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 2:50 pm
#185 Hurricane: Touché!
July 5th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
#197 Hurricane:
Well spotted!
I also have a notion he is hanging about in your part of the world.
******* of note that oke, btw.
Ignore mate.
July 5th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
#200 Hurricane:
Cheers, see you in the TriNations again!
July 5th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
#195 skopskiet: I agree that Morne had a moerse game, but Habanna’s try was set up by FdP. And yes, Brussow should be in any Bok squad.
I know you hate Jake White, but the difference between him and Strueli was that Strueli always searched for the magical players that could win a game for the Boks, while Jake believed in building a team.
Heynicke Meyer did the same at the Bulls and Clive Woodward did the same for England. Look what they achieved. Their is many more examples.
To start chopping and changing the team is not the sulotion, some senior players will go, like perhaps Schalk, but wholesale chamges will be suicide.
July 5th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
#156 WilladieLeeu:
I agree that there are crucial differences between 2004 and 2009, and my point was certainly not that White was a bad coach. On the contrary, I think he did a great job, given the dismal state of SA rugby when he took over. But when people now complain about the fact that the Boks did not win the Lions series 3-0, preferably by at least 20 points per game, it is not clear to me whatsoever why anyone should think that this is a realistic expectation. At no point during the last decade or so were the Boks consistently 20+ points better than the top Northern hemisphere teams. (Let’s not even mention SA’s dismal record in the 3N… be that under White or De Villiers.) It is nice to think that the current crop of players are so “talented” that they _ought_ to be whipping everyone by record margins, but when have they actually managed to do this on a regular basis?
July 5th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
#190 poppa69:
There’s no denying that NZ is the supreme rugby side in the world, and who-ever denies that has blinkers.
Jake’s first two years when he publically said that he would use to find his core of players that can compete with Aus and NZ, NZ and SA played 4 times – each winning twice. Sa played Aus 6 times and SA won 4 of those.
We were competetive until 2006 when Jake put all his attention on the World Cup to build depth. Giving fringe players the oppertunity to play themselves into contention. Also injuries to Bakkies and Schalk didn’t help either.
Last year with a settled squad and the only goal was the Tr-nations – we should have achieved Jake’s success of 2004 and 2005. But only 2 out of 6.
NZ dominated once again. But I agree with your concept of a World Cup tournament.
July 5th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
#39 sharks_lover: one good thing about the yesterday’s game, there are no longer any questions about the best center pairing, JDV and Adi are the best for the job
July 5th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
#188 jonnymain: What’s this ’six degrees’ to being South African?!
But I share your point and have mentioned it a few times on keo.co.za – apart from the Bok players and management, the average Boks fan/sheeple believed the nonsense spewed from the SA rugby media of an inferior Lions team and easy series whitewash. The truth is way different of course and we’ve been served up some awesome rugby – I have never watched as tense a rugby match as the 2nd Test since our 1995 RWC win. Thanks to the Boks and Lions for a fantastic series!
July 5th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Amyway, the series is in the bag.
Thx PdeV and the Boks.
You did well, those BIL’s gave us a run for the money, they were no easy beats.
But now we have to move on to bigger things, the TriNations!
Catch you ruggaluvvas tomorrow, cheers all.
July 5th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
#193 jonnymain:
Best scrum half in the world another fat myth, nothing of the sort, hopelessly out played by Phillips on Saturday, no such luck best scrum half in the world.
Our star performers are who
Spies is no classic No.8, Vermeulen far better for a true No.8, Spies fine as a running ball carrier in broken play but is awol in tight close encounters, same or far worse is Kankowski,
Habana is a great talent, so too JPP, F.Steyn can settle down and be a first class full back if left to develop there, so too Pienaar at 10. M.Steyn is a good solid dependable backup to Pienaar who should be our play making pivot.
Centers are a quandary because we don’t know our best pairing, JdV and Jacobs still much better then the 2 on display yesterday but neither covered in glory, Fourie is class but needs a play maker inside of him.
Props we got none, we need to draft in Kruger and Heinke immediately, Hooker Bissie is hot and cold, Smit is history. Need to bring in Liebenberg and play Chili off bench.
Locks we need youth to back up Matfield and Botha not a useless carrot like Muller or Roussouw, Sykes and Steenkamp or Wentzel or Bekker and Fondse or somebody got to start getting up to international conditioning. Matfield and Burger will soon fade as they are doing already.
Flanks, Brussow, Potgieter, Deysel, Smith, Stegmann
8th Man, Vermeulen, Spies, Potgieter
Bust up this myth of superiority now, because it is nothing of the sort.
Start again and develop a new team with players ready for the big time in less than 2 years or go down the plughole hanging onto obsolete superiority mythology.
July 5th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
#185 Hurricane: Really mate? From my memory and from my sister’s first hand account in Kiwi land all Maori are equal then then there is everyone else.
Pakeha’s can’t fish without a license, but Maori can. Can’t colect shellfish, but Maori can. Maori just recieved the last of a 100 million dollar payment for forests which were never even there before.
To say NZ is not racist is to wear massive blinkers. Yours is the only country left in the world that has a national representative team based on race. The NZ Maoris, racism is racism, whether you like it or not.
Bought the kiwi T-shirt, lived there for ages and there are some great things about the place, but it ain’t perfect.
July 5th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
#207 XhosaKid: Adi and JdV played behind a more dominant pack.
JF and Wynand did not have the best games, but I think they would have been much better in Pretoria. Wynand should have played of the bench and JF and JdV should have started.
Jacobs is not bad – he had a good year last year, but IMO he is 4th best in SA.
July 5th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
#197 Hurricane: Afraid to disappoint you Hurricane. I’m unashamedly South African. My sister however did live on the North Shore for a few years, until she abandoned ship/recession and moved to more prosperous shores i.e. Australia. Sleep well fella – 3am there already.
July 5th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
#205 Thucydides:
Agreed.
#194 Pietman:
Dankie, sal hom dan maar net ignoreer.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
#210 skopskiet: Not a bad summation. I know you don’t rate Kanko and I don’t rate Spies for the same reasons. Still think Chilli is not up to it YET. Give him a few years.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
#155 jonnymain:
precisely correct, now you have it.
on a more serious note, if you want to see the difference between a whinger and not, look no further than the 3 post-match interviews of John Smit vs Paul O’Connel.
This will be remembered as the greatest bunch of whinging Lions ever to tour.
They will go down in folklore as magnificent bitchers.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
these twats starting with their bullsh’t ideological mayhem **** again regarding race and culture, who is more equal than who, pakeha-maoari, zulu-xhosa-pink-white-blue-green-boer-brit, just f’off man and go spew it elsewhere.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
#202 Pietman: Where is the love?! You sound like one of those bitter Saffas, who didn’t make the most out of your advantaged status during apartheid. Old man worked for Spoornet?
July 5th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
#212 LondonBul:
Olivier skipped JF every single time. He turned over at least 6 balls at rucks. He brought himself into the game on defense.
But yeah, JDV and Fourie is our best centre pairing.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
#211 goyougoodthing2:
You don’t need a licence to sea fish or collect shellfish if its for recreational purposes.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
#209 Pietman:
and what is your verdict on the bitching?
have u ever seen a greater team of touring bitchers (not *******)?
July 5th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
#216 cab:
No that was BOD and Woodward in 05′.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
#217 skopskiet: That’s the way it plays out there mate.
Mind you the Maori did have the wheel, a bit more advanced than you lot were what what!
July 5th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
#222 NZINCHINA:
yes they were a spectacular bitching outfit, no doubt, but this side had a few other legends of the bitching game.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
#220 NZINCHINA: On a commercial scale you need to be Maori don’t you? And there are great tracts of sea where you cannot fish or collect if you are Pakeha. South West coast of the North Island, just past Otaki…
July 5th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
#219 WilladieLeeu: JDV is a show pony. Just like Bekker.
Our wings were shown up yesterday for what they are – not good enough. We have plenty better than them.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
#216 cab: Yes they will sadly and that hurts.
Please don’t compare Smit to O’Connell. Despite the obvious fact that Smit is a far more accomplished captain and leader than POC, it is always going to be easy to be gracious in victory (2 times) and defeat once (only after the series was already won!)
July 5th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
#206 WilladieLeeu: Jake certainly did find a great nucleus, and seems his attention to the WC was, in hindsight, correct…
Agree with the sentiment on bakkies and Schalk, was like us losing carter in the 1/4 final then Evans on top of that… think Bakkies importance was plain for all to see in the 3rd test against the lions…
I see last years 3Ns as PDV’s baptism, and honestly believe he learnt from the experience… he also IMO has an eye to the World Cup, with only 2 years till its here, he has to try new blood and talent so he knows who is capable and who isnt…
and lets face it, a dead test in an already won rubber, against a tough opposition, is an ideal situation to see who is up to the task… start of the 3Ns is definitely NOT the place to try new players, and he doesnt have too many other chances, only EOYT and next years June tests…
so may as well try to identify who has it (ala brussouw) and who doesnt (Nokwe, at this stage)… so therefore he gathers more info on who his top 30 players in the country are… IMO
July 5th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
#216 cab:
still whinging about all the whinging?
July 5th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
#224 cab:
Ha ha what a shambles mate its amazing how these things turn into a media circus, the average guy just wants the match and reasonably priced tickets, I wouldn’t have thought that was too much to ask for.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
#227 jonnymain:
johnnymain, you are a gentleman and as such i do not wish to inflict my propaganda rhetoric on your ears, just think of me as goebells.
#229 Thucydides:
yes, its called constructive criticism of the whinging.
PS you comment above was spot on about the SA folk expectations being too high.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
#230 NZINCHINA:
well thats another thing to whinge about, the prices were crazy for the average saffa worked out to about 400 kiwi dollars.
daylight frikkin robbery.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
#221 cab:
Nope, must say, I haven’t.
Especially disappointed in the Irish lads (O’Gara and BOD).
As you know, I got to know some of the ‘74 Lions tour well, and we always had some beers and steaks around the fire afterwards, even though they and our boys went flat out on the pitch.
But afterwards, no rugby talk until the next game.
Players didn’t do press interviews way back then, too hung-over from the night before, I guess!
And Syd Millar and Alun Thomas ran that team with an iron fist, the players kept shut.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Jon Cardinelli throws out rotten meat
And the hyenas come scampering in from all directions
Some frothing at the mouth
Deluded others chuckling at the supposed well presented feast on offer
Time for Keo to do himself a favour
And offer contractual employment to the likes of: Mishwini, PissAnt, Ziyaad, SodaJoe, etc to name a few
Will improve the content on offer immeasurably
July 5th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
#228 poppa69:
Yup, true.
I serioulsy cannot look to this years Tri-nations positively. We played 70 minutes of good rugby out of 240 minutes.
Against Aus and NZ that will be a major disaster. More than half of this side can pay in the 2011 World Cup, so there’s no real building. We have depth, but not making 10 changes.
He has everything he wants, the players…and also he has the final say in team selection – something White never had.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
#225 goyougoodthing2:
Mate your probably right, I get a few crays on tank and the odd snapper and I’m happy so I don’t really care what the bro’s are doing.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
#234 saffa_guy: Do you know who pIssant is?
July 5th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
#233 Pietman:
uh hah, there we go, from the horse’s mouth, i rest my case.
one wonders if both sets of the modern players even had a few beers off the park, i sensed much dislike among the squads…poor effort allround.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
#223 goyougoodthing2:
which ‘lot’ is that ‘what what’?
July 5th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
#232 cab:
I paid NZ$70O for the Eden park test in 05′, it was called a hospitality pass, Heineken, hamburgers, a 30 second “speech” from Lomu and an uncovered seat in the rain, I won’t be going back in 17′.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
#236 NZINCHINA: For sure, that wasn’t my point, Hurricane just spouting godzone, we all have good and bad points in our countries, he was just taking it a bit far. Kiwiland is a great picture, but it ain’t perfect either.
Tell me where is I will call you a liar LOL.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
#237 goyougoodthing2:
Yep
July 5th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
#240 NZINCHINA:
holy ****, that is committment, the lomu speech must have been something, haha…yeah we paid 1000 euros to go to RWC final, worth every penny mind.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
#239 skopskiet: Just puling your chain Skop. You know that about me by now surely.
he he he.
Good summation earlier BTW. We are in short supply of decent locks moving forward. Muller is a nice guy, but not international player material.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
#240 NZINCHINA: I see NZs hospitality hasn’t quite reached Twickers standards then!
Hamburgers and Heineken FFS!!?
July 5th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
#235 WilladieLeeu:
show me this so called ‘depth’ where, if we had so much ‘depth’ we would not have been drilled into the turf yesterday which started up front, where is all this mythological ‘epth’ I’d like to see it right now.
Only depth we have is in our young players coming through, the so called ‘depth’ in the senior players is slowly starting to prove to be one fat big myth altogether.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
#241 goyougoodthing2:
Far from perfect, a lot of people in denial as to the social state of affairs, still home though and very few better places to live in the world.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
#242 saffa_guy:
Hence the use of the term “likes”
Rational and very knowleagable arguments
Not this endless sensationlist tripe of the past week
July 5th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
#243 cab: 1000 Euros? holy moly that puts things in perspective.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
#243 cab:
Yer don’t think he’s going to join Clinton on the world speaking circuit.
#245 jonnymain:
Mate the burgers were cold lol