It has been a frantic two weeks in rugby circles in the Southern Hemisphere and unfortunately for some South Africa has been in the midst of each storm, played by the media and in the media.

How we got it right to turn the current 3N into a media circus again Heaven only knows. Well, there we are staring down the barrel again, instead of being in the position where we were last year same time. So in short to summarize my attitude and opinion after all the posts read this week, listening to and reading the news on the web, we are in the following position, looking at what can be fixed first:

We are not playing a full strength team even with players available;
We still play a game plan not suitable for the new laws in most of each eighty minutes on the pitch;
We are not following franchise game plans which won the two top spots in S14 with the current core of Springbok players;
We have a coach who use a team of advisors without the pedigree required to continuously or rather more often than not win in the top tournament on the planet;
We have support personnel in franchises in South Africa who turned provincial players in international players, and are working in a slightly depleted Currie Cup rather than where they should be now: on international level;
We have a coach who shoots himself in the foot every time he opens his mouth in the media but has the pedigree to win more 3N’s;
We have an administration who is more worried about referees and conspiracies than looking closely in our own backyard as to what is wrong, for years now;
We are fielding players in positions which they are unfamiliar with against specialists;
We are fielding players who are not first or second choices in their provinces or franchises;
We are not following a plan to rest senior players from the top two teams in the S14 now that the time is available;
We are not introducing enough new blood into the 3N now when we still have time to experiment and
We don’t have the positive attitude in the group to want to win every game, no matter what the circumstances.

I am sure you would want to add a few more here but let me get onto the positive side of we don’t have to fix:

We have a hugely experienced team on tour;
We have the most experienced test captain in the world;
We have the best locks in the world;
We have some of the top five players in the world in most key positions;
We have game breakers like few other teams in the world on tour;
We have players who have experienced the highest laurels in their sport and have the aptitude to want more;
We are getting new exciting players in the group onto the pitch, albeit a bit late now but there a still four matches left;
We have injured players at home who have been the best in the world or are still regarded as the best and
We have a coach who is being defended by his seniors in the team to the death, even if it means blacking out the media.

And I am sure you would want to add a few more here.

In conclusion the pros currently do not outweigh the cons. Even though we are bottom of the log in the 3N so far, we have the ability to move upwards only. And that should be the defining position in looking forward for every loyal supporter of the Springboks, the All Blacks or the Wallabies. As said by much more knowledgeable persons in the past, it is a lot more difficult staying on top than moving up….

So let’s all get off the referees backs, stop slating the media for slating the coach, start doing more things right in selections, play the right game on the pitch and change our attitude into winning this tournament to make a point that we are still the RWC champions.