Month: June 2012

Summing up the game

“Obviously we have to look at the breakdown, we didn’t get quality ball in the first half, in the second half I thought we got great ball.

“I thought the defence from both sides was awesome, the first half was a real battle out there, and although I am happy with our defence that last try was unacceptable.

“We have got high standards so obviously we want to improve on this but I thought it was a really tough Test match so we are happy to have pulled through.

“At some stages I really thought we played great rugby, we moved the ball around and I was happy with the result, but we butchered one or two tries and you need to finish those in Test match rugby.

“I think that this team has been so great from the start, they have got very high standards, so although there were some hard words they knew that they had to step up in the second half.”

What happened at half-time?
(more…)

Final Score: South Africa 22 – 17 England

01. Tendai Mtawarira
Ou Grote Rating: [7] // Other ratings: 7 / 6 / 6.5
Fairly quiet game from the big man, but did well in the scrums against a highly rated opponent. Replaced by Coenie Oosthuizen [7 / 7 / 8 / 7] in the 49th minute. The Free Stater piled on the hurt with some very strong scrummaging.

02. Bismarck du Plessis
Ou Grote Rating: [7] // Other ratings: 8 / 8 / 7.5
Affected some good turnovers, and aggressively cleaned out at ruck time. Great idea by Heyneke to make him vice captain – he lead by example with a more disciplined approach.

03. Jannie du Plessis
Ou Grote Rating: [6] // Other ratings: 7 / 6 / 6
Not bad at scrum time and had a nice run with the ball to set up the Boks’ first try.

04. Eben Etzebeth
Ou Grote Rating: [6] // Other ratings: 8 / 7 / 6
Solid if unspectacular debut from the man mountain. Penalised a few times, turned over in the tackle, and must work on delivering clean lineout ball to the scrumhalf, and also running onto the ball at pace. Did a lot more than his 59th minute replacement, Flip van der Merwe [5 / 6 / 5 / 5.5].

05. Juandré Kruger
Ou Grote Rating: [7] // Other ratings: 7 / 7 / 7
Edged his fellow debutant lock partner with a cleaner performance in the lineouts, and more accurate contribution in the loose. His composure in his first test bodes well for the future.

06. Marcell Coetzee
Ou Grote Rating: [7] // Other ratings: 8 / 6 / 7
An energetic debut performance from the Sharks man, popping up all over the park. Must be difficult to work in tandem with Spies, when the number 8 is not getting stuck in as he should.

07. Willem Alberts
Ou Grote Rating: [8] // Other ratings: 8 / 9 / 8
Heyneke Meyer: “Willem was brilliant. I spoke to him during Super Rugby and told him he was going to start and I wanted him to be at his best. He was awesome.” Alberts has clearly been saving his best for the Boks and put in a MOTM performance with his trademark bullocking runs.

08. Pierre Spies
Ou Grote Rating: [6] // Other ratings: 6 / 7 / 5.5
When does Duane Vermeulen return? The underwhelming performance we’ve come to expect from the ‘flat-track bully’ (quoting Nick Mallet). If he is not breaking any first-time tackles, then what is the point? The only thing he brought to the team was some lineout wins.

09. Francois Hougaard
Ou Grote Rating: [6] // Other ratings: 7 / 8 / 5
A lot was expected of the talented youngster by Heyneke Meyer, Fourie du Preez and most Bok fans, but he delivered a sub-par performance. Too slow in clearing the ball, and not the accurate kicking game that the gameplan requires. He must either be allowed to play his natural game at number 9 (as opposed to the Du Preez game), be used as an impact scrumhalf off the bench, or be moved back to the wing where he appears to offer more. A good tackle to prevent a try. His 56th minute replacement Ruan Pienaar [7 / 6 / 6 / 6.5] was a lot more composed and assured with the boot.

10. Morné Steyn
Ou Grote Rating: [6] // Other ratings: 6 / 6 / 5
Poor kicking from the tee, but fine out of hand. Scored a try.

11. Bryan Habana
Ou Grote Rating: [7] // Other ratings: 9 / 9 / 8
At his industrious, if not try-scoring best. Solid kick-chasing, defense and some jinking runs. Allowed the late England try by getting out of position on defense, but still a much-improved overall performance.

12. Frans Steyn
Ou Grote Rating: [7] // Other ratings: 7 / 6 / 6.5
A powerhouse in the midfield – he combined well with Jean de Villiers. Crossed the gainline regularly and offloaded when required.

13. Jean de Villiers
Ou Grote Rating: [8] // Other ratings: 9 / 8 / 7.5
Probably one of his best performances in a Bok jersey – the captaincy obviously agrees with him. Lead from the front and despite being put on his bum by Tuilagi on the odd occasion, he never gave up. According to Heyneke Meyer, Jean’s half-time talk was the catalyst for the turnaround in the Bok performance.

14. JP Pietersen
Ou Grote Rating: [6] // Other ratings: 7 / 7 / 5.5
Started slowly, and got more into the game as he began to gel with his old team-mates.

15. Zane Kirchner
Ou Grote Rating: [5] // Other ratings: 4 / 6 / 5.5
Solid and predictable as always – fielding the ball and hoofing it back. His lack of attacking threat was emphasised when he was replaced by Pat Lambie [7 / 7 / 7 /6] after 40 minutes. The young Natalian was involved in just about every attacking move during his time on the field and must surely be the favourite to start next week.

<< Compare to the side chosen by Ou Grote readers on the left Springboks // England 01. Tendai Mtawarira // Joe Marler* 02. Bismarck du Plessis (vc) // Dylan Hartley 03. Jannie du Plessis // Dan Cole 04. Eben Etzebeth* // Mouritz Botha 05. Juandré Kruger* // Geoff Parling 06. Marcell Coetzee* // Tom Johnson* 07. Willem Alberts // Chris Robshaw (c) 08. Pierre Spies // Ben Morgan 09. Francois Hougaard // Ben Youngs 10. Morné Steyn // Owen Farrell 11. Bryan Habana // Ben Foden 12. Frans Steyn // Brad Barritt 13. Jean de Villiers (c) // Manusamoa Tuilagi 14. JP Pietersen // Chris Ashton 15. Zane Kirchner // Mike Brown 16. Adriaan Strauss // Lee Mears 17. Coenie Oosthuizen* // Paul Doran Jones 18. Flip van der Merwe // Tom Palmer 19. Keegan Daniel // Phil Dowson 20. Ruan Pienaar // Lee Dickson 21. Pat Lambie // Toby Flood 22. Wynand Olivier // Jonathan Joseph * New cap

Heyneke Meyer explains the selections:

Leadership
“We’re fortunate to have a strong leadership core in Jean, Bismarck and, if he gets replaced, Adriaan Strauss.”

The new caps
“Eben, Juandré, Marcell and Coenie have all put up their hands this season and I know they can succeed at Test level. Although the team is quite young, we still have some experience across the starting 15. The balance in the team is right in the way we want to play against England and we’re looking forward to the first Test of the season.”

Faith in his selections
“I have faith in the players and the ball is now in their hands to show they have what it takes to perform constantly at this level as we enter a new Springbok era.”

Why Sideshow Bob instead of Pat Lambie?
“If you look at the team we didn’t have a lot of time to prepare. I think that both are quality fullbacks but if you look at the team I went for combinations and guys that know each other. If you look at the front row, the loose forwards and the 8, 9, 10 and the 15 they are all guys who have played with each other. I think that Patrick is a great player, especially as there is a good chance he will come off the bench and make a huge difference.”

Reserves?
“I don’t believe in reserves, I believe in impact players, so if you look at the players on the bench they are brilliant players in their own right. If you look at Coenie and Adriaan they are two of the best ball-players in the country if not the world for that matter. Both are great guys to start with but unbelievable guys to bring off the bench because they can turn a game on its head. Same with Flip – he is a through and through athlete and then Keegan is a guy who has proved himself and can cover openside and No.8 and he always makes a difference. If you look at the backs that I have chosen on the bench they are also guys that can change a game, so they will definitely be used. I believe that they are all game-breakers in their own right – every single player – and it is great to have a bench with big, fast, strong guys with a lot of skill.”

Eben Etzebeth
“Flip and Juandre have played together and I think that is a great combination, but I went for form. It probably would have been easier to pair the two Bulls players together but I believe that Eben brings something different to the party. He contests very well in the line-out and I don’t want to say he could be the next Bakkies Botha because I think he can surpass that. I think it is quite a new thing for South African rugby to have two uncapped locks in the team, so obviously that is a huge step-up for them and they need to prove that they can play at this level but I am very confident in them. I did think about experience there but I have got a lot of confidence in Eben and I think he can be a world-class lock. He is big physical and doesn’t shy away from contact and I think he was the best No.4 lock in Super Rugby so it was just fair to go with him there.”

Marcell Coetzee
“Marcell Coetzee has been playing great rugby the whole year, I think he brings something different to the party and he will definitely be a superstar in years to come. Both Marcell and Eben are still under 21 so we have got a few youngsters there who I think played very well in Super Rugby which is an unbelievably tough competition so I am very confident in all three.”

The attitude in the team
“I have been coaching for about 20 years and this is probably the best week in terms of pure attitude of players that I have ever seen. Every single player has trained every single session and in my wildest dreams after the derbies I never thought that would be possible so the attitude has been brilliant. Obviously it is a huge responsibility to represent your country and you really want to start well, and you also know that you are playing against a quality side so I am obviously a bit nervous, but more excited than nervous and I can’t wait to go.”