England must be licking their lips

rugby365 columnist Steve Farrell says that the Springboks are on a downward spiral under Peter de Villiers and that England will fancy their chances against South Africa on Saturday.

Another week, and another inept performance from the Boks in what is becoming an increasingly worrying situation for Peter de Villiers and his team.

The Boks beat an average Scottish side by the skin of their teeth… a Scottish side (with all due respect to them) that does not possess half the skill and talent of the Springboks. Yet they matched the Boks physically throughout the 80 minutes and almost matched them on the scoreboard. John Smit praised his side for coming back from 0-10 down, but in all honesty, they should never have been in that situation to begin with.

An All Black second XV thrashed Scotland a week earlier, and there was talk that De Villiers might rest some of his big guns for the Scotland clash. Thank goodness he didn’t, because he would have had plenty to answer for if the Boks had lost.

He still has plenty to answer for as far as I’m concerned as the Boks’ downward spiral since he took over has been alarming to say the least. They were last in the Tri-Nations, and could have lost both games on their end-of-year tour so far.

England must be licking their lips ahead of Saturday’s encounter at Twickenham. Not to mention the British and Irish Lions…

The fact that England fancy themselves on the weekend should be enough to have Springbok supporters worried. I don’t like using the term, but England are in a serious re-building phase under the tuition of Martin Johnson. They have plenty of new faces and shouldn’t be a match for a Bok side laden with quality players.

But they will be, and if the Boks play like they have over the past few weeks, they WILL lose. It’s as simple as that.

I said it last week and I’ll say it again, the Boks do not have a sufficient game plan to succeed on a regular basis. De Villiers’ call for expansive rugby has been a myth so far. There is more kicking than running, and when the Boks do attack, there is no real meaning and endeavour. Counter-attacks have been few and far between, whilst line-breaks have been minimal, bar the odd Jean de Villiers snipe.

I don’t want to speculate, but there is clearly not a buy-in from the players with regards to De Villiers’ style of play. A team cannot deteriorate so quickly like this one has. The Boks have world class players aplenty, but something just isn’t gelling. Whether it’s the coach, the players, the management team or even the ANC, something is wrong within the Springbok camp. And it needs to be rectified very quickly!

The Boks have been saying that they want to win all three of their games in order to get a psychological advantage ahead of the Lions series next year. Well this tour has been more like a psychological disadvantage! Yes, the Boks are unbeaten but they have been far from convincing. And I fear that their unbeaten run might come to an end on Saturday if they don’t improve in all departments.

Bryan Habana needs a rest. It’s as simple as that. He had a shocker on Saturday and is hopelessly out of form. There is no harm in elevating Jongi Nokwe to the starting side on Saturday. Maybe that’ll be the wake-up call Habana needs right now. Nokwe is a potent attacking weapon and I’d like to see him get a run. The Cheetahs wing has been carrying tackling bags so far on this tour and must be desperate for a run. I’d never thought I’d see the day, but Habana doesn’t warrant a starting berth right now. He’ll be back though, he’s too good a player not to make a return to form.

Jaque Fourie made an encouraging comeback to international rugby with a brilliant try that saved his team’s blushes. He replaced Habana in the 55th minute and was much more of a threat on attack. It must be tempting for De Villiers to re-unite Fourie with De Villiers in the midfield, but that would be unfair on Adi Jacobs, who has done nothing to deserve the chop. It will be interesting to see who wears the No.13 jersey this weekend. Fourie could start on the left wing, but that would be pointless as far as I’m concerned. He is a world class No.13 and Nokwe is a specialist left wing so pick him there.

There are a few more interesting selection posers ahead of the England clash. With Bismarck du Plessis ruled out, John Smit will move back to his customary position at hooker. That will mean that Chiliboy Ralepelle will warm the bench as back-up for Smit. Jannie du Plessis has flown over as a replacement for his brother – and Gürthro Steenkamp, who is also ruled out – and could slot straight into the starting line-up.

Fourie du Preez is also doubtful which means that Ricky Januarie will retain the No.9 jersey.

Juan Smith had his best game for the Boks in a while and was the best of the loose trio. Pierre Spies also had his best game since returning from his illness, but he’s still nowhere near his best. The loosies just don’t seam to be playing as a unit at the moment, which is another worrying factor. Heinrich Brussouw is the only specialist fetcher in the squad, but it’s unlikely that he’ll get a run in the place a Schalk Burger, who hasn’t been at his best of late.

To beat England, the Boks will need to play for 80 minutes. It sounds obvious but they haven’t played for 80 for a very long time. They will need to be more precise and ruthless on attack and convert their try-scoring opportunities. I’d also like to see Ruan Pienaar attacking the advantage line a bit more. He seems to be standing very deep in the pocket, which could be why the backline haven’t looked particularly threatening on attack. But he’s new in the position and will learn with time, but I’d like to see him varying his play a bit more against the English.

It’s a crucial Test match. The Boks do not want to end their season with a loss to the old enemy, that is for sure! Peter de Villiers will be under massive pressure if his team loses on the weekend and the Lions will be preparing for the kill come June 2009.

* Do you agree/disagree with Steve? It’s your shout.