All the signs are apparent. The world champion, Lions-taming, No 1 ranked Springboks, a defensive juggernaut, a team it seemed nobody could score two tries on, and sometimes even one try against a suffocating, scrambling, maniacal defence was unlikely; that team is sick.
Nobody should call the Boks world champions any more. The cup is in the cabinet. Don’t worry. But there is no doubt the reigning rugby power is New Zealand.
Something is rotten in the state of the Boks. A light has gone out. Joy is gone.
All that is left is Frans Malherbe winning sweaty scrum engagements. He followed up his 10-9 win over Angus Bell with a 10-8 decision over James Slipper.
Also, Handre Pollard bothered to kick a few goals, and there was the occasional lineout steal by one-man band Eben Etzebeth, who is crawling as if on a pilgrimage to the lost rugby gods.
A few seconds of brilliance by Faf de Klerk and Lukhanyo Am gave us a reprise of their Lions try.
There were superb aerial skills by Sbu Nkosi. And lots of motion (if not effective action) by Franco Mostert, who is not Pieter-Steph du Toit and won’t ever be.
The rest was muck. Mire. Dire. Detritus. A shambles. A cluster…
Trundling a driving maul into touch. Begging for cards. Hands on hips. Matadors waving at Australian bulls. Forgetting where Kerevi is. Strolling. Sour.
(Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)
Four tries run in, and it could have been more.
The Wallabies are building something. Yes, they play too many of their Tests (proportionately) against the All Blacks to see it clearly, but Dave Rennie has his players believing, working, emulating his skipper, and finding ways to get better.
A number three ranking seems just. South Africa holding on to second seems unjust.
Jacques Nienaber is not up to this. The second Rassie Erasmus was not around, the sense of urgency vanished. The bitter fight elapsed. Now, we hear echoes of apology from 2017. Excuses. Apathy. No fire.
I have convened a focus group tomorrow with two forever Bok rugby thinkers. One coached a 2019 Bok squad member in high school. Basil. The other is an oracle. Verity.
The questions I will put to them are like this:
1. How can the players not be as fit now as they were in Japan? A skop-en-jaag (kick and hunt) game plan is premised on superior fitness, speed, and leaping ability. Nkosi and Etzebeth seem the only ones ready to chase all game.
2. How can the coaches think a 6-2 bench makes sense without two legitimate bruiser skilled locks on it?
3. How do we lose Sammy Kerevi on first phase? How is that possible?
4. Is Nienaber in over his head? Can a guy go from physio and defence scheme man … to head coach a world number one? Is that in itself arrogant?
5. Did we lose our minds from too much success?
6. Erasmus got us to the final in two years. Should we let him reprise that trick? Who are we kidding? Nienaber is never seen by these players as the boss, no?
7. Kwagga Smith and Jasper Wiese are not Test animals. Why are we hanging on, hoping they miraculously get bigger or smarter?
8. Without Lood de Jager, PSDT, and RG Snyman, we are not winning gainline collisions. Marvin Orie can catch a lineout ball, but he’s never crashing over Brodie Retallick. So, why are we pretending that’s the game plan? If we lose the gainline to the Wallabies, what will it look like versus the tougher Kiwis?
9. Why was Cobus Reinach not considered? He seems an antidote to Australia.
10. If we do swing it wide, as we did in the second Test, how are we going to phase deep or even retain the ball if we have a slow lock at flank, and our captain isn’t getting his hands dirty at the ruck?
Marco van Staden is a legitimate fetcher-spoiler. Why wasn’t Siya Kolisi at blindside, with van Staden at open? If Duane Vermeulen isn’t fit, young Dan du Preez is. We needed speed to the breakdown.
11. How can Nienaber survive an 0-4 tour? Where we end up a laughing stock? Doesn’t he have to win one against the All Blacks? Or at least push both to the last minute?
12. Willie le Roux was safe under the high ball. But on attack, twice he spurned breaks on offer, and passed the buck. Is he done? If so, why not Aphelele Fassi or Damian Willemse now? Let them play 10 tests pre-France.
These Boks were insipid, except at scrum and lineout and off the tee, and a few moments of fire.
Nobody even seemed to care enough to fight or chirp or niggle. Somnambulant Boks.
Well done, Wallabies. Well deserved. And it could’ve been worse. You took your foot off the pedal. And still sacked us.
Maybe the sack needs to include the assistant-head-sorta-maybe-boss.
Bring back that wild waterboy. Clip his clip machine. Gag him off the pitch.
But this leadership is not being followed, or it’s not making sense to the players, or it’s stale.
I’ll quiz Basil the old school Cape coach and Verity the veritable soothsayer. Stay tuned.
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
Harry there has been a lot of emotion expended as a result of last weeks game, myself included. It is I think natural to feel down after an inept performance by a sporting g team so highly rated. I say that as a neutral, however I somehow know the level of despair you and other rusted on Boks supporters are feeling. I know, as I have experienced the same humiliation myself. In 2007 we AB fans trekked over to Europe to watch the might All Blacks win the Rugby World Cup. After we were surprised in the QF by the French, knocking us out of the competition we ‘were destined to win’ (South Africa won it defeating England 12-6 from memory), the train ride back to Swansea where we were staying Wales was travelled in silence, as if we were thoughtful of the dearly departed, a wake. I was in such dispair, I sent all my AB supporter gear in a carton back home to Australia by surface parcel post not caring if the carton was lost. Strange things happened though Harry, the sun came up the next day, and the next. We then continued on our journey to France, spending nearly 3 weeks in the Latin Quarter apartments where we planned to base ourselves for the Semifinal and a final to watch the All Blacks lift the World Cup. We sold out tickets to England supporters who had no tickets having never expected to make the final. The face value of the tickets for the semis (we attended one - Boks v Argentina) was €399 and for the final €699. We sold these at a tidy profit. We travelled from lands afar to see our mighty All Blacks fall over a hurdle on the way to the grail. I was devastated. My mate and their wife’s/partners were devastated, yet once the wiped the sorry tears form our eyes we continued on our 5 week discovered of europe then all was well again. We had a wonderful time spent a bloody fortune but it ended up as an experience we will never forget. The All Blacks rebuilt and over the next decade had been the dominant team until they again mistepped in 2019 at the RWC….. then covid. The Springboks will return Harry, they will be number one again but first, like Graham Henry admitted that full on rotation cost his 2007 side through the lack of cohesion it created, the Boks, I believe will realise that size and brawn may not be the only answer, they need more.
Harry Jones
Expert
I think JN doesn't have it, yet. Maybe if he had been head coach at a club first.
Harry Jones
Expert
RT, I think you are looking at a dysfunction you have probably seen in business, especially a family business where the real boss is the old man, but now the 25-year old son or son-in-law has a title, but the foremen and workers don't really think he is the boss, and the old man is calling once a day from his holiday house in Sardinia, and the "messages" align, but there is just this lack of true accountability and a feeling that the Boss is here and we are going to do our best. That's my take.
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
Fair comment Bill but all relative. Hard to replace world class players but that’s just the way it is. Most hold out to play in a World Cup being the pinnacle of their careers. They then need to be replaced and that takes time
Bill Shut
Roar Rookie
I dont think they were quite as special as the 2015 crop that left us. Still very good, Reid and Smith especially were past their best at RWC time. I just think the hole of 2015 was a bigger one to climb out of.
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
Following the defeat of the Lions, "that video" and the endless remarks about how the Boks play the game, the Boks Head Coach Jacques Neinaber and Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus re-stated that they play to their strengths. Fair enough. They openly state how they play to the style that suits them and even Pollard stating that that winning is the sole purpose, entertaining fans was not the motive. Then Jacques Neinaber tells the world The have beaten the BIL and are ranked No 1 in the world and their ambition not is to 'retain the RC' (remembering that 2020 there was a tri Nations trophy only and protect there number 1 ranking in the world by playing the way that they elect to play. Fast forward a couple of months, Yes they beat the BIL in a series, but their effort to re-claim the RC are in tatters, and they have lost the No 1 ranking in a single tournament, almost unbelievable. Throughout life there are - People who make things happen ... People who watch things happen and People who wondered what happened ... Cruel but I feel that Neinaber and Erasmus and possibly a few of the senior Boks fall into that 3rd category .. The 2021 Rugby Championship without question has been disastrous for the Boks and Bok Fans and it is quite possible that that it could become even more so after the next couple of weeks. I feel for devoted fans like our own Harry Jones a great lover of rugby and a staunch Springbok supporter but also know that this low is nowhere near the lows experienced under Alistair Coetzee. The Springboks will be back, we can be very assured of that. Even this coming weekend in Townsville, the Boks v AB match will be fiercely fought, there is just too much history and pride at stake.
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
Yep, out for the year. Ennor just back...
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
aha ... but the Boks were 15 points better at Shark Park, Durban ... :silly:
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
@ Bill Shut After RWC 2019 NZ lost Read, Crotty, SBW and Ben Smith out the AB Squad plus others in the next tier down. This happens every RWC cycle but we are indeed fortunate there are good players coming through.
Harty
Roar Rookie
A data driven approach has value but when you are considering human behaviour is gets squishy. It’s not as neat as physics. Think of it more as a loose framework to explore. The data collected probably does not explain the emotion and momentum that ebbs and flows in a game when a team fails to score from a rolling maul. It’s very useful but it isn’t a magical panacea to all the mysteries of rugby.
Bill Shut
Roar Rookie
I dont think NZ have ever won the RC or Tri Nations in the year of a RWC for some time. They have been quite public that it is not one of their goals in a RWC year. After the end of the NH tours this year we will have enough rugby played to be comfortable with world rankings
Bill Shut
Roar Rookie
Definitely. I would bet the house on that before I bet on a game result
Bill Shut
Roar Rookie
The AB's rebuild post 2019 is not as tough as the rebuild out of 2015. AB's lost more what I would call "iconic players" after 2015 than any other RWC year. McCaw, Carter, Nonu etc etc. Whereas 2019 there was Reid and ??? AB's were rubbish last year, but seem more confident around what they are doing now. Maybe with Foster now having his future settled may help things.
Bill Shut
Roar Rookie
Goodhue is injured as well correct?
Bill Shut
Roar Rookie
SA believe that all they have to do, is close down the spaces and give the AB's no time on attack. At least that's according to some of their commentators. Maybe they have let defense take too much of their focus at the expense of attack.... I do not believe that SA will roll over against the AB's. Most teams seem to fire up when its a Haka finishing the pre-match build-up.
Bill Shut
Roar Rookie
Yes, like Barrets card, the other player was basically in a prone or defenseless position. I was surprised the ref needed so much time for the decision, and surprised it was not red.
Bill Shut
Roar Rookie
Steve Hansen always talked about evolving to stay ahead of the pack. And its a different prospect being the hunted at No. 1 than being the hunter. I think it reflects on how well NZ have managed to stay at No. 1 for so long. The other teams have not quite been able to do this. SA have not evolved and 2020 did have an impact on them - there is no doubt.
Harry Jones
Expert
Good post.
Brad
Roar Rookie
Peter-Steph du Toit's view in a recent interview of how draining the Lions tour was on the Springboks was very illuminating. With everything that went against them they had to draw on huge emotional reserves and properly empty the tank. So much so that Rassie had to play a few extraordinary cards to draw every bit of juice out of them to get over the line. Do they have anything left. Does Jacques have what it takes to get it out of them? Does Rassie. Or, are the just spent?
Harry Jones
Expert
Great questions. Marco van Staden, Malcolm Marx, Cobus Reinach, and Aphelele Fassi would’ve been nice to see start, because they all play with full intensity and speed.