Critical juncture for Lambie
20 Nov 2012
RYAN VREDE, in London, writes Pat Lambie has yet to convince of his aptitude as a Test flyhalf but has an opportunity to push his case with a strong showing at Twickenham.
Lambie’s lot is an unenviable one. From the outset of the tour he was acutely aware that he would have, at most, three run outs to advance his cause as a Springbok pivot, the position he showed promise in with the Sharks this season. With Lambie’s potency resting heavily on the performance of his pack and coach Heyneke Meyer inadvertently contradicting his professed faith in Lambie by admitting that Morne Steyn is an insurance policy, his plight was complicated.
Meyer was also initially cold on the idea of Lambie in the No 10 shirt – believing him to be better suited to fullback – but has softened his stance in light of his Super Rugby and Currie Cup form. The decision to install him ahead of Steyn was a difficult one for Meyer, despite the latter’s obvious struggles throughout the season, with that call made on the Sunday before the Ireland Test. Even then it was not one taken with absolute conviction.
Adding to Lambie’s challenge was the need to adapt his natural game to meet Meyer’s high expectations of his flyhalves from a tactical kicking perspective. This has been Lambie’s weakest point over the last fortnight, although it would be remiss not to note that he has effectively had just two halves of ‘play’, owing to the Springboks’ awful start in Dublin and their regression in the second half at Murrayfield on Saturday. Furthermore he has been partnered by Ruan Pienaar, who is on his own mission to nail down a place, and a back division that lacks cohesion and synergy.
He will be desperate for things to come together over 80 minutes against England.
There have been moments to inspire confidence that he could advance his cause if given a strong platform by his forwards. He will also hope to benefit from what seems to be a measure of power that Twickenham has offered Springbok flyhalves in recent years – with Butch James, Andre Pretorius and Ruan Piennar all delivering excellent performances in their sides’ wins in 2006 and 2008 respectively. In James’s case it settled then coach Jake White’s mind that he was the right man to steer the ship at the 2007 World Cup. Pretorius made that squad on the strength of what he could offer from a goal and tactical kicking perspective, and Pienaar was retained at flyhalf for the British & Irish Lions series after his impressive offering in 2008.
He has the inside lane to be at the head of the queue to push Johan Goosen, Meyer’s first-choice flyhalf, for his place. My understanding, based on information from sources close to Lambie, is that it is also the position he sees himself settling in, despite him saying in Dublin that he is happy to switch between fullback and flyhalf at this stage.
It was always highly unrealistic to expect him to thrive in such a short period of time and against the backdrop of the aforementioned complexities. But sometimes in professional sport, this is how it is. International careers have been launched, stalled or ended by athletes who have capitalised on unexpected opportunities of this ilk.
At just 22, Lambie’s Test career certainly won’t be ended by a failure to flourish at Twickenham. It could, however, be stalled. His is one of the most interesting sub-plots that will play out. The occasion and incentive calls for an emphatic statement from Lambie.
123 Comments
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20 Nov 2012, 09:59 am
@Stoetbul9-49: might be injured
20 Nov 2012, 10:00 am
goosen is 2-3 years from a bok starting 10
lambie had to wait since 2010 for a chance, even though hes been the best, most consistent flyhalf over the period 2010-now
goosen is a talent but hes far from ready
20 Nov 2012, 10:02 am
@sparticus-41: We in the Cape will be celebrating Jantjies throughout the S15 next year. What is going to happen, is going to throw Meyer into a langarm kerkspin, the likes of which he has never experienced
This year is done and dusted for all intents and purposes,and I reckon fellas like de Jongh, Daniel, Jantjies etc know it.
What lies ahead though in 2013, is the ability to blow MagicMikeMeyer and his theories out of the fuckingwater. They need to focus on that now, and I think they are
20 Nov 2012, 10:03 am
@Stoetbul9-49:
just like morne steyn was judged on his super15 performance this year and picked ahead of lambie, jantjies and goosen?
what a joke
20 Nov 2012, 10:08 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-53: Normally that would excite me but after the **** dished out this year re selections I am not so sure. Guys like JJ picked ahead of Juan etc etc. Form is secondary wrt to Bok selection , you must first be a certain size and then from a certain Union and then only form comes into play.
Farked up if you ask me , I cannot wait for the Super rugby to start. Last weekend I fell asleep just before Halftime watching the Boks. Seriously !! I never saw the first 25 mins of the second half. Thats how k @ k we are !!
20 Nov 2012, 10:39 am
@jacoshark-52:
what absolute tosh.
Lambie is still waiting to be first choice at the sharks.
Freddie gets the job whenever he is availible.
lightyears ahead of lambie
20 Nov 2012, 10:41 am
@jacoshark-54:
and why would you even try and compare the form of debutant flyhalfs with an established regular.
Did Cruden become defacto flyhalf for nz because he was the form superrugby flyhalf?
20 Nov 2012, 10:42 am
@sparticus-55:
I don’t think it’s a BB bias as such. It’s just that as the BBs coach and DOR, HM personally selected and coached those players and believes they’re the best available. Remember he also signed JJ and Pottie for his new “vision” of the BBs just before he left.
20 Nov 2012, 10:43 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-53:
elton is a good player, if he gts more consistancy into his game i much prefer him to lambie.
he however, is also no Goosen.
oh, and historically CT is the graveyard of flyhalfs.
20 Nov 2012, 10:48 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-53: We are looking forward to 12 tries in S15 from Strompies ??
20 Nov 2012, 10:56 am
@capebull-60:
Only against the Kings, the rest, business as usual
20 Nov 2012, 11:06 am
@capebull-60: We are looking forward to kicking your sorryblueballs again
Personally, I think your forwards are going to expose you lot to a planet full of pain…..
@sparticus-55: Even with a win against the Poms on Saturday, Meyer is still going to be under some pressure when he selects his 1st squad next year. It will be slap bang in the middle of the S15 as well. This year many kenners were happy to see him select out of form twats, love children and his current flavour of the week/s. He will have no such luck next year……. He ignored S15 form this year – he won’t be allowed to do so again. Worlds of pain.
20 Nov 2012, 11:21 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-57:
your argument is the worst ive heard on here
cruden is behind the best 10 to ever play the game
comparing morne steyn and dan carter is the biggest joke
20 Nov 2012, 12:00 pm
If a player does well it’s the quality of the player/captain, if he is kak its the coach. All to familiar trend here on Keo from the usual Bulls haters. Quite pathetic really.
Everybody shouted for Steyn’s head…they got it. ‘HM needs to start settling the squad’ Lambie gets three sarts in row but now thats not good enough becuase we have poor old grease ball waiting in the wings. HM weer innie kak.
IMO Lambie is good enough. He got his line away the whole the year for the sharks but all of the sudden the line is going nowhere…….why…gameplan or centres not doing the basics like passing the ball. But I guess thats the coach’s fault as well until one of them actually breaks the line for once and the player gets all the glory again. Really a vicious circle.
20 Nov 2012, 12:07 pm
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE-64: lambie hardly ever gets the ball – its popped to Alberts, Eben, Jannie, etc to drive it up. When they get kak ball they give it to the backline.
Look at the weekend’s game – most of the kak kicks came from Pienaar and Zane.
At the very least Lambie tackles like a demon – nobody gets past him.
20 Nov 2012, 12:10 pm
@trupisero-65: Ja ek like die mannetjie. Speel n goeie game maar kort net n scrummie met bietjie meer tussen die ore en beter bal.
20 Nov 2012, 12:12 pm
Pienaar is the problem in Bok backline.. get rid of Pienaar put in Hougaard and Groom on bench.. voila problem solved
But don’t play Steyn otherwise problem numero uno is back again.
20 Nov 2012, 12:15 pm
@skopdiekan-67: Hougaard’s kicking game need serious improvement but he is talented anough to get that sorted out. He needs to be first choice scrummie going forward irrespective of who plays 10
20 Nov 2012, 12:18 pm
@skopdiekan-67: Afternoon porkchop.
20 Nov 2012, 12:23 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-62: 10 Tries is it then ?
20 Nov 2012, 12:24 pm
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE-68:
They made the biggest mistake dropping Hougaard because they were looking for FdP mark11.. Hougaard should have been left alone to play his hard direct physical game ala Joost and Bulls and Boks would have been 1000 steps further ahead than they are.
Kicking game or no kicking game is not what defines a good scrummy.. all the better scrum halves in the world rely first on a quick fast distribution game and only lastly is their kicking game evaluated
One of the reasons the ABs are always on the front foot is scrummy job is get the ball ASAP to Carter.. and everywhere else it is the same Argy, France, England, Aussie .. only here we prefer our 9 to be the general because under HM and JW FdP controlled the game… WRONG strategy and backward type thinking.
Give the game back to Hougaard to snipe and run and get in opposition faces and get back line motivated on front foot again.
Hougaard 9, Goosen or Lambie or Jantjies 10, and back line will automatically come right… Keep Pienaar at 9 and forget it.. won’t ever happen in another twenty months of Sundays.
20 Nov 2012, 12:29 pm
@skopdiekan-71:
Yep
Will make us so less predictable.
I see the English are already saying how they look forward to our match as they know what to expect.
20 Nov 2012, 12:32 pm
@Transformation-10:
“i can tell you now the two flyhalves are goosen & msteyn klaar!”
You are correct.
Remember that HM also said that he prefers to have an EXPERIENCED fly half with a youngster. The only one with the necessary experience that HM is looking for at this stage, is the one and only MORNE STEYN.
20 Nov 2012, 12:34 pm
@skopdiekan-71: Until someone can teach JdV to pass again, our backline is screwed. I re-watched the game last night and did not see a single instance when JdV passed the ball.
20 Nov 2012, 12:37 pm
I fail to see what Jantjies has done wrong under two Bok coaches not to get the same game time and opportunity.
Irrespective of what the others have done to stake their claims, he has never been afforded the same treatment.
Yet he has been on tours and in squads for close to 3 years.
Did he hold the tackle bags incorrectly, did he not sit nice and straight on the bench?
I feel for him and hope he shows them up next year in the S 15.
20 Nov 2012, 12:48 pm
@Anomander-74: Because JdV gets man and ball every time, there is NEVER more than a split second between our No.12 receiving the ball and any space ahead of him.. as Mallet correctly pointed out, under this game plan it would be better to play Alberts at first center,, then we would get better go forward ball… Whoever plays at 12 under this strategy has no opportunity to distribute.. and under HM’s orders JdV is probably told to crash it up and recycle..
JdV is not the problem although he should be at 13 not 12 and De Jongh or F Steyn should be at 12.. but the game dies at 9 in Bok back line and if it gets past 9 it either gets hoofed at 10 or passed to 12 to bash it up.. 13 does not see the ball and wings are reduced to intercept specialists.
Play Hougaard at 9 like he did vs England 2nd test first half and get the momentum back into the Bok back line.. JdV at 12 or 13 won’t alter the issue much, but Pienaar at 9 will never amount to any go forward anytime ever.
We play a 9 man game under HM not even a 10 man game.. positions 10 – 15 are purely appendages in our game if opposition kicks it at us but under constructed first phase play positions 1-9 are all we need.
20 Nov 2012, 12:53 pm
@nortierd-75:
It is a serious indictment on Meyers philosophy of rugby.. he is blind both from a size and a color prejudicial perspective.. this coach is backward thinking and a blight on Springbok rugby.. his philosophy and game style is retarded and archaic and won’t produce results as long as he continues thinking along these narrow constraints of downright ingrained prejudice.
Jantjies should actually start at 10 seeing both Steyn and now Lambie have failed under HM’s plan.. but the sad part is that Jantjies cannot be converted into Dereck Hougaard as much as Lambie could not.. perhaps even worse.. so under HM’s plan.. continue with Pienaar at 9 and Morne at 10 and continue pulling your hair out with frustrated anxiety during and after every test going forward.. we will never evolve anywhere from here.
20 Nov 2012, 12:53 pm
@skopdiekan-76: Hmmn – don’t really agree. Several times JdV had few metres of space and still charged straight ahead. Compare to ABs try against Scotland where the ball sped down the backline, despite rapidly advancing defence. (Think it was first try scored last weekend).
Agree JdV would be better at 13 – hope he retires however, much as he seems to be an admirable man.
Agree about our game being based around 9, and agree that this sucks. Not convinced Hougaard is the solution here however – at least not while HM is coach and his game plan rules. Either way, I really liked what I saw of Cobus Reinach this year (except in final where he fell apart)
20 Nov 2012, 12:54 pm
@ Tacitus. Lambie had a poor game, but he should be allowed that. In the same way Morne Steyn was afforded it.
Who knows what really goes on in HM’s head, but from the outset he appears to be a dictatorial, one dimensional coach that believes in the hype created by his appointment from journalists and fans alike.
20 Nov 2012, 12:57 pm
@CanBok-7:
No it’s not. It is very useful and just about any ex-player that has achieved enough to write a book has stated that they learned immensely from the senior guys even when they did not play.
20 Nov 2012, 12:57 pm
@skopdiekan-77:
Yes
I get the idea he picked his game plan then tries to mould players to fit into it, instead of looking at the players in form at his disposal and moulding the game plan around them.
20 Nov 2012, 12:57 pm
78. Anomander. I agree. But do you think that’s down to JDV not seeing his runner or sticking to the gameplan? Serious question. I hope it’s not the latter
20 Nov 2012, 12:59 pm
@LoanShark-21:
And you like everyone else also know that many of those Tests were for <10 minutes, or in 2nd string teams that got drubbed and/or he played at fullback. So there is no comparison to be made to any other flyhalf you ingrate.
20 Nov 2012, 13:02 pm
@Anomander-78: Groom is a better scrum half than Reinach.. better distribution and quicker eye and pass.. and perhaps even a quicker brain.. Groom could be ‘groomed’ to be the next Garth Wright, Divan Serfontein type scrummy.. while Hougaard should have been left alone to focus on his physical fast pace aggressive game like Joost… Reinach is also in with a shout and has the speed and attitude to develop but Groom out played him when it mattered and showed his class as a distributing quick thinking link man.
20 Nov 2012, 13:03 pm
@RedMan-82: You mean to say HM has his player’s blinkered ?
Not sure, surely he should know where his support is before receiving the ball i.e. there should be some sort of communication about what play is planned (from Lambie, or whoever is at FH)?
Unless HM truely has turned his players into robots then there were a couple of occassions where a pass would have been far the better option!
20 Nov 2012, 13:04 pm
@RedMan-82: HM’s orders to JdV is take the responsibility in the back line and carry the ball up.. don’t trust De Jongh because he’s a) too small and b) inexperienced and c) does the gangman dance if he scores.. we don’t want to be embarrassed like that if it happens again.
20 Nov 2012, 13:06 pm
@skopdiekan-84: My internal jury is still out on that one – both very young. Do think Groom looks better than Duvenhage in the Stormers setup.
I know everyone talks about it, but I honestly can never recall seeing Hougaard playing a Joost type game at 9 – though that could be because I don’t watch the Bulls very often
20 Nov 2012, 13:07 pm
@skopdiekan-86: What confuses me here is that JdV seems to play exactly the same bash it up game for the Stormers?
20 Nov 2012, 13:08 pm
Anomander – I truly hope not. But I’m not discounting it
Truth is our 12′s – post isolation – have generally played the same way since I can remember (bar, possibly, Hennie le roux). So either most (if not all) of our coaches coach it, or our 12′s have no feel for passing of deft offloads
20 Nov 2012, 13:08 pm
@Anomander-85: HM’s rugby philosophy is based around 9 controlling the game.. and in the last scenario he had Lambie at 10 and De Jongh at 13.. two players he reluctantly bowed to pressure to play ahead of his preferred favorites… so HM’s strict instructions were to JdV and Pienaar to control the game.. we don’t want rookies stuffing it up.. especially against Scotland who beat us the last time we played there.
HM is killing the players ability and instinctual read of the game and the Bok game overall.. nobody else.. HM all by himself..
20 Nov 2012, 13:13 pm
@Anomander-88: JdV is playing wrong position at Boks and wrong position at Stormers.. he should be at 13 and De Jongh should be at 12.. that is where it all folds and falls down…
a quick 9.. a fast attacking 10.. and a creative 12 wih a big speedy 13 is the way it should be planned… we do it all in the reverse at Boks and at Stormers rugby..
Since Mallet was the last creative back line in SA rugby.. and through Streauli, JW, PdV and now HM we have never had a creative instinctual 12 it has always been bash it up rugby since Fleck.. either De Wet Barry or JdV or Olivier or F Steyn.. but 12 in SA rugby is purely a bash it up proponent so Willem Alberts should rather play at 12.. he would be more effective in HM’s plan.
20 Nov 2012, 13:18 pm
@skopdiekan-91: Dare I mention the name **** Muir (the player) – though might be wrong, maybe he played 13?
20 Nov 2012, 13:24 pm
@Anomander-92: Muir played with Thomson at Sharks and was it with Fleck or Snyman in Streauli’s team or Mallets team
Muir had an element of distribution when he played but our back line rugby has degenerated in a downward spiral since Streauli played Koen at 10 and White couldn’t do f’all with it till Jones stepped in and gave it some shape.. and then PdV bowed to senior player pressure and played kick chase rugby throughout his tenure under the insistence of Smit and Matfield and FdP who learned their trades under Meyer at Bulls and White at Boks..
So basically Bok back line rugby has to be re invented all over again.. they have to chuck out the dead carcass of kick chase rugby which went out with the rugby laws that were reviewed after 2007 WC and start again with a fresh set of ideas and a fresh set of strategies and players.
20 Nov 2012, 13:24 pm
@Anomander-92: I think Muir played 13 not 12.
20 Nov 2012, 13:27 pm
@skopdiekan-93: Yeah, and how I wish we could start with the re-invention right away! I do think we have the players. JdJ at 12, and any number of young 13′s… I am of the “would accept defeat in the interest of progress” camp.
20 Nov 2012, 13:30 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl-59: Elton’s defence almost preculdes him from the bok 10 shirt…whereas Lambie is the best tackling 10 in the country at the moment.
20 Nov 2012, 13:30 pm
@Anomander-95: yip will need to change coach before that happens unfortunately.. I got some business I have to attend right now.. talk to you again sometime if opportunity arises..
so long
20 Nov 2012, 13:32 pm
@Skeppie-96: Jantjies tackles harder than Lambie and he hits the gain line harder also, but he might be too slow for an international level 10.. both Lambie and Jantjies are not 100% ideal for Bok 10 and neither is Steyn… back to the drawing board unfortunately..
out now.
20 Nov 2012, 13:36 pm
@Skeppie-96:
According to a guy like Brendon Venter, Jantjies has the best defence of all the FH in SA currently.
20 Nov 2012, 13:38 pm
@RedMan-79: I wouldn’t say Lambie was poor but he certainly was nothing better than average. Either way giving a young 10 whether it be Jantjie, Lambie or Goosen 2/3 games is unfair. We need to back one and give him 10 tests to settle in.
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