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If Heyneke Meyer has any sense he’ll do very little else this week other than show his Springbok squad replays of this past weekend’s two South African Super Rugby derbies.
Day in and day out he’ll force them to sit and watch the Sharks and the Bulls get beaten at their own game, and difficult as it may sound, no sleeping should be allowed in the video hall.
The aim of this exercise will not be to torture those squad members that found themselves on the losing sides in these derbies – well, not entirely. It is just that the Boks themselves can learn so much from it.
The Springbok game-plan, after all, will almost entirely be a mash-up of that of the Sharks and the Bulls. And this weekend is proof that, even with superior personnel, it’s a game that is utterly beatable.
The first half of the Ellis Park clash should be on repeat until the Boks realise that reputations count for nothing in this game.
Up until this past weekend the Lions had never beaten the Bulls in a professional Super Rugby contest. The traffic seemed to want to remain strictly one-way during Saturday’s first half as the Bulls got one try-scoring opportunity after the other, but every single one of them was squandered.
They soon came to rue it as another blunder – this time at kickoff – allowed the tide to turn. All of a sudden the score got away from them and the home-side got their tails in the air. Gone was the dominance, and gone the unblemished record.
The Boks have just as proud a history against Wales. Out of 27 tests played between two of the rugby world’s proudest nations, the men in green and gold have only ever lost one. That too can change in the blink of an eye.
The South Africans have to be at their clinical best from the word go despite what the record books say.
Those blundered Bulls chances can also teach the Boks that sometimes loyalty may be misplaced.
If it is one tyre that keeps getting flat on a car you don’t drive from one garage to the next to pump air, you replace it with the spare-wheel. Why then would you watch 90% of all your backline attacks fall flat at exactly the same spot because one player lacks both the handling and creative skills to take things further? Take him off and replace him with a more-than-capable spare. Mend the broken tyre, but please, don’t do it while you’re driving.
The lesson from the Durban match would be just as clear: if you want to play a game that purposefully seeks out collisions, you better make sure that you’re the team that dominates those contact situations.
At Kings Park we saw the underdogs gain parity in this department, and with little else to offer, the favourites were forced to sit back and wait for opposition mistakes that never really came. What did come was an after-the-hooter drop goal that will in all probability cost the Sharks a home final.
The Boks will have to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen over the next month. They will have to constantly accelerate into contact, ensuring they go forward whether they’re on attack or defence. The last thing they can afford is for a Welsh side to force a stalemate in the physicality stakes and allowing them to launch a backline that, in terms of skill and guile, could prove to be more than a match for our defence.
They should guard against aimless kicking as well. It took just one of those to give the Stormers the ball they needed to finish the upset in Durban. It could take just one of them for another upset on African soil in June.
Let’s also hope that they look up the touchline at least as often as they go for the high kick-and-chase. A Matfield-led lineout will have all three of our opponents this June more than just a little worried about their own ball. What use is that advantage, though, if we’re never going to use it?
The Sharks and the Bulls were our strongest sides in Super Rugby this season and their influence on Springbok rugby will be far greater than just the 16 players they will provide for the upcoming matches against a World XV, Wales and Scotland. Let’s hope the correct bits for our “best of both†are chosen and that it proves to be the right recipe.
Here are our teams of the week:
Note: our weekly teams are selected on the past weekend’s action only, so overall season form is not a factor. Players in teams with a bye are then obviously not considered.
Super XV for Week 16:
15. Ben Smith (Highlanders), 14. Johnny McNicholl (Crusaders), 13. Adam Ashley-Cooper (Waratahs), 12. Ma’a Nonu (Blues), 11. Julian Savea (Hurricanes), 10. Marnitz Boshoff (Lions), 9. Nick Phipps (Waratahs), 8. Warren Whiteley (Lions), 7. Michael Hooper (Waratahs), 6. Dave Dennis (Waratahs), 5. Kane Douglas (Waratahs), 4. Flip van der Merwe (Bulls), 3. Ruan Dreyer (Lions), 2. Stephen Moore (Brumbies), 1. Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks).
Bok Barometer for Week 16:
15. Coenie van Wyk (Lions), 14. Akona Ndungane (Bulls), 13. Sibusiso Sithole (Sharks), 12. Alwyn Hollenbach (Lions), 11. Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks), 10. Marnitz Boshoff (Lions), 9. Faf de Klerk (Lions), 8. Warren Whiteley (Lions), 7. Jacques du Plessis (Bulls), 6. Marcell Coetzee (Sharks), 5. Ruan Botha (Stormers), 4. Flip van der Merwe (Bulls), 3. Ruan Dreyer (Lions), 2. Bismarck du Plessis (Sharks), 1. Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks).
Match of the week:
It was a match that saw 69 points being scored, including a last-gasp effort by flanker Jake Schatz to seal the deal. This week’s match of the week goes to the Reds and the Highlanders.
Here are the highlights:
Please note that all video footage is for the website only and is rights-restricted, and therefore only available in regions that fall within SuperSport’s broadcast footprint.
Try of the week:
The word audacious doesn’t begin to describe the no-look over-the-shoulder hanging pass that Elton Jantjies left for Stokkies Hanekom to run on to in the build-up to Warwick Tecklenburg’s try. It’s enough to make this play our Try of the Week:
Cambist Best of Twitter:
Here is this week’s look at what players got up to on Twitter:
Selfthree
The All Blacks are back in camp so the obligatory selfie had to come. This time the award goes to Izzy Dagg for his three person selfie with Ma’a Nonu and Liam Messam. There’s a gold star for originality there somewhere.
Brother of another colour
Birthday time in the Bok camp is a special time and none more so for Flip van der Merwe and Lwazi Mvovo, who share their birthday in camp this week. A more unlikely pairing you’ll struggle to find, but Flip reckons he can outsprint the vroom-vroom specialist.
Ruled out by swollen lips
Damian de Allende’s Springbok hopes were killed off by injury this past weekend, but that didn’t stop him being cheered up by Ricky Schroeder – we just hope those are milkshakes they’re celebrating with.
Putting on the Brits
Schalk Brits is back in a Bok jumper and couldn’t wait to try on the kit when he got back into camp. We just hope the European player of the year nominee remembers to remove the tags.
Onelaw Video vault
Our friends over at Fox Sports Australia gave us this clip that contains what they call the “Top 5 bloopers in rugby history”. Enjoy!
Rhymes with ruck
In the continuing tales of referee Craig Joubert, we were rather surprised when we heard him utter an expletive during the game between the Bulls and Lions on Saturday.
Rather sheepishly, he immediately said “sorry sorry†before finally revealing the cause – he had twinged his hamstring and then asked for a physio to be on standby at the halftime break.
Having relayed this information on twitter, we had to chuckle as the first reply came from Joubert’s former referee mate, Jonathan Kaplan, who has since retired and released a tell-all book of his rugby reffing days.
“They don’t make them like they used to,†was Kaplan’s comment.
The interpretation – we leave that up to your imagination.
The Shining Lites
South African are often accused of arrogance up front by overseas media, but we’re sure that’s changed in the past few years.
However, you have to say the English are doing their best to talk up an under-strength’s side challenge to the All Blacks, so much so that the World Champions have been accused of being arrogant.
It started off with columnist Christ Rattue’s column last week calling the tourists “England-Lite†and his argument that while New Zealand have shown cracks, they are in much better shape than the tourists.
“Trouble is, the genuine shambles is England. Pinning the blame might be difficult, but the end result – turning up in dribs and drabs for a major test series – is an insult. Yet an indication of the depths to which rugby expectations have fallen in this regard is the lack of sustained outcry over the punters being sold this dud,†Rattue wrote.
“England Lite. The record books. Hansen’s calm authority and experience. Richie McCaw … and Richie McCaw again. The confidence under pressure derived from last year’s history-making exploits. It’s hard to see anything else but one-way traffic, road-train style.â€
If ever Stuart Lancaster needed material for the motivation speech…
Not knowing the Lawes of the game
It continued of course, when the players got involved with All Black lock Brodie Retallick being unable to name a single English player in his interview with the press contingent.
“Asked if he knew any of the side who might feature in the first Test in Auckland in Saturday, Retallick answered “a couple”. When pressed, he replied: “Michael Lawes.”
“Courtney Lawes, the player to whom Retallick was presumably referring, is one of 14 tourists unavailable for the match having played in Saturday’s Aviva Premiership final,†the Daily Express recounted the event.
“Assuming he was not taking the Michael, Retallick’s blank indicates a surprising knowledge void – especially as he played against England at Twickenham in 2012 and 2013.â€
Finally it was left to captain Richie McCaw to point out that the All Blacks want to “send them home with a sour look on their facesâ€.
Tweet of the week:
@RobForbesDJ to @Coachdivvy: Victor Matfield invented line-outs as a way to pass small animals into the ark
Article source: http://www.givemesport.com/412572-why-south-africa-should-host-the-2017-rugby-league-world-cup
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