ are used within the Bok context. To condemn the Springboks’ performance in Dublin and Edinburgh is apparently a negative. To applaud the win is to be patriotic, passionate and positive. Again, each to their own.
I prefer ‘accurate’ and ‘inaccurate’ when assessing the Boks. Is it accurate to laud a win fashioned by an intercept try and supposedly brutal defence in the last 20 minutes against a side ranked 10 in the world who a week earlier conceded 50 points against the All Blacks?
To talk of being the best requires more than a PowerPoint presentation and a Vince Lombardi quote.
Heyneke Meyer, my preferred choice as Bok coach, seems convinced 2012 was always going to be a struggle and survival was a more appropriate ‘go to’ than sensation. I haven’t been floored by this defeatist attitude but I have been dazed and deflated.
Apparently to tackle is to care if you are a Bok. Apparently to attack is to risk despair.
Where’s the cheer been in this tour? Where’s the evolution?
A week ago I wrote of the fear of failure within the Boks and the restrictive approach that rewards no risk and the possibility of a mistake.
The Boks, regardless of who coaches them, should have beaten Ireland and Scotland. Both teams are inferior in every aspect. Both teams currently don’t have the pedigree of player to threaten a side with the player resource of South Africa.
I will always have an expectation of a nation with two World Cup titles. To demand anything less is to not care; alternatively not to know.
The players know it has been an awful tour in performance and quality. Perhaps more applicably it has been a desperate tour.
I won’t apologise for demanding more from the coach and the players.
A week ago I said the players should embrace the adventure. Some pounced on this as results not meaning anything. Of course they mean everything, otherwise there wouldn’t be a score and there wouldn’t be a winner. But to accept the post-match virtues of character and player pride for the Bok jersey is to accept being second best.
I won’t, and the optimist in me thinks neither will those who assess the Bok performance instead of excusing the lack of performance.
427 Comments
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19 Nov 2012, 10:40 am
Pretty much what the majority here has said.
19 Nov 2012, 10:44 am
Agreed! We played like a seventh or eighth ranked side in the world.
Actually we defended for most of the second half otherwise there would be more blushing again…
Some actually think the coach is doing a great job and that is what is disturbing…
19 Nov 2012, 10:44 am
Nice piece Keo.
19 Nov 2012, 10:45 am
I wish the Boks played a test against France, instead of England. France would have given them the wake up call needed.
19 Nov 2012, 10:46 am
Not going to bother with watching the Boks until we have proper coaches. Have not watched a single minute of the EOYT. Il keep it that way.
19 Nov 2012, 10:46 am
@rossoneri-4:
We are very lucky not to be playing them. England might just give the wake-up call we are needing… They will be up for this one…
19 Nov 2012, 10:47 am
@skunk-5:
You have missed very little… no ulcers, no stress and no heart-ache…
19 Nov 2012, 10:48 am
If 1 word describes HM S bOKS THIS YEAR….FOR ME IT IS …
Fear….
19 Nov 2012, 10:49 am
I haven’t been this miff about Bok rugby since 2003.
Lambie needs to grow some balls and play HIS game. Because if he tries to play HM’s game, we will fail and be dropped anyway,
Ruan is painfully slow at times too, but the sometimes shows some real class. Very frustrating.
19 Nov 2012, 10:50 am
Well put, sad to see our rugby turned into a desperate effort against the likes of Scotland. Our attacking gameplan is just a non factor when players kick away turnover ball, it defies logic.
The great thing about JW’s bok team is that they went wide when they stole the ball, but HM seems to teach his players to kick it away!
If the scots did not kick the ball away on two seperate attacking situations in our 22 than I believe we might have lost, now that is sad.
19 Nov 2012, 10:51 am
@grant10-8:
Same can be said about the Stormers
Well, not quite. The Stormers played with 7′s type freedom compared to these shackled Boks.
19 Nov 2012, 10:51 am
Keo. This is ‘fat boy’ rugby. You wanted it and now you have got it good and hard.
It actually has been a long time coming.
Serves you right.
19 Nov 2012, 10:52 am
@Gumboots-2: Messiah worshippers, blinded by the light they see coming out of HM’s ***.
19 Nov 2012, 10:53 am
Well said Mark – one of your best articles. We have been groomed by SARU and the coaching staff to accept mediocrity. The mantra of playing to our strengths is wearing so thin and having a cursory look at old Bok videos on You Tube you would have to say are utter rubbish. Yes weve always loved a physical contest and prided ourself in set piece play but man did those old timers fling the ball about with glee, they ran and offloaded and supported like demons. The current batch bar a few individuals are not playig with the same joie de vivre and this is down to one thing – coaching and its resultant incorrect selection policy. There are simply too many players who should not be in a Bok jersey at present or who deserve to be there but are not being played in the correct positions.
On a tour where we might have wanted to look at alternatives and new players we have only had utter conservatism (bar Lambie and De Jonghs selection). And I believe the conservatism is based on the fear of not even being able to squeeze out a win against inferior opposition.
19 Nov 2012, 10:55 am
@londonshark-11: The difference is the Stormers coaching staff have identified that they need to evolve their style to get better attacking play. AC acknowledged that defence alone will not win you a SR title, the difference came in the CC final and better will come from the SR 2013 season.
I would replace the current bok coaching staff with AC & co any day!
19 Nov 2012, 10:56 am
Our obsession with our 12 bashing it up is our real problem. JDV was one of the most creative players in world rugby. Look what we’ve done to the guy. Same can be said about Frans Steyn.
SA needs a Matt G type of 12.
19 Nov 2012, 10:57 am
A very well written and thought out article. How ever you see or scrutinise the springboks this season, the vast majority of their performances have been painful to watch. Why the Bokke coaches and players seem to think that this is not the case, shows a team that is weak in character. Step up or step down. And this goes for the players too, starting with our Captain (who for the larger part of this year has been woeful), to the coaches. Improve greatly or step aside and allow for real leadership. The recent commentary from both de Villiers and Meyer has been embarrassingly detached from reality.
19 Nov 2012, 10:57 am
@londonshark-11: Yes….for my sins both my superrugby and national teams have played the most fear based rugby I can remember ever witnessing…..horrible stuff
19 Nov 2012, 10:58 am
@goodstuff-15:
Agreed. How Meyer passed on the Stormer’s defensive coach is beyond me!!??
19 Nov 2012, 10:58 am
@grant10-8: Ja, I agree. I think that HMs natural conservatism doesn’t work very well in the multicultural Bok setup, as opposed to in the monoculture of the Bulls setup. It’s a shame.
19 Nov 2012, 10:59 am
@grant10-18:
Fear not. I think the Stormers will surprise some teams next year. Just not against the Sharks
19 Nov 2012, 11:01 am
@londonshark-19: McFarland is his *****, he doesn’t like people telling him he is wrong.
The next bok coaching team in 2016 will be AC and co. No chance that HM will be posted before than, to much support from the SA Rugby “ou manne”.
19 Nov 2012, 11:05 am
@londonshark-16: what ive been saying or years now. De Villiers is one dimensional and kills all attacking play when it does get past the halfback pair if they dont kick it away. Painful beyond words. The only purpose for us having an outside centre, 2 wings and a fullback is for defense.
19 Nov 2012, 11:06 am
Cooper quits Wallabies – report
2012-11-19 10:53
Sydney – Controversial Wallaby flyhalf Quade Cooper has rejected a contract offer by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) and may now pursue a career overseas or switch to Rugby League, local media reported on Monday.
Cooper has not played for Australia since describing the team environment as ‘toxic’ – a comment which led the ARU to fine him $40 000 last month.
Channel Nine news said on Monday the New Zealand-born flyhalf had rejected a low incentive based contract, and could now switch to the lucrative French Top 14 competition or to Rugby League.
19 Nov 2012, 11:06 am
@goodstuff-22: yeah and with the way the Stormers have been playing one has to wonder if that will be even the slightest bit better? I think not. Stormers are doing the same as the boks. And yes Jean Divvy plays for both.
19 Nov 2012, 11:08 am
@Slumtown-23: On first phase I don’t care about this so much if he is gaining ground, which he did on Saturday, but then after 7 or so phases we are able to do something wide and then either Pienaar/ Lambie or Bozo kick the ball away!!!
I am not against steady phase play, but let’s keep the ball!
19 Nov 2012, 11:10 am
Was at the game on Saturday and was a bit shocked. We have a good defence, and apart from the scrum, our forwards dominated the game. Our backs had loads of quality ball, but we hardly attacked. The few times that we ran those good balls, either Jean or Juan went over the advantage line. Then from the ruck following ruck we kick?!?!?!? And the kicking was useless. We cannot expect to score tries after two/three phases. All any team have to do against us, is defend for 5 phases without conceding a penalty and we will kick it, they can gather and start attacking us.
If we can apply the commitment that we have on defence to our attack, and take the ball through a number of phases we can be really competitive against the ABs.
Does anyone know where to get the data for the average number of phases the ABs take to score a try?
19 Nov 2012, 11:13 am
@goodstuff-26: yes my gripe is he does it virtually every time he gets the ball – it seems programmed in this order.
1) run away from my own teams players
2) bash into opposition as hard as I can
3) fall to the ground and recycle
4) ball gets turned over (why? well he ran away from his own team mates)
Its beyond lame man and how someone cant learn a thing after years of doing it (like Habana last year and his incessant coming off his position to effect the intercept and leaving his flak completely undefended) is absolutely and utterly beyond me man – beyond me.
19 Nov 2012, 11:13 am
Watching the Boks play is as boring as watching a windmill spinning, its only good in HM’s eyes.
Thank God I wasn’t never a Bulls supporter, such a boring rugby.
There is only one way to get thing right when it comes to make the backs to play enterprising. Hire a New Zealander, full stop. If you see how the Sharks and the Lions play, there is a touch of NZ there.
Its fine having a South African front row coach, unfortunately, Loubscher was never famouse for being enterprising, being black myself, I can admit that Loubscher a joke but its similar to Robbie Fleck situation, as much as he was an enterprising international back player unfortunately his back coaching at my beloved WP/Stormers is not up to scratch.
19 Nov 2012, 11:17 am
Pressure form SAs supporters is probably HM biggest reason for having a conservative approach.
He is doing what he knows/believes will win matches and therefore keep his job safe. So why would he stray from that trusted path? Carel du Plessis’s adventurous playing approach was not good enough for bok supporters back then and if they lose more than they win it wont be now…
HM is rebuilding and starting conservatively, but if you look at his track record with the bulls, its not all doom and gloom. He has the ability to take a team and make them reach their full attacking potential.
His biggest mistake from day one was to surround him with mediocre assistants attacking/skills/backline coaches. They are mediocre at best, so was Muir. SA just cannot learn from past mistakes! Why on earth after he had huge attacking success at the bulls with a great assistant coach like Todd Louden would he appoint a novice like Loubscher and Van Graan who is a forwards coach???
The problem is the boks wont lose more than they win and thats due to the quality of the players. HM is fighting to stay in charge but I dont believe he’ll stay on this path. At the moment it seems he’s just doing what he believes will give him more time to build a winning team and that includes developing a more balanced style.
For his sake I hope he realizes that he needs help to formulate and coach that balanced playing style. He needs a proper deputy to help him fix the boks woeful attack. Hopefully he can call for some reinforcements in 2013…
19 Nov 2012, 11:17 am
@GriekwasStormer-27:
Out of curiosity, what are the Scottish supporters take on the Boks?
19 Nov 2012, 11:17 am
Boks didn’t just win ugly. They play ugly.
19 Nov 2012, 11:18 am
@Slumtown-28:
Still cheesed off with me?
19 Nov 2012, 11:18 am
I like it!
HM’s Boks winning test against Scotland in 2012 raises more criticism than PdV’s Boks losing to the Scots in 2010
It surly upsets some
19 Nov 2012, 11:22 am
Haha more bs from Meyer –
“They got a lot of confidence from that (the penalty, resulting line out and try) – there was only 11 points [difference between the teams] in the game and from there they started playing.
“I also thought once they realised every scrum is a penalty, they knew they could play in our half and live of our mistakes.
YES and why the m03r was every scrum a penalty??? Cos you chose a joke like CJ to be a sub for Jannie. OMG. What a lameass – Pat Cilliers would have done a better job and even he isnt the best choice to be on tour. Jannie is our premiere 3 but we need to get Coenie fit again and sort Mujatis papers out now – that will be the end of our Tighthead problems – especially with Cilliers as backup – menaing we have 4 possible TH options. Make bad choices and you suffer. We conceded 17 penalties against Scotland (most in the 2nd half) – what more to say?
19 Nov 2012, 11:22 am
@King Watson-29: So the Strompie S15 campaign was not boring?
19 Nov 2012, 11:23 am
rossoneri – Am glad we are not playing France they would womp us good and proper!!
However England has the ability to put us to the sword if they make the right on field decisions!!
Our Boks right now are abysmal, even worse than the PDVs Boks!!
The talent in the Bok team is very much there but just not being used!
Even Strauli’s Bok backline was better than the current Bok backline, scored loads of tries, just conceded more!!
19 Nov 2012, 11:23 am
@Dawn-33: lol – I was just trying to watch the game in peace. We all know the Boks are playing cr@p rugby at the moment – like I said if its that boring to watch then switch the channel. But i´m doomed to watching cos theyre still my team – like it or not lol. OMG what a position to be in.
19 Nov 2012, 11:25 am
@londonshark-19: Do you really think they need more defence coaching ?
19 Nov 2012, 11:26 am
@Slumtown-38:
(Actually, I did switch the channel)
19 Nov 2012, 11:26 am
@King Watson-29:
I agree get a Kiwi or Aussie. Its frustrating because history is repeating itself. Coetzee was no good and then Eddie Jones was ‘consultant’ and did wonders. He probably took over. And after that lesson poor PDV was stuck with Muir, which was no good either. And now once again the national team has a coach with a crummy resume. I agree Fleck’s appointment is a joke too. He was with UCT for a few seasons and gets a coaching job at the highest level… Why not get a guy with at least a decades worth of experience at top level? Ill never understand this.
19 Nov 2012, 11:27 am
@rossoneri-32:
Isn’t it better beating the Scots ugly than losing to them ugly?
Like PdV’s Boks lost to them in 2010?
19 Nov 2012, 11:29 am
@race of tan-37: That is the indictment of the year on Meyer. And its true. Even Strauli’s lot had more flair than this group.
19 Nov 2012, 11:30 am
@Dawn-40: yeah and I can tell you should this continue I will be too in the not too distant future. its getting too painful to watch. I agree with you Dawn.
19 Nov 2012, 11:31 am
How many times can one say ‘I, me, my’ in one piece…
19 Nov 2012, 11:32 am
@Hondo-42:The Scotland test should be the one we use to blood the kids, easy peasy one, to give your fringe players some test experience, not scrape passed them, and then feel relieved. Boks are number two in the world and kak bang of Scotland? When did an SA Bok rugby team become such pussies.
19 Nov 2012, 11:35 am
@rossoneri-46: yep exactly. Bloody embarrasing – NZ put 18 points more on them than we did – thats almost 3 converted tries ffs! That right there is the gulf between 1st and 2nd – and by all purposes we should probably be 4th behind Australia and France based on form.
19 Nov 2012, 11:37 am
I think they need to give the players weed or something before the match to let them chill out. They look so tense. Hopefully Saturday will be Jean’s last day as captain. He simply doesn’t have the chops. I’ve never seen a more miserable looking buch of players on the field. They don’t even celebrate their ****** tries.
19 Nov 2012, 11:37 am
@Jeez-30:
Makes some sense but again: can the Boks play a different style without getting hammered?
I believe they can’t, certainly not with Kirchner and JdJ in the line up: two players who never pass and who create more defensive holes than in a square metre of a swiss cheese
Mallett memory betrayed him: his Boks in 1999-2000 lost plenty big games when his ‘ball in hand’ style proved ineffective, I believe his criticism is merely designed to earn him the Poms job, don’t get fooled!
19 Nov 2012, 11:40 am
I couldn`t have said it better Mark. Why is it that we feel like this when we`re winning? It should have been a great feeling winning the last two tests but it felt to me as if we`d lost both games because of the way we`ve played.
We have zero direction in the backline. Lambie was quite clearly playing according to a strict gameplan. That wasn`t his natural game on display.
One thing is for certain i`m glad we`re not playing France on this tour as that wouldn`t have been an almighty wake up call!
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