Hoskins hails ‘near invincible’ Boks
Oregan Hoskins praised the Springboks after they received the the IRB Team of the Year award last weekend.
The Boks collected the award for the third time after receiving it in 2004 and 2007, equaling the All Blacks’ record.
SARU president Hoskins said while the European Tour was disappointing, the Boks came through when it counted the most.
‘When it really mattered in the biggest games of the season this team demonstrated that they were near invincible,’ Hoskins said in Dublin. ‘Their indomitable spirit and character saw them clinch some astonishing victories against worthy opponents to become the benchmark for world rugby.
‘Obviously the team is disappointed not to end the season as they started it but considering the demands that have been placed on them at provincial and international level in 2009 we can be proud of them.
‘I have no doubt that with some decent rest and recuperation and careful management of playing commitments they will return to the heights they achieved earlier this year.’
Hoskins also acknowledged coach Peter de Villiers and skipper John Smit.
‘Peter de Villiers’ preparation and management of the team was impeccable while John Smit’s onfield leadership was outstanding,’ he said. ‘On behalf of the South African rugby community I would like to thank them and the rest of the Springbok team and management for giving us so much pleasure and returning so much silverware to our trophy cabinets.’
November 30th, 2009 at 7:22 am
All conquering 2009 Bok Dragons
November 30th, 2009 at 7:25 am
Yes a very good year for the Boks. Shame about the end but the main job for 2009 was done and dusted.
Well done guys
November 30th, 2009 at 7:28 am
‘I have no doubt that with some decent rest and recuperation and careful management of playing commitments …………..
enlighten me please….. how you gonna do this?
November 30th, 2009 at 7:36 am
If Hoskins honestly believes this drivel, this tour marks the beginning of the Boks slide into mediocrity.
November 30th, 2009 at 7:39 am
It all went so well before injuries and some players going overseas. I suppose we were a bit lucky to be injury free for most if the big games earlier on.
Major depth worries at international level!
November 30th, 2009 at 7:58 am
If you saw the All Blacks take the French to pieces on Saturday night, they never looked fatigued,just solid as a Kiwi team can look, running the ball from everywhere.
Some things I notice in comparison to the Boks, when their back 3 recieved an up and under they would run it one time, spreading to the left wing extremely quickly, then kick on another occassion, rucks they hit in numbers and with power and intensity and when the back line ran they ran at the gaps and with serious pace therefore hardly allowing the Frogs time to turn the ball over. But it was the variation in play and wave upon wave of attack for the full 80 that got my admiration. We looked like deer in the headlights man I cant explain the frustration of watching the drivel we put out this tour, like we were just making up the numbers and when the good old Gary Owen doesn’t work try it again and again and oh lets try it again even though Ireland have possibly the best full back in Union at the moment. The Irish were nothing special at all and we have just given them serious bragging rights. The Kiwis would have given them a hammering in my opinion judging from Saturdays performance. Now the ultimate cheat BOD continues on his path of smugness
November 30th, 2009 at 8:48 am
the boks had a good tri-nations but the EOYT has been a disaster – a total disaster. The coach is lucky to keep his job after this terrible tour.
I see absolutely NO signs of “player management” emminating from SARU.
Worrying times ahead…
November 30th, 2009 at 9:04 am
@Staal: Well he is giving them time off between Christmas and New Year…. in SARU’s book that is more than enough!!
November 30th, 2009 at 9:16 am
@Timbo:
The Boks got away with a lot last Sat; under stricter referee the margin would have been larger for Ireland.
@ARK:
Just 3rd world rhetoric’s
November 30th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Team of the year. Well done Boks for sorting the Kiwis out. Hope we can whack them again next year!
It was a great year but ended in a nice holiday for the Boks and their wives. Should have rested if the coach was in charge.
9. Hond hmmm whatching with your beer goggles again. If the Boks kicked properly they would have won it!
November 30th, 2009 at 10:49 am
World Cup Winners in 2007.
Tri Nations Champs 2009.
British & Irish Lions Champs 2009.
Thats what will be remembered in 10 years.
November 30th, 2009 at 11:28 am
Nice Speech by O’Regan.
What else could you expect him to say.
I agree almost entirely with his sentiments.
SA Rugby is lucky to have this man, he is respected around the World. (Well in my house he is anyway, and that is half way round the World).
November 30th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Well done Springboks you did well…
November 30th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Staal – I agree 100%. PDV and the S14 coaches will have to get together and give their top flight players some much needed rest next year. Already Matfield and a few players are in the baa baas, insanity!!!
Otherwise next year’s 3N will be a disaster!!!!
November 30th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
@KevinRack: Nice bit of unfounded arrogance there boet. Lets have a look at results shall we:
ABs – undefeated on tour. Tries conceded – not 1, zilch, zero.
Boks – won 1 from 5. Humiliated by the NH. Tries conceded – too many to count (even against Italy – the kakkest team in the NH! )
Ja man we’re really going to clobber the ABs. Bet you they were having a good laugh watching us while they prepared for their systematic destruction of France. I’ve never seen a team revenge a home loss with such a ruthless, clinical display. The ABs are the rugby benchmark as far as I’m concerned and we are a country mile behind them.
They are going to tear us a new poephol next year, mark my words. We are going to get a massive pumping when we next play NZ unless the ‘Brains trust’ actually develop half a brain between them. Unlikely to happen, however, year from hell coming up. Mark my words.
I hope okes on here (including Keo) are happy they finally got their WO / Fourie partnership – what a load of kak that was! In my opinion JdV and Jacobs (when on form) works best. We scored so many more tries last year with Adi at 13 but there you go you wished and prayed Jacobs got injured as if it was some sort of sign from God! But what do you know we still lost to a team that didn’t even get within sniffing distance of our tryline! I hope this goes to prove that the problem does not lie with Jacobs but with our uninventive kick and chase crashball bollox! EEEEEISSHHHHH!
November 30th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
I would have to say that, during 2009, when the Boks were at their best, they were simply awesome to watch. The lineouts worked like clockwork, the kicks sailed over, the fwds executed the best driving-maul seen on the planet in years. FdP was pulling the strings, Brussow added an extra dimension and Bismarck proved he is the best athlete to don a Bok no2 guernsey since the great Uli Schmidt.
But this excellence was never truly sustained for 80mins in a match let alone for a whole season. 1stH’s were good enough to sub on the entire bench, followed by 2ndHs that required ‘injured’ replacement-props being re-replaced by a panicing Capt. This pattern continued throughout the year, only in Perth did the Boks sustain the excellence for more than 1 half of rugby.
It also symbolises a massive missed-opportunity for the Boks. What would most other teams do with clear and visible forward-domination like the Boks had ? well, what they wouldNT do is keep kicking the pill away. They would want to press home that advantage with tries, no doubt whatsoever. They wouldnt make Habana – the worlds best winger for years – chase the pill and leap about like a puppet. Habana in the ABs would be getting the ball off 1st-phase and 5th phase, no doubt whatsoever. And therein lay the problem. Too used to easing to wins on the back of longrange kicks and low-risk football, it all came unstuck in France and Ireland where teams, simply, need to have variety and different methods of getting over the line. The blinkers were on, the kicks werent sailing over, and the panic button wasnt working thru overuse.
Missed opportunity. Those limited tactics will only work for so long. The ABs, after running everything from everywhere in Bloem, learnt from that mistake immed and changed to a lower-risk approach at the start of EOYT vs Wallabies and Wales. But then the directive was clear and we saw and fusion of the styles vs Engl, and then the perfect symmetry exhibited vs France. They had the tools to have Plan A & B. If Boks are wanting to re-start that domination they took for granted mid-2009, then they are going to have to change up and experiment in 2010 unless they hope to get a lucky draw again in 2011. Otherwise teams would have worked them out by then. Like the lineout in Dublin.
November 30th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
“nearly Invincible”
isnt that like “nearly” losing your virginity ?
November 30th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
The nearly-unsinkable Titanic?
November 30th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
“‘Obviously the team is disappointed not to end the season as they started it”
Justice 4 I say, bring back the armbands, thats why they started losing, that and travel (we all know how far it is from SA to Europe, and how many time zones you cross) travelling North is so much worse then travelling South… the referees were against us, it was the Australasian alliance (The “European division”), FATIGUE
(but hey, we can earn some serious Rand playing for the Baabaas)…
no wonder the end of year tour failed miserably…