In other Tests against the All Blacks and the Wallabies they’ve had lineout drives from inside their own half, or terrific plays from scrums inside the opposition’s 22. Or on one disastrous occasion for the Wallabies, they targeted Timana Tahu, and scored four tries on his side of the defensive wall.
At Eden Park, I was looking for the ploy. It never came.
Perhaps the ploy was to drop kick the All Blacks into defeat. Morne Steyn has kicked 5 dropped goals in15 Tests compared with Dan Carter’s two in his long career.
From the way Peter de Villiers and John Smit are talking, we can expect more of the same as at Eden Park at Wellington on Saturday night. Smit thinks that what went wrong against the All Blacks was that the Springboks were not mentally alert.
Nothing wrong with the tactics of kicking the ball away most of the time. Just that they didn’t ‘fetch’ the ball from their kicks.
I must say that I was surprised the Springboks did not take the catcher out with false jumping all over him at Eden Park. Bryan Habana usually does this, but the tactic (illegal of course) was not used.
Presumably, it will be brought back for Wellington.
The Springboks team with only two changes, CJ van der Linde at tight head prop and Danie Roussow to replace the disgraced Bakkies Botha, suggests that coach de Villiers is happy enough with his personnel.
This, in turn, suggests he is happy with the game plan, too, such as it was, at Eden Park.
Now that Botha has been sent back to South Africa, the question arises who will be the Springb0ks enforcer. The tactic of taking out important opposition players very earlier on in a Test remained the one constant at Eden Park.
Victor Matfield (an elbow to the head of Byron Kelleher) and Shalk Burger (eye-gouging against the Lions) are two possibilities for the enforcer role who have some form with this tactic.
Looking back on the Eden Park debacle, it is obvious that Fourie du Preez was the power of one in the Springboks side.
Du Preez is one of the great players in the history of rugby. He provides the Springboks with most of their running attacks with his devastating running from the scrums. His defence against kicks in uncanny.
His own kick and chase invariably puts pressure on opponents.
But the shrewdness and expertise of his passing is the real key to his and the Springboks game. While he is switching the attack and picking out the correct runner to pass to, the Springboks game plan becomes a thing of beauty in its variety and effectiveness.
But without him, the Springboks game becomes as predictable as the temper trantrums of their senior forwards.
On Saturday at windy Wellington the Springboks have the chance to redeem their game plan and their chances of retaining the Tri-Nations trophy.
Will they do this by coming up with something new? Somehow, without the genius of du Preez, I doubt it.
I hope I’m wrong but I think the traditional ‘might is right’ tactics might be the way a team that should be better than this will go.
Mikey
Guest
Agreed Jerry... this clueless fool obviously has no ability to look at things rationally.
Mikey
Guest
Must have been watching another game if you believe SA would have won...
Mikey
Guest
Ranger used his arms but bounced off - as the saying goes "none are so blind as those who will not see"! Should not have even been a penalty.
Ben S
Roar Guru
'I wonder if anyone else has taken note that Henry and Co basically emptied the bench. How often does this occur against SA or Aus sides?' Hhmmm... FYI it happens during every test against SA and Australia basically. Just check Scrum.com for the appropriate matches.
Jerry
Guest
So why did you say they would have won if not for him? Take him off the field and that 13 points you're talking about come back. But they lose the 7 for his try. Actually scratch that, let's say some other bloke scores it. They still lose.
nicksa
Guest
and that is why i clearly stated he cost the boks 13 points and momentum
nicksa
Guest
seiran its not a def that they will win obviously, but IMO i do believe come world cup they will be a VERY strong team.
darwin stubby
Guest
so is that why de villiers has been cited ?
Ben S
Roar Guru
'Hes in the process of using his arms but the player bounces off him so hard that his arms don’t have time to wrap the player.' I think I said that on another thread, katzilla, that the force with which Kirchner hits the deck means that the arms could not have been wrapped, but I don't think Ranger was tring to wrap, just as he doesn't in the video link. He lifts his arm, but not to wrap. Anyway, I think it's much a fuss about nothing frankly.
katzilla
Roar Guru
Similar situation to Palu on Kearney last year. Hes in the process of using his arms but the player bounces off him so hard that his arms don't have time to wrap the player. Probably a penalty for poor execution which is fair, Palu very unlucky to be yellowed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP6qELeH9JQ&feature=related
Socboy
Guest
All Blacks won by 14 so kind of makes your 13 point argument void doesn't it?
Socboy
Guest
Always a Sham when the Boks lose and the ABs win isn't it. Had an AB been carded and they(NZ) then went on to lose you would be here screaming for NZ fans to harden up and take it on the chin. Even with 15 on the field the Boks couldn't match the ABs I wonder if anyone else has taken note that Henry and Co basically emptied the bench. How often does this occur against SA or Aus sides? Not that often and it just highlights how confident the coaching panel and this team are, any other team would have been murdered if they had made such wholesale changes? The ABs were far too good it really is that simple! I guess reality is not everyones cup of tea
Ben S
Roar Guru
I'll tell you why France lost to SA, pothale: they're stunningly one-dimensional. France bashed their way to the 6N title through their pack. For the majority of the 6N the French attack looked very poor, just as bad as the current SA backs do with ball in hand in fact. Lievremont thought he'd exagerrate the work of Laporte and turn his boys into a circa 2003 Anglo-Saxon/Springbok knock-out competition grinding machine, except he showed his hand a little too early before the 2011 WC, and most other sides have realised that the ball needs to be kept in hand. Now France will have to develop a whole new Plan B during the 6N. He's a shocking DoR, and is wasting a lot of talent. Sorry... rant over. Agree about PdV and specific SA players. The entire team looks sluggish, apart from Burger perhaps, and as the star players are reaching the nadir of the career, their dip in form is highlighting just how many journeymen test players are in the Springbok side. SA will be a whole different animal at home, but what good is that when you've conceded two such losses? It may be a bit presumptuous to label PdV stoopid on account of his theory that last season's style will be a winning style this season because the key narrator, Du Preez, is absent, however that makes one wonder what the point is in pursuing that style in light of the absence of Du Preez? Maybe he is a bit of a silly head after all? It makes me wonder how poor Wales are when the 2nd/3rd string SA side can run riot against them?
pothale
Guest
Have to agree with Frank. On the performance from the Boks so far, you have to wonder how France lost to them. End of a long season maybe, but if the two meet up on neutral ground - equally refreshed - I don't see the Boks coming out on top. Nor against an improving England side either. The team needs a shake-up with a new captain leading the team. Smit looks tired and off pace. Matfield is either missing his partner in combat but looks equally sluggish. PdV is starting to look like a coach without any further ideas. Spiro is spot on in identifying de Preez' absence as significant. Significant as O'Driscoll is to Ireland in getting them going forward. Right now, FdP looks like the only world-class player they have. Bryan Habana - has he even touched the ball in the last two tests? I'd give Australia even odds on turning them over - for a third week in a row. ABs have this 3N in the bag already - it's just going to be a case of by how much.
Frank O'Keeffe
Guest
I only saw the second half, and to be honest don't feel too motivated to watch the replay of the first half. That second half was something of an anti-climax after a week of saying that South Africa will come out firing. They didn't... at least from what I saw. Schalk Burger was the only player I saw who played like a Springbok. One man can't change a game without the others helping him, but he was very brave and working hard all the time. I felt bad for him. Any time the ball went to the South African backs they were all running laterally with no changes of direction. But how overrated is John Smit? He's been horrible these two games, Matfield too. How on earth could people put Smit in their team of the decade (00s)? He's a poor scrummagger. He does so little work around the ground. I didn't see much that was all that great about the Blacks to be honest. Dagg's try was the highlight for me. With regard to SA, II saw a lot of dropped balls, forward passes, stupid ideas (like going down a small blind-side packed with All Blacks) and their pack has no real grunt. Does Matfield even offer any grunt? Great line-out guy, one of the best ever, but around the ground he pretty timid. I'm asking myself: can the Wallabies, with their small backline, under-performing scrum, and declining forward play, somehow beat the Boks next weekend? The Boks have their own problems. Their backline is ineffective, forwards like Smit and Matfield are not doing enough work, and they're seriously missing Fourie du Preez. You knew he was a great player, but just how great until he's not playing. Yeah he's South Africa's best player, no question. The Boks have problems, but so do the Wallabies.
Ben S
Roar Guru
'Players need to not give refs reason to remove them from the field' I think that is the key point. Last week saw a lot of petulance and spite from various SA players, so the first thing Rossouw does is give McCaw's head a little shove when he's on the deck, and then give him a knee. Why do it? The card may have been harsh, but I have no sympathy whatsoever.
Jason
Roar Guru
What I think everyone can agree on is the following: We want a hard, fair contest. Playing without a full complement against two of the best teams in the world makes a difficult task near impossible. Players need to not give refs reason to remove them from the field, Consistency in application of the laws. Not just within a test from the ref, but amongst refs - after all, the laws of the game don't change weekly.
Ben S
Roar Guru
I thought his arm was raised as it was in the YouTube video - not to grip. Anyway a moot point.
Jerry
Guest
It might have been half closed at impact, but he was pretty clearly bringing his arm up to wrap around Kirchner. His other arm was already half wrapped around him. Looked to me like he's trying to get a good hit then drive him back in the tackle which happens loads of times in every game. But in this case Kirchner goes straight down from the hit so the arms don't get a chance to wrap him up. .
Ben S
Roar Guru
Haven't seen a replay of the Kirchner tackle yet, but from memory (which obviously might be incorrect) Ranger's hand was in a fist, and not an open palm. I don't think it was a yellow, or maybe not even a penalty, but the two tackles look pretty similar - until I've seen a replay - IMO.