What? It’s his first Test! Give him time! He’s trying a new style! The new young players are still learning! Toetie will transform us!
Rubbish.
Before I rant, let me me first say that the Irish were magnificent, brave, and smart, in their first win on South African soil. Jack McGrath, Paddy Jackson, Rory Best and the rest: absolute men, who never gave an inch and fought like lions. I felt they were hard done by the red card given by a shaky novice referee whom nobody understood, but I don’t want to bog down on that issue, because in the end, the referee missed a lot on both sides and all the red card did was make their victory more noteworthy.
So let us examine the apologists’ argument for our new coach being given a (big, green, hairy) Mulligan.
Allister Coetzee has known he would be the Springbok coach ever since Heyneke Meyer failed to erase the Brighton loss to Japan with what would have been a lucky win in the World Cup semi-final. His appointment was backroom-cleared ages ago. He has been working with all the senior players he chose, for many months.
‘Toetie’ knows the capabilities of the players he chose, some of them were his actual pupils in Cape Town for years. No coach knows Duane Vermeulen and Francois Louw better than Coetzee, he is their mentor and friend. They captained his teams at Western Province.
He was a mentor to Elton Jantjies. He is almost like a surrogate father to the kid. If he wanted Jantjies to kick more than six times in a Test match, he should have made that clear at half-time or using the water boy. Instead, after the match, Coetzee said Jantjies departed from the game plan, which was (he announced) to chip over the Mike Farrell-designed rush-drift (or was it a drift-rush) defence.
Toetie’s New Boks kicked the ball only fourteen times. That was twenty times fewer than the short-handed Irish.
Eight kicks by Bok flyhalves (the two by Pat Lambie before he was knocked out by an accidental hip to the head were very good), five by scrumhalves, and one by the fullback.
‘Toetie’ was a scrumhalf. He picked three scrumhalves for his squad with a total of two caps. That’s a big call. But it was his call, and nobody should bail him out, now.
Faf de Klerk kicked the ball five times at Newlands. ‘Box kicks,’ as they are often called, and Lwazi Mvovo chased and caught three of them. It seemed a tactic that worked to disrupt the Irish defence.
Faf was one of the better players in white on the day. He missed a few reads in the red zone which a more seasoned halfback would probably have seen. But he was good, and he was better – at first – than Conor Murray, who is one of the best scrumhalves in the world, I think. Murray improved throughout the game, until his odd decision to give the Boks one more crack at the line.
Why did Coetzee pull Faf out, while Murray played the full 80 minutes? Was Faf tired? He did not look it.
So, if the Coetzee game plan was to kick more, and Lambie and Faf followed it, but Jantjies did not, why pull Faf out?
The Irish mauled better than the Boks with seven forwards against seven and against all eight. Is this not something Coetzee and his forwards coaches Johann van Graan and Matthew Proudfoot have studied since last October? Van Graan was there for the Dublin slaughter. Might he have shared some wisdom with the team?
Was Coetzee surprised by Devin Toner’s choke tackle? Was this news to him?
He said at halftime that the Boks were running too upright into the arms of the tallest player on the field. Did he convey that information to the five Boks who repeated that behaviour for the twenty minutes after oranges?
Was he speaking in the language they understand?
If Coetzee’s new style for the Boks is to chip a rush-drift defence (which is it?) how is that going to lead to 4-try averages as Heyneke Meyer managed in his first two years? If his game plan isn’t followed by young men he mentored, will we just play headless chicken ball? Rather than Jakeball, will we play Fakeball?
Who was our captain on Saturday? I’m not sure. To me, it looked like we had a guy giving speeches to the nonplussed referee and his colleagues and none of those lectures had the desired effect.
At the breakdown, Louw won a turnover. Then, nothing. And only a few slowed balls. What’s Coetzee’s plan for the breakdown if he has Siya Kolis and Warren Whiteley running around in the second half at Ellis Park?
If we play a ‘ball in hand’ style, and we knock on 22 times a game, we better have a damn good scrum. I think a Bok scrum should be able to steamroll a 7-man pack. Maybe even win a penalty try.
Did Proudfoot measure the plane, force, fulcrum, and power of our scrum? Was it at top of the dial? A scrum can be near-perfected by a guru if he has the eight best front rowers in South Africa for two weeks. Maybe Malcolm Marx was the best hooker in South Africa and maybe Bismarck du Plessis was the best in Europe this year. I wonder if either of them would’ve been as passive as the one we had – forgot his name, momentarily – scrumming carefully and carrying the ball into Toner’s long arms.
But what could Toetie do? Throw the replacement hooker in at the 75th minute to throw over Toner and Henderson? Probably not. Our replacement hooker is the worst lineout thrower in Super Rugby. And he’s throwing to targets like Pieter-Steph du Toit and Eben Etzebeth, who have 20 lineout steals between them, which laps most teams by 10. Bongi is bad at throwing. A hooker has to throw.
And what of Damian de Allende and Lionel Mapoe, the vaunted new midfield replacement that was going to change everything, post-Meyer, and auger a novel attacking verve?
Well, Meyer’s midfield rotated between Jan Serfontein, de Allende, Jesse Kriel, and Jean de Villiers. If he was coaching the Boks still, I suspect de Allende’s horrible form in Super Rugby would have caused him concern.
Not Toetie. He never called up another option after Serfontein was found to have a broken wrist – he had played with it like that for weeks – put Kriel on the bench, threw in Mapoe next to de Allende, and hoped de Allende would suddenly find form, and throw a decent pass.
Someone was getting Mapoe into space at the Lions. He didn’t just magically create it.
How is Toetie’s plan – Mapoe instead of Kriel – that amazingly different from Meyer’s?
Meyer had a few flaws, and one of them was to stick to pre-planned substitution timetables. He didn’t seem to notice the actual events on the field, and would throw in a front row for a 5 metre scrum with the score tied at 70 minutes or stick with a flyhalf who was struggling for 75 minutes. Is Coetzee more of the same?
At Brisbane, Eddie Jones made a quick hook to put George Ford in when he saw, after only twenty minutes that what he wanted was not happening in the midfield. Steve Hansen brought in Beauden Boyo Beating Bastard Barrett (also Bok-beating) for one of his superstars early, too.
Toetie is not an assistant coach. He leads the Boks. Why can’t he see that, for instance, we need two playmakers on the field in a particular game? Why can’t he see that de Allende has lost his timing, his confidence, and his pass to the right?
And let’s talk about the blindside. On two clear try-scoring opportunities, the Toetie Boks went blind and went nowhere. Is that the new plan? In Test rugby, you go blind to keep them honest as you probe, and you create space to switch. Defences are too good to squeeze much in there on the blindside if you are five metres out, pinned up against touch. Especially when the other team is one or two men down, why would you want to attack the only space that’s not spacious?
Coetzee is now saying, I see, that the ‘gap’ between the Hemispheres has closed. Really?
Since the World Cup, during club rugby, in which about 250 South Africans played in the wrong hemisphere, and no Tests were played, the gap closed.
The only reason that could have caused that is coaching.
Pull your socks up, Toetie.
Lose a series to the Irish and you should be sacked. No excuses.
Get it done.
pete and paul
Roar Rookie
Harry - if one was to employ your logic of 'lose a series on SA soil and get sacked' - then why doesn't he sack the team that lost a game on SA soil for the first time to Ireland...cant have it both ways mate!
Bakkies
Guest
Dillane made metres every time he got the ball, cleaned out to get quick ruck ball for his team. Furlong anchored a 7 man scrum that went on the front foot and was awarded with penalties. Du Toit was passed the ball by Jackson while it appeared he may have been offside from the previous ruck, lost lineout ball and barely got over the gainline.
Harry Jones
Expert
Suzy, but Coetzee's game plan (to chip the rush) wasn't a new attack plan. His backline coach is in over his head. One inside pass by Elton and an intercept by PSDT and 22 knockons isn't a sign of progress. Even iun-coached, the Boks might have done that. Toetie diagnosed the problem as NOT ENOUGH KICKING. He called Morne the Boot Steyn, whom Meyer (big bad Meyer) dropped years ago, and he's actually in a good position (if Elton doesn't kick well enough) to come in early at Ellis Park and win a Test by himself, and become Bok 10 again. Because of Coetzee. What's next, Zane Kirchner? A brave new world?
Harry Jones
Expert
Yes. Kia K. Yes. We are growing less imposing
Harry Jones
Expert
Not by much, but yes
Colin N
Guest
"Sometimes, I find the arrogance of Southern Hemisphere supporters astounding. They look at history and refuse to accept that the North has caught up and in some cases overtaken the South. The Northern Hemisphere took a battering at the 2015 World Cup, and now they have responded." It's funny really, last weekend didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. England, Wales and Ireland are good sides and have been for the last few years. England were competitive in both South Africa and New Zealand during the last World Cup cycle, while Wales should have beaten South Africa in 2014, but did a Wales in the last 10 minutes. Teams haven't suddenly become a lot better since the World Cup, that just doesn't happen, but Jones has done a good job in getting the best out of an already talented England squad and Ireland have always been a difficult game for South Africa. Also, the absence of Sexton and Rob Kearney turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It allowed Payne to play in his best position and that in turn meant you had an Ulster 10/12/15 axis. It's also worth remembering that, although the NH teams underperformed in the World Cup, both Wales and Ireland were decimated by injuries and, as you might have seen just now, Wales and Ireland do not have great depth. In regards to the excuse about rustiness which everybody keeps mentioning, it's never been an issue before for SH teams so why is it a problem now? the NH sides have had it much, much harder this season and English club bosses consistently mentioned how difficult it was to keep players fresh in a condensed season. For example, from the start of the campaign on October 16th to the end, May 28th, I believe Saracens played every weekend. If anything, these last few days have just displayed how far ahead New Zealand are of everybody else.
Taniwha
Roar Rookie
An interesting interview last week with John O'Connor, a South African now living in NZ, starts 9min mark http://120.138.20.16/WeekOnDemand/radiosport/2016.06.07-20.30.00-S.mp3 http://120.138.20.16/WeekOnDemand/radiosport/2016.05.31-20.45.00-S.mp3
Suzy Poison
Guest
Hi Harry, I will try to be positive. It’s hard to take positives out of that game. I understand you are hurting Harry, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to fire a coach after two games. This is assuming the Boks lose on Saturday, which I don’t expect to happen but to be honest, not that surprised if the Boks do. How long do you think the Lions took to become the best team in South Africa? How long did it take for the Blitzbokke to transform from an all white team to a representative (and performing ) team. The answer is years in both cases. Yes we need to think Long Term. Of course there is that old quote: ‘In the long term we are all dead!” As a passionate Boks supporter I understand you impatience. However history is there to be made. Records are going to be broken. Allow Ireland and Joe Schmidt to shine and bask in the glory of what they have achieved. The Japan loss brought out the worst kind of Bok supporter. The arrogant one, who assumed that the Boks should and must win every game, against teams lower than then in the rankings. In fact it was a wonderful day for Japan and a wonderful example of how pure coaching (Your Cousin Mr Jones he he) can defeat a team of better players. And that is joy of sport. That the underdog can sometimes win. I am sure the Boks will bounce back. Not one person quibbled Alistair’s selections. He has the players, so now they need to perform. They players just looked like a bunch of folks that had only had two weeks together. (Funny that) On the Highveld the Boks will be fire and brimstone, with their flaws so beautifully exposed at Newlands. I think the forwards will fire up and the backs be less naïve. Sometimes, I find the arrogance of Southern Hemisphere supporters astounding. They look at history and refuse to accept that the North has caught up and in some cases overtaken the South. The Northern Hemisphere took a battering at the 2015 World Cup, and now they have responded. All around we see examples of the Northern Hemisphere’s improvement. Ireland U20’s beat the All Blacks. England beating Australia, and Wales giving the All Blacks a good game. You can hide from the fact that the Northern Hemisphere teams have improved. Actually it makes for a more interesting rugby, if every result is in the balance. The exception of course is the All Blacks, but even they struggled against the sixth ranked team at home. Of course a lot of it, is the Six Nations teams have been together for six months. Al Coetzee’s Boks only for a few weeks, and not only that Meyer’s Boks didn’t fare much better against Ireland anyway. I think there is enough talent and enough coaching nous to dig the Boks out of this hole. But I must say, even a glass half full person like myself, is a little worried that they have brought back Morne Steyn. That’s like admitting the “New Era” is a failure straight away.
RobC
Roar Guru
haha RT. There's always "NEXT YEAR" :lol:
Bakkies
Guest
The reality is that Ireland have won 5 of the last 7 games against SA and in most of them they've beaten SA in the contact area. They don't have the mental issues that say the likes of Wales have against them.
Bakkies
Guest
Zim have also got serious talent in Scotland, England and Australia already capped or on the fringes (Ewers, Godwin). Ewers probably already has played for the Saxons so he must be tied to England.
Bakkies
Guest
'– PSDT was the best bench player on either side' Better than Dillane and Furlong?
Kia Kaha
Roar Guru
I hope that rant proved cathartic, Harry. I wonder what effect these losses will have not only on the Boks but on their opposition. Off to bed but, from what I recall, that's twice SA have lost against Ireland, and once against Wales, Japan and Argentina in the past year. Ireland in SA is possibly the most perturbing after Japan. The Boks are imposing because of their abrasive forwards and lethal finishers but also their record. If they start shipping more of these games, will opposition grow in stature figuratively if they believe they are eminently beatable?
Ulrich
Roar Rookie
I can see it now. All of them boks black, with two tall white okes packing down at number 4 and 5. It's so sad and ridiculous it's making me laugh and cry at the same time. Certainly Zimbabwe's rugby has gone to hell. They won a game (or was it a series, not sure) around 1949 if I'm not mistaken against the All Blacks of all teams. Where's their rugby today? In recent years we've had some in our own team. Skinstad, Mujati (I think is a Zimbo) and Tendai Mtawarira. What happened there will happen here.
Harry Jones
Expert
Don't forget Phase 2 of "transformation," which deepens the "are you pure enough" (and for the foreseeable future forecloses a non-black talent migration to SA in the way OZ, NZ can enjoy): It won't be enough to not-be-white, you won't be allowed to be Coloured. Notshe has the inside track on Nizaam, Mapoe over de Jongh, Mvovo over Gelant, Kolisi over Davids, and on and on. Africa for the "Africans," and a rainbow nation with mostly one colour.
Ulrich
Roar Rookie
Indeed. What's 60% of 15.5 players in a RWC squad anyway? 9.3 black African players. 16 / 10 split then. Judging by the current crop, many more players will have to (and will be forced) to come through the franchises during the next 4 years. That means we will have a very young squad for the foreseeable future.
Harry Jones
Expert
It's a national depression.
Ulrich
Roar Rookie
Which is another thing I do not understand. For my money when looking around the white people of our population are physically larger than the black people most of the time. The black people are faster most of the time though so why not use horses-for-courses (to use a regular rugby analogy)? At the end of the day, and this is only my opinion, is that they hope to increase the uptake of black kids playing rugby by forcing black players into the national side using a top-down approach. That in itself is a problem because once the team loses in this fashion ever more consistently and setting new unwanted records at an unprecedented rate it's really doing nothing for the game. There are many more black people in this country and a lot of them could be good rugby players, and that means more money because you have an untapped commercial market. They are just getting the recipe totally wrong. It's for this reason that Newlands can fill the stadium more regularly than most, because they have reasonably successful team (well it's been so far at least) with a populace both black, "coloured" and white that embrace rugby. More tickets are sold and so too more merchandise. At the same time it's not only about the lure of the Euro or Pound for prospective white players, but also about the ugly beast that is politics behind the scenes. Making the argument for loyalty all the more difficult. I imagine a lot of genuine players of "colour" are also put off by this. Hence the lethargic attitude on the pitch this past Saturday. These crop of Boks know it's only bound to get progressively worse with the 50% players of colour target set for 2019 of which 60% must be black African. What's there to look forward to?
Harry Jones
Expert
The Lions are the "least transformed" according to the ANC and are therefore in trouble. Pack is too white for ANC tastes.
taylorman
Roar Guru
If you'd seen the Argie match last year where the Boks were comprehensively beaten at home you wouldn't be saying that Nick. These performances are more common now. The whole landscape has changed. Frankly if they met the quota conditions I'd just pick the entire Lions squad for this week. At least it's one side we know for a fact is playing great rugby.