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It is important not to overreact when your team loses, but rather take a breather, think about the match, and then once calm has beset your person, watch the match again.
I usually get a feeling of how the match is going to go very early on, you look at the opposition, you look at your own players and inevitably you look at the referee. These were one of those matches where there were ominous signs from the start that South Africa was going to have a bad day at the office.
I am not going to discuss Romain Poite, I am tired of discussing referees and many here will know my perception of the Frenchman. Instead I am going to discuss why Ireland won and South Africa lost.
Earlier in the week I mentioned that teams that are supposed to lose in fact have nothing to lose. From experience I can tell you a highly motivated underdog is a dangerous beast, and when you add the coaching of Joe Schmidt to the formula things can go very wrong very quickly for the opposition.
Ireland outwitted South Africa in such a subtle manner that they didn’t realise what had happened until the final whistle went.
The South Africans were dominating the line outs, they won all their own feeds and stole four line outs of Ireland, yet they could only muster one try for all their efforts.
Ireland came up with the smart play of not engaging the maul, and the one time they did they conceded a try. That is, however, not the innovative part of their tactics. That bit was sending one player around the South African “non maul” straight onto the ball carrier and sacked him, the inevitable turnover was called as the ball could not be released.
At first you may think this is illegal, as the defender is coming around the maul, but it is not, as there has been no maul called. The stupidity of it was that South Africa did not learn from that, and were caught numerous times with the same tactic.
The breakdown was another area where South Africa was outsmarted. Ireland when into the breakdowns with everything including the kitchen sink. You could see arms and legs flailing all over the place, and bodies went into the ruck at any permissible angle. They effectively slowed down ball that South Africa, on numerous occasions, didn’t protect.
Francois Hougaard was under immense pressure because of this, and had a torrid time. Instead of protecting him the South Africans kept losing their footing, falling over and giving Ireland free reign at the breakdowns.
It seems South Africa is very slow to learn, with their mentor Richie Gray being around since 2012 it seems they are still being out thought in the contact area.
Ireland had a simple plan, they were aware that South Africa were going to come at them and they played the part of party pooper to a tee.
When they had ball in hand, Johnny Sexton was astute in everything he did. His tactical kicking was a masterful, and he managed to control the game much better than Handre Pollard. Pollard will learn a lot from this match once he has time to review it.
The accuracy of Sexton’s kicking, his decision making and execution was something to behold.
Ireland benefitted from an ill-disciplined South African team, and Sexton showed once again his accuracy as a goal kicker, slotting every penalty on offer.
As a South African supporter it was utterly frustrating to see the Springboks attacking from inside the Irish 22 and continuing to cough up possession through ill-discipline and unforced errors.
Twice inside the Irish 22, Bismarck du Plessis was penalised for entering the ruck incorrectly while Ireland was under severe pressure to defend their line.
Francois Hougaard spilt the ball on two occasions while looking for the support player, rather than keeping his eye on the ball.
Ireland’s defence rushed South Africa the whole evening, yet not once was there a well-executed chip kick in behind the line where there was ample space to utilise. Unfortunately for young Pollard most of his kicks did not work. Additionally, there was no attempt to create doubt in the defence of Ireland.
Sexton used that play a number of times and Ireland scored a wonderfully executed try from one of those kicks.
Decision making still seems to be an issue for South Africa. Whether it was arrogance not to go for goal when they were behind, stubbornness to keep believing they will benefit more from not taking the kicks at goal, or simply an inability to read the match situation, they still have a lot to learn.
On the whole, South Africa failed to think, failed to execute and therefore were chasing the game, despite having put the Irish under pressure for the majority of the game.
Are there some changes to be made?
If you ask Heyneke Meyer he will most likely suggest Ruan Pienaar and Fourie du Preez were missed, he might even suggest that Morne Steyn was missed.
However in my view replacing Hougaard or Pollard would be a mistake, both these players have now experienced the conditions. Pulling them out now would defeat the object completely. It is important for them to learn from their mistakes and grow from here.
Much of the blame should go to the forward pack for not securing clean ball and protecting their halfback.
This may be controversial, but the one man that should go is Jean de Villiers. He has shown little of his form from last year, this year might be that one season to many for him.
After reconsidering my view on Victor Matfield I am back to wanting him gone. He took over a lot of leadership this past weekend, and you could see him talking throughout the whole match. But he isn’t up to it any more physically, no matter that he is still a lineout master.
South Africa needs new leadership on the field of play. Personally I believe Heyneke Meyer is too reliant on his experienced players, the same players that have shown an inability to adapt, and it is time to move on from them.
South Africa is not ready to win the World Cup in 2015, their mix of experienced and young is not working. The experienced players can’t adapt, and the younger players lack the necessary experience to win the World Cup, but if Meyer does the right thing now and use the time he has left to build a young team with the ability to adapt, the next coach may just have the right team to win by 2019.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.