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Close scoreline or no, the Boks can't match the All Blacks

Roar Guru
14th September, 2014
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Sam Cane reckons new tackling techniques are going to cause problems. (AFP PHOTO / Michael Bradley)
Roar Guru
14th September, 2014
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1620 Reads

The Springboks have flattered to deceive once again after their Rugby Championship slugfest in Wellington against the All Blacks on Saturday.

South African rugby pundits will have led us believe that the Boks are closing in on their arch-rivals, but more and more the Wellington result, in favouring the All Blacks, seems to be a classic case of déjà vu.

We hear South African media, the fans, and the team management itself, talking about an upward curve, small margins letting the Boks down, going toe-to-toe with the All Blacks, and that the conquering of the mighty Kiwis is just around the corner.

However, if they would only have looked up at the Cake Tin’s scoreboard – All Blacks 14 Springboks 10 – it would bring these pundits and fans back to earth.

Will the Boks ever beat the All Blacks? To satisfy the die-hard fans, my head says yes. But consistently enough to knock the All Blacks off their perch? I would say no. Possibly never. Not in the way the Boks approach the game.

Victories over the arch-foe are always going to be few and far between. The Boks still seem to think defence is the best form of attack, rather than the other way around. How can you be an attacking force if you are pinned in your 22 for most of the time? They showed it against the Argies in Salta – a game they were extremely fortunate to have won.

By the end of the game, the Boks’ defence did enough to hold out Los Pumas, who scored almost at will in the intervening period. And, almost against the run of play, the Boks reeled in the score to win at the death.

In Wellington, Julian Savea carried and ran the ball countless times on the wing, while his opposite, Bryan Habana, had to feed off the scraps offered to him. Cornel Hendricks scored a fantastic try after which he was reduced to a mere tackler in the game. Savea on the other hand was either picking up the ball from aerial kicks or backline moves and gaining many metres each time. I would also wager a bet that the metres gained in total by each All Blacks’ player was miles better than that of the Boks.

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The All Blacks are adept at giving the backs front-foot ball; only resolute defence stopped them in their tracks and prevented possible tries. Brodie Retallick and Jeremy Thrush also made more runs with the ball compared to Eben Etzebeth and Victor Matfield, who were diving left, right and centre into tackles.

The Boks’ inability to beat the All Blacks consistently lies in their and coach Heyneke Meyer’s obsession with a defensive game-plan. As I have said in earlier posts, it is in the Springbok psyche to defend more than attack. And fans and pundits are wondering why they can’t beat the All Blacks consistently?

The All Blacks are far quicker and better in their decision-making. There is always a second or a third man running off the ball carrier, which makes for more and better options when going forward. The possession stats at the end of the first half was 69 per cent All Blacks and 31 per cent to the Boks.

That the Boks were camping on the All Blacks line in the dying minutes was only because of a Kiwi mistake, and the Boks then wanted to make good on all their defensive work by pulling the game out the fire, but they lacked the composure to win the game.

I hope the Bok Roarers especially see that they can’t be singing the same tune each and every year, that they are closing in on the All Blacks. One good game does not suddenly make them a candidate for pushing the All Blacks off their throne.

There is a long way to go before the Boks can claim to have the beating of the All Blacks. The Boks could win the Championship for example, but that would not make them better than the All Blacks – there is a long way to go before they can even claim to be even on par.

Fact is, the Boks’ inability to beat the All Blacks consistently has become a psychological barrier.

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Here are some of the stats from the game:
Total runs: ABs 112 – Boks 53
Run metres: ABs 819 metres – Boks 299 metres
Offloads: ABs 12 – Boks 1
Handling errors: ABs 6 – Boks 14
Rucks and mauls: ABs 89 – Boks 50
Missed tackles: ABs 7 – Boks 30

The above stats tell the sorry story of the Boks’ against the All Blacks yet again.

One way in which the Boks can hope to topple the All Blacks is to rip up their defensive-minded game-plan. It’s all well and good if you want to fortify yourself with a solid brick wall, but when you have cannons being fired at you relentlessly, the wall will break eventually.

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