Monday feature: Carter's the difference
Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:24
The Boks suffered a demoralising 0-19 defeat to the All Blacks at Newlands on Saturday, but despite the scoreline, there wasn't much to choose between the teams.
It was a match that had much fanfare surrounding it, marking the occasion of Percy Montgomery's 100th Test match for his country, the first man to do so for the Boks.
The sponsors ensured that the cauldron that is Newlands would have a new flavour to it, in the shape of little djemba drums that were distributed throughout the stadium. The fans beat the drums, and the din it created was fantastic.
It all contributed to a great spectacle, but on the field, the game didn't quite live up to the hype created beforehand.
The Boks had their chances, but their biggest problem seems to be reading the overlap situation correctly.
There were at least three occasions where the Boks had greater numbers than their opponents in the backline, with the ball travelling into space. Unfortunately the Boks more often than not chose to take the contact instead of releasing the pass in an attempt to find the open man.
Of course the defending team must take some credit for a 'rush' type of defence that sowed the seeds of doubt in the mind of the Bok ball-carriers, but overlap situations represent outstanding opportunities for scoring points, and the Boks have to learn to do better in exploiting those.
Player of the weekend:
So the Boks had their chances to score tries, and spurned them. The All Blacks had some chances to score tries, and took most of them.
But the main difference at Newlands was that man Dan Carter, playmaker extraordinaire and superstar of the All Blacks backline.
Richie McCaw might be the field commander of this underrated All Blacks side, but Carter is most certainly the sublime lieutenant who calls the shots when the battle hangs in the balance.
The Newlands crowd witnessed a strange anomaly on Saturday, as Carter missed five kicks at goal on the day, a very rare occasion indeed. In fact, I doubt whether he has ever missed that many kicks in a single Test match.
Yet Carter remained calm, unflustered, and in control of the situation. He displayed that rare commodity of being able to remain unfazed and stay mentally focused. Despite his poor goal-kicking, he did not allow the inevitable pressure to affect the rest of his performance - and that is what sets him apart from other good flyhalves.
Carter shrugged off a bad day aiming at the poles to claim great field position for his All Black team with his pin-point, intelligent tactical kicking.
Not only did he keep the Kiwis in the Springbok half of the field with his boot, but Carter himself also proved to be the gamebreaker when he spotted a half-gap, accelerated, and in the tackle dotted the ball down with some skill, in reverse, over his head.
He proved to be the man who made the ultimate difference in a game that was tightly contested between two heavyweight teams.
Player bio:
Full name: Daniel William Carter
Born: Friday, March 5 1982 in Leeston
Age: 26
Physical: 1.78m, 91kg
Position: Flyhalf
School: Christchurch Boys' High
Rugby club: Christchurch HSOB
Province: Canterbury
Super 14 team: Crusaders
Nickname: DC
Test debut: Saturday, 21 June 2003 v Wales at Hamilton
Tests: 52
Test points: 800pts (24t, 139c, 132p, 2dg, 0m)
Big Hit of the Week: Pierre Spies wins it this week for unceremoniously running right over All Black powerhouse Ma'a Nonu, not something you see everyday.
Red Cross Charity/Donation of the Week: This goes to Bok centre Jean de Villiers, for his suicide pass straight to All Black hooker Keven Mealamu, who scored the easiest of tries. In De Villiers' defence, he had a storming match, and the game was probably over already before his very charitable final contribution.
The Garmin GPS Award: This is shared by Dan Carter and Percy Montgomery, who between them, missed seven out of nine kicks at goal.
The Energiser Bunny Award: This goes to Percy Montgomery for going down in Springbok folklore by becoming the first man to reach the magical 100 Test caps in the green and gold. Monty, we salute your service to the cause.
Idiot of the Week Award: Vice-chairperson of the parliamentary sport portfolio committee, Cedric Frolick, wins this award by a record score. What qualifies this man to tell Bok coach Peter de Villiers who to select? Dear oh dear.
Quote of the week: Springbok coach Peter de Villiers is rapidly compiling a healthy list of classic quotes. His latest offering, during last Friday's press conference in Cape Town, was a real pearler though. De Villiers was answering a question about whether politician Cedric Frolick had upset the Boks preparations with his line of questioning. "If you look at the Bible, Joseph came from the pit and ended up in the palace. But between the pit and the palace there was a moerse lot of k*k," De Villiers responded.
By Phil Coetzer
