The Wallabies have to win at Perth
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By Spiro Zavos, 14 Jul 2008 Spiro Zavos is a Roar Expert
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A week is a long time, it’s said, in politics – and even longer in sport.
This time last week the Springboks were faced with being shunted out of the Tri-Nations and losing their legacy from winning the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
But now with an historic win 30 -28 at Carisbrook against the All Blacks in the bag (only the fourth loss ever by a NZ side in 104 Test rugby matches at the ground), the Springboks are back in the Tri-Nations tournament with momentum, and the RWC legacy can still be retained.
The Test against the Wallabies at Perth now becomes a crucial game in the Tri-Nations tournament. It is the last away match for the Springboks. If they defeat the Wallabies they will regard a two-out-three away wins outcome as a terrific result.
And the ARU has made it easier for the Springboks by allocating it to Subiaco Oval at Perth. The Springboks won their first Test at Perth in 1998 14-13 and drew 14 – 14 in 2001. I was at the first Test and it seemed like a home game for the Springboks with all the support from South African ex-pats urging their team on.
Against this, however, is the fact that the Springboks somehow have to get from the deep south of Dunedin and travel across the continent of Australia to reach Perth. They’ve played two really intense Tests in two weeks. At Dunedin it was noticeable that both the All Blacks and the Springboks were slightly flatter than they were for the first Test at Wellington.
What struck me most about the Dunedin Test was the way Peter de Villiers out-coached Graham Henry, something that doesn’t happen very often.
The All Blacks still have not got in place an effective system for setting up a drop goal to win a Test. Clive Woodward told me that he worked for some years on what he called a Z-play, last gasp play presumably, that called for the halfback to make a dash, for the forwards to drive forward together to take the ball further up field and for Wilkinson to be deep in the pocket to kick the easy goal, as he did in the 2003 RWC final. Why don’t the All Blacks have this type of rehearsed play?
The All Blacks, too, insist on taking short drop-outs. This gives the opposition field position and at Dunedin the Springboks scored a try and kicked a penalty (8 points) following mistakes by the All Blacks after their 22 kick-offs.
The Springboks toughened up their scrum. There was only one reset (by the Springboks) in 14 scrums. When the Springboks needed a steady scrum they got it for Joe van Nierkerk, the best runner from the back of the scrum since Zinzan Brooke, to set up an easy try for J. P. Pietersen.
The Springboks won the battle of the lineouts under the ELVs, even when Ali Williams was on the field. When they took a short lineout and put forward runners out wide, the All Blacks kept their 8-man lineout. But Matfield, despite the double teaming, was able to win the lineout easily and feed from the top. Once the Springboks were unlucky not to score out wide, and twice the All Black forwards were penalised for coming through the lineout in an offside position, an inevitability considering there was no one blocking their path.
The Springboks’ aggressive, counter-attacking defensive system held up well. The try the All Blacks scored was a superb effort of hard direct running and clever inter-passing, something that couldn’t be repeated in a fiercely contested match with huge tackles being launched all over the field.
John Connolly has predicted a Wallaby triumph in the 2008 Tri-Nations tournament. I wouldn’t be so confident. Both the Springboks (who must be now seen as favourites) and the All Blacks (but less so without Richie McCaw and Ali Williams ?) look like formidable sides.
So no predictions from this reporter, except to say that whoever wins at Perth on Saturday (and particularly the Springboks) will be well-placed to go all the way to win the tournament.
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David Glesson said | July 14th 2008 @ 10:35am | Report comment
2 hard Tests in the last two weeks will be enough to undo the Boks.
Benjamin said | July 14th 2008 @ 11:34am | Report comment
Spiro, I think the ‘Z play’ was derived from the fact that England were not blessed with innate rugby talent like NZ, thus alternatives were necessary, ie. playing to their strengths. Also that England team experienced more losses (specifically 6N) that also demanded alternatives. Interestingly the ‘Z dash’ is reliant on experience, for example, all forwards must go from right to left, but they must be the right forwards (not Jason Leonard), buying metres. Every player must be switched on. Then Wilko swings… however the World Cup final ‘Z dash’ was actually an aberration because Dawson’s extra run was not part of the plan, like Januarie it was initiative. Furthermore the last man to take the ball up was Johnson, the core leader. I have suggested in other threads that NZ could not cope in Paris, or Dunedin due to a lack of leadership. I think your ‘Z dash’ example confirms that. As does the fact that So’oialo allowed Hore and Sivivatu to be continuously doubled up on restarts. Much like England the only way to remedy that is through losses, and experience. NZ cannot allow another result like this.
Harry said | July 14th 2008 @ 12:01pm | Report comment
Must run the Boks around on the weekend and avoid the lineout. Accurate midfield kicking putting pressure on the receiver just outside his 22 with plenty of numbers around the ball will be key. We should also look to exploit Lote’s strength in the air when running onto it. Our back 5 forwards needs to match their very strong unit – in particular time for Palu to translate his super 14 form onto the test field.
SA will tire in the last 20 after those two hard games in NZ, if we are close enough to them then we are a chance. But the Boks favourites.
Harry said | July 14th 2008 @ 12:08pm | Report comment
Wallabies also need to think carefully tactics and actions from shortarm penalties. Please don’t do what they generally did in 07 and have a scrum. Fortunately this year we have a better coach, as we’ll need good direction.
Benjamin said | July 14th 2008 @ 12:09pm | Report comment
Harry, a kick is only as good as the chase.
Bill said | July 14th 2008 @ 12:42pm | Report comment
John O’Neill is a dead set goose. Why would you essentially sacrifice a must win home game by playing in what is essentially a neutral ground in Perth. There is no way the Boks would win in Brisbane or Sydney. Surely Perth should have got a token French or Ireland game. WA is AFL crazy. It will never be a rugby town. Its basically taking away an advantage from the Wallabies and we need all the help we can get. John O’Neill or who ever made this call your an absolute gallah. Even the Force hardly ever win in Perth. SA have won 2 of the last 3 times they’ve played Australia there yet they haven’t won in Sydney or Brisbane in 10 years. Who ever made this decision should be sacked.
True Tah said | July 14th 2008 @ 12:52pm | Report comment
Bill,
to be fair to JON and the ARU, playing a test against the Boks in Perth will pretty much generate a full house, and given that rugby has been copping a hell of a lot of flack from all quarters about the lack of crowds, it was a smart move there.
I think you are being a bit presumptuous in saying that there is no way the Boks would win in Brisbane or Sydney, until Saturday the Boks had never won a test in Dunedin either.
Don’t agree that Perth will never be a rugby town – if they build a fair dinkum rugby stadium, then I think the Force would get a lot more support, as I f****n hate watching rugby at cricket or AFL grounds.
Andy said | July 14th 2008 @ 1:12pm | Report comment
” think you are being a bit presumptuous in saying that there is no way the Boks would win in Brisbane or Sydney, until Saturday the Boks had never won a test in Dunedin either.”
Obviously “no way” is an exageration but the Boks would have an enormously reduced chance of winning in Brisbane or Sydney as opposed to Perth. The stats don’t lie. Zero wins from 10-15 games in Brisbane and Sydney over the past decade and 2 from 3 wins in Perth. I agree with Bill. If the ARU want the Wallabies to win Tri-Nations home games they need to stage them in the stadiums our opponents least like to play. Sorry True Tah but Subiaco is not one of them.
Harry said | July 14th 2008 @ 1:18pm | Report comment
I fully agree Benjamin they need to send plenty of chasers through and just as importantly get plenty of people around the ball when receiving kicks.
For the record, SA last beat Australia in Sydney in 1993 and in Brisbane 1971! But I think Perth and WA generally is growing as a rugby town – while all those expat Saffa’s will be wearing green their children and an ever increasing number of local supporters will be in gold!
I understand the new stadium they are building over there will accomodate 60,000 odd in a rectangular format, so i think it needs to be persisted with. Although I’d prefer it if we had given this weekend’s test to Melbourne, and sent the Ireland test over to Subiaco.
Justin said | July 14th 2008 @ 1:20pm | Report comment
They started playing Tests in Perth before the Force arrived due to English & SA population but now that rugby has gained a reasonable following I think that this should be looked at. Why not a June Test in Perth and have the Boks in Bris or Melb.
I think that Perth is showing they are very much a rugby town with the crowds that the Force have produced with what is a losing side so far in S14.
I agree about kick being only as good as the chase and the Robblies have learnt their lesson after the Irish Test. A kick into the 22 as James continued to do is useless no matter how good the chase! I think SA still has some upside if they get their selections right. Percy did not do what he was picked for last week and James just doenst appear up to it at the moment. Also no Stankowski or Spies is a massive blip IMO.