MAILBOX: The Springboks don't lose
Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:51
South Africans are the sorest of losers at the best of times, as our readers point finger once again in the direction of Springbok management. If you have an opinion, you have the Write of Reply!
PDV is talking too much. He needs to come up with a gameplan. Just talking to players about passion and expansive rugby is no way to coach at test level. It is not great reading how he bad mouths his own players in the media all the time. If there is anything that breaks passion it is that type of management. It manages a world champion side full of great players right out of contention.
Our problems are technical more than anything and if we do not have the coaching staff to handle that level of management lets get a new management team.
- Pierre Kleynhans
Should they continue to run wild? Run YES, but with
structure, organization and purpose, not mindlessly acting on impulse when no one is ready for you - because they have not been coached to be prepared for you! But further to that, every player should be ready for the unexpected, coached to be prepared for quick throw-ins and chip penalties, and quick passes - not surprised to see the ball coming to them as they were in Cape Town. What a pathetic start! What pathetic preparation!
- Rob Porter
No-one seems to have mentioned this yet, but is it just me or has PDV's expansive gameplan (or lack thereof) directly resulted in losing the breakdown area. Cry and moan about refereeing as much as you want but if you go back and watch the last 2 tests you will see that we are committing nothing to the breakdown!!!! Instead the whole team seems to be standing off, waiting for the ball. We should all know that being expansive is worth nothing if your ball is
constantly being turned over. I am all for giving PDV a chance, but any coach worth his salt changes tactics if they don't work. You need to prove that you are more than a figure-head!
- Garron Elmes, South African/ Canadian
You know I hate to say I told you so. That Argentinian game was one game too much. Look at the All Blacks they're on an 8-day vacation in Brisbane. We're about to play our fifth game non-stop and now we're picking up injuries. Also this goes out to Luke Watson. I still think the best games you ever played was for the Sharks. Living in Schalk Burgers shadow can't be easy and I think its affected your game. Why not move back to the Sharks again ? Schalk Britz isn't an out-an-out fetcher and we could use your strong abilities again. As for PDV who wants to be a coach ? It can't be easy so stop talking the talk and start walking the walk
- David Smith
My understanding of the rule is a player must be on his
feet to play the ball so how on earth can Mccaw be on his feet when he has half the nz team laying on top of him as he stated after the game their plan was to have more players at the breakdown point.
Statement by Paddy O'Brien that captains were not allowed to question refs decisions on the field referring to Matfield. But I notice he makes no mention of Mccaw doing the same thing and then having Goddard reverse his decision.
He also states refs should not be open for public inquiry well I have news for him rugby supporters are sick and tired the way our players are penalized on the field by nz/aus refs. We have seen it so many times over the years in Super 14 / Tri nations rugby. On Sat Sckalk Burger was up blown time and again for what Mccaw was getting away with. Here's hoping nz ref will be watching Aus loose trio as they are past masters at slowing opposition ball from coming out quick.
I hope the Bokke have learnt something from last week's loss
namely when you are on your opponents try line you don't leave that area until you have put the ball down behind the try line..
GO FOR IT BOKKE KLAP THOSE AUSSIES - SHOW THEM WE CAN PLAY RUGBY.
- Ken Endres
NO he does not know what he is doing, why do you think we lost 19-0? Percy is one of the best experienced players, how can you drop him?
- Linda Lingenfelder
PDV Said, when he took the Coaching position, that he wanted L Watson as Captain and he wanted 10 players of colour in the starting team, that is his plan. L Watson should be barred from playing for the Boks, after his family forced SA Rugby to take him on - anyone remember number 46 for the world cup team? People like Cheeky Watson are the problem with SA Sport in General. Race issues will be the demise of SA Sport, best does not count.
(I got up at 1am in NZ to watch the last failer)
- Steve Pritchard
The players create overlaps, but fail to pass...players knock on the ball...the kicker misses 'easy' pots at goal...tell me how any of these are an indication of the coach's value/game plan. Before Jake White took over his coaching credentials were more or less the same as those of PdV. Jake won the world cup and well done to him and his team. I dont want to take away anything from their achievement but 9.9 times out of 10 you would expect SA to triumph over the likes of Samoa, Fiji, USA, Tonga and England, i mean really. Jake also suffered a 49-0 loss against Australia in 2006 and only had a success rate of 66% he also never won in New Zealand. PdV in his first visit came away with a victory...because his team had no structure. PdV is currently 5 from 8...63% (over the same period Jake was 6 from 8)
Most South Africans wanted Fourie and Percy in the team, I personally think it was a bad move but alas the coach gave the public its wishes and i think they were both ordinary on saturday. This coach is on a hiding to nothing from the get go and it doesnt make much sense to me. He had success with the u19 and the u21 teams, if I am not mistaken those youngsters grow to play for the main teams, and their counterparts from other countries will do likewise, what tells me that he and his coaching staff will not achieve the same success given half a chance.
If not PdV then who, Heyneke, give me a break, if we had to be brutally honest the reason the Bulls won that s14 was because the ABs thought they were smart and withdrew some of their players for half of the tournament. What are his credentials anyway? he has won the s14 and a couple of currie cups with some big guys? How did the Bulls do in this years s14?
Last weekend wasnt the Boks proudest moment, but that is not a fair reflection the coach. The ABs were definitely hungrier, they were hurting from Dunedin, this could be seen from the intensity of their tackling and commitment to the rucks. The Boks created but failed to finish, in my mind a lack of tactics would be the inability to create...
They will be better this weekend!! Its actually quite funny how I havent heard of anyone saying how bad a coach Rassie is because the Stormers have been losing...not that i think he is a bad coach, just funny is all...
- Yaw Peprah
Oh so this is it! According to Peter de Villiers it will take a year and a half for the Boks to start playing Peter de Villiers style of rugby. God forbid! By then the Boks could be sitting fifth in international rankings and disillusionment will have set in among players and fans alike. History is repeating itself. Shades of Rudolf Straeuli and other not so successful Bok coaches, but, never to worry, we must be patient and like mindless morons patiently place our faith in hope. Oh yes, and if in a year and a half we are still bumbling around with the Boks then a second rate rugby team, will it be acknowledged by Oregan Hoskins and his bright sparks that they screwed up for the sake of transformation. ‘Transformation'? We have it and with it goes losing.
Robbie Deans took over the Wallabies and regardless of their thrashing by a resurgent All Blacks team, this year they have beaten both the Boks and All Blacks. It did not take a year and a half turn the Wallabies around, which just shows what a load of drivel Peter de Villiers is talking.
This is like going through post-apartheid growing pains. We got hammered. But there is no longer a similar excuse. Jake White built up a pool of excellent players and Shark's New Zealand coach, Plumtree, anticipated that South Africa's depth in players would win us the Tri-nations. We aren't going to. So what has gone wrong? Answer: poor coaching and poor preparation. The worst defeat in ages at home and not a point scored. Pathetic! It was not ‘style' of rugby that lost us this game against New Zealand, it was poor
preparation, poor discipline, and another pathetic Australian referee did not help. However, the linesmen were hardly much better when allowing the All Blacks to throw in at line-outs directly to their players.
- Rob Porter
Geez, I don't think I've heard so much rubbish from a losing side in a long time. You guys all had a go at us kiwis for blaming the ref in the RWC, but that was a blatant error that anyone could see. And all this bleating about the refs is really laughable when you think back on some of the engineered results in the Republic when you guys supplied your own refs for Tests and didn't even allow the ABs to take full strength sides. Funny how your record is nowhere near as impressive since we've gone to neutral refs............
Ken Endres, in your mailbox, has no grasp at all of reality. McCaw and Burger were in no way doing the same thing. Stepping into a tackle and stealing the ball (The ABs were driving over the ball,
not to ground just by the way) is in no way, shape, or form similar to Burger lying on the ground and deciding the slap the ball away from the AB halfback.
McCaw politely suggesting to Goddard that he's got a ruling wrong is also quite different the way Matfield was just having a big cry like a baby. Yelling a swearing at the ref is not going to help your side out at all and SA really need to have a think about who the backup captain to Smit is going to be as Victor is clearly not up to the job.
I can recall Tana Umaga getting binned for the killing the ball near his own line and as he walked off he shouted "discipline boys, discipline" to his team. Somewhat hypocritical, but the ABs dug deep on defence and didn't concede a point or a penalty while he was off.
My point being that Umaga, even when being taking out of battle, rallied his troops and effectively said "I got that wrong fellas, don't make the same mistake". I don't recall Matfield gathering his
team and saying "we've got offside with the ref and he's going to ping us for everything now, so keep your discipline".
Mind you, the attitude is set from the top and having that idiot coach running around labelling everyone 'cheats'. PdV, Dowd was right - you are a puppet (muppet maybe more accurate). If you want to change people's perception of that then maybe you should pull your head in and start coaching a winning side.
And don't whine about playing 5 tests in a row, the ABs did that succesfully and only lost the 5th by 2 points with a last gasp try in Dunedin. 19-0 suggests there's much more serious problems than tiredness.
- Andy Neilson, NZ
It won't help to say anything - we are fighting a lost cause anyway. The best players are leaving the country! Are you blind P.
- JJ
