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Heyneke Meyer doubles down and loses big

21st September, 2015
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Heyneke Meyer was a brilliant club coach, so what went wrong at Test level? (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
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21st September, 2015
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The five stages of grief include denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The darkest day in Bok history has seen South Africans grieve for their team.

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A legacy tarnished, a giant slain, a proud name sullied and cheapened.

Please don’t confuse my disappointment in the Boks as a reflection of my opinion on the Japanese side. Indeed, they delivered a perfect display of rugby against South Africa. Their esteem has risen in world rugby, they have made their nation proud and etched themselves into the annals of rugby history forever.

Forget the outcome of this tournament, this upset will be remembered as one of the greatest underdog victories in all of sport – and rightly so. This was a coaching masterclass by Eddie Jones. He trained his team into a sharply honed katana, and with a clear gameplan and superb execution the Boks were dismantled.

In fact, they were made to look like rank amateurs. The Japanese ran at space, not the man, created mismatches by targeting our heavy forwards and most importantly, they played with passion. To criticise the Bok gameplan supposes that there was one to speak of – there wasn’t.

Harry Jones commented on a thread that the agile Japanese resembled samurai, while the Boks looked heavy with armour, and this was an apt description. The Bok heavies looked lumbering, listless and lethargic. They were over-encumbered and looked flat from the start, never rising to the occasion and playing without direction.

A year ago I wrote about the risks of Heyneke Meyer backing Jean de Villiers as captain into the World Cup. I made reference to the debacle of John Smit replacing the peerless Bismarck du Plessis at the 2011 World Cup, and it seems supporters are experiencing a recurring nightmare.

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Several players at the previous World Cup were at the end of their careers, and four years later we find ourselves relying on these very individuals. Fourie du Preez, Victor Matfield and de Villiers have inexplicably found themselves tied to the fate of this Springbok team, zealously supported by Heyneke Myer who believes them to be instrumental to our success.

Meyer gambled with these selections, citing experience as an invaluable asset at the World Cup. Well, our most capped side ever was outplayed, outmuscled and outwitted by a superior outfit.

Ruan Pienaar played woefully, distributing slowly and getting pounced on several times by alert defenders taking advantage of his molasses-like pace. Criticism has been raised at Pat Lambie for not performing well, but in my opinion the blame lies at 12.

There was no discernible connection between our forwards and backs, and this can be attributed to the stifling presence of de Villiers at inside centre. The ball essentially died in attack when he received possession.

Predictable and ineffectual crash ball running was met with a determined defensive effort which saw de Villiers ragdolled, upended and tossed around in the tackle. It was a frankly embarrassing display.

To the outside observer these selections are baffling and intensely frustrating. Speaking to my brother, he observed that certain players appear to own their jerseys, rather than earning their position based on merit. Has anyone asked if Bryan Habana is actually making an impact?

Why are Willem Alberts or Pieter-Steph du Toit even in this squad? These two players have barely played any rugby for the past two years. I can’t recall the last time Alberts played a full match. Perpetually injured and woefully unfit, several players are consistently included in the Bok set-up for no apparent reason other than their reputation.

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Heinrich Brussow played out of his skin this past Rugby Championship and was unceremoniously dumped. Morne Steyn finds himself selected ahead of Elton Jantjies, and Rudy Paige gets included in the squad without a single cap to his name.

Francois Hougaard, able to cover wing and scrum-half, was also excluded from selection, without any consideration given to his past World Cup experience (in 2011 he pulled our stokers out of the fire against Wales). Jan Serfontein, granitic in defence and a hard-nosed runner was left in the dust so that an ailing Jean de Villiers could lead this team. Go figure.

At the post-match conference Meyer reiterated that he believed this team could still win the World Cup, but these seem like empty words given the concerning question of whether the Springboks will actually make it out of the pool stages.

The real mystery lies in what the Boks will do next. I cannot imagine the current state of morale in the squad. They didn’t start with the best send-off from South Africa amid a potential lawsuit preventing them from participating, and the recent result would have torched any semblance of confidence in this squad.

Will Jean de Villiers gracefully step down? Can Heyneke Myer make the tough calls and select a squad that can win the next three games?

It is an unfortunate state of affairs that these questions need to be asked. Unfortunately, as Harry Jones recently wrote, the Springboks are the sick men of rugby. Consistent mistakes have been made over the past few years that have now eroded the foundations of this team and culminated in two catastrophic and historic losses to Argentina and Japan.

The wallpaper has been pulled back, the floorboards ripped up and the water stains are showing. History has been made for all the wrong reasons, and supporters only hope the Boks can right a sinking ship.

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