Pining for a platform
South Africa’s dangerous outside backs will never reach their potential unless the problems up front are rectified.
Breakdown blues and a set-piece savaging. South Africa’s shortcomings in these departments were evident in the Leicester match, but only became a real concern when a physical capitulation contributed to defeat against France. A substandard performance against Saracens resulted in another loss, and a lacklustre showing in Udine raised more questions than answers.
Where do the Boks stand as they approach the most important fixture of their European tour?
The usual excuses of fatigue and injuries will be rolled out, but it’s no secret the Test against Italy was supposed to be a dress rehearsal for the big show in Dublin. Going by what we’ve seen in the past four tour matches, can the Boks outmuscle Ireland?
Fatigue and injuries aside, South Africa certainly have the potential. The real question is whether the coaching staff will opt for a pack suited to northern hemisphere conditions; a pack capable of providing a platform for the outside backs to shine.
Fourie du Preez showed his class behind a retreating pack on Saturday, but Morne Steyn, still in his first year of Test rugby, battles under that kind of pressure. It also doesn’t help to receive back-foot ball and shovel it on to a player who struggles to breach the gain line.
Adi Jacobs is not a crash ball player, and often surrenders possession once he’s stopped short of the advantage line. It’s a shame that Jaque Fourie and Bryan Habana don’t receive more opportunities. As they showed on Saturday, their finishing ability is world class. One way or another, JP Pietersen also needs to get more involved.
Jacobs is the wrong man to wear the No 12 jersey, but his plight and that of Steyn is partially a result of the pack’s failure to front. The Boks’ protection of the ball at the breakdown has been poor on this tour, as the opposition have committed more men to the rucks and thus prevented South Africa getting clean ball. The Boks have won some terrific turnovers through the sticky-fingered Heinrich Brussow, but they’ve conceded an unacceptable amount of turnovers of their own.
The static display at the breakdown has limited the Bok momentum that was so prominent in the Tri-Nations. The scrum wobbles of the Sanzar tournament have been amplified in European conditions, where there are more scrums than down south.
John Smit has asked that he be judged after two years in the tighthead position. Saturday showed why this is a luxury South Africa cannot afford on the heavier grounds up north. Wian du Preez, Adriaan Strauss and Smit were a distant second to their Italian counterparts, and it’s little surprise that the new combination in the second stanza achieved parity.
Beast Mtawarira is an important player for the Boks as he boasts a tremendous work-rate. In a front row alongside Smit (at hooker) and BJ Botha, he also managed to get one over Martin Castrogiovanni.
The Italians were always going to run out of puff in the final quarter and unfortunately they doesn’t possess much quality in reserve. But the performance of the Bok front row in the dying stages must have been encouraging, and the best thing about a front row that includes Mtawarira, Smit and Botha is the balance. They’re a better scrumming unit and offer good ball-carrying options.
The Bulls didn’t have the strongest scrum in the Super 14 and neither did the Boks in the Tri-Nations. The difference up north is you need a steady scrum if you’re going to gain ground. It also pays to remember that Ireland’s defence will be far sharper than that of the Italians, who fell off many a runner in the wider channels.
If Peter de Villiers does opt for a stronger scrummaging pack, he needs to pick a No 8 capable of exploiting a set-piece advantage. Danie Rossouw did the job for the Boks at the 2007 World Cup, and there’s little doubt he’d do the job in Dublin. For all of Ryan Kankowski’s talents, ball-carrying in the closer channels isn’t one of them.
The availability of Schalk Burger and Bismarck du Plessis will be made public at Monday’s press conference. If Burger is fit, he should start at blindside flank with Rossouw switching to No 8. At hooker, it’s not really much of a choice with Smit an irreplaceable leader, and since Du Plessis is returning from injury, he would be better utilised from the bench.
By Jon Cardinelli
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:54 am
“Beast Mtawarira is an important player for the Boks as he boasts a tremendous work-rate”
Something which one-eyed bloggers with agendas like Hondo don’t seem to notice…well we saw what the old re-united sharks front row produced….thats got to be the 1,2 and 3 we build on
Smit really needs to get the 2 jersey back and bismarck simply has to wait his turn or convert to utility loose-forward…he’s not THAT indispensible
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:55 am
You need forward DOMINANCE, not forward PARITY.
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:02 am
Parity comes before dominance, and this front row has potential to dominate considering they’ve scrummed together before and DOMINATED in the super 14
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:03 am
Ponder those words: “a retreating pack”.
And it’s only the tiny minnow 6N cellar-dweller Italy you’re up against as “world champions” …
“A retreating pack”???
Sis, man!
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:11 am
retreating pack against the best tighthead prop in the world with a 32-10 win…not a bad margin compared to a scrappy 20-6 win from the auraless blacks
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:20 am
ja bring jdv as centre i was watching him on rugbydump. com he is class
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:21 am
No one should be indispensable….no one owns the Bok jersey.
Smit must simply never wear a 3 jersey again….that was brutually exposed ad nauseum yesterday….again and again…..so i say it again……J Smit must NEVER play tighthead again!
Wiaan du preez must not he harsgly judged either….i am sure he would have relished the opportunity to play next to Smit at 2 and BJ at 3….
Good to see that a dropping resulted in a far more focussed and commiteed Beast running on to the field.
Not sure what the answer is with Adi at 12…..i was hopelessly wrong…..i thought he would relish the 12 spot…..he hasnt.
Soda, you were right, i owe you a cold one….
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:28 am
End of year tours should be used to give up-and-coming Springboks big match experience. Only the leaders in the First XV should go on these tours, to provide a backbone for the newbies.
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:29 am
Then we’d be creating platforms for the future of Springbok rugby
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:31 am
End of year tours could perform the function of mid-week games from the tours of old. Clarity would be created in the selection process.
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:46 am
#5 flanka: Still.. retreating against EIGHT men from Italy..
When the mighty Os du Rand was in the Bok front row, nobody ever retreated from him. All he ever did was staunchly keep up his end of the bargain. Same with other front-row legends like Tiny Neethling or Hempies du Toit or Mof Myburgh or … you name them.
Retreating?
Never.
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:20 am
when smit player hooker our srcum was never this poor he is not a prop full stop
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:22 am
#12 klippies101: I agree.
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:23 am
But will PDV make the changes needed. Or will he believe himself? Bod will have so much fun against adi
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:35 am
ja adi is creative i feel he has scored alot in the past but ja he cant defend and bod is strong and will run right at him
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:36 am
Could somebody, Ryan included, please explain the difference between the NH conditions and New Zealands. This generalised SH harder ground fallacy has been perpetuated for so long that it’s quoted as fact.
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:53 am
We were again put to the sword at scrum time, when will snor stand up to the plate and drop bismark to the bench.we will get that stigma of having a kak scrum, just like the Aussies had, and we know how long that takes to get rid of
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:55 am
The question that burns my lips is this – is it John Smit that is such a poor prop or is it Bismark that is such a poor scrummager? I will never forget the Tri-Nations a few years ago when JS was still playing hooker – the scrum was seriously solid – he got injured and all of a sudden our scrum got klapped!! I am not a front rower or a forward for that matter but a very good listener to anyone with a view about everything rugby…. what I do hear being touted often is that shortish tightheads (Tom Smith, BJ Botha) can be devastating props against bigger opposition simply because it is easier to get underneath them. This can also be assisted with a big solid scrummaging hooker!! Beast Smit and BJ looked very solid and comfortable as a unit!!! In my view over the last year everytime our front row pops all I see is Bismarks head popping first??? He is a fantastic extra loosie but is it worth compromising our scrum for that? I reckon Smit should hook and Bissie should bench until Smitty is ready to step down – at the moment Smitty is still playing awesome rugby – anyone who does not see that is not watching the game through impartial specs!!
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:03 am
#18 BMM: i agree 100%
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:24 am
#18 BMM: well said!
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:28 am
Hookers really don’t have to hook much, these days. The ball gets fed in almost behind their feet. In the modern scrum, the hooker is now merely a scrummager.
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:38 am
#18 BMM: I would caution SA against choosing a better scrum over having the best players on the field. Beast, Smit and BDP have been terrific this year around the field and have played a huge part in the Boks most successful season. All three are integral to the effort and you risk losing something by benching one of them and gain not a lot by just having parity at scrum time. If you’re winning, then messing with the formula might not be the brightest move. Good for the coaches to have options and depth tho.
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:47 am
#22 Big Hit: we’d only be losing BDP to the bench and gaining botha who is just as fantastic in the loose….hardly call it a big change in comparison to the massive difference at scrum time
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:52 am
#23 flanka: BDP is the best hooker in the world this year, phenomenal in the loose and brilliant at turnovers for a hooker. BJ not on that level in the loose but he does solidify the scrum. Depends what compromise you want, perhaps something the coaches will look at game by game.
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:08 am
I agree that John should not play at no.3 again, but saying that Beast got one over Castro, alongside John and BJ are unfair towards Castro. He was playing 70min of rugby when those two came on. If Beast came on from the start and then won Castro it would have been fair.
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:13 am
Is this BJ Botha the same guy who spent about 60 minutes with his arse up in the air when we played the AB`s in Durban a few years ago? He was absolutely murdered in the scrum. This is all I can remember of him. Hope he has improved.
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:23 am
#25 battlebok: Castro was replaced at halftime and only got back when BJ etc came onto the field. He had at least 15 minutes of rest after the break: it could even be longer. He definitely did not play 70 minutes!#24 Big Hit: Bismarck is a great hooker, but after that rib injury before the semi-finals of the Currie Cup he wasn’t the same. If you have played hooker before, you’ll know that a rib injury is terrible once you start scrumming. If he is not 100% put him on the bench ( at best ) or put Strauss on the bench with JS at 2
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:24 am
#22 Big Hit: absolute **** GH….really this is tripe….we cannot play with a retreating scrum….
Seriously expected more from you….that is absolute rubbish.
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:36 am
#28 grant10: did you just call me Graham Henry? or was that GH meant to be a BH
it’s never been truly retreating save for a couple of times in the second half against Oz when the game was won and once against France.
Test rugby is about winning and losing, if you believe the trade off is worth it fair enough. Personally I don’t ever think BJ can match the performance around the field of the any of the three incumbent front row players.
Mind you when I saw our scrum get beaten yesterday (far worse than the Boks have this year) I sympathised with your point of view, but then we weren’t winning whereas your team generally is when you complain about the scrum.
Don’t get mad tho g10, it’s just rugby discussion bud
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:40 am
15: Morne, 14: JP, 13: J.Fourie, 12: Meisie, 11: Habanero, 10: Pienaar, 9: FdP, 8: Bismark, 7: Schalk, 6: Brussow, 5: Vic, 4: Bakkies, 3: BJ, 2: Smit, 1: Beast. Res: Nokwe, Adi, Kanko, Deysel, Bekker, CJ, Wian
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:49 am
#29 Big Hit: I dont want out tighthead running around making a 100 tackles, etc….i want him to be the rock in the scrums….let the bloody loosehead and hooker do the flash….
That has been our problem….3 x flashy and no bloody scrummers!!
Give me BJ or Cj ant day of the week….i see Smit at 3 again i cant watch…its just too damn pathetic and painful.
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:50 am
#29 Big Hit: GH…sorry…BH
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:58 am
#25 battlebok: castro had been on the bench for quite some time and only came back on when we had bj, smit and beast….like everyone else has been doing this year he was simply taking advantage of smitty’s vulnerability at 3….once we had (what i believe to be) our best front row he was anonymous and could only try rattle beast with off the ball nonsense
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:05 am
I liked the look of that front row that finished the test. Deysel played well too.
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:06 am
Surely there must be no more detractors of Spies’s prfromnces at 8 any more? Not so much for the scrum, but the value he adds to the collisions is ENORMOUS!! We dont go backwards when he is there.
Honestly Kanko looks like he is in over his head. Yes he runs fast against a 2nd tire nation like Italy, but was honeslty nowhee against a decent backline- and nowhere in the tightin either game. And his technique is awful- he loses SOOO much ball in contact.
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:13 am
I think the most disconcerting thing for anybody to see, is to see your front row pop. What a difference with js, beast & bj! All the mobility around the field.(Bissy).is not
Worth moving.js from 2 where.he belongs.
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:14 am
#22 Big Hit:
#29 Big Hit:
I tend to agree with you BH, tho as a Saffa I cant tell you how good it was to finally see our boys gain parity and then dominate in those last few scrums . . . the whole team got a big boost, just what we all needed.
It’s going to be very interesting to see which players PdV goes with next week (and in what positions).
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:17 am
#34 Kietzphat: Ja me too. Enough of teh Smitty experiment- he can share 2 with Bissie to manage him until the next RWC.
And Adi is just not good enough. AWFUL GAME FOR HIM. His passing and distribution have also gone down.
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:25 am
I really can’t call this one…
Our scrum and breakdown play was embarrasing in the ozzies game but we dominated them in the lineout.
These clealry won’t apply against you guys with perhaps the breakdown the only area which will stay the same. We don’t have a fetcher…..
Battles I’m looking forward to:
BOD vrs Fourie
Healy vrs Smith
Kearney vrs DU Preez and Morne…….
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:30 am
Proteas 27/1 after 5 overs.
#39 Just Another Paddy: Going to be a great game. Really looking forward to it.
Now we need to start with WO and not Adi and the front row of Beast, John and BJ. Deysel to start at 7 and Danie to 8.
We looking much better with those players.
What I would have done for JdV and Frans Steyn to be playing against Ireland too.
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:31 am
Nice article Jon,
Essentially, I have been banging on about the same issues as what you are saying.
First and foremost – you play horses for courses.
In the NH, the game is slightly slower and you need big forwards playing together as big forwards. The game is wet under foot and the breakdown is the biggest battle.
Because of this, you need a front row that are all playing in the correct positions, and they need to be specialists. I have been crying at length about my dissatisfaction that JS was moved to 3 to accomodate Bissy. Its ludicrous. Bissy has lost his hunger since the JS move, and his efforts were much better coming off the bench.
Combinations are also important. Every scrum we have had this tour that has been battling has seen the wrong players together. Simple.
Loose forwards for NH rugby is the same. We cannot start 1 x tight player and 2 x loose players like we did against France.
Brussouw hits every ruck and maul and fights for the ball, however, Burger and Kanko think they are centres. We need balance there too. Even the Wallabies get this right. Your loosies can only play loose when the game allows them to do so, and that only happens once the forwards are going forward.
In SH rugby (S14, Tri Nations etc etc) the game is faster and the breakdown contests are not as fierce, or as long as in the North, hence our rucking and mauling seems okay. Thats why guys like Kanko shine there too as the ball is flowing more, and he is more prominent.
Now to the backs, if you pick a kicking flyhalf (which Steyn is), then how can you pick a talented/creative runner (which Adi is) to play alongside him? Morne takes the ball 10/15m behind the advantage line. By this stage, the opposition loosies are up on him and the opposition defense has go forward. If he took the ball flat, that would essentially make the opposition loosies have to retreat backwards before making the tackle. This would put more pressure on the opposition backline, which will result in space. The space which a guys like Adi will run into and start to produce the ball carrying that got him into the side in the first place. Adi is not a poor player, he is also easily good enough to be a Bok (think of his performances last year when we played Harlem Globetrotter rugby), however, he is a victim of a poor selection policy which sees him trying to play a game he is uncomfortable with and not suited to. If you persist with Steyn at 10, you need a crash ball centre who will take the ball forward with 3 defenders on him.
However, what was painfully obvious, was that we have great outside backs who are desperate to see what the ball looks like. The 2 tries in the first half did not come from the half backs of the Boks, but rather from counterattack, and turnover… luckily Steyn did not touch the ball, as he would have kicked it away. (This seemed to be the first half strategy)
Horses for courses… In the North, our team should be: (only considering who is on tour currently, taking into account foreign player selection stance as well)
1) BEAST
RUSSOUW
2) SMIT
3) BOTHA
4) BOTHA
5) MATFIELD
6) BRUSSOUW
7) DEYSEL
9) FDP
10) STEYN
11) HABANA
12) OLIVIER
13) FOURIE
14) PIETERSON
15) KIRCHNER
For SH games, I would pick:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15 all remain.
Spies / Burger
7) Smith
10) Pienaar
12) De Villiers
I would stop the ban on oversees selection. My bench would include:
WDP
BISSY
BEKKER (as a no 5 lock replacement only – Russouw can cover 4)
SPIES/BURGER/BRUSSOUW/SMITH will always start with 1 of them on the bench
FIND A SCRUMMIE
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:40 am
Proteas 38/2 after 8 overs. We in a bit of trouble now.
Sorry guys no cricket thread here. So just posting this bit of crici news here.
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:46 am
#42 Puma: TRying to be relevant??? BTW your man Frans Steyn is playing out of position (12) at Racing… seems like he is being accomodated there too
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:50 am
If the team has a problem with the loosies then how about Ashley Johnson and/or Luke Watson… The best in world being ignored because of politics???… If there is a probelm at 10.. the form player is Earl Rose…Politics?? Pressure from the political right??
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:52 am
#30 ikantspel: if we have learnt anything from John Smit`s endeavours at tight head is that we must not play players out of postion ,this is not school boy rugby …Bismarc to bench or to compete with J.S at hooker, any one suggesting he plays as a loose forward has his head in the clouds
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:52 am
If Frans Steyn was playing at inside centre against Ireland we would have no worries at all in that channel. With Adi EISH, we going to be in trouble with BOD will own it there.
We have WO and he can play there so why can PdV not see we have a problem there? Otherwise mabe he has a ace up his sleeve and calls Fransie. Also can take the goalkicking if Morne is off form. Then they are playing with different balls up north to what we play in the SH.
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:55 am
Fransie can play inside centre (12) and FB 15 and he will own both those positions. None of them are out of position for him.
Maybe some don’t know their rugby too well here hey!!
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:56 am
Wynand olivier has proven himself to be useless against quality opposition… All this talk of him replacing Adi is dumb. Th problem is that Adi is playing between two trojans who grew up undermining black people… its simple, they wont play with him.. Replace JF with Juan De Jongh and Morne with Rose and you will have the most dynamic backline in the history of SA rugby… thats if FDP agrees to be part of that backline.. He will probably opt out.
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:57 am
#45 bolandboy: amen !!
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:59 am
#48 Langenhoven: LOL….
I am sure a lot of that is tongue in cheek?
How you my man….see man u and Chelsea widening the gap??