Boks given a rugby lesson
October 7, 2012 in rugby, sport
YIS! It’s performances like this and something similar on Friday evening that drive the average rugby fan to drink. Bokke show moments of what they are capable of, then slip up on defence out wide. I don’t want all fingers to point at Taute because Habana and Jantjies were also found wanting. I tend to agree with the TV presenter pundits when they question the coaching of the defensive coach. Granted, he has only had a short while for the products of 5 different defensive coaches to learn his structures and only a couple of weeks with two of them but at this level that is par for the course.
For me the turning point in the game was leaving an obviously struggling Goosen on the field for too long. Bad coaching choice and it was partially because of this that the defence crumbled and allowed the ABs to score. Another simple mistake was the poor defence or acceptance of the ball at kick off. Rookie lapses like these put us on the back foot and the newer players started to panic and mke bad decisions at times.
A player like Coenie Oosthuizen has got a whole lot to learn about being a tighthead and I’m not convinced that this is the right move by the coaches. Penalty counts by this player must also be reduced by good coaching.
I see no reason to make knee jerk reaction changes to this squad and they should be allowed to gain more experience on the year end tour.
“In the end though the reality check came and it was brutal. If there ever was a concern about how far behind the All Blacks the Boks have fallen, then this was it. There is a fallacy about South African rugby that we are the best in the world. But while the Boks can produce flashes of brilliance at times, they also can produce moments of immense lows to follow those highs. The All Blacks, on the other hand, are magnificent in their consistency and possess a killer instinct that few other teams in the world can match.
The Boks were handed a massive lesson on Saturday night, one that they will carry along with them forever. It wasn’t that they didn’t create enough opportunities, nor that they didn’t rattle the All Blacks at times during the game. Once again there were too many points left on the board, too many opportunities missed. Twelve points with the boot and at least two try-scoring opportunities.
But that was the attack. Where the Boks really lost the game was on defence, and at least two of the tries were simple basic defensive errors and when they needed to up the ante, they simply couldn’t hold out against the best attacking team in the world.”
via Boks given a rugby lesson – SuperSport – Rugby.
Labach Tanai said on October 8, 2012
We lost to the All Blacks and I can live with it. Okay, survive not live like a normal happy! Some are criticizing Jantjies for his play on Saturday, but take into account that he has only had around 8 minutes of test rugby against a 14 man Aus as experience. What did HM expect would happen if Goosen got injured? Lambie has also been sitting there next to the field collecting splinters and rust. If these youngsters play badly – do not blame them, they were not allowed any time to gain experience or be match fit because other players were “needing”time to regain form in the Green and Gold jersey!
wesvulcan said on October 8, 2012
We are lacking in the good quality mid field pairing we had with Jaque Fourie and de Villiers, with Frans power at the back. But guess we have to move on. Taute is still very green as a international and got outplayed by the snake (Smith). Kirchner is still a weak link, but Lambie coming on didn’t improve our prospects, with the entire team lacking all their concentration. Not one player can be singled out as totally bad, but also not good at all. Average and unconcentrated play will get you messed up against the AB’s. Very dissappointing weekend…….
powa said on October 8, 2012
Yip! I think that de Jongh should start for the next couple of games. He and JdV know each other. Taute off the bench for 20 to 30 mins per game, then maybe give him a start.
GEN DE LA REY said on October 8, 2012
Agree bad choice not to sub Goosen immediately. This just shows that it is not only the playing team that is young and inexperienced but also our coaching staff.
As I said to Blion.
Taute has a long way to go to truely understand 13′s defensive play. He got cut to shreds.
I know it looked like Habana gifted the try by going for intercept but if you look at replay he had a 3 on 1 situation and had no choice.
powa said on October 8, 2012
Small mistakes that can be reduced by good coaching and experience by coaches and players. More playing time is needed, not squad changes.
provincefan said on October 8, 2012
For me the Goosen call was the start of it all.
He was sturggling before he had to try tackle Read in the corner (which is why Taute was the one to take the unsuccesful clearance kick). That I can accept. It was breakout, he injured himself, and there was no break in play to replace him.
But then leaving him on, while anyone with hlaf an eye could see he was struggling was just poor coaching.
There was more than one oppurtunity to take him off, and the All Blacks knew he couldnt move on the defense. So they ran straight at him, forcing the backline to stay inside on the defense, and then just went wide to score.
Taute made judgement errors that someone used to playing OC for a while would not have made. He’s only started playing there this year, and the two time he allowed Nonu te beat him on the outside reminds one of the same defensive inexperience JJ Engelbrecht showed in Superrugby.
As a consquence of that the Wingers didn’t trust the inside defense, so they came in the whole time, further exposing us on the outside.
I still can’t believe that with the amount of ball we lose in contact, we still don’t have a skills coach. There is a reason New Zealand has probably the best guy in the business on their books, and it shows.
My biggest question is how long it take for HM to get over his size-ist tendancies
powa said on October 8, 2012
Agreed. Fortunately these problems can be fixed by coaches and experience
mclook said on October 8, 2012
Totally agree. Defence out wide was the problem. I would say that only one (maybe two) of the 5 AB tries were team constructed tries. The rest were due to mistakes and shyte defence.
We should have gone into half time with 22-3 lead. The AB’s first try after half time was also a try that just proper defence could have prevented.
powa said on October 8, 2012
For sure. I am confident that this team will grow and improve with experience by coaches and players alike. The talent is there to be molded and gelled into a team that can beat all and sundry. I hope the team stays intact even though some need a rest. Rotate within the squad rather.