A lack of fitness coupled with tactical naivety and mental fragility, South Africa are giving their best impression of the French rugby team.
After last Saturday’s match between South Africa and Argentina – which saw the Springboks fall from second to fifth in the World Rugby rankings – I experienced a serious case of déjà vu.
Who else loses to Argentina at home and loses against the All Blacks in a match they arguably deserved to win? The French.
In the Six Nations, France played better in the matches they were underdogs than in the matches they were favourites. The same could be said for South Africa, as they lost to the Pumas in a convincing manner, but played some impressive rugby against the All Blacks and Australia in closely fought encounters.
A perfect example of this is the Australia versus South Africa match at Suncorp Stadium on July 18. 70 minutes into the game, I was ready to put my all my eggs in one basket and take a punt on South Africa winning the Rugby World cup. They played some beautiful running rugby, and in Jessie kriel and Damien De Allende they looked to have found some spark in their backline.
The Springboks forwards were robust and vigorous at the breakdown, with Jannie du Plessis, Francois Louw and Schalk Burger all excelling in this department. They were third favourites after New Zealand and England in my local bookies and I was genuinely contemplating putting a bit of money on them.
So where did it all go wrong?
With 10 minutes left they started to retreat. After 70 minutes of dominance they got tired and their defence was exposed, as Australia ran in two tries and won the match.
If they had won they would have gone into the New Zealand match with momentum. And while they impressed against the All Blacks at times, it looked as if they had adopted the mindset of trying not to lose the match instead of trying to win it in the last 10 minutes. For the second time in a row they lost due to tries being scored in the last 10 minutes.
Former Springboks coach Peter de Villiers claimed the Boks were “carrying excess weight”, and after watching the last 10 minutes of both the Australia and New Zealand matches, I am inclined to agree with him – there is a lack of fitness.
In the last match of the Rugby Championship, against Argentina, they approached the game in a French manner, believing all they had to do was turn up and they’d win by at least 20 points. It was the same attitude the French displayed before the Argentina game in Paris back in November.
The comparisons grow deeper when you look at the two coaches – Heyneke Meyer and Philippe Saint-André are two of the most tactically naïve coaches in rugby. Unfortunately for both countries, it is too close to the World Cup to change coach.
If either country is to mount a serious charge at the Rugby World Cup, it will have to be in a player-led environment, similar to France at the 2011 World Cup.
Both teams still have assets that can trouble any team: two of the biggest packs in world ruby, and the belief that they can beat anybody.
Colm
Roar Guru
Thanks for the feedback. I think most teams have spells where they're inconsistent. Apart from New Zealand, every other top tier nation has gone through a period where they were inconsistent in the last three years. I don't think the French or South African's are any more arrogant than any other nation. In my opinion their coaches at this current time are definitely arrogant and this obviously leads to inconsistency. What I will never understand is why PSA feels the need to make so many changes after each game. How are they supposed to build momentum and consistency, when they have a different team every week. This team could beat any body if they got some time to gel. France : 15-Scott Spedding, 14-Yoann Huget, 13-Mathieu Bastareaud, 12-Wesley Fofana, 11-Teddy Thomas, 10-Camille Lopez, 9-Morgan Parra ; 1-Alexandre Menini, 2-Guilhem Guirado, 3- Rabah Slimani, 4-Pascal Pape, 5-Yoann Maestri, 6-Thierry Dusautoir (capt), 7-Bernard Le Roux, 8-Louis Picamoles
USrugger
Guest
Notwithstanding the potential Sturm und Drang I'll probably get from BB, I agree up to a point, Andrew. There is something missing in the coaching of the Boks. And it has been that way 'forever'. (Allow me a little hyperbole! Goodness. It's just wordplay. I don't literally mean forever...) The last coach that seemed to properly mine the mettle of SAfrican players, was Mallet...(&, of course, Kitsch!) Ya! In rugby, almost 20 years is forever. Just ask the Kiwis... SAfrica has FANTASTIC players & depth...& on occasion they match their potential...but compared to NZ (frankly, the same quality of players, from a fraction of the population base) they are nowhere...well...OK...fifth...in the rankings (for those who find hyperbolic argot offensive). I mean...good grief!...the Boks actually lost to Sarries!!! (Try to imagine the AB's losing to a club side...)
USrugger
Guest
...and SA beat them in France: 19-10. And before that in SA.: 42-17.
Harry Jones
Expert
SA also won a lot of matches in the last 10:00.
splinter
Guest
Unfit athletes cannot concentrate as long as fit athletes because a fit athletes body recovers much faster or his heartbeat returns to normal much faster than the unfit athlete.By spending to much time in a gym shifting weights the muscles get shorter hence you will not see a muscled athlete running 20km.The interesting part is to see how much energy is spent by a rugby player.
superba
Guest
Agree with this in the main. The Boks are terribly disappointing . I can never recall an AB team getting thrashed the way a Springbok side ,as you mention above , has been , or for that matter a WB side .You can't beat an AB team by 25 points . How so ? Why so? That is the question . The only consistent thing about the Boks is their inconsistency . That is the problem.
Vic
Guest
It's called, conjecture, supposition, presumption, and wishful thinking, Superba, mixed with a healthy dose of prejudice, bias and preconception. Nos has a penchant for stating as a fact that Saffas are arrogant. What it's not, is fact and truth. When you put "should" and "never" in the same sentence, truth is lost ;)
Hi Birdy, as I have said many times before, if there is indeed some truth to it as you suggest there may be, then my statement of selecting overseas is not a good idea. Conditioning is very hard to coordinate when you have players overseas. Just look at Jaque Fourie, Meyer really wanted him, but had no choice to send him back due to his poor conditioning, that tells a story. Fourie du Preez, same problem, conditioning Select home players at all times. Meyer is making it much tougher for himself than it needs to be.
Birdy
Guest
There may well be something in this, BB. Given the number of Bok players in the NH and coming back from injury their build-up to the RWC is likely to be at a different rhythm to ABs and WBs. Obviously, it wasn't a good performance against the Argies; but I'm not sure the Boks looked any more 'unrecognisable' than the ABs did last week. Build-ups to RWCs can be deceptive. All teams with any sense will want to avoid he Boks for as long as possible come September-October.
Yeah, but concentration and execution comes from intensity and focus, so why is the focus not always there?
splinter
Guest
One thing that contributes to inconsistency is basic errors.If a fly halve cannot kick the ball out it is a grave error Reminds me of the charge of the light brigade all our forwards have to keep retreating.The other mistakes are handling errors and high tackles.The last and very important one is the beach in Durban the water is warmer and the view is better than Cape Town.
Agree
nickoldschool
Guest
I disagree with some of the points you make superba but agree with others. When you say 'You could say the same thing about any team playing badly' I don't think so. The loss isn't the issue its how you lose. Sure the argies had a good game, no question, but a Boks team being bullied at home as you put it isn't a 'normal' Bok team. It's not something one can measure but it's something you feel before a game in the dressing room or on the field. Even in front of the telly I think one can feel that the guys playing aren't giving 100% particuarly in the physical aspect of the game. Look at a few examples like the 49-0 Boks loss in Oz in 2006 or the 50 something loss in Paris for the French vs aussies. no way the Boks or french are 50 points behind the aussies yet they didn't turn up on those days and gave up when they saw the game was beyond reach. Some teams never give up, they lose but don't give up. I don't remember the Boks game but I remember the French one and the players said after the game 'we simply gave up'. How many times have I had the same feeling with Boks SR teams on away games! It's a very subtle thing, perhaps it's only a few players being at 80% instead of 100%, a little less enthusiasm or concentration. I felt some players body language was different on the weekend. Again, the argies had a great game but I believe that your Boks are much much better than what they showed on the day and they just didn't turn up, at least not all of them and not 100%. It's not something you say or don't say in the dressing room, it just happens, it's in you. Germany in football or the AB in rugby are beyond this; Brasil, France and to some extent the Boks arent. All teams lose and most of them lose on skills and ability alone. You know as well as I do that the Boks are one of the top 3 sides in world rugby year in year out. They should never lose the way they did, at home, against a side like Argentina.
Well he had the opportunity to build continuity and decided not to.
There should still be an explanantion for the complete inconsistency in our intensity though. I am not sure what it is, but someone has to figure out why
Suzy Poison
Guest
True....fortune favours the brave!..But putting myself in Meyer's shoes... It's a must win!!
Extremely inconsistent yes.
SP, if we want to change our mindset about rugby we need to let go of the "safe decisions" it has plagued our sporting codes for a long time, you know the saying "wie nie waag nie, wen nie"
SP, one season does not make trend that has been around "forever" The "chokers tag" I am actually not even in the mood to justify my reaction to his comment. But his statement deals in absolutes. "No South African team" "The Boks have completely assumed that mantle" What utter nonsensical comments
superba
Guest
Nickoldschool You could say the same thing about any team playing badly.How do you come to this conclusion that the Boks felt they just had to turn up to win unless you were in the dressing room with the players ? What is the yardstick by which you measure "a lack of humility mixed with laziness , complacency and arrogance "? How do you conclude this from TV or the touchline ? These lines are often spouted by journos but it beats me how they come to these conclusions.Your comment that the Boks didn't try as hard as they did against the Abs and WB may have some merit .What I saw was a fired up hunger Argie side who hit the Boks very hard from the start and got on top early . It was a brutal physical assault which the Boks are not used to .They got bullied whereas they usually do the bullying. To my mind why a team plays badly from the start is difficult to define . Can one accuse a batsman in poor form of arrogance or a lack of humility ? Competition is a strange beast . From my own experience when competing in individual sport , there would be the occasion when I could not sleep the night before and turn up for the meet knackered . And then produce a blistering time . Other days one is ready and up for it and it just does not happen . Ireland is a very good side but good in Lansdowne road.