Ruan Pienaar’s elevation to the Springbok kicking role is likely to continue this weekend despite the fact he was successful with less than half of his kicks at goal against Australia at Loftus Versfeld.
SuperSport
Springbok kicking coach Louis Koen revealed on Tuesday that he was working hard on Pienaar’s kicking style as young flyhalf Johan Goosen’s bruised heel still hasn’t allowed the youngster to practise his kicking yet.
Goosen last kicked in practice more than two weeks ago, and while it won’t keep him out of the starting line-up, he isn’t likely to take kicks at posts this weekend at FNB Stadium.
The youngster’s foot problem has only compounded a headache for kicking coach Koen, who has to work with a team that has left almost 40 points on the table in their last two Castle Rugby Championship games.
Pienaar’s return of 3 out of 7 during the Loftus test match was overlooked because the team dominated so much, and were way ahead on the scoreboard, but in a tighter, more pressurised encounter as this weekend is likely to be, that could well be the difference between winning and losing.
In fairness to the halfback, he has been working more on tactical kicking than on goalkicking, as Koen pointed out, especially earlier in the international season when Morne Steyn, Goosen and Elton Jantjies were the main kickers in the side.
On Saturday though, he will have the added responsibility on his shoulders of kicking for goal, and while Koen believes his technique is nothing short of perfect, he will need to adapt to the pressure of the new role.
The other alternative is the elevation of Pat Lambie, and that is a distinct possibility with Zane Kirchner struggling with a bruised hip at the moment.
With a decision only likely later in the week, if Lambie is brought in, he may also have to shoulder some of the kicking responsibility for the side. Goosen’s injury forced the coaching staff to take a different approach with the youngster, and Koen admitted he wasn’t even able to take kicks in the warm-up, as the bruised heel – which is on the foot he plants in the ground in his run-up, was too painful.
But the Bok management decided to see if he could have a go on the field, but after two unsuccessful attempts, decided to transfer the responsibility to Pienaar.
“There was also a concern about Johan Goosen this week with his injury because his kicking is a strength of his. We had to calm him down before the game and help him to focus to play his natural game, which he did very well,” Koen explained.
“He is a great goalkicker and it is one of his strengths. He is very frustrated at the moment because he can’t train. It is one of his strengths and he feels he is a better player when he can kick well.”
While the nature of the injury is strange, it comes down to being a bone bruise which is taking a long time to heal.
“He injured his heel; it is the fat pad under his heel. He hasn’t kicked for two weeks now, because it is just too sore. When he runs, it is on the ball of the foot, so it doesn’t affect him that much,” Koen added.
“His kicking is important, because it gives him confidence. The coach decided we wanted to back him because we wanted to give him confidence against Australia. He was very keen to do it and tried a few kicks in practice, but couldn’t do it.
“We thought his technique and good experience and confidence would do the trick in the game but it didn’t.
“(As for the All Blacks game) It depends what the coach and doctor decides but I’m preparing Ruan Pienaar to take the goalkicks on Saturday. I’m doing a lot more preparation with him to do the goalkicking this week. So if Johan is not able to kick, he will definitely be able to play.”
Dis reg, laat Ruan skop.
Goose kry sommer vroeg die boodskap op hierdie manier – dat hy nie in die eerste plek gekies word n SKOPPER te wees nie, maar n LOSSKAKEL!
Goeie sielkunde van Jean en Heyneke om die jong Goosen in die regte ‘mindset’ te kry.
Ek hou van die manier waarop Ruan en die ander ‘ou manne’ vir Goose beskerm het Saterdag; die Wallabies was duidelik daarop uit om hom en Eben onder druk te sit.
(Eben het Nathan Sharp se naam lekker tottie gemaak, lol! Die klong haal nou sy aggressie op die regte manier uit…. hy steel hulle lynstaanballe en duik hulle fktup in die los….en hy lag in Sharp se gevreet as hy hom vloek en probeer uitlok….. Mooi man!)
Ruan Pienaar has kicked well for the past few season for Ulster so hopefully he can take this form into the game against the All Blacks. He has not only been good when kicking to posts but also been good kicking out of hand gaining lots of ground and getting the ball into touch.
The concerning bit of the kicking is : “Goosen last kicked in practice more than two weeks ago”, and this in relation to Pienaar “In fairness to the halfback, he has been working more on tactical kicking than on goalkicking, I’m doing a lot more preparation with him to do the goalkicking this week” – Surely if Goosen had not been able to kick in practice for a few weeks then he shouldn’t have been kicking to posts in last test at all and then Pienaar should have been the designated kicker from the start. It’s also a surprise to read that they weren’t really letting Pienaar practise his goal kicking when he came to the squad as the goal kicker for his team in Ireland, what if the first choice kicker got injured in any of the other games or as turned out wasn’t kicking well? This is a bit disapointing and seem amateurish from whoever is responsible. Also a bit concerned that Goosen will be playing with that heel injury, may be better for Jantjies or Lambie to start on Saturday.
3 @ BullscotBok:
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king!
Failure to plan is planning for failure.
Just typical SARU amd it’s minnions’ organisational inadequacies IMO. But hey, WTF do I know about intergrated business plans and implementation? Clearly nothing compared to that lot at Newlands.
@ Scrumdown:
LOL. Plus contingency plans. I know you can’t plan for every eventuality, but surely you must have designated back up kickers? I thought Meyer is a person who pays attention to detail? In your starting 15 you should have your no 1 kicker, then no 2 and 3? And on the bench you should have someone who can kick as well?
But I like the fact that they have told Goosen to play his natural game. It showed on Saturday.
The Springbok team to face New Zealand in Soweto is:
15. Zane Kirchner (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 20 caps
14. Bryan Habana (DHL Western Province) 82 caps
13. Jaco Taute (MTN Golden Lions) 1 cap
12. Jean de Villiers (captain, DHL Western Province) 80 caps
11. Francois Hougaard (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 23 caps
10. Johan Goosen (Toyota FS Cheetahs) 3 caps
9. Ruan Pienaar (Ulster, N-Ireland) 59 caps
8. Duane Vermeulen (DHL Western Province) 3 caps
7. Willem Alberts (The Sharks) 16 caps
6. Francois Louw (Bath, England) 13 caps
5. Andries Bekker (DHL Western Province) 28 caps
4. Eben Etzebeth (DHL Western Province) 7 caps
3. Jannie du Plessis (The Sharks) 38 caps
2. Adriaan Strauss (vice-captain, Toyota FS Cheetahs) 17 caps
1. Tendai Mtawarira (The Sharks) 40 caps
Replacements:
16. Tiaan Liebenberg (DHL Western Province) 4 caps
17. Coenie Oosthuizen (Toyota FS Cheetahs) 1 cap
18. Flip van der Merwe (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 19 caps
19. Marcell Coetzee (The Sharks) 8 caps
20. Elton Jantjies (MTN Golden Lions) 1 cap
21. Juan de Jongh (DHL Western Province) 11 caps
22. Pat Lambie (The Sharks) 16 caps
Stats and facts:
•Saturday’s Test will be the 85th between South Africa and New Zealand. The Springboks have won 34, New Zealand have won 47 and three have been drawn.
•South Africa and New Zealand met three weeks ago in Dunedin. New Zealand won 21-11.
•New Zealand’s win against Argentina last weekend was their 15th consecutive win, only three wins away from the world record of 18 consecutive wins, held by Lithuania. South Africa and New Zealand’s most consecutive wins records are both 17.
•The two teams have played 37 Tests against each other in the Vodacom Tri-Nations / The Castle Rugby Championship. The Springboks have won 11 and lost 26. Points for: 714; Points against: 1 013; Tries for: 63; Tries against: 96; Average score: 19-27.
•Only one Test match was played by the Springboks at Soccer City. On 21 August, 2010 they played against the All Blacks and that match was won by New Zealand 29-22.
•With 82 Tests, Bryan Habana is the most capped Springbok wing. He holds the record for the most Test tries for South Africa with 46 and has also scored the most tries by a Springbok in this competition with 13.
•Bryan needs two tries to equal Joost van der Westhuizen’s record of six career tries in Tests against New Zealand.
•Bryan is currently joint third for most career tries in the Vodacom Tri-Nations/The Castle Rugby Championship with 13. He needs two tries to join Joe Rokocoko of New Zealand in second place (15), behind Christian Cullen of New Zealand, who scored 16 tries in this competition.
•Jean de Villiers is the most capped Springbok centre with 65 Tests in this position. Jean also needs two tries to equal Joost van der Westhuizen’s record of six career tries in Tests against New Zealand.
•Ruan Pienaar will play in his 60th Test for South Africa and in his 25th in this competition.
Springbok Test match records at Soccer City:
•Most points – 15 by Morné Steyn (5p)
•Most tries – 1 by Schalk Burger
•Most conversions – 1 by Morné Steyn
•Most penalty goals – 5 by Morné Steyn
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