All guts, no glory
21 Aug 2010
JON CARDINELLI reports on the 29-22 victory that boosted the All Blacks to the Tri-Nations title and a clean sweep over the Springboks in 2010.
What an anticlimax. You would have expected the Boks to finish this game with a lap of the field; their record-breaking captain riding high on their shoulders. Instead, John Smit’s team-mates had to lift him from the deck at the final whistle. Smit’s devastation said it all. Four losses from four matches, the last defeat coming on the Highveld.
In the final analysis, the result confirmed why guts and passion are simply insufficient in the big Tests. The game was there for the taking, but the Boks were beaten by a better team.
Smit’s initial entrance set the tone for an improved Bok effort. The camera tracked Smit’s progress down the tunnel and as he emerged, 94 000 fans rose in rapturous recognition of a decade of contributions in green and gold. Riding on that wave of euphoria, South Africa’s biggest crowd belted out a deafening rendition of the national anthem and drowned out New Zealand’s haka with a cacophonous ‘Ole, ole, ole’.
Many felt this energy would give the Boks the edge they lacked Down Under, and in the opening stages it certainly made a difference. Inspired by the gritty Juan Smith, the Bok pack turned in an aggressive showing, and from that platform, halfbacks Francois Hougaard and Morne Steyn proceeded to implement the kick-chase strategy.
The accuracy of these high bombs troubled the All Blacks’ back three, but the hosts struggled to take advantage of these mistakes. Their lineout continued to disappoint, Smit conceding possession in the first two set-pieces, and Victor Matfield battling to contest effectively on opposition ball.
Sensing the weight of occasion and how it may evoke a robust showing by South Africa’s forwards, the All Blacks avoided extensive confrontation. They often exposed the Bok defence in the wide channels, and showed a willingness to run back the less accurate kicks, keeping the ball alive even if it meant surrendering as many as 10 metres.
Some patient phase play led to a clinical try by Schalk Burger, but the Boks conceded a breakdown penalty that was goaled by Dan Carter almost immediately after. The defence lapsed in that crucial period before half-time when Brad Thorn broke the line and set up a wide-sweeping move which culminated in a simple run-in for Tony Woodcock.
The visitors bossed territory in the second half and were helped by the Boks’ misguided intentions. The home team would defend like demons, but a counter-surge so often resulted in a loss of possession.
A three-pointer by Steyn in the 64th minute established a comfortable 22-14 gap, an advantage the Boks seemed unlikely to relinquish. But an instant of indiscipline gave the All Blacks a sniff, a breakdown transgression by CJ van der Linde allowing Carter a simple penalty.
Carter missed a subsequent shot, but the All Blacks continued to apply the pressure. Another quick shift to the wing caught the Boks napping, and a great finish by Richie McCaw leveled the scores.
Carter missed the touchline conversion, but it didn’t matter, as a Ma’a Nonu linebreak sparked the clinching try for Israel Dagg. It seemed fitting that the move was birthed from a breakdown turnover, although on this occasion the All Blacks counter-ruck menace provided the forward momentum.
The result gives the All Blacks a clean sweep over the Boks in 2010, a record that will give them psychological points going into a World Cup year. It also wraps up the title for McCaw’s men and leaves the Boks on one solitary log point after four matches.
573 Comments
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22 Aug 2010, 18:56 pm
@sharks_lover(sharks_lover)-499: yes he’d be a hero in new zealand because he would’ve been told to retire after the world cup or at least the b&i lions tour. Kiwis tend to not overstay their welcome! Smit has not only been poor in one game, start with the game in june against wales where he gifted james hook the easiest of tries! He was finished THEN!
Graham Henry or Robbie Deans would’ve told him to stuff off and shape up a long time ago.
So francois steyn & joe van niekerk can be left out of the team because they’re of the pace but Plod is exempted from the chop even when he is 20kg overweight? F*ck that!
22 Aug 2010, 19:01 pm
@The Old Enemy(BoksSecondBest)-498:
You obviously watched a different game mate! I was there and followed him struggling to get to the rucks and missing numerous tackles.
@sharks_lover(sharks_lover)-499:
He has served his country well – I wouldn’t deny it – but be honest and judge the guy on his present form! He is so well off the pace it is embarrassing.
22 Aug 2010, 19:09 pm
John Smit is a legend through and through.
22 Aug 2010, 19:10 pm
@foreverrugga(foreverrugga)-503:
For sure BUT you are only as good as your last game mate!
22 Aug 2010, 19:10 pm
why they bought ricky on who the f knows. Hougaard was excellent, Ricky should head back to the bench for WP. Juan Smith was also excellent, why the f was he taken off???
22 Aug 2010, 19:11 pm
@foreverrugga(foreverrugga)-505:
Great coaching staff I presume! Why they didn’t take a panting Smit off is beyond belief and Nonu ran through him like the Red Sea opening!
22 Aug 2010, 19:12 pm
@Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-504: @Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-504: oh ok so that means Habs is shite and Spies and and and… if that was the case we’d have no team, everyone has a bad run every now and then . I seem to remember a number of players having a bad run and they were kept on the park, the same should apply for Smit.
22 Aug 2010, 19:14 pm
@Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-506: I’d say Smit is a better option than chilli, they should bring Bizzy in as sub then yes rotate him with Smit, but no rotation with a vodacom cup player.
22 Aug 2010, 19:20 pm
@grant10(grant10)-420:
Piss off. I would like to see you do something about it.
You were the one sprouting about the blonde, no one else.
Pric.
22 Aug 2010, 19:21 pm
@foreverrugga(foreverrugga)-507:
That is not what I said! I was there and watched Smit struggling throughout the game. Spies was shocking and Habanna should be sent back to his franchise with Spies, Smit and Steyn. If we can’t win with all that support, I shudder to think what the future holds. Yes there are injuries but blaming our performance on that is short sighted.
22 Aug 2010, 19:22 pm
@foreverrugga(foreverrugga)-508:
…at the moment I would think Ralapele is the better option, but agree that Bissie is the best option at the moment.
22 Aug 2010, 19:34 pm
Dear John
You have done wonders for this country! You have achieved what only a few could ever achieve in a sporting career.
You held up the William Webb Ellis trophy and made so many South Africans proud.
You have won the Tri-Nations, the Mandela Cup and even led your team to Lions series win. All exceptional achievements. The country is very proud of these achievements and so should you.
However in sport you are up the one day and down the next day. In New Zealand they don’t care if your name is Carter or Fitzpatrick – if you don’t perform you make way for someone who deserves to be there. Unfortunately you are not performing lately – 0 from 4 is poor in any countries language. Not one All Black has made 100 test caps as they all want to leave on a high. The best thing that you could do for yourself, your team and your country is to realise when the time has come. I think you know you are not performing and it is having an effect on the team. It is not too late. Your conditioning is poor, your general play is poor and your leadership is lacking because of this.
You are a legend and should know when the time is ripe! There is still a place for you in SA rugby, but I don’t think it is as a player and leader anymore.
Good Luck!
22 Aug 2010, 19:47 pm
@Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-511: ha ha…no man c’mon. Ja but Bizy could definitely rotate with Smit.
22 Aug 2010, 19:48 pm
@Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-506: are you being sarcastic about coaching and the subs?
22 Aug 2010, 19:49 pm
It seems that too many of you cannot take being beaten fairly and squarely and that it is always never your or your teams’ fault but everyone else that are denying you a win or cheating you in some way or other.
So how can you tell me you have been robbed and say for you that the sun don’t shine?
Let me take you by the hand and lead you through rugby analysis and I’ll show you something to make you change your mind.
Altitude in your favour but not fully used as all and sundry(in ‘Groen en Goud’) tired except the ABs who were playing their most demanding rugby then – 2 tries in 2 mins.- did the ABs read the script?
Attitude questionable still, despite all the positive favourable factors – mental deficiency rages on.
Thus execution not according to what the demands required and thus defence still wanting because of poor tackling – example the last and winning try, captain 100 missed the tackle which is a defenseless error by such an ‘experienced’ player – totally unpardonable thus should be banished to a retirement village.
Cheating – Burger’s try was not even a try – he was on his back in front of the line and with players on and around him and as the ball was propelled forward ever so slowly an All Black hand by msecs. got the dot down for what should have been a 22m drop out.
Too many “2007 WC seniors” feeling all too entitled believing SA rugby owes them something when in reality they as paid millionare professionals owe their employer big time everytime they pull on that green and gold jersey only to too regularly under-perform.
No other analysis needed surely?
Accept and digest and get wiser as you are being cheated by millionare professionals.
22 Aug 2010, 19:51 pm
@foreverrugga(foreverrugga)-514:
Not at all the coaching staff have an outdated playing method and many players shouldn’t even be in the squad.
22 Aug 2010, 20:01 pm
See heres the plan
Bok coaching staff make out like ABs are the greatest team
So we are again lulling them into a feeling of been the favs for WC 2011
So next year rolls on and we win the WC
Are our couching staff that brilliant ?
22 Aug 2010, 20:03 pm
@ET(ET)-515:
Yeah both teams play on the edge and both teams “cheat”
(we just get caught more often)
22 Aug 2010, 20:05 pm
My highlight! The ref copping two mega players!
22 Aug 2010, 20:06 pm
Almost night time, then the bloodsucking vampires all crawl out from under the woodwork
It is the time when they infest the site right about now I would say
22 Aug 2010, 20:07 pm
How utter rubbish is our women in rugby and our juniors and now the sevens team as well
Is it Saru or the coaches?
22 Aug 2010, 20:08 pm
@JL1(JL1)-520:
The night was dark and dismal too!
When down the road a JL flew…
and from his side a dagger drew
and split the bannana right in two.
22 Aug 2010, 20:09 pm
@JL1(JL1)-521:
You forgot the 15 Boks too!
22 Aug 2010, 20:12 pm
Hiw poor have been against the ABs over the last 12 years
I blame SaRU and the appointed coaches
22 Aug 2010, 20:14 pm
@JL1(JL1)-521: saru and the coaches
22 Aug 2010, 20:17 pm
@Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-523: They need individual mention by name, not collective
But let us start with PDV, I feel for him as much as I felt for Jake WHite in 2006, nothing, nada, zilch
22 Aug 2010, 20:20 pm
@JL1(JL1)-526:
I’m tired of losing mate! So so tired!
I’m tired of all the excuses! So so tired!
22 Aug 2010, 20:26 pm
@JL1(JL1)-524: How can they not have a dedicated plan, a strategy as such to work towards
Province, Sharks and Bulls are better run with less money
22 Aug 2010, 20:30 pm
What worries me is when the coach states that there are positives in losing. The only positive about losing is that it becomes a habit, especially playing at home. Eish!
22 Aug 2010, 20:31 pm
@Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-527: You know, I think in 2006′ or 2001, Os du Randt summed it up: “EK IS GATVOl!”
PDV can take loads of blame for yesterday
22 Aug 2010, 20:34 pm
If anyone wants an unbiased source on his present form, here’s Ackford in the DT:
‘Yesterday Smit was as good as he has been in ages. There is no sense he has lost his players. He did as much as anyone to smash the Blacks back in the tackle and, if the lineout wobbled occasionally, he also had a good day in the scrummage.’
he spends the rest of the article talking about how rugby has moved on from the Boks crash and bash rugby but he’s honest enough about how Smit played
22 Aug 2010, 20:38 pm
@Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-529: Positives, yes, 94 000 paying fans, that was the only positive
22 Aug 2010, 20:39 pm
73. rossoneri(rossoneri) :
August 22nd, 2010 at 8:36 pm
Guys, totally unrelated, but why was there no handing over of the trophy and fireworks when the All Blacks won on Saturday? I know that when the Boks won the trinations in New Zealand they where given both the Freedom Cup and the Trinations Trophy in front of all the New Zealand people. No matter how that hurt them. Boks had won the trophy fair and square.
I saw victory pics of the All Blacks in the dressing room at Soccer City, where they had their trophy in the changing rooms.
Were Saru arrogantly thinking that the Boks would beat the All Blacks by more than 7 points, and never made arrangements, or are Saffas really such sour losers, that they would give the winners of the tournament their trophy in a locker room?
22 Aug 2010, 20:40 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-531: The Rugby Paper says it all about the cheating of the ABs, full 2 page article with sources and facts and Bob Dwyer and off course player ratings
Smit gets a 6 same as other players
22 Aug 2010, 20:41 pm
@rossoneri(rossoneri)-533: Remeber the Aussies that did not care about the Mandela trophy when it was handed to them?
22 Aug 2010, 20:42 pm
pdv
are just
way too
dumb
for
the job
22 Aug 2010, 20:45 pm
@JL1(JL1)-535: Are you saying that three nations Nz, SA and Aus, do not care about the Trinations trophy? They sure looked like they were happy to have it in the changing rooms.
You would have been saddened if the Boks were given their World Cup in France in a toilet.
22 Aug 2010, 20:46 pm
@Porra the Fat and Clever Speedster(Porra)-536:
is just
am just
just
juice
22 Aug 2010, 20:46 pm
@rossoneri(rossoneri)-537: Not what I am saying at all, if Saru did not do the proper thing, then so be it, just another RDP incompetence move from them
22 Aug 2010, 20:47 pm
@Porra the Fat and Clever Speedster(Porra)-536: 100% Pure stupidity
22 Aug 2010, 20:50 pm
@rossoneri(rossoneri)-533:
Seemed a good question, only you can answer it.
What kind of expectation do you have from that bunch of sub standard, inept gravy train riders and quota lords calling themselves SARU?!
0nce you cleared your stance on that mob you’ll be able to get a perfect answer
22 Aug 2010, 20:55 pm
@JL1(JL1)-535:
Remember the Mandela trophy that Joost was forced/intimidated to hand to the Boks although they lost the 3-tests series to the ABs in Rustenburg, circa 2006, where were you then?
You cant hold a T**d ball expecting to keep clean fingers,
22 Aug 2010, 21:04 pm
Rapports Headline: Bokke Beroof
It should read 3-0!
Morne Steyn, Spies, Victor, Plod – all liabilities! esp Morne
22 Aug 2010, 21:06 pm
That skop and chase attitude adopted from the lame Bulls are the reason Bok rugby in are in crisis
22 Aug 2010, 21:08 pm
Give Moffiefield the captains armband for his 100th and the whole tragedy repeats itself
22 Aug 2010, 21:09 pm
@Hondo(Hondo)-542: ?
22 Aug 2010, 21:11 pm
BTW there wasnt 94000 SA supporters cause I saw alot of people wearing their Black! Maybe the imfamous Newlands Black Pocket has infected Soweto.
22 Aug 2010, 21:12 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-531: how present is this assessment of Plod’s ‘present form’? I ask because paul ackford ‘independently’ told us what he witnessed in june when the Boks played Wales and i seem to remember you refuting his assessment!
You are very selective in your quoting of ackford! But i expect no less form you 008, you are a longtime Plod sympathiser hahaha
The big surprise for South Africa was the
attitude and execution of their captain, John
Smit, which were both lousy. To me, Smit
has looked neither fit nor at ease since he
has bounced between hooker and prop,
and he was blowing hard yesterday very
early on. Yet puff was not the main issue.
Smit presented James Hook with the easiest
of tries when he found himself in the
middle of the Boks backline after South
Africa had turned over Welsh possession.
Instead of shuffling into the nearest
defender as most self-respecting tight
forwards tend to do, Smit shaped to kick,
stopped, thought about it, and then rifled a
pass into the waiting hands of Hook, who
cantered over for the try.
When Stephen Jones banged over the
conversion, Wales were 16-3 ahead and
cruising. For a captain to make that kind of
error, and to compound it by blatant
displays of petulance, questioning the
decisions of officials throughout much of
the first half, as Smit did, was poor.
22 Aug 2010, 21:13 pm
@Mighty Horua(Mighty Horua)-543: hahaha i saw that, with Plod flat on his arse hands over his face!
22 Aug 2010, 21:16 pm
Smit was pretty anonymous yesterday. OUr props seemed to struggle too. But Steyn for me committed the most unforgiveable of sins by lamely kicking away the scraps of possession we had. Bad decision-making AND poor execution. de Villiers’ substitutions puzzled me for all reasons given elsewhere. Why take off Hougaard and Smith, who were both motm candidates, and didn’t seem to be injured? Contraary to other opinions (incl Keo’s) I didn’t theink the commentary was anything above patriotic banality personified. What was all that stuf abuot this being one of the most significant bok-AB clashes ever? I mean, wtf, wasn’t it basically a dead rubber? Fancy new stadium, ho hum. The AB’s looked to be wanting to play rugger, but they didn’t look as if they were going to kill themselves for this one. And they din’t have to, mores the pity. Good luck to them though, I’m happy for the game to mostly go the way of the team that makes the running rather than the counterpunchers, even though I’m a Saffa.
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