Indiscipline endemic to anarchy
The Springbok discipline has been shocking throughout the three-Test series, a fact that confirms all is not well in the South African camp.
‘That was just two minutes of the game, and we play for 80 minutes,’ head coach Peter de Villiers replied when asked about the senseless scuffle that afforded the Lions a late penalty in Saturday’s defeat.
The Lions won by more than three points, but that wasn’t the issue. De Villiers dodged the question pertaining to brain explosions that are becoming the norm rather than the exception.
Why is he dodging the question? Because the answer is a poor reflection on himself. The Boks are an aggravated lot, just as they were under Rudolf Straeuli. Does that suggest they don’t back their own coach or are unhappy under his rule?
You look at the evidence and you decide.
The senior players have had to take on greater responsibility since De Villiers came to power. A tumultuous 2008 Tri-Nations was characterised by what De Villiers called total rugby, a brand that was devoid of sense or structure, and most importantly a brand that led to a last-place finish. On the end-of-the-year tour, the game against England witnessed the reversion to a more structured approach as the senior players put their collective foot down to force De Villiers into submission.
De Villiers was hailed in the aftermath, but insiders confirmed the senior players were determined to play to a pattern akin to the one that won the World Cup.
In 2008, De Villiers’s advisors peddled the line, ‘Give us time to work with him’, implying that given a chance, he could become a half decent coach.
Together with his consistently ridiculous press conference offerings, his rugby contribution has failed to improve. That first Test in Durban was so nearly lost thanks to some mindless substitutions in the final quarter, and in the second and third Tests, the patent lack of player discipline served to highlight his lack of control.
The Boks are getting worse, not better. Maybe it’s taken Saturday’s defeat for more people to realise that.
Most of these Bok players have been together for five years and a number boast over 50 caps. When you see a player like Victor Matfield, a veteran and vice-captain of the Boks, involved in off-the-ball fighting, you have to wonder. There’s aggression and then there’s senseless pushing and shoving that ultimately ends in a penalty against your own team. The experienced players just don’t do that.
Indiscipline is not limited to foul play. It was written off as rust in the first Test, but the Bok decision-making has been shocking across all three games. The Boks were robbed of a kickable penalty in the final stages of the second Test because Bismarck du Plessis took a quick tap. Where was the common sense?
Sure, players need to be held accountable for their own poor decisions, but when they occur so frequently you have to question the coaching philosophy that continues to tolerate perpetual failure in this regard.
Some would say John Smit should shoulder some of the blame for not taking more control on the park. Smit is already under enough pressure trying to play a position that’s not his best, and play it for 80 minutes since the Bok management haven’t bothered to include another specialist tighthead on the bench. No, Smit’s done an admirable job in this series despite the coaching staff, not because of them.
The balance of the 22 has been suspect across the series, the substitutions in the first Test highlighting the point. The decision to field a team boasting 10 changes in the third Test was also flawed given the Boks were so shaky in the first two games. The results failed to hide the fact that they were off the pace.
De Villiers is now talking about building for the Tri-Nations, as if defeat to the Lions’ second-stringers in Johannesburg has afforded him some great insight. Another win for the Bok first side would not have served as a precursor to Tri-Nations glory, but it would have afforded the Boks a further opportunity to attain the synergy that was so obviously lacking in Durban and Pretoria.
The Boks head into the Tri-Nations a group of individuals when they should head into this tournament a hardened and well-drilled team. They have the Lions series win to show for their efforts, but their sub-standard performances in all three games tell a truer story.
This side is stacked with individual talent, but without the necessary management, the team is on a downward spiral. Ian McGeechan came to South Africa with a limited team and managed to record a relatively commendable 2-1 result. De Villiers went into a home series with a world champion team, scraped two wins and then proceeded to field an unbalanced group of youngsters to lose at the fortress Ellis Park. Who should be celebrated and who should be condemned?
The Boks have beaten the Lions and South Africa should celebrate the result, and after that, South Africa should move on. In moving on, South Africa should acknowledge why their world champion team is not performing to world champion standards.
The bottom line is that as a top rugby nation, we deserve more than a second-rate coach.
By Jon Cardinelli, in Johannesburg
July 5th, 2009 at 11:35 am
“The Boks are an aggravated lot, just as they were under Rudolf Straeuli. ”
****
“a fact that confirms all is not well in the South African camp.”
hogwash
“Most of these Bok players have been together for five years and a number boast over 50 caps.”
bullcrap
Here you are JC, a representative of the WP mob trying to invent a ready made excuse to make it look like poor Schalkie was a victim of the coaches philosophy.
What nonsense. Burger was the sole party responsible for trying to deface an innocent man.
Oh it is true.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
#92 bestyearever:
I don’t really think McGeechan is to blame. His team twice couldn’t finish off the Boks when they had the upper hand. He is a more-than-decent coach – his team just didn’t pull it off.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
#93 WakaNathan: Why you take so much notice of our Countries Rugby Team?
Bakkies was banned and it was unfair. By a kiwi may I add.
Its about time the players can have a voice if it means wearing arm band so damn well be it.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:37 am
#101 RedLion:
It makes sense.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:41 am
#97 LondonBul:
Bul, the Irish press haven’t been complimentary about P Divvy either.
There has been a public outcry about the Eye-gouging on our Fitzy, and about Bokke thuggery being lauded generaly by P Divvy, that is comparable to that of the AB players and management in 2005.
To this day the AB’s are as popular as a dose of **** rot.
The same is now true of the Bokkes.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:47 am
#103 Puma:
1. Im a rugby fan. The whole rugby World has been watching this Series, not just(ice) yours.
2. Unfair ? so when he took out Mortlock last year with same no-arms headbutt, that was OK too ?
3. Youre a better man than that Puma. The Boks thought their message was to ’save rugby’. You now have a situation where the players have put themselves above the jersey. Think about the repurcussions.
Youre the most balanced guy on this whole blog. Maybe Im one of the least balanced. But that ‘Justice’ BS is just plain wrong.
Tell me, if everyone in SA seems to agree the Lions were ‘whingers’, how is Justice not ?
wrong wrong wrong.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:48 am
#102 boktoinfinityandbeyond:
Yeah i agree with that.
His players (majority anyway) seemed to fear and respect us too much to do the business
He is to blame for selections though
First test his selections were wrong
First and second test didn’t look like as much a Lions team as it did a combo of Wales and Ireland…Boks didn’t believe they would lose against them, they didn’t believe they could win.
It was only when more English players were picked in the 3rd test and we had an almost B team that they actually believed they could win
July 5th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Obviously pressure is mounting to see the end of PDV, but unfortunately this will only gather real momentum when the boks start to lose. Sadly that we only have to wait a few weeks for that. PDV is no match for Deans and Henry. Losing while having the best players in the world is going to do tremendous damage to SA Rugby and for many of the senior players who have won everything, it might be the opportunity they have been waiting for to do some time in Europe or even retire.
However, what I would really like to know is why Oregan Hoskins avoids all the flak. Here is a guy, hell bent on getting rid of Jake White, all his insiders and all his structures that brought us THE WORLD CUP! He has replaced him with poor old PDV, clearly out of out his depth, dangerously stubborn and arguably a “sandwich short of a packed launch”. PDV seems to be busying himself with destroying what should be one of the greatest rugby machines ever assembled. In the Lions series, it almost seemed like he has been desperately trying to lose, only to be denied by his players. Finally on Saturday, with wholesale changes, he got his loss!
Back to Hoskins – Should we not be asking serious questions about this guys leadership and judgement? Should not he be the won under scrutiny? I think he has a lot to answer for and hopefully when the Boks get a hiding by NZ and Australia those questions will finally be asked and dealt with swiftly.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:55 am
oh what utter horsemanure.
we have just won a lions series.
what must the discipline have been like in 97.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:55 am
#108 harleeb: Yes, good point, I think PdV is the symptom not the cause.
If we could get someone who has the interest of Rugby at heart, not some agenda.
The Sharks did not do very well when Hoskins was in charge – in fact their rugby improved when he left (S14 final).
July 5th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
@CAB – yes we did win a Lions series but this was not a good Lions side and they made their fair share of blunders. We should have beaten them by 40 points 3 times in a row. NZ and Australia would both have buried them with no let off….
July 5th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
#111 harleeb: Have to agree there.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
#111 harleeb:
i disagree this was a very good lions side, albeit a bunch of whinging twats, vickery excluded.
when have we ever beaten a lions side or any other by 40 points 3 times in a row.
i never saw that under JW, i see a 36-0 win which was the best in 4 years, i’ve seen bigger under PdV in 1 year.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
#111 harleeb: I’m not too sure that NZ or Aus would have buries the B&I Lions, their recent performances haven’t been spectacular
July 5th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
#108 harleeb: I don’t think we will get a hiding from NZ or Aus but I do think hoskins is a twat and maybe should consider early retirement.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Arrogant selection decisions by PDV backfired on the Boks.
First rule of international rugby: respect your opposition – field your best team.
Second rule of international rugby: 1% improvement at international level may be all that is needed.
Third rule of rugby: follow rule number 1.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Morning all
Thought I’d add my two cents worth. The performance on Saturday was poor but the difference was that the Lions took their chances. The Boks have not been great for the entire series and the only time we looked formidable was when we raced to a 19 point lead in Durbs. My biggest gripe is our defence. It is absolutely shocking. We used to have the most agressive, solid defence in world rugby, it was a vertitable wall of solid green that even the likes of Ma’a Nonu had trouble breaking down. That Shane Williamd who is desperately out of form crossed twice is disappointing. Why does PDV persist with his delussional “total rugby” gameplan. It does not work. If we play anywhere near the level we have in this series we are going to have our collective ***’ handed to us in the 3N. I can’t take another wooden spoon in a competition we should be dominating what with the Aussie youngsters and Kiwi departures!!
July 5th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
#113 cab:
44-20 vs All Blacks at Ellispark?
July 5th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
#116 wardie: one good thing came from the selections at least we know that jongi, muller and zane should not be selected to play in the tri nations
July 5th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Can anybody refer me to a site I can go to to see team line-ups per game with Caps etc?
July 5th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
#120 WilladieLeeu:
Try scrum.com they might have it, you can certainly find out the number of caps for individual players.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
LETS BOYCOTT THE 3 HOME TRI-NATIONS TESTS
OWING TO THE EXTREME GREAD OF SARFU(IN SETTING LIONS TEST TICKETS AT R1 140) LETS ALL NOT ATTEND THE 3 TRI NATIONS GAMES….THEY DESERVE TO GET WHAT THEY GIVE!!
July 5th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I agree our defence was shocking, at least things improved when Frans came on, but we were also outplayed upfront which allowed them to have a good attacking platform. With a whole new back line (apart from 9) one could hardly expect us to gel within one game.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
#119 byoboy:
i for one will be most happy to never see nokwe in the green and gold again!!morne steyn is better coming off the bench and ruan pienaar should be first choice flyhalf.i didnt even see muller on the park let alone hear the commentators talking about him.
on the good side frans steyn,brussow chiliboy(overall) and odwa played really well especially brussow who happens to be pretty strong for his size ,martyn williams can confirm that after he was picked up and dumped like a sack of potatoes
July 5th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
#122 GARY H: I agree that they are a fkn greedy bunch of mofos but the tri nations tickets are normal prices (aren’t they?) and they are included in most season ticket purchases.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
#124 mbaxman93: Brussouw’s pick and drop of williams was a classic, he definitely deserves his spot. I thought spies was missed during loose play and that Frans showed some class when he came on. We won the series so it was good to just have a look at the other back up players before 3N. Although Jongi’s speed is excellent he looks nervous to be tackled and is bad on defence. Muller hovered round the back of the mauls without getting stuck in, far to often, wasn’t pretty.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
#118 WilladieLeeu:
a difference of 24 points is hardly a 40 pointer victory in three matches.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
#117 Thameside Bok fan: I think he should really look at a video of the Bulls game against the Chiefs.
If we go and play like we did yesterday we will be bottom of the Tri-Nations once again.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
#124 mbaxman93: Did anyone hear Hugh Bladen’s chirp after Brussouw picked Williams up and dropped him again…?
“Well, he looks like he picked him up and dumped him in the back of his bakkie”
Classic stuff and I’m sure one to make the quote of the series.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
#126 byoboy: I just wonder why Sykes never started ahead of Muller? He is a far better player at 4.
I know we should not laugh at that Brussow pick up of Williams but it was so damn funny. Looked like he picked up a rag doll and just dumped him down. Probably because Brussow is not the biggest of players. Never thought he had such strength
July 5th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
#129 thefeather:
That is just so funny. No never heard it went to the game and have not watched the replay yet.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
#93 WakaNathan:
Cheer up it wasn’t that big a deal. So you don’t like Bakkies, that doesn’t mean his team mates shouldn’t back him if he’s treated unfairly (which even the Lions players and management believe he was).
July 5th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Cab you lucky oke enjoy your day in Paris.
Cheers all out of here now.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
A few people commented on Kirchner – true he didn’t have a good game, but seriously – he only got the callup to the Bok squad on Monday morning, and then starts a test on the Saturday with two inexperienced B team wings with him – what can you expect from the guy?
July 5th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
#132 rich1:
what self-effacing BS.
Actually Ive repeatedly said I rate Bakkies highly and would be 1 of my 1st picked. But I would know the inherent risks. He was cited, banned and an appeal overruled. And yet we have to put up with this Justice BS, as if the Boks have come to Save Rugby.
or as todays Times so rightly put it:-
“Peter de Villiers, the South Africa coach, began the week by demeaning the game with his refusal to condemn eye-gouging. He demeaned the Springbok jersey by leaving out some leading players. In the second half, in a panic, he brought on the fifth cavalry, only to find that their bugle was silenced.
South Africa wore armbands in support, so they said, of Bakkies Botha, who was suspended after the second Test. Botha’s suspension was then confirmed by an independent tribunal, and Adam Jones, the Lions prop whom Botha illegally charged, could be out of the game for nine months. The sheer inappropriate pomposity of South Africa’s gesture took the breath away, and they should remember that their status as world champions conveys a responsibility to the game at large, not simply to one player.”
And to think the Boks/Safas had called the Lions ‘whingers’ all week, in the same week their player was banned for eye-gouging. Arrogance and pomposity in the extreme.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
#134 rich1: Isn’t that the point? He wasn’t picked “in case” he was good enough…he was picked because he was meant to step up to the plate from the word go. This isn’t a playground selection strategy, well, it’s not meant to be.
He was ordinary in the Emerging Boks side and he was ordinary yesterday. Nokwe has played very well for the Boks before and 4 tries against Australia is a monumental achievement but he looked sorely out of his depth yesterday. Chiliboy’s loose play was very good but his scrumming is not strong enough, although against a fairly experienced front row he was always going to struggle. After yesterday’s showing he’s definitely worth keeping in the mix until he strengthens up – his legs are way too skinny for a front-rower!
Amazing what a big difference a few vital positional changes make.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
#135 WakaNathan:
Go get some Prozac from your shrink, or find a nice girl – you’re getting a little too worked up about this for your own health.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
This Boks team missed a great opportunity to go down in history as the ONLY team to have whitewashed the Lions in SA.
PDV underestimted the Lions and paid a massive price. He has missed a place in history.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
#130 Puma: I agree, i’d have sykes before muller.
ja, one had to laugh at that pick and drop.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
later people
July 5th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
#136 thefeather:
Fair point – but if he gets drafted into the Bok squad because of injury he’d be there with Habana and JP with him, which would calm his nerves and give him some confidence. That said, I think he’s a competent player who has worked hard and has good coaching but doesn’t offer anything extra like Frans Steyn does.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
#135 WakaNathan:
The Lions have been miserable and dismissive and ungrcious since the day they arrived. South Africans get sick of whingers, we find it negative and a pain in the arse. Stransky, who has tried to bend over backwrds in interviewing these guys, actually said to mgeechan it seems to far on the tour you have not been very happy so today must have changed all that. we simply cannot understand where all this whinging comes from. we’ve never seen an outcry like the burger incident before, where something like that can overshadow an entire series. Your lot and the english have both a long history of eye gouging, its never been condoned, the SA coach never condoned it, Burger was cited and banned, so why all the hullabaloo?
July 5th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
#135 WakaNathan: in case you havent noticed 90% of the bloggers here arent blaming the ref,weather ,opposition ! we are blaming the coach and some of the players for losing , which makes us different to the BIl whingers because they blamed everyone and everything besides their own team .
July 5th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
1min – Steyn kicks off. Peter De Villiers penalised at the ruck and Stephen Jones finds touch.
2min – Lions win the lineout, and a long passage of play follows with Peter De Villiers twice kicking down field and Martyn Williams having a good run. The Lions get into the Boks half and are awarded a penalty.
4min – Peter De Villiers penalised for taking a Lions player out at the lineout. Kearney kicks for touch. It’s all Lions at the moment.
8min – First scrum, and Peter De Villiers stands up and the Lions get the penalty. Jake will love that!
12min – Flutey penalised for offsides and Du Preez takes quick tap. Boks send it wide and Peter De Villiers knocks on.
13min – The Lions work their way into the Bok 22 but Smit steals the ball on the ground and the Boks kick upfield. Kearney’s kick doesn’t go out. Boks charge forward, and Peter De Villiers’ drop attempt falls well short.
17min – Boks win the linout and take the ball to the left-hand side of the field before Peter De Villiers knocks on.
18min – First Lions scrum gets reset three times. Lots going on in the front row. Lions finally win the free kick against Peter De Villiers.
20min – Peter De Villiers tries to grubber ahead but the ball rebounds off Kearney and goes into touch. Peter De Villiers is doing a lot of running from inside his own half.
21min – Boks win the lineout and set up the maul. Morne Steyn chips ahead for Kankowski but the ball alludes Peter De Villiers. Out of sympathy, the Lions knock on.
22min – From a Bok scrum Olivier sends Fourie into space, who’s brought down inside the Lions 22. Peter De Villiers goes wide again but the Lions force a turnover close to their tryline. Fourie leaves the field with blood streaming down his face as a result of Peter De Villiers. Frans Steyn replaces him.
24 min – TRY: SHANE WILLIAMS
The Lions work their way into the Bok half, and Heaslip charges forward. Peter De Villiers makes contact with the No 8 but doesn’t take him to ground and he passes to Williams on his outside who scores next to the posts. Jones botches the conversions after Peter De Villiers knocks the ball off the tee.
BOKS 3 LIONS 8
27min – Ndungane breaks down the right-hand touchline, but Peter De Villiers’ overhead pass is collected by Heaslip and the Lions get the scrum. Fourie is back on the field no thanks to Peter De Villiers.
28min – Peter De Villiers is penalised again at the scrum for not binding. Another victory for Jake. Kearney kicks for touch.
31min – TRY: SHANE WILLIAMS
Lions turn over Peter De Villiers’ balls on the Lions 10m line and go wide. Flutey kicks ahead and taps the ball into Williams hands. Jones kicks the conversion.
BOKS 3 LIONS 15
36min – Peter De Villiers uses the knee on Du Preez and is yellow carded (but because he’s useless, the Lions decide to overrule the yellow to allow him to stay on the field to eff up some more)
39min – Peter De Villiers takes it up and is smashed in the tackle. Lions get the penalty. The Boks had to score there having turned down the three points.
HALF-TIME
A disappointing half from Peter De Villiers. Peter De Villiers kicked poorly out of hand and struggled in the scrums. Lions should win this, but that’s what we thought ever since Peter De Villiers took over from Jake.
Pienaar is on for Du Preez who has a leg injury. Muir says Peter De Villiers has given the Lions too much ball.
43min – The Boks have an overlap out wide but the ball goes to Peter De Villiers who bashes it up. Boks are penalised. Wasted opportunity.
45min – Peter De Villiers’ kick goes straight into touch. Bad mistake from the coach.
49min – Bok lineout near the halfway line, from which Peter De Villiers knocks the ball on.
51min – Pienaar breaks from the lineout. The ball goes wide to Peter De Villiers who loses the ball forward with the tryline in sight.
52min – The Lions are penalised at the scrum. Peter De Villiers the culprit (what can we say?).
53min – TRY: UGO MONYE
Peter De Villiers turns down the three points and sets up a maul from the lineout. Peter De Villiers goes wide and Monye intercepts a long pass from Peter De Villiers to Peter De Villiers and scores under the posts.
BOKS 6 LIONS 22
57min – Jake kicks from inside his 22 and finds touch on the Lions 10m line. Great kick. Bravo! Bravo!
58min – Peter De Villiers is brought to ground on the touchline and tries to go blind but puts a foot in touch while holding the blindfold.
60min – Peter De Villiers penalised for holding on. Kearney has a shot from 52m out … and it goes just wide due to Peter De Villiers shifting the goal posts. Damn u Peter! Damn you to hell.
64min – Peter De Villiers throw not straight.
65min – Frans Steyn goes for a drop goal from 60m out … and it’s just wide after being distracted by Peter De Villiers.
68min – O’Connell wins the Lions lineout and they take the ball through five phases. The ball is kicked ahead but several Boks beat Phillips to the ball. A big punch up begins with Peter De Villiers heavily involved. The assistant referee says Peter De Villiers grabbed a Lions player by the collar. Players get a talking to and Peter De Villiers is penalised.
70min – PENALTY: STEPHEN JONES
BOKS 9 LIONS 25
71min – Peter De Villiers late tackles Jones after the flyhalf kicked. Peter De Villiers lost Jake’s plot here.
72min – PENALTY: STEPHEN JONES
BOKS 9 LIONS 28
75min – The Boks win the lineout, and the ball goes wide to Du Plessis, who throws a long pass to Peter De Villiers who appears to dot down as his right foot brushes the line. After several replays the Peter De Villiers interrupts the TMO and says … “NO TRY, my bad”.
76min – Peter De Villiers runs the ball up only to knock on again. This is getting painful to watch.
80min – Boks go wide and Peter De Villiers is brought to ground. Jones hacks the ball into touch and Jake celebrates.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
they were beaten fair and square, 2-1, next lady for a shave.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
#144 Grape White:
Good report, that’s how i saw it. Drop de Villiers and we’ll win everything
July 5th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
#136 thefeather: I hear what you say but you should also bear in mind that usually if something ain’t broke it should not be fixed.
The boks won a series in which lady luck shone on them by a a considerable amount as well. The wins were everything but convincing and in both cases peppered by unexplainable timing of bench replacements. The tri-nations wil tell us how good the Lions really were or how bad the Boks really are.
I am sure that PdV is a rugby coach of sorts but he is either unable to make this lot play to their potential or he is just way out of his depth. John Plumtree is not exactly the most sucessful rugby coach in S14 if one judges at how the Sharks petered out so why he was asked to help with the scrumming it is a mistery.
What desperately needs soem new brains on board is a back line. We were unable to penetrate, draw more than one defender and off load. Now compared to what BOD could do with our centres that should be a major concern. WO just tried to bash his way through (and we went back to the Straueli days) in what was pretty dumb rugby.
Changing 10 players in a test 15 against a pretty damn good side is not only lunacy but also stupidity. What did PdV larn from yesterday? Nothing, absolutely nothing. In actual fact of the substitute 10 probably only 1 or 2 made the grade.
Chilliboi – failure (as much as I wanted him to succeed his tight play was way below par and never carried the ball forward)
Muller – failure he is not a no4
Brussow – OK
Kanko – failure he was everywhere else either then where he was needed
Pienaar (at 9) – falure he might as well have phoned what he was doing
Steyn – not great but probably would get a pass or a second chance
WO – failure (either than a strong defence he did nothing else)
JF – he had a mediocre game no break throughs
Nokwe – he needs many more years before he is even anywhere near Habanero’s shoe laces. Weak in defence and out of position
Ndungane – mediocre not great but shoudl get a secodn chance
Kirchner – (the biggest disappointment of the lot nowhere in defence to organise the postions of his wings)
What does this teach PdV?
July 5th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
And the hate-mongers calling themselves rugby journalists continue. Jeez, give it a rest Cannelloni! Did you ever stop and think that we can never get a straight answer from PdV because of you guys? I mean, everything he says is bound to be distorted, taken out of context and sensationalised to fit the agendas (and fragile egos) of the hack concerned (we witnessed this play out this past week as the British hacks did everything in their power to deflect attention from the deficiencies of their team and management). Who knows, if you change your usual tabloid-quality articles, you may even win an SAB award next year. Hell, Ryan Vrede won one this year, so the competition can’t be that strong anyway!
July 5th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
#48 Fern:
Not here in Aus… business is better than ever…
July 5th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
#127 cab:
Mate, you said that 36-0 was the only big winning margin achieved my the Boks under Jake…I only pointed the score out to a big margin over the best team in the world.
Nr 6 in the world over Nr 1 at that time.