Heyneke Meyer & Jean de Villiers
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer said that his team’s defeat to Ireland taught them some valuable lessons about what it takes to win in Europe.
Despite dominating the set-pieces, the Boks could not find a way to turn that pressure into points as a stream of basic errors saw them slump to a 29-15 defeat in Dublin on Saturday.
It was their first defeat in the Northern Hemisphere since going down to Scotland in 2010, and although he was disappointed with the result, Meyer said that there were some positives for his team to take from the match a year out from the World Cup.
“We are sorry that we let our country and our supporters down with that performance. Every single defeat hurts.
“However, I’d rather lose one now and see where we’re at for the World Cup next year than it to happen then because now I can see where we can adapt and improve,” he said.
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The Bok coach was impressed with the way Ireland made the most of their opportunities in the conditions to secure what was a comfortable victory in the end.
“The Irish deserve a lot of credit though – they played the conditions better and were tactically superior. We knew it was going to be a tough tussle and we were not good enough on the day.
“Let us not kid ourselves – we played a world class side who nearly beat the All Blacks last year,” he said.
Meyer admitted that his side have struggled in wet conditions all year and said that improving their wet-weather play is a priority.
“We have to adapt to different styles of game. You can’t play Championship (southern hemisphere) rugby in the ones we had today and we haven’t really played well in the wet ball conditions like that all year.
“Although we’ve evolved in every game we’ve played against Ireland it is an arm wrestling exercise where you have to wait your moment to open them up,” he said.
With another tough assignment against England at Twickenham looming next week, Meyer said that they will be taking a hard look at themselves in order to turn things around quickly.
“We have to take this on the chin and show some character against England, who are a quality side too. We have to look ourselves in the mirror and reflect on what happened out there.
“But we can’t afford to dwell too much on what is in the past. We have a massive game against England at Twickenham on Saturday and we simply have to show a massive improvement because they will be just as tough to beat at home,” he said.
Meyer, who was experiencing just his eighth defeat in 34 tests, said that the yellow card for replacement hooker Adriaan Strauss 14 minutes from the end had halted any momentum they had managed to build having trailed the Irish throughout the game.
“The referee is always right, we’re not allowed to say otherwise,” said Meyer.
“However, there are no excuses. We could use that as one if we wished to but Ireland were the better side. They outplayed us and outkicked us,” he said.
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Springbok captain Jean de Villiers said that his side have to cut out the basic errors that plagued them against Ireland if they are to bounce back.
Despite dominating many areas of the game the Boks failed to make use of their opportunities and were handed a lesson in how to play in wet conditions by a determined Irish side that secured a fairly comfortable 29-15 win in the end.
De Villiers said that the stream of individual errors had been particularly frustrating as they halted any momentum the team was building.
“Each and every player will have to take a hard look at himself, come back on Monday and work harder,” he said.
Although there were some encouraging signs such as the dominant set-pieces, De Villiers said that building a platform means nothing if you are not able to capitalise.
“Our standards are higher than what we showed against Ireland and we simply made too many errors. Yes, our first phase play was very good and I thought we dominated the scrums and the line-outs, but we didn’t retain the ball and you can’t play rugby without the ball.”
“We were fine at tactical kicking and in the scrum but we just couldn’t hang onto the ball, which you do at Grade One rugby,” said the 33-year-old, who was winning his 103rd cap.
The Bok captain admitted that the players themselves will bear responsibility for what was their first defeat in Europe since 2010.
“It is not we played badly but we couldn’t hold on to the passes and that is not down to coaching. We as players have to take the responsibility because how we played was not good enough for the Springbok jersey.
“However, you have got to give Ireland credit. They were well prepared and played really well. We’ll take this on the chin and be hard on ourselves for a couple of days and then get on with the task ahead,” he added
1 @ GoBokkeAndIreland:
3 @ charlesm:
Hi the idea of taking penalty points at goal in tests is a point I agree on but I guess it is all dependant on the context of the match, on Saturday (we were talking about the Welsh game live on the England/NZ thread) Wales got what I thought was a kickable penalty shortly before halftime and I said they should take the 3 points, that would leave them trailing by 4 at halftime, a few minutes later I had egg on my face as they had decided not to take the kick at posts and ended up with a converted try so were level at halftime. Then in the second half when they were trailing they got a penalty right in front of posts close to Aus line and they opted for a scrum, again a few minutes later after various penalties and resets they got a penalty try to lead by 1. Just shows maybe sometimes taking the 3 points is just a bit of conservative traditional thinking. Wales lost in the end but in those two instances came away with 14 points instead of 6.
grootblousmile wrote:
Hi GBS interesting that you picked up on this particular aspect as it is something that is mentioned many times by folk here following PRO12, time and time again they lament that the Irish province teams get away with ‘dodgy’ play around the breakdowns, it is no coincidence to me that there is a NZ influence in their coaching, how often in the past have we SA fans complained by niggly taking players of the ball at breakdown and incorrect side entry into the rucks by NZ too.
@ Bullscot:
Hi Bully.
I’d guess it’s up to the captain and senior players on the field at the time as to what decisions get made at that time, in that particular situation. What bothers me (and I’m really not being negative here!) is that SA seems to make the wrong decisions too often. I don’t know if this is because of decision making, an incorrect belief in the power of the Bok set-piece, or lack of confidence in the kicker. I really don’t know . . .
@ charlesm:
Hi Charles.
I’d def. go for the points!
Nick also disagreed with Bob about the yellow card!
@ GoBokkeAndIreland:
I have just made a comment about Nick’s comments on another thread. Bob argued that the player’s foot was on the ground, which was obviously not correct
35 @ charlesm:
If Bob Stinkgat says Good Mornng, look out the window first.. might be any other time of day or night, and the weather might be foul!
Langlip Stinkgat is a pons of the highest order.
Jeez we have some very poor rugby commentators… Nasal Joel Stransky, Fluistervent Brosnihan, Bobby Stinkgat, Andy Capistagno… and lately even little Liefling (Derick Hougaard).
Oh, and lest we forget some of the stupid Studio commentators… that woman who thinks she knows something about rugby, but seriously does’nt…. Elna or something… shame… eishhhh! Jinne, she irritates the shit out of me!
36 @ grootblousmile:
WTF is it with SuperSport and the whole women in Rugby shyte?
Call me a sexist, but before you put a women on a Rugby program, at least make sure she knows as much about the game as her co-studio “experts”.
Elna isn’t even the worst of them!
Mind you, as you point out Elna’s peers leave a lot to be desired.
Nick, Mitch and the Aussie prat from Durban… Campo. They have enough knowledge to be able to make sensible comments.
Some of the others, well……………………………….
What did Louis Luyt say about Andy Cap and his previous carreer as a postman in the UK?
Elna is pretty, intelligent & has (koff koff) nice legs – she looks & sounds better than Haas Das & Mr Saarks
She’s a pleasant enough diversionary interlude in those sometimes inane panel discussions & on-field interviews …
🙂
38 @ Angostura:
Elna & intelligent is not in the same dictionary, as far as I’m concerned… or even in the same language…
She is so doff, if her IQ was 1 lower, pot plants would laugh at her!
38 @ Angostura:
Eish, I am now interested…
Angus, what makes her pretty to you?
Is she a family member / daughter… and you HAVE TO BE curteous?
To me, her doffness plummets her looks so far down the drain for me, it is’nt even funny!
PS! Sorry if she is your daughter… but someone needs to tell her that she is totally farked….
Im not a fan of these personal attack on peoples character… supersport must have their reasons, most likely to broaden their viewership. no need for personal attacks gbs.
37 @ Scrumdown:
Hehehe,
Was Andy Capistagno a Postman in the UK before he came to SA?
Jeeez, when he starts with… which Natal High School all the farking players went to, ad nauseam… by that time I am long already over to Afrikaans commentary, or having turned down the TV Sound completely and rather switched over to Radio commentary in stead…. even if it is from Radio Sonder Mense!
I am not related to Elma, nor do I know her personally or anecdotally. I simply base my opinion on what I’ve seen of her as a TV presenter in different productions.
I have due regard to the fact that people’s perceptions & tastes differ. Like you I’m entitled to my own perception, taste & opinion. Notwithstanding your contrary opinion, I consider Elma an accomplished young professional, & a pretty young lady. I think most fathers, brothers & husbands would be proud of her as a daughter, sister or wife, as the case may be.
http://elmasmit.co.za/?page_id=5
http://whoswho.co.za/elma-smit-28399
http://www.tvsa.co.za/actors/viewactor.aspx?actorid=14959
BTW, as regards intelligence, ‘whoswho’ credits Elma with BA (Law) & BA Hons (Journalism) degrees.
@ grootblousmile:
Let’s agree to disagree about Elma GBS! Clearly you have made up your mind and nobody will change that.
@ Angostura:
Thanks for the links Angos. I share your views on Elma
@ MacroBok: 41 – I agree with you – comments uncalled for IMO
@ Angostura:
I wonder who else here has one of those “doff” degrees? 😀
And in other “more sporting” rugby news 🙂 :
http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Sharks-sign-Pumas-loosie-20141111
per Sharksworld:
“Pumas loose forward Renaldo Bothma returns to Durban, where it all started for him as a 19-year-old, to play Super Rugby for the Sharks in 2015 and 2016.
25-year-old Bothma joined the Sharks after finishing school in Heidelberg, but left as an under 21 year old to join the Lions before making a senior debut in the black and white. He has since risen to prominence as a Pumas player and has also emerged as a test regular for Namibia.
Bothma will remain contracted to the Pumas until the end of 2016, but will be available to the Sharks for the 2015 and 2016 Super Rugby campaigns. World Cup commitments will see him miss the 2015 Currie Cup entirely, but he will play in Puma grey in the 2016 installment of the domestic showcase.
Renaldo stands roughly 1.9m in his socks and weighs 103kgs. He is comfortable in any back row position, but has come to the fore in recent years as a ball-carrying option at blindside flank or number 8, a position where the Sharks need depth following the departure of Jean Deysel to Japan.”
@ Angostura:
Good signing. Everyone would have been scrammbling for his signature i assume.
42 @ grootblousmile:
From SuperSport’s Website.
Full name: Andrew Giuseppe Capostagno
Nickname: Cappy
Twitter handle: @cappyZN
Place of birth: Bath, England
First job: Postman
Favourite sport: Cricket
Hobbies: Watching my daughter ride her horses
Favourite holiday destination: Argentina
Favourite food(s): Pasta
Pet peeves: Badly subbed newspaper and internet articles
Best characteristic trait: Never down for long
Any guilty indulgences: Late night snacks
Something else you’d like the world to know about you: My collection of short stories: “Ystervarkrivier, A Slice of Life”
First sporting memory: Brazil winning the 1970 World Cup
Best sporting memory: Watching Richard Hadlee bowl
Worst sporting memory: Allan Donald dropping his bat
Greatest sporting achievement (‘A’ team rugby at school, provincial/international colours, broke a window with golf ball etc.): Once bowled a dot ball to Sunil Gavaskar
SuperSport career highlight: 10 years of Super Saturday with Neil Andrews
I wonder if he delivered the post as well as he delivers him commentary?
@ Scrumdown:
Crappy was a career Postie.
His intro into the world of rugby broadcasting was courtesy of his father in law being one Vernon Pugh.
😆
Cappy knows where everyone parents parents live. He is a clear career postman
@ grootblousmile:
I personally think she is a breath of fresh air. They let her do all the social media stuff, and I much prefer her to the other lady they have on Boots & All. She makes Elma look like she has a doctorate in rugby.
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