Now that the excitement of the crazy last 10 minutes at Newlands has subsided, maybe it’s time for a reality check for the Springboks and their supporters – regardless of what happens at Ellis Park this coming week, the All Blacks remain top of the southern hemisphere pile and there is still a lot of work to be done before their position will be properly challenged.
SuperSport
Although a win over the old enemy in Johannesburg will mean that effectively the difference between first and second in this year’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship for the Boks was George Clancy’s debatable decision to yellow card Bryan Habana in Perth, there are still a lot of things the All Blacks just do better.
One of those is the way they deal with Argentina. After the first round game in Napier everyone agreed that the Pumas punched above their weight. But the All Blacks still managed to grab a four try bonus point. The Pretoria game between the Boks and the Pumas was admittedly played in unseasonal monsoon conditions, but it also rained in Napier.
On the three occasions the Boks have visited Argentina in the Rugby Championship era, they have been fortunate to escape with log points and have been subjected to harrowing ordeals. In 2012 the match was drawn in Mendoza, last year they won it late, and this year they won in the final minutes too. In none of those games did the Boks pick up a four try bonus point. The All Blacks have yet to go Argentina and not clinch a four try win.
Whereas the 20 points scored in the final minutes in Cape Town will doubtless obscure many memories of what went before and it was undeniably a rousing, deserved and much needed win, the All Black performance in La Plata later that night was arguably still better than the one produced by the Boks. The Kiwis were playing on the other side of the world and never looked like being challenged, with the win that clinches them the Championship for the third successive year being achieved with some ease, as was the bonus point.
Now the All Blacks have to travel across the Atlantic Ocean, and back across several time zones, before arriving in Johannesburg to prepare for Saturday’s final match of the series. The Boks let it be known last week that they feel they are still disadvantaged in the Championship because they have to play three consecutive games on the road, but what the All Blacks have to do in the build-up to playing the Boks in a stadium that is supposedly the South African fortress is also most emphatically not for the faint hearted.
That they have managed to leave Soccer City and Ellis Park as fairly convincing winners after their two previous visits to the Highveld where they arrived via Argentina is to be applauded. If they do it again, with the Championship trophy safely under lock and key, it will well and truly underline how much better Richie McCaw’s team are when it comes to the southern hemisphere competition.
Note, that doesn’t mean they are better off when it comes to being prepared to retain the World Cup, for that is debatable if you consider sea level venues and softer underfoot conditions in the northern hemisphere winter with the faster track at Ellis Park, as well as the advantage the Kiwis currently should have in the kicking game in the absence from the Bok side of Fourie du Preez.
That said, the way the Boks finished off the last time they played the All Blacks and the way they finished off Australia at Newlands should give Jean de Villiers’ men massive confidence that at last they can make some dent on the aura of invincibility the Kiwis have carried with them since 2011.
The Bok fitness levels for a start have quite clearly improved dramatically this year, with the Boks effectively outlasting the Wallabies at Newlands in the same way that the All Blacks have outlasted them on their recent visits to South Africa.
But the line that the Boks spun afterwards that they always knew they would pull away at the end should not just be glibly accepted. For 70 minutes on Saturday it looked as though the Sunday headlines would be about the Boks’ first defeat to Australia in Cape Town since 1992. With just a bit of luck, and but for some heroic South African try-saving tackles, the Wallabies could have put the Boks away in the third quarter.
Indeed, they might have been more than a score ahead at the break had they better exploited the De Villiers knock-on when the South Africans spread the ball across their own tryline when trailing by five. If ever there was an example of why some say it is imprudent to run the ball from close to your line, that was probably it.
The first half was an odd one in that the Boks seemed dominant, and yet so much of what they did was reminiscent of the title of the Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing. They seemed to be rushing everything, it was as if they were chasing something that didn’t need to be chased, and it led to mistakes that let the Wallabies into the game.
Turning down a penalty in front of the posts when you are five points down also wouldn’t be a good idea against the All Blacks, who are also better equipped and more efficient at punishing misdirected kicks than the Wallabies are, as well as more adept at seizing on handling errors and turning them into profit. There were too many elementary errors, such as failing to find touch from penalties, for the Boks to be totally happy with the performance.
And yet overall the fact it wasn’t perfect is probably precisely the reason the Boks should regard the win as a significant step in their growth. Psychologically they should have gained a lot from closing down a close game – it was close despite what the final scoreline might suggest – where they had failed to do so overseas.
Perhaps that showed that lessons were learned, as De Villiers said they would be. If that is the case, hopefully from a South African viewpoint more will be absorbed from the weekend, for in the middle 40 minutes the Boks conspired against themselves in a way that will play into New Zealand’s hands.
Good article.
To me there was too much euphoria from Bok fans after the game – still on a high after the frenetic last 10 minutes.
For 70 minutes the Boks struggled to get the better of an ordinary Oz side. Against the All Blacks they would have been 15 points down by that stage.
Sorry to cast a pall of gloom but our backs looked confused trying to run the ball – like they had only been introduced to this concept a few days before the game.
@ Charo: I Agree – good article and good comment that you make too!
Why can’t the Boks play like they played for the last 10-20 minutes or so, for the WHOLE fucking game???
Some people will just never be satisfied with anything. Yes, they made a few mistakes, but they won with a bonus point. Couldn’t ask for more. Well done Bokke.
@ leon:
boet, if you were satisfied with the first 70 minutes, then good luck to you.
that was not bok standard rugby.
is there any chance we can get experts into our national coaching set up?
the bunch of yes men cadres are not cutting it.
Am I the only person on the planet who thinks that Hougie was nowhere near MoM material.
Much improved yes, but he is coming off such an incredibly low base that any improvement at all would make him seem like a different player.
I still saw him double step pass everything, putting Pollard under pressure and also saw more than 3 passes go behind or way in front of poor Pollard. MoM??
Vermulen should have been the MoM, even though he didn’t even finish the game.
the game was simple. aus got away with continuously slowing our ball down and tacklers not rolling away. but when owens got fed up and hooper got warned the ball started qyickening up and we ran away with it.
Hardly contested 70minutes where both teams defended well, but our depth was too much this time to handle.
@ Charo:
what bok standards? Are you talking about. in the last 3 years we were on standard the second best in the world to one of the ATG rugby teams. before that we fluctuated between 2nd and 4th for four years.
Your setting ficticious standards.
John Galt wrote:
yup, seems you are on your own on this one, sorry
@ MacroBok:
so you are satisfied with the standard of rugby dished out by the boks on saturday?
acceptance of mediocrity is setting in – don’t worry, it is a torpid phenomenon on this continent.
even england are playing a better style than us.
our backline simply crashes up or passes the ball on at half pace – no deep standing runners creating confusion for the opposition – nothing.
we are not amused. 😡
The last ten minutes how destructive the “boring stupid” gameplan can be when we get quick ball.If we managed that in the first 70 we would have put at least 50 on them.
The bokke just needs to work hard at the breakdown (in attack) to secure quick ball. Thats our biggest trouble at this stage.
@ Charo:
Not at all. im just realistic in accepting how up and down the springboks have been the last 15 years. also a very poor SR campaign by all our players… but I see potential from the springboks turning a mediocre bunch into a world class team.
@ Charo:
yea, we know. The current coaches knows nothing about rugby, they come from the Bulls after all.
@ Charo:
England? apart from christ ashton… dont make me giggle.
@ leon:
who is the forwards coach?
isn’t he the son of the ntvl boss or something?
can you imagine any grizzly, hairy-arsed, veteran forward having any respect for him?
Ek dink dar reinach dalk meer game time moet kry….
@ Charo:
Then they wont respect anyone anyway. Some of our sharks players cant even respect the referees.
At least the useless bok coaching staff has kept jannie in check at the springboks. that takes some doing.
i believe leon makes a valid point… some of us passionate springbok supporters are just never satisfied…
as saffas we often seem to have this instinctive (was going to say inbred… but the connotations of that are way too “deliverance” to use…) this instinctive… need to appear fair and objective and… in our honest efforts to do so… end up over-compensating… and the result being anything but objective… as we become overly critical of the boks (or anything south african) and perhaps it is indeed our way of dealing with our collective “guilt” of our apartheid legacy…
how many times don’t we hear bok fans saying… “I don’t mind us losing… IF we play good positive, attractive rugby…” or “IF ONLY we didn’t play this dinosaur skop and jag 10-man rugby, I could accept a loss” or “IF we just showed more intelligence and discipline and didn’t lose from being stupid, it wouldn’t be so bad to lose…” etc etc…
sadly… our need to overcompensate kicks in again and we STILL aren’t satisfied…
let’s look at the game… we hardly kicked in the first half at all… seems heyneke gave a harry-esque instruction that we were not to kick… mostly the guys carried the ball out of defence lead by duane and marcel… and spread the ball wide often…
so fans who bemoaned the old kicking game should be satisfied… but they’re not…
we gave away only 4 penalties the whole game… that is an amazing stat… congrats to guys like jannie and bissie and everyone else… for being so focused and controlled…
so fans who criticized our discipline should be satisfied… but they’re not…
boks teams of old could hardly string 4 or 5 phases together… while aus and the abs would string 10 or 12 together… on saturday we strung 20 to 30 phases together on 4 or 5 occassions… (i don’t have the stats but I’m sure someone has) that speaks volumes of our patience, intelligence and decision making… and control… with ball in hand…
this should please fans who say we play dumb rugby… but it doesn’t…
many have moaned about heyneke’s staid or non-existent game plan… on saturday he revealed a daring and different game plan… which worked brilliantly… and won us the game…
so fans who complained about the game plan should be happy… but they’re not… we left it too late and we could have lost they say… but we didn’t…
we have all moaned about the boks not playing for 80 minutes… and fading towards the end to be pipped by the abs and aus in the past… but in the last two games… it has been the boks who have finished strongest… the abs held out… aus could not…
so guys who griped about us not being fit and not finishing strongly should be satisfied… but they’re not…
the same guys will laud the abs for playing for 85 minutes and winning at the death (how often have they done that to the boks?) but say the boks didn’t play well enough for the first 60 minutes…
firstly… the boks didn’t just play well for 10 minutes… they played well for 80 minutes… and exceptionally well for 20… we may have only scored with 8 to go after wearing the aussies down… but that started around the 60 minute mark…
secondly… it is really churlish not to recognize and commend the aussies for also playing a great game… yes… they couldn’t see it through like the abs did… but they played some excellent rugby before that… kuridrani and hooper were fantastic…
we showed great patience and commitment in defense as the aussies attacked… we didn’t panic and soaked it up for 40-50 before the subs… normally a bone of contention… came on to execute phase two of heyneke’s plan… and executed it perfectly…
so there are a bunch of things we complain about and say we would be happier if the boks just got these things right… these are the things we said would make us happy… even if we lost…
so why are we still not happy…? even though we won…?
@ ufo:
lol even when we recorded a smashing victory in brisbane people still got all emo.
Look I know we could have been better in the first 60 mins. but Naas was so right… it is an 80minute game. so what if we scored our points in the last ten. Did people get just as emotional about the Aussies winning us in the end?
@ ufo:
@ MacroBok:
hi ufo – long post boet 😆
i wonder how many of us were frustrated and concerned about the possible result after 60 minutes and were relieved when the boks eventually came right.
my point is that the final result glossed over an average performance and it was the subs that swung it for us.
the notion that the bok management team had planned to keep the score close and then win it with 10 minutes to go was absolute horseshit.
18 @ ufo:
only read bit by bit as I was in the lab. but definitely post of the month material.
@ Charo:
Well like i said the ball finally started speeding up in the last quarter and aus could not keep up anymore. Like UFO said. our ball retention the first 40mins was outstanding.. Unfortunately there were too many static rucks that halted our momentum. and min40-60 our defense held out constant attacking rugby from Aus and we did not concede one point… then the dam broke.
To me we just need to manage slow ball better instead of writing off the first 70mins as a complete failure. which is not a fair reflection of the game either.
21 @ Charo:
😆
sometimes charo… you need more 140 characters to make a point… 😉
sometimes in this microwave world of instant gratification… a good old slow-cooked potjie is a more satisfying meal…!
no one said the plan was to keep it close… obviously they would have liked to have been way ahead… the plan was to address the issue of fading towards the end… and guys like loot not having the confidence or experience to see it through… the plan was to bring on the old heads to pip them at the post if need be… (as we could have done to the ABs…) or to hang onto or extend a lead if we had one at that stage…
so… problem addressed… plan executed… game won… what’s not to like…?
fact is… after pat scored the team ran back for the restart even though there was only a minute left… to try and score again and get the BP… so it’s not as you say, horseshit, that jean just thought up for his presser… there obviously was a plan into which the whole team… and especially the bench… had bought into…
sure.. the final score may have flattered us a bit… but when is putting 18 points over the aussies… 20 un-answered in the second half… settling for mediocrity…?
thing is bud… it’s fine for gavin rich and others to speak about the need for perspective…
but he and others are missing what the truth is… which is that… perspective is a two-way street…
22 @ MacroBok:
cheers macro…
@ ufo:
Completely agree we win plenty of games in the last 10 minutes, wear them down and go for the kill. That was a big win for the Bokke.
Jake White vat toe sy goed & trek Ferreira …
(Dunnose, but maybe Russia offered him a NATIONAL contract? – Just imagine he’ll be able to pip Straueli with a Camp Stalingrad … nogal!) 🙂
Actually surprised he lasted as long … my impression is, he usually stays just long enough to sow discord
Sharks SR prospects suddenly soaring … GO SHARKS!
25 @ NZINCHINA:
ta china…
26 @ Angostura:
seriously…?
tell us more bud…
@ ufo:
http://www.sharksrugby.co.za/news#article2655644
http://www.sharksworld.co.za/2014/09/29/jake-white-walks-out-on-sharks/
I for one was very happy with the way we played on Saturday. By the way, a great post UFO! Our ball retention was great and as you said we put a number of phases together. I have been one of those who criticized the ‘skop and jaag’ tactic. Now that we are playing proper rugby, I think we should give credit when due. We won and we won well. Whether you put the final nail in the coffin in the 45th minute of 71st, the job was well done. I think provincialism still plays a huge part with certain supporters. I don’t think Hougaard was man of the match on Saturday, but he was way better than the week before. I also think the coach used his subs better. Lambie brought new energy, Schalla ensured go forward ball but this after Vermeulen, Strauss, Matfield, Etsebeth, Coetzee, etc softened up the Ozzies. We are still way off the standards of the AB’s, but man am I happy with what I saw on Saturday…
Angostura wrote:
Sharks have some problems currently. Not looking healthy in Durban.
At least we don’t have to listen to the bunch of trucking cry babies on this site who hate the Sharks because of their coach.
Good times ahead
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