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The fat lady sings after All Blacks swing it

The Springboks didn't have enough to get past the All Blacks.. (AFP PHOTO / FRANCK FIFE)
Roar Guru
25th October, 2015
18

The Springboks looked like winning their Rugby World Cup semi-final against the All Blacks until the fat lady came along and spoiled the show at Twickenham.

Fourie du Preez and his supporting cast had walked off after act one with a 12-7 lead over Richie McCaw and his men in black, and fans I sat with at my club were singing the praises of South Africa. My faithful pooch even gave a yelp of joy.

But then the fat lady made her appearance and our hopes and dreams came crashing down as the curtain dropped on the final act and we lost 20-18.

‘It ain’t over until the fat lady sings’ is the saying and once again New Zealand’s finest snatched victory. We all know how good the All Blacks are, but here was a realistic chance of upsetting the odds.

New Zealand, according to former Springboks coach Nick Mallett, have now won 48 of their past 52 Tests and their latest feat showed just why they have a habit of winning.

The All Blacks have won so often, and they look like a team who believe they will win every game. The Springboks appeared like a side that hoped it could hang on to the lead.

You don’t have to scratch your head too hard to figure out why we lost. When they are down, the All Blacks work out what they need to do for victory. The Springboks rely on a gameplan set in stone while New Zealand vary their tactics.

If the box kicks don’t work, they pick and go. If that isn’t paying off, they try grubber kicks. They then swing the ball wide. The All Blacks have any number of variations. They keep asking questions of the opposition and eventually take yet another bow after the curtain closes.

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Their persistence paid off with two tries, by Jerome Kaino and Beauden Barrett, while all South Africa’s points came from the boots of Handre Pollard (five penalties) and Pat Lambie (one). Dan Carter also had his kicking boots on and scored 10 points for the All Blacks via two conversions, a drop goal and a penalty.

The All Blacks were in trouble in the first half when they conceded a host of penalties and often paid the price. At the break, Kaino was still in the sin bin for foolishly kicking the ball from an offside position and the Boks had every reason to be upbeat.

The trouble with South Africa is that they only have a Plan A, so it was no surprise – certainly to the New Zealanders – that the Boks stuck to the same gameplan.

So the All Blacks simply changed theirs. They were more disciplined and managed to keep South Africa in their own half of the field. This nullified the threat of Pollard’s unerring boot and piled the pressure on the Boks. Pollard couldn’t take a pot at the posts from there.

When South Africa did manage to fight their way up-field, they uncharacteristically lost two or their own lineouts and also gave away a penalty at a crucial time.

Then, when in an attacking position, referee Jerome Garces reversed a penalty awarded to South Africa in the 63rd minute because substitute Victor Matfield foolishly grabbed an opposing player by the neck.

A moment that gave our fans hope slipped into the night and the All Blacks put play back into the South African half again.

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You can’t blame Matfield for his knock-on that ended the match. At that stage, the All Blacks were dominant in the South African quarter and grinding away the final minutes.

One can, however, castigate Bryan Habana, who was sent to the bin for a deliberate knock-on and also was penalised for tackling All Black Nehe Milner-Skudder when he didn’t have the ball. Habana didn’t have one of his best games and this was his last hurrah.

Several other players will call time on their World Cup careers, including Matfield, du Preez, Jean de Villiers, Ruan Pienaar, Jannie du Plessis and Schalk Burger. And maybe more of the old-timers.

After the match, Heyneke Meyer obstinately defended his tactics and blamed the weather, much of it played in heavy rain. Asked whether he would keep his job as coach, he said he was “there to serve”.

He added that winning is the only thing for him and having to play a semi-finals losers game would be like kissing your sister.

One can only admire Meyer for his passion and commitment. However, he remains stuck in the past. The game has changed and he hasn’t changed with it.

We have the players but we simply don’t have enough variation in our gameplan. The jury is out on who should replace him if he goes.

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I remain optimistic because we now have a nucleus of young stars such as Pollard, Lambie, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Francois Louw, Duane Vermeulen and others. That forms a good base from which to build a World Cup-winning team.

With the right coach, everything is possible. The future is bright but you have to be able to see the light.

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