Some tough decisions await Springbok coach Peter de Villiers and his management team when they assemble with their wider training group in Johannesburg on Friday.
JJ Harmse
De Villiers has been under fire recently and there is a suspicion that the relationship between himself and his assistant coaches has been damaged.
They are all professionals though and there is no reason for them not to be able to put personal differences aside and work together, not only for the good of the Springboks, but also for the good of the country.
There have been comments attributed to De Villiers where he referred to the Boks as ‘his team’, something that is just not true.
It is our team as much as it is his and it might be a good idea for the whole Bok group to revisit their own code of conduct before they depart for Europe.
As usual, the calendar is filled for the Boks. Luckily this time around, there are no midweek matches like in 2009, so there should not be any travel disasters or the splitting of the touring group as we saw then.
It is important though to learn some lessons from what happened in 2009, especially with regards to players involved in the Currie Cup final.
Last year, the likes of Gurthrö Steenkamp and Danie Rossouw were thrown into action against Leicester Tigers only a couple of days after a bruising Currie Cup final. Also, that team had one scrumming session and when they were faced with one of the strongest scrumming packs in Europe, it was a disaster.
Both Steenkamp and Jannie du Plessis, who packed down in that front row, had their reputations ruined.
It was great to see both of them bouncing back the way they did and finishing the 2010 season as first choice in their positions again.
If De Villiers and his coaching staff box clever, they will not include any Sharks and Western Province players for the opening Grand Slam Test against Ireland.
By picking a team consisting of mainly Cheetahs, Blue Bulls and the lone Griquas representative, Bjorn Basson, that team can train the whole of next week in preparation for that Ireland match.
Let’s look at such a possible team.
Zane Kirchner can play fullback, Basson can play on the wing, Adrian Jacobs, who has hardly played for the Sharks, can play in the midfield, with the regular Blue Bulls pivots, Morné Steyn and Francois Hougaard as the halfback combination.
In such a scenario and with Wynand Olivier just being ruled out, it might mean that Meyer Bosman will have to be drafted in as a replacement.
Pierre Spies, Juan Smith and Deon Stegmann can form a formidable back row combination to pack behind Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha, with Dewald Potgieter, Danie Rossouw and Flip van der Merwe providing cover off the bench.
The front row could have either the Cheetahs trio of CJ van der Linde, Adriaan Strauss and Coenie Oosthuizen as starters or the Blue Bulls front row of Werner Kruger, Chiliboy Ralepelle and Dean Greyling.
I would go with Kruger, Strauss and Van der Linde, with Oosthuizen debuting off the bench.
There are some advantages with such a team.
They can train together for almost two weeks before the Test actually kicks off. They can train with no Currie Cup final on their minds and there will be no fear of injury or holding back.
At the same time, the Sharks and Western Province players, especially possible new caps like Willem Alberts and Duane Vermeulen need not to worry about anything but the final.
Those guys playing in the final will also have enough time to recover from that match and have a week to prepare for Wales.
After that, De Villiers can mix and match against Scotland and England and then pick some overseas-based players to start against the Barbarians, allowing the core of his contracted group to go home earlier than anticipated.
If De Villiers reads this and agrees with me, he can pick his team for the Ireland Test right now.
My team would look like this:
Zane Kirchner, JP Pietersen (if he is ruled out of the final only, if not Gerhard van den Heever, Adrian Jacobs, Meyer Bosman, Bjorn Basson, Morné Steyn, Francois Hougaard, Pierre Spies, Juan Smith, Deon Stegmann, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Werner Kruger, Adriaan Strauss, CJ van der Linde.
The bench will be Chiliboy Ralepelle, Coenie Oosthuizen, Danie Rossouw, Dewald Potgieter, Ricky Januarie (if he plays off the bench for WP), Bryan Habana (needs game time) and perhaps Elton Jantjies, seeing that he is in the group. I will not pick him yet, though.
Can this team beat Ireland?
Pieter, please read me
Thu 21 Oct 2010, 15:43 (6) 13 comment(s)
I was thinking forward to the Grand Slam Tour, and this preliminary Bok Squad. Now I would love for us to win each and every game over there and yes we can. There is two very important aspects which Pieter has to consider before departing for the Land of Dull.
Player selection:
A controversial topic in our country that will drive any supporter nuts. I think that we have learned our mistakes during a disastrous Tri nations. Players are picked just because of their name and not their Current form. Let’s make an example.
Pierre Spies has been struggling with his form for a while now and based on past experience they “hope” that he recaptures his form of old. Meanwhile Kankowski and Vermeulen will be overlooked due to the coach’s preference in team and players. Even a guy like Willem Alberts will be suited for the trip up north and a loose trio of Burger, Smith and Alberts will be a daunting object to overcome.
He also needs to consider the Currie Cup players who will be involved in the final but not excluding them because of too much game time. We need a strong effort against Ireland to kick start the campaign and what better way for a guy like Alberts to introduce himself against worthy opposition. Players should also be played in their preferred position or the position they played in during the Currie Cup. This will be easier especially on the younger players coming through.
A mistake a coach can make is introducing a very young player to International Rugby, only to have him play in a very inexperienced side. It will be Career suicide if someone like Lambie play with an inexperienced midfield and very unstable scrum. We currently have a huge problem in the centre department with Olivier and Fourie out injured. De Jongh and De Villiers can fill the shoes yes but they have not played together that much so a team like Ireland with strong runners will target that channel.
Strategy:
This is the problem in Springbok rugby. During the start of the Jake White area we played a kind of predictable style of rugby and Pieter just took over the mantle. This where the flyhalf kicks the ball as high as he can and two or three players chasing just isn’t working for us anymore. Teams has shown that in order for you to win games now, the team must be able to retain their possession. By attacking the first two channels, recycling the ball quickly and running for space instead of trying to run over players, teams are now guaranteed faster ball and more running rugby.
The Springboks employ the same type of tactic Victor, Bakkies and co have been used to for a while now. And I always said that although this style of rugby helped us win a World Cup, that it will never happen the same way again. A blogger on the site gave us a good breakdown of this in his last post and I agree. I think the way the Sharks played should give the coaching staff some sort of idea of what brand of rugby would work. Remember that although the score was very tight, the Sharks have played all season with this type of rugby. They are dependant on the big ball carriers and the physicality at the breakdown provided by the “cleaning crew”, your locks and loosies. Juan Smit has shown that even though he does not possess the body structure of Alberts, Spies or Vermeulen that even he can carry the ball up well. And the side with the most tries, most wins and best offensive play is playing in the final.
Another aspect of the game they need to vary is getting the ball out wide to the wings. We have talented wings in the country. Bjorn Basson, top try scorer of the Currie Cup has pace and vision. Mvovo has strength, speed and has a high work rate. Not to mention a Habana in good form, Van den Heever and even a fit Jp Pietersen. There is no use in using wings of this talent for a style of rugby that doesn’t work anymore and requires them to come look for work.
I hope that Pieter can finally realize now that the old Bulls stampkar brand of rugby just isn’t working for us. And no I am not blasting the Bulls, as I said, this style WORKED for us but in a game where the IRB changes the rules of the game to attract a more open running game and where close quarter running plays a huge role in winning games, we need to adapt to the game.
Cheers vi Eers
REM
Can this team beat Ireland?
I don’t think so.
Can we make a success of this tour with all that has happened before and a coach who has turned on the assistants HE appointed when the pressure came onto him?
I don’t think so.
I would rather suggest the following team.
15 Zane Kirchner (very reluctantly)
14. JP Pietersen (whether he play is the final or not)
13. Adrian Jacobs (very reluctantly)
12. Meyer Bosman ( we need someone defensively solid in the midfield)
11. Bjorn Basson ( in great form)
10. Morne Steyn ( he picks himself)
9. Francois Hougaard ( picks himself)
8. Pierre spies ( reluctantly)
7. Juan smith ( picks himself)
6. Danie Rossouw ( we need more experience on those wet fields)
5. Victor ( picks himself)
4. Bakkies Botha ( lethal combo with victor)
3. Werner Kruger ( hope he comes off)
2. Chiliboy ( knows the bulls forwards better than Strauss)
1. Coenie Oosthuizen ( hope he comes off)
The bench I will fill with
Jannie du Plessis, bismarck du Plessis, willem alberts, Schalk burger, Ricky January, Bryan Habana and CJ v d Linde.
The reason for the bench being strong is to have players that can exercise damage control if the game goes pear shaped.
Even then I won’t have too much confidence in this team.
To me Ireland is a must win game, we have lost 3 tests on the trot there. We wil meat Ireland in the quarter final, we do not want to give them more confidence.
@ biltongbek:
Why would you ‘reluctlantly’ pick Spies when Albert and Duanne have proved to be better this year?
@ Pokkel:
This is the team I would pick if the reasoning is not to pick the players playing in the final. Therefor alberts and duane will not qualify. As I suggested I’ll put alberts on the bench as a back stop if Pierre Spies’ poor form continues.
I also just read that JP Pietersen is out, hamstring.
I personally think this tour is going to be a disaster.
Hello,
3@ biltongbek:
There is NO WAY IN HELL that Danie Rossouw will make a good OPENSIDE FLANK!
Also have to agree with Pokkel, Duane Vermeulen or Willem Alberts at No 8 would be the right call.
I think JJ Harmse’s blue tinted glasses is all too obvious in this Article, there is just now way you can seriously justify picking a team which excludes Sharks and WP players for the First Test!
Having said that, JJ makes some interesting calls…
JJ djou lekka ding!!
@ grootblousmile:
I am just speculating on the selection of his team, I think we are on a hiding to nothing here anyway.
No Frans Steyn or any other quality full back Aplon is probably the best option left.
No JP Pietersen although Mvovu or Basson are decent replacments
No Jaque Fourie very bad
No Fourie du Preez Francois Hougaard is a decent replacement
and that is just in our back line.
On the wet grounds of europe not too sure about steggman.
But I agree with you, as I said yesterday. We need to play our best team and try and win every game. This RWC focus thing is farkin up everything.
BREAKING NEWS!!!!
The Chilean miners have been invited by SARU to the Sprinbok training camp to show PdV how to get out of a deep hole before Xmas.
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