Springboks out to confirm status as world's best

Paul Rees | www.guardianco.uk | Friday July 4, 2008

We will know better whether South Africa deserve their world No1 ranking after they take on the All Blacks tomorrow

Are South Africa the world champions or merely the World Cup holders? It is a question which will have a more likely answer tomorrow week.

By then the Springboks will have played their first two matches in the Tri-Nations, both against New Zealand and both away, tomorrow in wintry and windy Wellington and the following week in Dunedin. South Africa may be unbeaten in their last 13 internationals, but it is 10 years since they last won in the land of the long white cloud (in Wellington) while the men in black have won their last 29 Tests at home.

The Springboks only faced two top-ranking sides on their way to winning the World Cup: England, in the group stage and the final, and Argentina in the semi-final. The Pumas' opening night victory over France had an El Nino effect on the tournament, throwing everything out of balance, and South Africa were the main beneficiaries. They had the luck of the draw, which is why it is hazardous to use a knock-out tournament, albeit one with an initial group element, to determine the best side in the world.

South Africa are, by virtue of what they achieved in France, at the top of the world rankings, although they will be overtaken by New Zealand should they lose in Wellington and Dunedin. The last time the sides met, in last year's Tri-Nations in Christchurch, the Springboks fielded a virtual reserve side, and of the 44 players involved tomorrow only five survive from 11 months ago: CJ van der Linde for South Africa; Mils Muliaina, Daniel Carter, Tony Woodcock and Rodney So'oialo for the All Blacks.

There is a feeling among some of the South Africa squad, the more senior members in particular, that victory tomorrow would make the Boks the undisputed world champions. Like New Zealand they have lost players to Europe after the World Cup. However, John Smit and Victor Matfield have returned, while the South African Rugby Union allows its national coach to pick a quota of players who are based outside the country, such as Percy Montgomery and Butch James.

South Africa were the best organised team in the World Cup, but any notion that the departure of the coach, Jake White, would lead to a period of transition was dispelled by the ease with which they overcame the Six Nations champions Wales in the first Test at Bloemfontein. New Zealand, minus key figures of last year's side, such as Carl Hayman, Jerry Collins, Anton Oliver, Byron Kelleher and Aaron Mauger, not to mention the injured Richie McCaw, have a vulnerability that victories over a reactive England did little to disguise.

Yet the All Blacks retain the capacity (at least outside knock-out rugby) to strike when it matters, as they showed against Ireland. They went into the World Cup as a counter-attacking side, never more dangerous than when the opposition was in possession, forcing turnovers and running at disorganised defences. They showed against England that they are now creating more off their own ball, no doubt a response to the experimental law variations, which will be used in the Tri-Nations, which will see defenders having to stand five yards back from a scrum.

Creativity is an area in which New Zealand score over South Africa, but the Springboks will back themselves to win the battle of the breakdown in McCaw's absence. It will be interesting to see how the new laws affect South Africa's line-out, which was so dominant in France. The capacity of New Zealand teams through the years has been to see the possibilities in new laws before others, both in exploiting them and in preventing opponents from doing so, and although Graham Henry is the only head coach of a major southern-hemisphere side to have survived the World Cup, the All Blacks have moved on tactically.

Australia sit out the first two rounds, which suits their new coach, Robbie Deans, who has a third match in charge of the side tomorrow when France will be looking to make more of an impression than they did in Sydney last week. The Wallabies have tightened up under the New Zealander: even Al Baxter got stuck into the scrums against Les Bleus, but they have so far only played in short patches and look short in certain positions.

The Deans factor will give the July 26 meeting against New Zealand an even sharper edge because many in his homeland felt he should have taken over from Henry. Two of the Wallabies' three fixtures against the All Blacks are at home, while they face the Springboks in South Africa twice in a week at the end of August.

Away victories are likely to be rare, making bonus points crucial to deciding the champions. The organisers of the tournament are concerned that its format, with sides playing each other three times, detracts from its spectator appeal and Argentina may be invited to join from 2010. It would make sense from a rugby perspective, but the matches in South America would have to be played in a block, as they are now in South Africa, and it would take some organisation to have two matches played on the same weekend.

It is a paradox of the game that while the better teams are in the south, the money is in Europe. The law variations are a misguided attempt to redress that.

Beat ABs – don’t bleat about them

July 9th, 2008 | by keo | www.keo.co.za

Cowboys don’t cry. For God’s sake stop it boys.

From where I am sitting, admittedly 12 000 miles away, it seems a media shambles within the Springbok camp - a shambles to which those World Cup winners of 2007 should be having no part of.

But it appears they are right in the middle.

John Smit’s interaction with the media since arriving in New Zealand has been so out of character, so unlike Smit and so wrong.

Smit previously would never have condemned a former team-mate and Bok captain as he did when Corné Krige voiced an opinion. Smit, in his five years of leading the Springboks, has always shown calmness on the field and when fronting the media and that is one of the reasons he is regarded the best captain in world rugby. He is the most composed player in front of a camera you will find.

The frustration he has felt in the past has always been dealt with internally and he has always turned those frustrations into a positive when motivating his players to do their talking on the field and in big competitions, like the Tri Nations or World Cup.

To hear Smitty have a crack at the Kiwis means he is getting no guidance from his management, be it the manager or coaches. To hear Smitty moan is sad because he is bigger than a whinge, no matter how justified it is. If it is a team tactic then whoever is advising the Bok captain doesn’t understand the New Zealand media, player and public psyche. Kiwis respect a bloke who takes it on the chin and moves on.

The Kiwis know Brad Thorn got off easily and should have been binned for the spear tackle on Smit and when he didn’t he should have got more than a one match suspension. Let the Kiwis write about that and let them condemn Stuart Dickinson, the Australian referee who got so much wrong on both sides in the first Test in Wellington.

Anyone advising Smit on media would have told him not to mention Richie McCaw’s name in this instance because the counter would be Lote Tuqiri’s spear tackle on McCaw two years ago which was as dangerous as the one put in on Smit by Thorn. Tuqiri was penalised and also given no card and later suspended for a couple of Test matches. No preferential treatment there.

The All Blacks do get away with more than any other team, especially in New Zealand. Then again the Springboks get away with more at home than they do away from home.

Smit may have felt it appropriate to give it to the Kiwis from the heart, but it was inappropriate in the context of the series. You don’t bleat when you lose. If you are going to have a pop, have one when you have just won because then it can’t be construed as sour grapes.

Bok coach Peter de Villiers has also been playing a media game he is ill-equipped to do. He is out of his league when it comes to taking on All Blacks coach Graham Henry in the media because he is too inexperienced and not articulate enough in English to get his point across.

To say that the Boks will take matters into their own hands if the referee can’t sort out the perceived illegal scrumming is not only childish but naive. It is putting more pressure on the Boks in Dunedin, especially at scrum time.

The Boks have a team good enough to beat an All Blacks side that is in its infancy and not on par with that which dominated the game in the last three years.

I had become accustomed to the Boks saying the right things in 2007 and doing most of their talking on the field. The respect that there was for the squad in Paris was greater than I had experienced in 15 years of covering Bok rugby.

The Kiwis have got under our skin now and Smit’s comments will only confirm this to them. They sense insecurity about the Boks and desperation and South Africa should never be in that position.

The only way to shut the Kiwis up is to belt them on Saturday, be it by a point or 10. Once the Boks have done that then tell them New Zealand how brave their All Blacks are, how good this young team will become and how much talent there is in New Zealand rugby. Do it on the day you have beaten them.

Don’t forget boys, you have something they would kill for, which is that little yellow cup and you have won it twice in four attempts, whereas they have won it once in six. You have won it home and away and they have blown every away tournament.

New Zealand’s rugby players are precious, but they get found out every four years when it counts most. For four years, referees, media, the public and especially a section of the Cape coloured community puts these guys on a pedestal and reckons they are untouchable. To those unpatriotic South Africans (read that section of Cape coloureds who are in awe of the All Blacks) the All Blacks are as mortal as you and me. Their crap stinks as much and they have as many vulnerabilities.

But the only way to get under New Zealand’s skin is to beat their beloved All Blacks - and not to whinge about them the week after they’ve thumped you.

Henry calm as Boks take 'cheating' claims to IRB

By DUNCAN JOHNSTONE and JIM KAYES - Fairfax Media | Wednesday, 09 July 2008

The Springboks have intensified their attack on the All Blacks' scrum, taking their claims of illegal tactics to IRB referees boss Paddy O'Brien. But New Zealand coach Graham Henry has kept cool ahead of Saturday night's Tri-Nations rematch in Dunedin.

The South Africans will meet with O'Brien in Wellington on Wednesday although they mightn't get too far there with their suggestions that All Blacks loosehead Tony Woodcock is up to mischief at scrum time.

O'Brien told TV One News that he would listen to the South African concerns but he had viewed the game and "I didn't see anything illegal".

However, he added that if there was legitimacy to the Boks' claims he would "address it with the referee for Saturday and pass the information on to the New Zealand camp because it's all about fairness."

Under new rulings initiated by O'Brien, teams don't get to discuss issues with the match referee in the buildup to tests.

But this is taking things to another level with O'Brien himself involved.

Australian Matt Goddard, who has limited test experience but has been controlling Super 14 matches since 2002, has the whistle for Saturday night's showdown at Carisbrook which promises to have plenty of feeling about it.

Henry has tinkered with his front row for this weekend. But Woodcock stays with the change coming on the other side with John Afoa replacing Greg Somerville at tighthead.

It is a selection that speaks volumes for how the All Blacks don't rate the once-mighty Springboks scrum and the confidence they have in their own set piece.

"We pride ourselves on our scrum, we work very hard on it and that's all I'd like to say, really," Henry said when pressed on Springboks coach Peter De Villiers' claims that Woodcock was allowed to cheat last week.

De Villiers said the All Blacks won the scrum battle because Woodcock stepped out and around the Springboks tighthead, giving him a better angle of attack.

That's illegal, and de Villiers claimed the All Blacks were penalised 21 times in the three tests against Ireland and England for the tactic. All Blacks forwards coach Steve Hansen said that figure was wrong, but didn't volunteer one of his own.

"Each week we hear people complaining about our scrum," he said. "We've got a good scrum, we want to scrum and we look forward to scrummaging on Saturday."

The Boks are clearly feeling the heat as they try to live up to their world champion tag in New Zealand where they have not won for 10 years and in Dunedin where they have never tasted victory.

The heat is clearly on de Villiers whose front row selections for the Tri-Nations were questioned even before the Boks headed to New Zealand.

Critics in the republic said the axing of top tighthead prop BJ Botha left the Springboks vulnerable to the All Blacks at scrum time and it looks like it is panning out that way.

Former All Blacks Murray Mexted, now a Sky TV commentator who was at the match in Wellington, and prop Steve McDowell backed the All Blacks scrum and the methods of Woodcock.

The latest developments reflect the traditional intensity that exists when rugby's greatest rivals meet.

It's been a testy week with Henry questioning the Springboks' off-the-ball tactics in New Zealand's 19-8 win over South Africa in Wellington last weekend.

In a hugely physical match the Boks brought their usual aggressive approach to their defensive work.

Not that the All Blacks were angels with lock Brad Thorn banned for one week for "unsporting behaviour" after he dumped Springboks captain John Smit in a tackle the visitors claim led to a groin injury that has now forced their skipper out of the next two matches.

The Boks were unhappy after the match that Australian referee Stuart Dickinson hadn't dealt with the matter better at the time and the then felt the subsequent one-week ban on Thorn was light.

Dickinson has since admitted he should have sin-binned Thorn at the time but said he didn't get a decent view of the controversial incident, nor did his touch judges.

Now we wait to see what the next level of referees have to say about the scrum claims.

Bleating Boks letting themselves down badly

By MARC HINTON - RugbyHeaven | Wednesday, 09 July 2008

 

Bleating doesn't become grown men. Especially not Springboks who call themselves world champions. Their conduct since last weekend's Tri-Nations opening loss to the All Blacks has, in my opinion, been nothing short of disgraceful.

For goodness sake, have they not heard about the concept of taking it like a man? Of losing with dignity?

Not this lot, it seems. There's been that much wailing coming out of the Boks camp ever since they had their butts handed to them on a sling in Wellington last Saturday night that they're in major danger of needing an extra pellet of Kleenex shipped in.

I admired the 2007 Springboks who deservedly won the World Cup with a mixture of brutal pragmatism and occasional lightning strikes of attacking brilliance. They got it right when it counted, and on behalf of all New Zealanders I salute them for that. It's something our own finest haven't managed to do for over 20 years now.

But so far the 2008 mob leave me feeling only pity. Pity they've become such a pack of whingers.

Boys, you just got played off the park by a pretty inexperienced All Black pack without its best player. And you were lucky to get as close as you did given the ref ruled out a perfectly legitimate second try to Jerome Kaino. To me that's a time to suck it up, gather in tight and let your actions on the field do your talking.

Instead, what have we had? Complaints that the All Blacks are scrum cheats; that Brad Thorn's "thuggery" wasn't punished harshly enough; and bleating about the so-called "protected status" of Dan Carter.

Now, I'm all for a bit of firing up in the week of a test match, but this latest chorus of wails from the Boks smacks to me of desperation. Peter de Villiers appears to be a coach hanging on by a thread, his players are woefully off their 2007 peaks and all in all there's just something missing in 2008.

Maybe this is their attempt to inject a bit of fire in the bellies for Dunedin on Saturday night.

But if it is, it's misguided. The Boks don't need any more passion to beat the All Blacks. They have plenty of that, as evidenced by their deliciously intense opening half-hour in Wellington. What they need more of is skill, precision and cool heads. Accurate boots would help too.

But all they would have served to do with this latest bout of finger-pointing is to fire up another changed All Black pack. Bad move guys.

Besides, all this crying about the All Black scrum is becoming boring. It's funny how every team who gets a lesson in set-piece execution from the men in black all wail like babies afterwards about how hard done by they were, yet referees the world over seem to be duped en masse. Gee, go figure.

One other thing. I sympathise a little on Thorn's situation. He should have been yellow-carded, at the very least. It was a bad miss by ref Stuart Dickinson and could have affected the balance of the whole match.

But stuff happens. Just in case you weren't paying attention, Butch James was firing himself around like a guided missile, clearly trying to take Dan Carter out of the match, fair means or foul. It was borderline stuff, mostly on the wrong side of no-man's land.

Now, I know we have a lot of South African readers of this website, and if any of you passionate followers of the Bokke take offence at the above, well, I'm sorry.

But I'm just telling it like it is.

The Boks are world champions and they won the right to call themselves that by manning up when it counted.

Right about now in New Zealand they need to take a similar approach.

In fact, here's some advice. For free.

Fellas, last time I looked you hadn't won a test match in New Zealand since 1998. You've actually got a great chance this weekend if you can get your act together and focus on the task at hand. The first step in that direction is to stop crying like babies and grow a pair.

Fair comment from Marc Hinton? Let us know your thoughts on his article and the Springboks' stance since last Saturday night. Have your say on our comments system below.

Five reasons for Boks defeat

July 07 2008 at 07:10AM  | Peter Bills | www.iol.co.za

South Africa were a crushing disappointment against the All Blacks in the wind and rain of Wellington in the opening Tri-Nations Test of 2008 on Saturday night.

They finished well beaten, and and here we look at five major reasons for the Springboks' defeat

They chose the wrong team:

This was obvious well before the start. Percy Montgomery, Conrad Jantjes and Bryan Habana should have been the back three, a unit able to offer something on the counter- attack.

Jantjes fielded the ball well, but there was nothing coming forward from the back three, Habana's occasional bursts excepted.

The No 8 selection was nonsensical, a kind of back-to-the-future policy. Van Niekerk wasn't able to impose himself; Spies's far superior physicality would have been ideal in the conditions.

The scrum was a constant weakness. CJ van der Linde was exposed and, when he departed, Brian Mujati likewise.

You can't play Test matches in this part of the world with a weakness at tight-head prop. Solidity and power there is non-negotiable. Leaving B J Botha at home was absurd.

A general muddle and a disturbing lack of structure:

It looked to me as though the Boks didn't quite know what they were supposed to be doing. They seemed caught between the new coach's attacking philosophy and the need, caused by the conditions, for a traditional approach. The result was a mess, an unconvincing muddle.

But of equal alarm was surely the lack of fire in general.

There were occasional individual bursts, but nothing of any sustained cohesion. Normally good players seemed to disappear. That was strange. It was though they didn't have a clear idea of their roles, and what was expected of them. And once the All Blacks scored soon after half-time to stretch their lead to 16-8, the South Africans never seriously threatened to come back. Tame.

There was none of the aura, the authority of world champions:

It was as though the World Cup win had never happened. The great World Cup winners possessed a swagger, an authority that intimidated others. There wasn't any of that from these Springboks on Saturday night.

They looked mastered mentally by the New Zealanders' patched-up side, and you simply don't expect to see world champions reduced in that sense.

One factor was undoubtedly the admission by Victor Matfield that he would still need another two or three games at this level to get back to his peak after his French sojourn. The cost of that Mediterranean lifestyle?

Nothing much was constructed going forward due to Butch James's poor game:

Bryan Habana's try came from a poor, ill-directed kick by Dan Carter and New Zealands' failure to number up in defence.

But the Boks failed to construct much themselves, especially off first phase. Butch James had a poor game, his kicking was often wayward and he never really launched his line or straightened the angles of attack. Jean de Villiers did his best and Adrian Jacobs was solid and busy. But you looked in vain for a powerful line-breaker further out, like a Jacque Fourie.

A new team, a new coach: This process will invariably take time. No coach can come in with a new philosophy and get his players singing from the same hymn sheet in the first five minutes.

The Boks looked confused and uncertain as to the way forward on Saturday night. Jake White's game plan may have been far more conservative and regimented, but at least players knew their roles, what they were supposed to be doing. Here, given greater freedom to make their own judgements in adverse conditions and circumstances, the South Africans came up short. They looked deficient. Worrying times.

Boks get played for suckers

Archie Henderson: No Boundaries | www.thetimes.co.za

There’s no chink in the All Blacks’ armour

So the curse continues. It has been 71 years since the Springboks were able to win a series in New Zealand.

The best the Boks can do on Saturday in Dunedin is to square it.

Even that seems unlikely. It’s hard to believe they can defend better than they did in Wellington, or play with greater commitment. It’s also hard to believe they will suddenly discover the creative spark, flair or real rugby intelligence that they were so obviously lacking in the first Test. The All Blacks, taking their game to a new level of intensity when we were led to believe they might be vulnerable, won’t lose in Dunedin.

The Boks have never won in Dunedin in five Tests played there since 1921. In contrast, they have won three out of six Tests at Wellington and drawn one; it is their most successful venue in New Zealand, while Carisbrook, the House of Pain, is their least .

The Boks are expected to be without captain John Smit, who has been inspirational. Victor Matfield, his likely successor, is a follower rather than a leader.

Indeed, Matfield was outplayed last Saturday by Ali Williams, who was supposed to have gone into the game with a dodgy ankle. Playing club rugby in France has clearly blunted the Springbok lock’s edge.

The Boks were meant to have had a host of options in the lineout, yet they revealed none, while even Jerome Kaino was used effectively at the back of the All Blacks lineout.

The Boks did steal four of New Zealand’s throws after the break, but these were mostly in their half and of little use in attack.

Butch James is the one Springbok who will need to show huge improvement. His field kicking was all awry when Dan Carter’s was precise. Okay, the Boks allowed Carter the space, but the All Blacks flyhalf still needed to put the ball into those gaps, which he did with aplomb.

It was a Carter kick across field that led to Kaino’s try early in the second half when the All Blacks led by only a single point and which changed the game dramatically in favour of the New Zealanders. Bok forwards Juan Smith and Matfield were left to cover, which they barely did, but in the end, the aggressive mauling by the All Blacks set up Kaino.

Whatever ailed James in Wellington, if it has not healed by late this week, Frans Steyn will be a better option. He might frighten his own team more than the opponents, but he brings something of the unexpected to a very one-dimensional team. That monster Garryowen he put went so high that no one was able to even catch it, and in a Test match, where both sides defended valiantly, to see an up-and-under bounce was astounding.

Victor's woes show folly of offshore selection

By LINDSAY KNIGHT - RugbyHeaven | Tuesday, 08 July 2008

Everyone in world rugby, even those besotted with the yen and pound in the Northern Hemisphere, probably agree that the international game's foremost lock at present is Springbok Victor Matfield, followed closely by a group which includes All Black Ali Williams.

So one of the most significant aspects from last weekend's opening Tri-Nations test in Wellington was just how much off the pace even a champion like Matfield was. The reason, of course, was that he came straight into what remains one of world rugby's most intensely contested matches from a diet of playing French club rugby.

It surely was another salutary lesson for those many misguided folk clamouring for the New Zealand union to reverse what to now has been a staunch insistence that to qualify for All Black selection players must be based in this country.

It is to be hoped that remains and any compromise will go no further than the sort of sabbatical deal which has been offered Daniel Carter.

Picking off-shore players is too fraught with difficulty, even from those countries where there is a reasonable standard of club competition. And selecting someone from a country like Japan, whose modest levels even with a side boosted by New Zealanders have been again shown in the latest Pacific Nations Cup tournament, would be unthinkable.

The present policy should remain in place, even if some of those urging a review have been former All Blacks who have succumbed to the lure of the money on offer off-shore.

If one can't agree with their view, their motivation is easily understood. A little more difficult to follow is the rationale behind some of the media types echoing this call.

It is true that not too much notice should be taken of talkback radio. But the logic of one recent caller to a radio station suggesting that the fact New Zealand soccer had secured Ryan Nelsen for two pool games at the upcoming Olympic Games was an example New Zealand rugby should follow was distorted beyond belief.

Surely, the process New Zealand soccer had to follow in securing the permission of the Blackburn club for Nelsen's partial release for such a prestigious event illustrated the very opposite. Nelsen, one of the few New Zealanders to have become even close to soccer world class, last played for the All Whites in 2004.

Yet oddly enough, unless some glaring anomalies and inequities in New Zealand rugby's present contract systems are addressed, some of the country's provincial unions might find themselves thinking that they might be better off, at least financially, if several of our elite players were off-shore.

The unfairness in the system has been compounded by the ever increasing test programme. A consequence of this is that for the Air New Zealand Cup provincial sides are being denied the services of All Blacks, who clearly can't be in two places at once.

This will get worse with the proposed restructure of the playing calendar, which while sensible in some aspects, is going to mean the 26 or so players in an All Black squad will not be available ever again for their provinces. That has already happened to some extent. Canterbury, as one example, has seen little of Carter since 2004. Since his first class debut in 2002 he has played only 21 provincial games.

Under the present system All Blacks have three contracts, one to play internationally, one for the Super 14 and a third with provincial unions. Even if a player never appears for a province he must still be paid by it under the terms of his contract.

This has affected even the most financially-straitened unions. Otago in 2007 had to pay for the services of four players, James Ryan, Anton Oliver, Carl Hayman and Nick Evans, who never once appeared for the union.

North Harbour, with the added disadvantage of not being a Super 14 host union, will be similarly affected this year, with four All Blacks, Anthony Tuitavake, Anthony Boric, Tony Woodcock and Rudi Wulf, accounting for a big part of their payment budget but unlikely to ever make an appearance.

Harbour also has Nick Williams on its pay-roll, even though he has elected to opt out of this year's Air New Zealand Cup to have shoulder surgery, presumably so he can recover in time to go overseas.

Some tough questions are looming for the New Zealand union and how the Air New Zealand Cup can be reshaped to be more competitive and more financially sustainable.

Just how the NZRU will pare the teams in the premiership by two or three is one. Tasman appears to be self destructing, which takes care of one, but who should be the others?

And equally pressing is a contracts formula, which is fairer to the provincial unions.

Is Victor Matfield struggling? Is this related to playing offshore? Are there lessons to be learned here for New Zealand? Have your say on our comments system below.