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There is now no denying it. The Boks have been well and truly beaten three consecutive weeks in a row. From world beaters to dead beats in under a year, the post mortem on Springbok rugby must begin. Whinge if you will about calls that went against the Boks but there is no doubting that is back to the drawing board to redraft new formula’s for a route back to winning rugby.
One thing that has been evident on this away tri nations leg, is that our senior Boks were haplessly outplayed and outclassed by both the Kiwi’s and the Ozzies. Surely now, harsh changes need to be made and new game plans need to be invented. A relatively young Ozzie team with new caps in their ranks put an experienced Bok team to the sword.
I have to wonder to what extend a liability coach de Villiers is to the Bok cause. I believe that his off the field rantings and his controversial persona must force the Bok team and management to loose focus on their primary task. I mean, how do the guys prepare for their test against the Wallabies when the squad is bogged down in ludicrous controversy.
Yet again, another yellow card inside ten minutes and this time no one can complain about the justice of it.
I believe it is time for injection of new blood. Some of our long serving players looked old and tired with very little to offer the Bok cause. Some of the senior guys were looking so flat and their play was far too stereotyped which was so easily readable by the opposition.
Changes for the home leg…. It would be nice if we could get a new coach or even coaching team, but SARU are going to stick by their Puppet clown. Personally, I feel his head should be the first to roll for both the disrepute and embarrassment he brings to Springbok rugby. Secondly his lack of coaching preparations become more evident game after game. When he took over Jake Whites winning world cup squad, some held up the remarkable results of the Boks as testament to de Villiers coaching credentials. Others felt that he was simply riding Jake Whites wave which will eventually ride itself out. This controversial coach has been guilty of a few crass things such as statements that seem to condone eye gouging and head butting.
But the thing he has been guilty of the most, was believing in his own invincibility as a coach. He has now had his ass handed to him by wily coaches in Deans and Henry and he has now been shown that he is not the divine second coming. Sadly, this has come at the expense of Bok rugby.
An injection of fresh blood in the Bok team is now a must. And I am going to start with Ruan Pieenaar. He is very highly rated here in South Africa. However I believe he is the most over rated player in South African rugby over the last few years. Sure, he is a better bet than Ricki Januarie right now. But please can some one explain to me what he has done in the last few seasons at any level of rugby that makes him so highly rated. For me he is just an average scrumhalf and always has been. Worth having around when your scrummie stocks are low. But that’s it. I argued the same point with my Dad last week and he could not name anything special Ruan has done on a rugby paddock, when he tried to back up his point of view. Again today, we saw yet another average display by an average international half back.
In the absence of Fourie du Preez (whose rugby brain we are sorely missing), the hungrier Francois Hougard should be elevated into our starting lineup once the home leg begins. In the last few minutes Hougard contrasted the more stale Ruan Pienaar with a lively and inventive display that proved a nuisance to the winning Wallabies. His form for the Bulls in the Super 14 has been electric. With opportunity, blooding one of our newer upcoming talents should begin sooner rather than later. Hougard is an excellent prospect. Lets bring him in now.
As for Morne Steyn, he offers no tactical benefit to the Bok team and seems very lost without his Bulls scrumhalf partner, Fourie du Preez. Is Butch James the answer? Definitely not. I would be keen to see how Steyn performed with Hougard as his no 9.
Another injection of fresh blood is the young and talented Juan de Jongh to be paired with Jacques Fourie, the latter who so far has had a very poor Trinations by his high standards. Wynand Olivier sadly should be confined to the Bok trash can. This talented player has never quite made the step up to Bok rugby, in spite of all his promise. Against the Wallabies, he enjoyed one good line break in a move that really looked threatening and then blew away the good work by holding onto the ball when it was screaming to be passed.
Our newer guys like Gio Aplon and Zane Kirchner need to be persevered with. They are talented players who had very little opportunity to show their worth. And of course, we can only dream of Bryan Habana returning to the form that has made him one of rugby’s most dangerous strike players. Having said that, when the Boks were recycling possession, they never allowed the ball to hit the outside wings, more often than not choosing the inside pass. I really felt that they needed to spread the ball further out when giving the ball air.
Coming back to our forwards, I can not express enough how we lament the loss of Brussouw to injury and even how we miss an honest hard bone crunching forward like Juan Smith. But what has happened to our core forwards whom all revolves around. Victor Matfield has not been his usual imposing self and John Smit’s form has taken such a dip, one really has to ask whether we continue persisting with him.
If you were coach of the Boks, would you have the balls to drop him from the starting lineup for the home Tri Nations? And if so, would this have any physiological impact on the team?
On form alone, there are better hookers playing currie cup rugby in South Africa at the moment. As for Pierre Spies and Ryan Kankowski, both are brilliant players and I remain a resolute fan of either. But can the Boks afford to have two flash players for loose forwards. Dewald Potgieter’s late substitution onto the park, reminded us of what the job of a loose forward is. Again, one of the fresh blood crop of players who should start fitting into a vision for a Bok team beyond the Smit, Matfield, Jean de Villiers era.
The All Blacks with their band of senior players have brought in new fresh blood such as Israel Dagg, Cory Jane, Rene Ranger. These newbie’s have filled in for seasoned names like Rockoko and Sivivatu, and have done so with distinction. Look at Australia with their band of babies, running rings around Dads army.
Lastly, our world beating Boks never even came close in three starts against southern hemisphere opposition. Although its not time for panic buttons yet, it certainly is time for alarm bells and to heed warning signs. The preplanning of the Springboks destiny needs to unfold. While I am highly motivated at at the idea of an evolving Bok team with players like Potgieter, Hougard, Aplon, de Jongh, I am seriously concerned about the performance of our senior players like Smit, Matfield and even Jacques Fourie. It is time for serious changes from game plan to playing personal and even coaching techniques.
I am confident that they will be back. South Africa has an abundant of talent. We just have to recognise it and use it wisely.
Congratulations Australia. You are more than worthy winners, as it much as it pains me to say so. Whilst we lick our wounds over the next three weeks, its our turn to sit back and watch the All Blacks and Wallabies knock themselves out.
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