As the alcohol infused, sorrow drowning haze lifts from the eyes of your average Springbok rugby fan following their lower than low 34-32 defeat at the hands of the Japan on Saturday the faithful sitting in their armchairs in the Rainbow Nation still want to know one thing, where to from here following the Boks Brighton nightmare?
Having received the news that they now slip to number six in the world following their last minute defeat to the Brave Blossoms at the Brighton Community Stadium on Saturday in their opening salvo at the 2015 IRB Rugby World Cup the side from the Republic are under more pressure than a Sumo Warrior’s bed springs.
Boks Brighton bad dream
With a date against the hard-hitting Samoan’s on Saturday at the home of Aston Villa Football Club, the Boks are lining up against an opposition that have also got their eyes on a big scalp.
Where did it all go so terribly wrong?
Firstly, Eddie Jones is a man-size version of Yoda and has the tactical nuance of the greatest military generals whereas Heyneke Meyer’s tactical degeneration is akin to having a tellytubby running the show from the South African coach’s box.
His inability to steer away from his pre-match plan has been killing the Springbok team for the entire year and Saturday was no different. His stubbornness and inability to pull players who were playing badly or, in contrast, pulling players who were playing well (in the circumstances) is something that he has become renowned for and it is only devastating the team.
Take the All Blacks against Argentina for example, two New Zealand players, Nehe Milner-Skudder and Ma’a Nonu, were not having great games and coach Steve ‘Shags’ Hansen yanked them about five minutes into the second stanza for Beauden Barritt and Sonny-Bill Williams respectively.
The two replacements were influential in getting the team from Middle Earth ahead and keeping them ahead. Sonny-Bill managed 11 offloads, 13 carries and a try assist in the 35 odd minutes he was on the park – game changer!
I hope that it is not too late but the Springboks have got to move away from their pre-Homo Naledi disposition and take a leaf out of the old foe’s book and adapt to what the game demands.
As much as I have a gripe against the coach, players need to take a lot of responsibility for what happened. From 1 to 23 the Springboks should trample the Blossoms every day however when the clutch arrived and we needed answers the leadership wasn’t able to get the team over the line.
De Villiers, although an absolute hero of South African rugby, should not be starting. If he couldn’t lead us out of the Japanese onslaught how is he justifying his selection? He is well behind the game and didn’t offer us that John Smit-esque leadership quality which we needed in the Brighton furnace.
Every 80 minutes of rugby is unique (apologies for stating the obvious, however bear me out) and if that is not reason enough to want to adapt to different situations then I have no idea what is. Meyer has tried to create a team that is run on pre-planned, pre-rehearsed plans – he has coached the flair out of them!
Credit must go to Japan, they stuck to their guns. Tackled low, contested in every facet of the game and were full value for their win. The bottom line for Springbok fans is that they should never have been in a position where the game was that close – ever!
The alarm bells are certainly ringing however there is hope! We have a clean bill of health following the loss and Willie le Roux and Duane Vermuelen will be back for the Samoa game.
From these two slight positives I expect a much-improved performance from the men in green and gold.
Fourie du Preez must start and his fitness is a massive key to the Boks going beyond the first stage of the knock outs.
Decisive, clever, adaptable rugby is all the fans want; let’s see if we can produce it.
