Meyer: 2012 a qualified success
27 Nov 2012
Heyneke Meyer says that the season was a success given that the injury-hit Springboks conceded just three losses.
The Boks returned to South Africa on Monday having won all three of their Tests in Europe. This ensured that they finished the 2012 season on a high, and allowed them to obtain an overall record that reads seven wins, two draws, and three losses.
Meyer feels that it is a good return considering the challenges a new coaching staff and team faced at the beginning of the year.
‘Our coaching team was only able to start working with the players relatively late as most of them were still part of Super Rugby,’ the Bok coach said, referring to the fact that he and his lieutenants had less than a week to prepare the new squad for the first Test against England on 9 June.
‘We always knew it was going to be a tough year with all the players we’ve lost. The All Blacks are still ahead of us, but we started fourth on the IRB rankings list and finished second. Now we have to close that gap and grow as a team.’
Despite their problems with injuries ahead of those three June Tests against England, they won the series convincingly. Meyer also took a side missing several experienced players to Europe this November, and while the side did not excel in terms of performance, they were deserved winners in all three Tests.
Where the Boks were less than convincing was in the Rugby Championship, where they finished third behind New Zealand and Australia. They scrapped to a disappointing draw with Argentina in Mendoza, and may have won the Test against the All Blacks in Dunedin had they converted more goal-kicking chances. However, they were soundly beaten by the Wallabies in Perth, and hammered by the All Blacks in their final game of the tournament in Soweto.
Meyer feels that while the year has been a testing one, the injuries have allowed several players an opportunity to stake their claim. Duane Vermeulen, Francois Louw, Adriaan Strauss, and Pat Lambie have certainly shone in the absence of regular or favoured starters like Pierre Spies, Schalk Burger, Bismarck du Plessis, and Johan Goosen.
The Boks will also be stronger when the latter group, as well as the likes of Andries Bekker, Beast Mtawarira, Frans Steyn, Heinrich Brussow, and Bryan Habana return from injury in 2013.
‘It will be wonderful for South African rugby when all the injured players are back,’ said Meyer. ‘The competition [for places] will be immense.’
274 Comments
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27 Nov 2012, 12:02 pm
All this talk of win ratio etc is secondary to how the matches went. SHOCKING SELECTIONS and an EVEN WORSE GAMEPLAN should be analysed first.
If you playing really well and look like improving every week, then things are looking good and the results will start to come (think Sharks in the Super 15). If you still hacking an up and under after a break with a huge overlap; never look like you have any structure to your play; relying purely on your talent verses the oppositions lack thereof, then things are seriously concerning (think the Boks of 2012)
27 Nov 2012, 12:05 pm
In today’s life everybody wants to be associated with the rich and famous.
This is the essence of the abomination of apartheid; that the vulnerable of society was crushed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDgZvhT9Nj8&feature=endscreen&NR=1
27 Nov 2012, 12:09 pm
“Our coaching team were only able to start working with the players relatively late”.
Seems as if Meyer is sticking with Van Graan and Loubscher.
It wont matter which players are selected the Boks are sunk with that team. EOYT has given Meyer an excuse to stay cocooned in his comfort zone.
27 Nov 2012, 12:09 pm
@Gumboots-85:
Sorry to hear about your father-in-law.
Alle sterkte vir julle.
27 Nov 2012, 12:15 pm
Sheriff …. very deep! – it changed my views … go look at this video and see the bruises apartheid left :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXV8OZX8XOI
27 Nov 2012, 12:19 pm
Steyn linked with France move
Cape Town – Bulls and Springbok flyhalf Morne Steyn has been linked with a move to French Top 14 club Stade Francais.
French website, Le Rugby Nistere, has reported that Steyn met with Stade Francais’ management during the week leading up to the Boks’ Test against England at Twickenham.
According to reports, the French club has had Steyn in their sights for some time.
Steyn has fallen out of favour with Bok coach Heyneke Meyer following a series of indifferent performances.
Steyn started the Boks’ first two European tour matches (against Ireland and Scotland) on the bench, but was dropped from the match-day 23 altogether for the final Test against England.
Stade Francais are currently eighth in the Top 14 standings, a full 18 points behind leaders Toulon.
27 Nov 2012, 12:24 pm
@ufo-106: Just saw that HALLELUJAH – that makes a return for him to a regular flyhalf position far less likely.
27 Nov 2012, 12:26 pm
@nama1-52: yeah and I also saw somehting he said about the win ratio in another interview – he said “if you take the two draws” … implying if you view them as not losses (but sort of wins) then the ratio is 85% or something – wat n klomp k@k
27 Nov 2012, 12:32 pm
@suffer_guy-100: Hey idiot it is Kleinveldt, and Kleingeld is actually a surname of it’s own.
27 Nov 2012, 12:36 pm
@Slumtown-107:
yeah…
but i don’t hold anything against morne… most players lose form now and then… wasn’t his fault meyer persisted with him at that stage…
wish him well going to france… if indeed he is…
@goodstuff-109:
don’t dignify such an a-o with a response… simply not worth it and exactly what he is trying to achieve…
27 Nov 2012, 12:41 pm
@Tacitus-60: Totally agree with you on this one, Hougaard started playing wing at the Bulls after being 9 all his life, he never really got the opportunity to hone his skills at the highest level as 9. People asumed cause he played well as wing, he will automatically be a great 9. Not saying he can’t be, but needs more time there. Bring back FdP any day. The man had an off season (for once) in WC year and now everyone thinks he’s over the wall. Same people that called for Habana’s head. Form is temporary, class is permanent chaps. Fourie will not let the Boks down and is not too old. Good leader to have there to take younger 9′s through to WC and beyond.
27 Nov 2012, 12:42 pm
@nama1-104:
Dankie boet!
27 Nov 2012, 12:42 pm
go make your money msteyn….tee hee hee
27 Nov 2012, 12:42 pm
@David-56: Disagree totally with that assessment.
Hougaard can be a brilliant 9 as I saw in Mendoza. The only good player in that game. He gets to the breakdown extremely quickly, is serious threat there and a serious defender. His kicking can be worked on and is hardly of that much importance when he has Goosen, Lambie, Janjties and Steyn at 10 who can clear the ball way better than him or Pienaar for that matter.
The Bulls would be idiots to not start him in their S15 and as much as I like to see them use it irritates me to no end when one of our most talented players is wasted. His successes on the wing were during an era of Bulls rugby where they could have put anyone on the wing and they’d score. They were that dominant. Remember Hurdles record there?
27 Nov 2012, 12:47 pm
@Bagel-114: agreed, hougie must rank as one of our most misused talents ever.
27 Nov 2012, 12:48 pm
Excuses excuses. Always excuses.
It’s a terrible coaching staff working with terrific players. They ride on the player’s talent, tenacity and guts, coaching every ounce of instinctive brilliance out of them.
More rubbish from the Boks ’til then end of 2015… then we’ll probably get another plonker.
27 Nov 2012, 12:50 pm
@The Rangerman-115: He’s just not clever enough for scrummie. Tons of natural talent, but 0 brains.
27 Nov 2012, 12:52 pm
@Tacitus-3: Why dont convert the two draws into losses and you sit with a below 50% win ratio.
Boks was lucky – both matches
2012 a qualified failure
27 Nov 2012, 12:56 pm
@stormersboy-20:
Good post
27 Nov 2012, 13:00 pm
@Gumboots-85: Hi Gumboots, very sorry to hear about your father-in-law. It is never a good time but especially with the festive season ahead, it’ll be the first Christmas, New Year etc without him.
“Sterkte !!” as we say in Afrikaans (I know the feeling)
27 Nov 2012, 13:02 pm
The messiah and disciples need to be sent to Oprah’s School Of Excellence
The standards for matric are quite simple: a pass is expected, at least 75% is world class and the aimed for standard
Of course, in the land of the disciples, 58% is sufficient
So ja, mediocrity is acceptable to the self-proclaimed masters of excellence, when its a member of the family …
27 Nov 2012, 13:03 pm
@Mighty Horua-119: Thanks
27 Nov 2012, 13:04 pm
@Gumboots-112: Sorry to hear this
My sympathy to you and your family. Sterkte!
27 Nov 2012, 13:07 pm
@CharlesM-120:
Thanks mate! It is really tough for sure. The wife is not coping too well and my daughter in her final year at University is still writing on Monday and Wednesday.
27 Nov 2012, 13:11 pm
@Gumboots-124: 2 of my Grandparents dies while I was writing exams at varsity. Missed their funerals.
27 Nov 2012, 13:12 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-123:
Thanks! Appreciated.
27 Nov 2012, 13:13 pm
@stormersboy-125: Died. Sorry. Spelling again.
27 Nov 2012, 13:14 pm
@stormersboy-125:
She will not miss this for the world. Oupa was her life. He was her best friend and spoiled her rotten. I know what you mean though.
27 Nov 2012, 13:15 pm
Hougaard is wasted in Bulls’ No9 jersey
Simnikiwe Xabanisa | 01 March, 2012 01:19
There comes a time in a man’s life when
he has to decide on the manner in which
he will achieve his ultimate goal.
We’ve all fantasised about the crowning
moment of our careers and exactly how
we’d like to realise it. But unless your name
is Shane “Hollywood” Warne, odds are
you’re either going to get what you want
however it’s presented to you, or you’re not
going to get it at all.
Some time over the next year, young
Francois Hougaard may find himself
confronted with the choice every man has
had to make: actually getting what you
want, or pushing your luck by trying to get
it just the way you want it.
The Bulls utility back’s stated ambition is to
be the best player in the world by following
in the footsteps of his role model, Fourie
du Preez. He also wants to do it by playing
in Du Preez’s position, scrumhalf.
But the catch is that the path to the best in
the world title may well lie in his playing
wing.
It’s ridiculously early to make the call, but
the early signs of Hougaard back at
scrumhalf are merely promising, no more.
He appears to struggle to clear the rucks
quickly enough; almost always needs too
much time to get his box kicks spot on; and
is not yet as good as Du Preez at
determining at which tempo the game
should be played.
In short, Hougaard is no Du Preez.
Nobody is, but the one thing we’re
guaranteed with Hougaard at scrumhalf, is
that it won’t be the same “Hougie” who
exploded onto the international scene on
the wing at last year’s World Cup either.
The Hougaard we’ve come to know on the
wing is a racehorse.
He runs like he’s got electricity coursing
through his veins, steps like he’s
auditioning for So You Think You Can
Dance? and has the instinct of a sniper
when there’s a tryline about. Hougaard’s
exuberance on the wing appears to dovetail
with the high-spirited manner in which he
tackles life off the field.
In the last few
years, Hougaard has driven such wild
beasts as the Golf R32, the BMW M3, the
Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, and the Ford
Focus RS.
A Bulls insider says his desire to be better
is such that during the off-season he was
joining Pierre Spies for an additional
boxercising session at Sebastian
Rothmann’s gym after a gym session and
two field sessions with the Bulls.
The problem with Hougaard’s exuberance is
that scrumhalf is mostly the preserve of
cold and calculated men.
Playing him at scrumhalf – where the busy
traffic at the base of the scrum will put him
in a straitjacket – is like putting Eskom in
charge of the electric nature of his displays.
There are bound to be a few power
outages.
Also, the Bulls’ playing pattern close to the
forwards can be a suit and tie affair at the
best of times. But when one plays on the
wing for the team, life can be just about
smart casual enough for some measure of
expression – ask Bryan Habana and Bjorn
Basson.
Of course, mine are the silly, not to
mention futile and selfish, ramblings of a
fantasy league coach. For the balance of
their team, the Bulls need Hougaard more
at scrumhalf than on the wing.
The truth is that he is good enough to make
his way as an international at halfback.
For those of us addicted to that intoxicating
sidestep of his, that’s a waste. Maybe we,
too, should enjoy his talent in whatever
shape or form it is presented to us.
27 Nov 2012, 13:30 pm
@suffer_guy-105:
Leuens…
27 Nov 2012, 13:35 pm
@stormersboy-20: “He is going through caps like Rudolf Straeuli did. And we know how that turned out.”
Rudolph Streali had 41 different starting players in 11 tests in his first year. Meyer had 32 different starting players in 12 tests. Jake White had 35 starting player in 13 tests and more remarkably Peter de Villiers who took over a World Cup winning team with no real changes needed had 34 different starting player in 13 tests.
Now how the hell can you say Meyer is going through caps like Streali did?
You see, some people just make up random facts and they know no one will go and check those facts.
27 Nov 2012, 13:42 pm
@Mighty Horua-119: And you actually say good post when he makes up facts.
This is classic keo.
People make up facts and others start to back him up and before you know it Meyer says the opposite and he contradicts himself because everyone in keo believes the made-up fact.
For instance for all of you it is now already a fact that Meyer’s man management is poor.
27 Nov 2012, 13:43 pm
@Transformation-113:
voetsek!
27 Nov 2012, 13:44 pm
@Gumboots-126:
same here,
condolences hey.
hope he lived a long and good life.
27 Nov 2012, 13:54 pm
@Horings-131:
How many of these players made their debut under these coaches in the 1st year of their tenure?
27 Nov 2012, 14:02 pm
@nama1-135: I do not think that will be a good comparison, because by definition Meyer had to select a number of new Boks. De Villiers obvioulsy did not have to and although White selected a “new” team, he selected most of the youngsters that made their debut in or just before the 2003 World Cup. Juan Smith, Williemse, Burger, Botha, Jaque Fourie, etc. I cannot remember how many players left SA or retired when Streauli took over.
What my stats show is that Meyer selected a team and did not change his starting 15 more than any previous coach.
To get my stats took a short time, because it was a simple filter on a dataset, but to go and check whether these players made their debuts in the same period will probably take some time.
27 Nov 2012, 14:06 pm
@Horings-136: Or not. I will have those numbers in a minute or two.
27 Nov 2012, 14:12 pm
@lepel-117: dont think thats true.
27 Nov 2012, 14:15 pm
@Horings-137: 2002 – 25 players made their debut, 2004 – 11, 2008 – 8 and 12 players made their debut in Meyer’s team.
6 of Meyer’s new debutants started their debuts and of those only Jacques Potgieter did not participate in most of the games after their debut. The others are Coetzee, Etzebeth, Kruger, Taute and Vermeulen.
Players who were “wasted” as they did not get real chances were Engelbrecht and Jantjies, and I think only Jantjies should feel hard done by.
27 Nov 2012, 14:18 pm
@Horings-136:
My point is that selecting players like JJE, Jaques Potgieter etc is akin to handing out Bok caps like it’s candy.
Selecting players like Etzebeth, Kruger is understandable because there were not any experienced Bok locks to choose.
27 Nov 2012, 14:22 pm
@Horings-131: Well there you go. I stand corrected. Please ignore that part of my post. The rest stands though.
I shall repeat it below with the offending piece omitted for completeness sake,
If we had won the 2 games we had drawn we would have had a better record.
Even better, if we had won the 3 we lost things would look fantastic.
Although if we had lost the few that we won by 3 points or less……
Do you see how stupid this type of reasoning sounds??
There is winning, and there is the rest. We won 7 out of 12. That’s it.
We could have won less far easier than winning more.
It’s not a success. The same people who were touting “winning each game is important” while expecting their messiah to do just that are now trying to qualify his failure to do exactly that.
I’m not advocating his leaving his position, but the year was woeful, even though it would seem that Heyneke didn’t choose any more players than his predecessors.
No Heyneke, a good dose of reality is required. This year was not even close to good enough, but we hope you have learned enough to turn it around next year.
We still support the Boks, unreservedly. But that doesn’t mean we are blindly accepting,
See what I did there??
The post is just as valid, although now there seems to be less excuse for the poor performance.
27 Nov 2012, 14:24 pm
@nama1-140: OK, but Meyer’s stats I just gave you is comparable to PdV and to White, although Meyer has some mitigating factors that I mentioned. Then if you compare it to Streauli he gave out less than half the number of new caps.
So, maybe Meyer is making the Bok jumper cheap in your opinion, but I am showing you he does not make it cheaper than any of his recent predecessors.
Maybe your comments shows your biasedness when you have an opinion on Meyer. Dont feel bad. 99% of all the bloggers do. I just knew facts will back my opinion on this one.
27 Nov 2012, 14:26 pm
@stormersboy-141: i cant agree mate.
with the injuries and new faces we have i think we have done well.
i think next year may be an eye opener for some.
27 Nov 2012, 14:27 pm
@Horings-139: What if I said this then:
“Only since the ignominious era of Rudolf Streauli has more Springbok caps been given to debutantes in the first year of the coach’s tenure ”
That would then be accurate wouldn’t it??
27 Nov 2012, 14:28 pm
@The Rangerman-143: I’m still giving him a pass.
But I’m not trying to sugar coat it like others . That was my point.
27 Nov 2012, 14:29 pm
@stormersboy-141: Your other opinions are irrelevant, because I have just shown everyone you have an inherent biasedness when commenting on Meyer.
“Judge, all the statements from this witness should not be considered for this case”
27 Nov 2012, 14:32 pm
@stormersboy-145: fair enough bud, i was also dissapointed but believe there will be improvement.
time will tell i guess.
27 Nov 2012, 14:36 pm
@Horings-146: Unfortunately you don’t come from a position remotely representing credibility when it comes to Meyer. So your own representations are seen as nothing more than the ramblings of a brain washed glassy eyed follower who would defend someone based on his position of authority rather than the merits of the situation. Kind of like what your forefathers probably did when they voted Nat and listened to the Duminy when he declared that god was on your side and against everyone else.
And for the record i actually like Meyer. He was an assistant coach for the Stormers back in the day, which is where I imagine he got the good part of his coaching from.
His performance this year is not good though, 7 out of 12. That’s one game above 50%. Finish and Klaar.
To suggest otherwise is to reward mediocrity, which may be your bag but it certainly isn’t mine.
27 Nov 2012, 14:40 pm
@stormersboy-148: OK, so now you are insulting me after I have only tried to back my opinion providing you with facts. I guess we are now outside the court room trying to sort one another out. Well guess what, my forefathers did quite well in that one too.
27 Nov 2012, 14:42 pm
@Horings-149: Too much??
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