Invest in the best
9 Nov 2009
The midweek Boks paid the price for Peter de Villiers’s selection policy, writes Keo in his weekly Business Day column.
Why the shock that a Leicester mix and match XV should so embarrass a South African Vodacom Cup XV parading as the Springboks?
The selections were terrible, as they were when the Springbok selectors looked to the future in the third and final Test against the British & Irish Lions and were similarly embarrassed.
At times too much is made of the future, and this is one of those times. Let’s focus on what happens in 2009 before wondering how our rugby will be in 2012, let alone the 2011 World Cup year.
The best players in the Currie Cup were not selected for the midweek side’s two matches in England. Coach Peter de Villiers wanted to make a statement about transformation and also about the fact that the provincial coaches are getting it wrong and he is getting it right. On both counts he failed, although to blame him for the defeat is wrong, as he had nothing to do with the coaching of the team, if you can call three sessions coaching the team.
Touring teams always struggle in the first fortnight of a tour and that is why so many of the success stories on end of year tours relate to national coaches investing in those who have succeeded as a unit in the domestic season. That way a national coach does not have to reinvent the wheel and does not have to try and teach players a specific approach in two or three training runs. The national coach trusts that he can tweak a provincial formula that has been successful and invests in the familiarity players get when they have functioned in a unit for the last six months.
De Villiers and his selectors did neither and paid the price for holding a trial game to assess how good the reserve depth is, which in itself was ridiculous because Leicester, by way of England commitments, another league match on Sunday and injuries, played without 12 first team regulars. For these imposter Boks to have lost to the best Leicester has on contract would not be a surprise, but to have been bullied and outthought by a couple of former All Blacks, a few other imports and mostly an Academy team is humiliating.
The Bok scrum disintegrated and hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle’s reputation took as big a beating. Ralepelle was supposed to be one of the new generation of South African player who would only be judged on ability because he was that good as a 19 year-old, but political agendas have again turned a quality talent into a professional quota. It is sickening.
Ralepelle should not have been on tour and belatedly Adriaan Strauss and Wian du Preez of the Cheetahs have been summoned to England to replace Ralepelle and Gurthro Steenkamp.
What does the Leicester defeat say about the depth of player outside the marvelous Bok Test XV that has dominated world rugby for the past few years? It says nothing because what we saw was not the next best on show. You could have picked any one of the Currie Cup semi-finalists as a unit and they would have thumped what Leicester put out as a team. Why is it that so often the Springbok midweek team does not reflect the best fringe players? It is not just something unique to the current coach and his selectors. We’ve seen this horror movie so many times.
If a national coach wants to take an Emerging team abroad then do so, but don’t call them the Springboks because Leicester, as an example, now have the famous Springbok head as a scalp in the clubhouse. It should never have been so.
The defeat does not influence anything in relation to Friday evening’s Test against France because the real Springboks will be playing in Toulouse, although the depth test here is more accurate because what will be answered is if the Boks have the same fluidity, stability and direction without Frans Steyn’s boot at the back, Jean de Villiers’s organization in the midfield and the power of Juan Smith and Pierre Spies in the back row.
This will be the Springboks’ toughest test of the year and to win they will have to play as well or better than at any stage this season. France are the best of the northern hemisphere teams and playing in Toulouse on a Friday night certainly gives the a greater advantage than the neutrality so often experienced at the Stade de France in St Denis, just outside Paris.
The Boks love that ground, but they’ve never played in Toulouse, which makes the decision to arrive in Toulouse 36 hours before kick-off even more of a risk.
170 Comments
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9 Nov 2009, 22:37 pm
#144 Provvas: It is also about taking some risks. Every balanced investment portfolio includes some high risk investments and they usually have the highest yield.
Friday night PdV’s high risk investments weren’t the problem. It was a number of the inherited sentimentally motivated bankers that slipped a couple of points.
I suspect PdV is a very cunning investor. He has found it difficult, for aforementioned sentimental misplaced loyalty reasons, to just liquidate some of his stock without valid justification to his board, so he simply, so he manipulated the market to create the justification.
Might sound ruthless, but now he can cut his losses and restructure his portfolio to create a higher aggregate yield.
Remember, he will ultimately stand or fall by his performance.
9 Nov 2009, 22:43 pm
I am not sure what Chilli boy has done to the hack that is Keo but he seems to blame Chilli for so much.
On Friday night the scrum got worse when Chilli was off, rather than on the field.
It almost sounds like it is getting personal.
Having said all this, the mind boggles that players who have missed large parts or even most of the rugby year have been selected.
9 Nov 2009, 22:47 pm
At the top levels, there is just no place for sentiment. Pdv has shown he is nota selector’s ***. And he has no clue when it comes to forwards. But he has also not been smart enough to hand over the decisions to someone that is capable and has the knowledge. In the past we could rely on him to be smart enough to know when to hand over decisions. This time his ego was bigger than his knowledge. Big dissapointment. So is Gary Gold for not being ableto drum some sense into PdV. Because if he supported that decision on the props, he is not a forwards coaches ***.
FFS the same forwards were drilled in consecutive weekends by the Cheetahs front row. Who play together as a unit and know each otherand did not NEED time to “gel”.
The Cheetahs front row should have been used as is. Chilliboy left at home cause he is injured.
I dont mind him using Pienaar as flyhalf as I believe he can be great, but just needs time there consistently. Plumtree is ******* him up at the Sharks playing him at scrumhalf.
Heinie adams is good but just does not have that little bit extra like Sarel or Hougaard. And Heinie has an irritating tendency to take a step and a big swing that can get knocked dow. A scrummie pass must be one single movement. I cant believe that nobody has told him this!
The bulls loosies should have been used as a unit. With FLouw on the bench. The WP midfield should have been used as a unit. Grant and Juan de Jongh, and the best wingers picked individually. Nokwe, Mapoe and Demas.
That would have been more indictive of the second best side, taking into account that they would have little rtime together. The scattergun approach was just stupid.
10 Nov 2009, 04:08 am
There are too many players been carried by the system. How can a player be selected when he cannot make his own provincial team? We have Old boys club, provincial pressure and quotas.
Quotas: Chili, Maku, Ruabenheimer, Gufro, Adams, Odwa,De Jongh, Rose, Jacobs.
Unlucky: Free sate and province, Any hooker, Mapoe, Juries, Mbysio, Bosch, Joe Pietersen, Ebersholm, David De Villiers, SAREL PRETORIUS,
Old Boys: Dinosaruas, Jannie Kannie, Muller(he nearly got the nod), Smittie(he needs a rest but should stay.
Lucky: Potgieter, Hargreaves, Bosman, Jacobs, Rose.
The Bulls were loosing till their stars came back, yet players were selected from their loosing squad above teams that kicked their ***.
Maybe this will send a message about how quotas affect levels of play. What I am thinking, NOT!
10 Nov 2009, 05:57 am
Funny how Marius Joubert will still be favourably remembered for a once-off hat-trick vs the AB’s many moons ago in a otherwise average career but Adi considered a lucky inclusion even though he was the best Bok just a season ago. Didn’t he score the most tries for 2008? And while he was having a blinder, all those screaming ‘qouta’ were nowhere to be seen, just to come crawling out the woodwork after a modest season (which many a player had at 1 time or another). Eish! Only in SA!
Btw…didn’t I read a thread a coupla wks back by Keo on how much Div can do for transformation with the up and coming EOYT? Am I the only one that remembers this or was it my imagination? Hope I’m not going mental but if it is true…isn’t it just typical?
10 Nov 2009, 07:16 am
#154 BokiNZ: They also lay into him pretty bad in the latest SARugby Mag about quotas. They definitely do have an agenda.
I still dislike PdV though. He loves to blame and play victim. He loves to keep telling everybody how evil the white man is. I say screw that racist pig. I don’t know why Smittie and the rest put up with him.
10 Nov 2009, 09:01 am
#154 BokiNZ: Here here on Adi. When all the other boks were crumbling around him, Adi was the best Bok in the Trinations last year and now he is a quota player. Same with Guthro. When he was good nobody mentioned quotas, he has a few bad games and loses some form and a$$h@les like Kevinrack call him a quota.
Next thing Makhaya Ntini and Bryan Habana will be labeled quota players.
10 Nov 2009, 09:29 am
#156 Oubaas2009: Don’t feed the *******. That’s why they come here. You are never going toi change the minds of racists. Rather just ignore them.
10 Nov 2009, 09:51 am
Katman
Good post above. You are posting more ‘middle’ of the political spectrum posts nowadays since you’ve become a father, in my experience thats what becoming a parent does to you, removes blinkers or simply widens your perspective.
Any direction too far off middle is dangerous IMO.
Re the play-play rugby against Leicester 3rd 15.
Regardless of the selections (of which I agree with keo), the guys just didn’t seem too interested at all. Every scrum seemed like they couldn’t be bothered, body position so wrong that it was no surprise at all they got shunted around at will.
Pathetic effort from those boys.
In fact, I started really enjoying the effort from the Tigers – it was fantastic to watch.
10 Nov 2009, 10:35 am
#154 BokiNZ:
Regarding your question about the EOYT and transformation, Keo very clearly states in the article
” If a national coach wants to take an Emerging team abroad then do so, but don’t call them the Springboks because Leicester, as an example, now have the famous Springbok head as a scalp in the clubhouse. It should never have been so.”
I fully agree with this, rest our Boks after a hell of an ardeous year and at the same time expose others to the rigours of touring, playing in foreign conditions and gaining experience where the rugby public is not going to flog them for a few losses.
10 Nov 2009, 10:40 am
#101 katman:
Well said, good post. Very worrying stuff.
10 Nov 2009, 10:45 am
#158 Stawm: You calling me middle-of-the-road? Not sure I like that, to be honest.
10 Nov 2009, 10:52 am
#161 katman:
I’m sorry to hear that.
What do you find offensive about middle of the road thinking, as apposed to extreme left or right?
10 Nov 2009, 11:05 am
#162 Stawm: I’m actually just yanking your chain a bit. I guess I have become more critical and demanding in certain aspects since becoming a father. But my overall outlook and political position hasn’t really changed much. The things I had a go at in my earlier post don’t reflect a shift to the right, but rather just a bit of helpless agitation at this “untouchable and entitled” mindset that seems to pervade our administrators. Somewhere along the line these people, chosen or voted in to reflect and serve our will, have confused their mandate with a kind of royal birthright. So they plunder and scoff as though this is a perk of the position. It’s all so short-sighted though. Financially, politically and socially we have a very fragile system here in SA that won’t take much to capsise. And these greedy goons are rocking the boat.
10 Nov 2009, 11:18 am
#163 katman:
Critical and demanding?
Understatement of the year.
Pure onbeskof.
10 Nov 2009, 11:19 am
#163 katman:
Welcome to the anarchist side of everything.
10 Nov 2009, 12:26 pm
Let us get real.Transformation is here to stay. It wont
win you games but it goes well for popular politics.
So just prepare yourself for a number a embarrassing rugby
moments.
As as front rows are concerned, only two deserve mention
and they were the WP and Cheetahs, with the latter appearing
the slightly stronger unit.
So if I had to pick a weekday team. I would start with the
Cheetahs front row. The WP lock combination did well and
I would pick them.
This would provide me with a solid tight five.To round
this of a number of loosies are available.One of them
would have to be an aggressive number 8 to attack the flyhalf
channel to take the pack forward.
There are number of good fetchers around, but I would go
for a Brussow type of player.
Behind this pack a would play an established half back pairing
and I think the WP combination would have done well.
The centre combination that played on deserves another shot.
In the back trio I would have Pietersen and Mapoe.These
two players would provide flair and strength.
This to me looks like a team that could give the Boks a run
for their money and would have disposed of Leicester before
half time.
It is much easier if you pick the best.
10 Nov 2009, 16:55 pm
There are three blatant quota selections, Chillyboy, Maku and Adams, all are second or third choice players at their unions. Replacements, Tiaan, Adriaan and Vermaak.
10 Nov 2009, 20:16 pm
#159 BobZimmerman: I wasn’t talking about this partricular thread. There was another one a couple wks back where Keo droned on about how Div could take the transformation process forward. I was searching for it…to no avail. So, now I’m not sure if I imagined it or not. But I have to say that I’m pretty sure I still got all my marbles (some might disagree)so, the long and the short of it…I think its hypocritical, bordering on spineless. All because the team had a bad result because of ‘transformation’ as he speculates. Apparently, the ‘non-transformation’ members in the team had all stellar performances and if it weren’t for them, it could’ve been a massacre.
11 Nov 2009, 08:13 am
#167 Breakdown Boy:
yes Ia gree. Ine essense we have a quota coachh selectingg quota players. A puppet window dressing.
I have a funny feeling this frogs will come out firing and will be unpredictable as french are.
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