Learning from past lashings
28 Jul 2010
JON CARDINELLI says that for the Boks to move forward, they have to look back at the successes and failures of 2006.
The Springboks have three weeks to reflect on what was their worst Australasian tour in four years. Only the three heavy defeats of 2006 (the 49-0 thrashing in Brisbane, the 35-17 hiding in Wellington and the 20-18 disappointment in Sydney) rank higher in the Tri-Nations’ Hall of Shame. Peter de Villiers said he doesn’t know where they went so wrong, a frightening admission one year out from a World Cup.
But talk of replacing De Villiers is pointless. The player-driven system is no secret, but the reality is De Villiers and his assistants are contracted until the end of the 2011 World Cup. If Saru fires them now, they’ll be paying them win bonuses even if the Boks defend their title under a new set of coaches.
Springbok rugby needs to make do with what it’s got, and if De Villiers, Gary Gold and Dick Muir are going to spend these three weeks wisely, they’ll be doing some research. Former Bok assistant coach Allister Coetzee has already compared the two campaigns, and suggested all is not lost. The big question is, will De Villiers take heed of history?
Jake White’s Boks finished last in the 2006 Tri-Nations and went on to lose two out of three on their end-of-year tour. The Sanzar tournament was lost on the away leg, but the Boks saved some face with two late wins. White then took a number of youngsters to Ireland and England, leaving several senior statesmen in South Africa to rest ahead of the 2007 Super 14.
The Boks lost 32-16 in Dublin and blew a half-time lead in the first Test at Twickenham to lose 23-21. They broke the Twickenham curse a week later when Andre Pretorius kicked four drop goals in the 25-14 win, a victory that began South Africa’s dominance over England in the build up to the 2007 World Cup.
While that was important, the value of playing youngsters and leaving the senior guys at home to rest was evident. Frans Steyn emerged as an important figure on the tour, and in 2007, the Sharks and Bulls contested the Super 14 final. South Africa rode the momentum into the World Cup.
De Villiers needs to keep this in mind when planning for the remaining games of the Tri-Nations and the subsequent Grand Slam tour. Playing his best available players and preventing the embarrassment of losing at home is imperative. It will also ensure they prevent a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of either the All Blacks or Australia, which would be a massive psychological blow before a World Cup year.
Following the conclusion of this tournament, De Villiers must decide on who to rest and who to take to the United Kingdom and Europe. Fourie du Preez and Andries Bekker have already been ruled out with injury, and the latter blow may suggest Victor Matfield should tour. But judging by the amount of rugby the 33-year-old has endured this year, and the adverse effect it’s had on his performance, it would be best to give him time to recuperate.
Persisting with the youngsters and alternative combinations should be the objective on the Grand Slam tour. The World Cup is the priority, and if defending their title means risking a few defeats on the Grand Slam tour, then so be it.
Follow SA Rugby mag on Twitter
368 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 [7] 8 » Show All
29 Jul 2010, 04:42 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-300:
He says he will continue playing his way as long as it does not place pressure on the team
so hes going to continue playing direct to the ball, to continue making great tackles and providing link support…
McCaw also admitted prior to Saturday’s Tri-Nations Test against the Wallabies in Melbourne that he was fortunate not to concede more penalties in Wellington.
couldnt every flanker ( Brussouw, Smith, Pocock etc) say the same after a game?
as for saturday, whoever plays to the refs interpretation the best..
29 Jul 2010, 04:49 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-301:
Poppa, I am really not going to fight this fight any longer. Suffice to say, he was penalised 5 times and admitted he should have been blown up more…
Enough on this, any news on the surface, when are they looking at it?
29 Jul 2010, 05:05 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-301:
Hi Poppa. I agree that McCaw can’t be considered a cheat when you consider the speed at which decisions must be made under pressure at the breakdown. If you consider the number of fouls given in most team sports, everyone would be considered cheats.
Cheating is what Andy Hayden did when he pretended to be pushed out of the lineout.
Cheating is what the ABs used to do when they’d cynically infinge to give away a possible 3 points instead of 5/7, hence the introduction of the professional foul.
Cheating is also what the ABs used to “innocently” do, until the concept of “lazy running” was identified as intentional obstruction.
29 Jul 2010, 05:13 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-302: so admitting he should have been blown up more makes him a cheat?
too much… enjoy man…
29 Jul 2010, 05:19 am
@David(David)-303:
Good to see one eye is working
29 Jul 2010, 05:20 am
@David(David)-303:
whatever David, I forgot how clean and squeaky the bokke are too mate, lets not start a mindless tete-a-tete..
29 Jul 2010, 05:22 am
A miss perception is involved here.
We all tend to forget the Boks were woeful in 2007 too, lost in Durban to the ABs and nearly lost in CT to the Wallabies but for two freaky drop goals of F Styen.
If you believe that beating the Poms twice and the Argies once to win the RWC 07 may repeat itself in NZ next year, then no worries
If on the other hand the RWC ’95 will be repeated with Aus, France and the ABs’ in the way, then the Boks have no chance, not with PdV and the passengers baggage they carry currently anyway.
29 Jul 2010, 05:23 am
tete-a-tete…….
thats very polite!
29 Jul 2010, 05:29 am
@Hondo(Hondo)-307:
Mate, I think the Boks do bloody well considering all the baggage thats goes with SA Rugby. Many other nations would have imploded years ago!
Can you imagine if the Poms had to choose 5 Scotsmen in their team and their next coach had to come from up north?
No disrespect to the Scotts of course!
29 Jul 2010, 05:30 am
v.tr.
1. To deceive by trickery; swindle: cheated customers by overcharging them for purchases.
2. To deprive by trickery; defraud: cheated them of their land.
3. To mislead; fool: illusions that cheat the eye.
4. To elude; escape: cheat death.
v.intr.
1. To act dishonestly; practice fraud.
2. To violate rules deliberately, as in a game: was accused of cheating at cards.
3. Informal To be sexually unfaithful: cheat on a spouse.
4. Baseball To position oneself closer to a certain area than is normal or expected: The shortstop cheated toward second base
Make up your own mind Poppa…
29 Jul 2010, 05:32 am
One developement that went unnoticed is the Boks’ sponsorship that Sasol decided to drop.
Being a proud sponsor for so many years, the decision by Sasol isn’t just based on economic considerations if there were any and I wonder these considerations are?
29 Jul 2010, 05:33 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-306:
I was only pointing out how instrumental the ABs have been in the move to eliminate cheating.
29 Jul 2010, 05:34 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-310:
looks like the history of South Africa to me.
29 Jul 2010, 05:35 am
@whatever(whatever)-309:
Yeah, they might actually win something again.
29 Jul 2010, 05:36 am
@Hondo(Hondo)-311:
SAB might have offered more money?
29 Jul 2010, 05:38 am
@whatever(whatever)-309:
You are right, they would implode, we are much more determined and rugby means a lot more here so several aged players managed to carry a huge ballast on their backs, question is: for how long
I was never been a great fan of JW but he redeemed himself by bringing on Eddie Jones, telling us he is humble enough.
29 Jul 2010, 05:39 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-310: bart, where has McCaw stated he “cheated” show me that line… you cant can you?
he admitting to making mistakes on a rugby field, not like Bakkies mistakes, but mistakes..
no where does he say he “cheats”
but continue arguing the point, it gives you guys something else to blame apart from the poor efforts of your own team..
29 Jul 2010, 05:42 am
@David(David)-315:
I am not sure, SAB used to be the sponsors in the 1990s and then dropped them too.
I thought SAB denied they will pick up the sponsorship or so said Robyn Chalmers their spokeperson?
29 Jul 2010, 05:42 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-313:
Generalising again Hurri…I assume you referring to SA politicians?
29 Jul 2010, 05:47 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-319:
Hmmm looks like the smiley face didnt work.
I wont bother answering your question cos you seem to be a little sensitive
29 Jul 2010, 05:47 am
@Hondo(Hondo)-318:
Haven’t they taken over the sponsorship under the Castle brand? I wondered whether this was a tactic to promote it during the WC next year.
29 Jul 2010, 05:48 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-313:
Though thats what the pakeha did to the Moari bro
29 Jul 2010, 05:52 am
@whatever(whatever)-322:
lol
The buggers they did
29 Jul 2010, 05:54 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-320:
Hurri, I am generally not big on smilies ;-( …so I assume you missed the
in my post…I will try harder next time! 
29 Jul 2010, 05:54 am
@whatever(whatever)-322: is that a generalisation?
29 Jul 2010, 05:56 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-324:
Oh feck, where is Ig when you want him…
29 Jul 2010, 06:11 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-325:
No, a joke
29 Jul 2010, 06:35 am
@David(David)-321:
Could be, I just quoted what I read in Business Week on Monday.
and the Boks were dropped by Sasol, not a vise verse, mind you?
At any rate, when the Springbok team is dropped by an iconic S. African sponsor such as Sasol, SOME questions usually raised.
Not this time?
29 Jul 2010, 06:36 am
@whatever(whatever)-327: is that a generalisation too?
29 Jul 2010, 06:45 am
@Hondo(Hondo)-328:
Castle is to take over, they have been involved with SA rugby much longer than Sasol and more iconic you can hardly find.
However, I do understand that Snarfu in their wisdom went overboard in their asking price to the extend where Sasol just said, well stuff you then, and moved on…
How much they will get from Castle I don’t know, my guess is less than they originally asked for…
29 Jul 2010, 06:54 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-330:
SARB have been losing ground to the Heineken group in SA, so they might have been prepared to spend more than usual to get back market share. Graham Mackay hates losing, especially on his home turf.
29 Jul 2010, 06:55 am
Sorry, that should be SAB, not SARB.
29 Jul 2010, 06:55 am
@Hondo(Hondo)-328: you’re quite a selective reader hondo! Always negative about south africa, again you’re wrong doos!
“We’re very proud of our association with
the Springboks and had certainly hoped our
significantly increased offer would have
found traction with the union,” said Sasol
senior group executive Lean Strauss.
“As a business, we must take current market
conditions into account, while at the same
time recognising the enormous value this
iconic team has brought to our brand. We
believe our offer reflected this approach
but respect SA Rugby’s decision to consider
alternative sponsorship options. ”
Saru thinks their brand is worth more! Whether that idea has merit or not is debatable but whoever advises their marketing dept in terms of brand value has made a big call in rejecting the renewed Sasol deal.
29 Jul 2010, 06:58 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-333:
As I said, snarfu got greedy…SAB may have paid more if David is correct, not sure it will be what was asked for.
29 Jul 2010, 07:00 am
So now it’s official, and probably the reason PdeV persisted with Ricky.
London – South Africa flyhalf Ruan Pienaar has agreed his release from the Sharks and will join Ulster at the start of September, it was announced on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old, who was part of the 2007 World Cup-winning set-up and also plays at scrumhalf, is currently part of the Springbok squad competing in the Tri-Nations, but had agreed his move to Ulster in May.
Pienaar, who will join fellow South Africa caps Johann Muller and Pedrie Wannenburg in Belfast, was delighted with the agreement.
“I’m very excited about the change – I have been thinking about going to the Northern Hemisphere for a couple of seasons now and when the opportunity to join Ulster came up I was very interested,” he said.
Continues Below ?
Pienaar’s two-year deal will commence on September 1 although he will be allowed to play for South Africa if selected for their Tri-Nations finale against Australia on September 4.
Ulster operations director David Humphreys said: “We’re delighted to have concluded the contract negotiations around Ruan’s move to Ulster. I would like to thank the Natal Sharks for their help in the matter and for agreeing to Ruan’s early release from his Sharks contract.
“We look forward to welcoming Ruan to Belfast in September. He is without doubt one of the biggest signings made in Ulster Rugby’s history and I’m confident that he will be a key asset to us both on and off the pitch.” – AFP
29 Jul 2010, 07:02 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-330: according to saru their brand had been independantly evaluated at 65 mil. Sasol did not agree with that assessment.
29 Jul 2010, 07:03 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-330: according to saru their brand had been independantly evaluated at R65 mil. Sasol did not agree with that assessment.
29 Jul 2010, 07:05 am
@mamma_lou(mamma_lou)-336:
Can’t argue with Sasol…
29 Jul 2010, 07:08 am
@mamma_lou(mamma_lou)-337:
Casn’t argue with Sasol…
29 Jul 2010, 07:10 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-339:
Dammit!!! Can’t…where the hell did the ‘s’ came from?!
29 Jul 2010, 07:13 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-340:
Gollum, my precious.
29 Jul 2010, 07:53 am
Breaking news… Eskom have signed on for four years as the Bok’s new sponsor!
Both are short of energy, lack a game-plan to cope with future conundrums… and are headed by over-paid buffoons!
29 Jul 2010, 07:57 am
@money_man(money_man)-342:
Apparently there’s enough gas emanating from Peter De Villiers’ gob to negate the R65mill in sponsorship fees… and power both the Ciskei and Transkei from the word go!
29 Jul 2010, 07:58 am
I would like to see similar team to the one below in the remainder of this years Tri-Nations:
1) Gurthru Steenkamp
Pierre Spies
2) John Smit
3) BJ Botha
4) Danie Rossouw
5) Victor Matfield
6) Sckalk Burger
7) Juan Smith
9) Francois Hougaard
10) Morne Steyn
11) Brian Habana
12) Jean De Villiers
13) Juan de Jonge
14) Gerhard van der Heever
15) Francois Steyn
16) Gary Botha
17) CJ van der Linde
18) Flip van der Merwe
19) Duanne Vermeulen
20) Ruan Pienaar
21) Wynand Olivier
22) Gio Aplon
And for the end of year tour:
1) The Beast
Duanne Vermeulen
2) Gary Botha
3) Jannie Du Plessis
4) Bakkies Botha
5) Ross Skeate
6) Deon Steggman
7) Juan Smith (cap)
9) Francois Hougaard
10) Peter Grant
11) Gio Aplon
12) Wynand Olivier
13) Juan De Jonge
14) Gerhard van der Heever
15) Francois Steyn
16) Chiliboy
17) Werner Kruger
18) Flip van der Merwe
19) Francois Louw
20) Sarel Pretorius
21) Meyer Bosman
22) Joe Pietersen
29 Jul 2010, 08:42 am
@iceman(iceman)-344:
I think there is a better chance of that end of season tour team winning now Iceman, then your remainder of the tri nations team. The current team look so tired and short of confidence/ideas, that I think it would be best to give them a rest now and give the fringe players ago now, to prepare them for the End of year tour. If the Boks get spanked in Europe at the end of season tour many teams will go into games against South Africa confident of victory, when at the start of this season that wasn’t the case. The situation is starting to get very serious and the Boks need a change somewhere.
29 Jul 2010, 11:05 am
McCaw admits to ‘cheating’
2010-07-28 22:30Email | Print
Richie McCaw (Gallo Images)
Hendrik Cronjé
Bloemfontein – Richie McCaw admitted on Wednesday that he had operated outside the laws of the game against the Springboks on several occasions, but said that it’s all part of rugby.
The All Black captain was penalised five times against the Springboks in Wellington according to website ruggastats.com. This infuriated coach Peter de Villiers and a number of his senior players.
Irishman Alain Rolland was the referee who failed to punish McCaw with a yellow card for his transgressions at the breakdown and will again be the referee when the Boks play the Wallabies at Loftus Versfeld on August 28.
“I made a few mistakes. I think the important thing is to know what you will get away with. But I undoubtedly made mistakes,” said McCaw.
He says he will continue playing his way as long as it does not place pressure on the team.
McCaw also admitted prior to Saturday’s Tri-Nations Test against the Wallabies in Melbourne that he was fortunate not to concede more penalties in Wellington.
He said he would be wary of South African referee Craig Joubert in the weekend’s match against Australia.
McCaw and his counterpart from the Wallabies, David Pocock, nevertheless showed that there is still place for fetching flanks in the mould of Heinrich Brüssow in Test rugby irrespective of law changes.
Brüssow looks set to be available to join the Boks on their end-of-season tour to Europe.
McCaw also noted that Pocock had frustrated the Boks a lot at the breakdowns.
“He had a big impact there. The Springboks were also not as accurate as they would have liked to be,” said McCaw.
Pocock was penalised three times according to ruggastats.com.
29 Jul 2010, 11:50 am
@RugbyStudent(RugbyStudent)-346:
‘McCaw admits to cheating’
but, how come they didnt include the quote then ?
and “McCaw also admitted……. that he was fortunate not to concede more penalties in Wellington”.
so, why didnt they include that quite either ?
where oh where did McCaw “admit” these charges ?
The crucial line, not included here, appears to be
“What I think is right and what he (the ref) thinks is right could be different so you’ve got to figure it out pretty quickly.”.
So which are the words where he ‘admits’ that he “cheats” ?
29 Jul 2010, 11:55 am
It’s a case of cultural differences. Richies cheating is looked upon with favour and awe by his countryman and myself, which sets off the violent reprisals of bakkies who feels a touch-up is a more honest form of justice.
I dunno what the correct moral answer is, but I do know our boys need to start cheating like mccaw if we are too compete within the current rules.
29 Jul 2010, 12:00 pm
David makes another excellent point on the cheating of the australasians with their lazy running, morally who can blame the more innocent honest godfearing bakkies for trying to get some sort of justice over an insanely unfair system, think of him as a sort of sherrif like wyat Earp who cannot stand for injustice.
29 Jul 2010, 12:10 pm
Richie is the ultimate outlaw vagabond flouting the laws with crass abandon, but Wyat Earp restored some order to the west with the barrel of his gun.
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 [7] 8 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.