The view from the couch

On any given Saturday afternoon I know I will be on a couch. Mostly it is my couch. It could also be the couch of a mate, so long as his fridge is well stocked and his family well trained. But whoever the owner of said couch may be; it is the view from the couch that is all important.

This week the view from the couch takes in men in black with feet of clay, problems on the platteland and ruck me Amadeus.

LOOKING BACK

Part One – Made to look merely mortal

The All Blacks do lose test matches. They lose less than anyone else (Richie McCaw has a scarcely believable win-rate of 87 percent) and are the only team always considered favourites away from home, but they do lose. They can also look rattled, like the game at Newlands in 2005 when the Boks tore into them. But it is very rare thing for an All Black team to look ordinary.

But that is exactly what they looked like in the first 20min last Saturday. The first Tri-Nations game of 2009 saw the Wallabies threaten to swamp NZ as they ran at the All Blacks and most importantly, kept possession. The Ozmob attacked the outer channels in the mid-field and prevented Richie McCaw from turning them over or even slowing their ball down. But eventually the strength of the NZ tight-five started to tell and they began to knock the Aussies back.

All credit to the Kiwis. They never lie down. But for a while there they looked like England in a reserve strip.

Part Two – And the ruckus rumbles on

One of the interesting things to emerge from the Bakkies Botha suspension after the 2nd test against the Lions is that according to the rule book he was guilty. The law requires some type of binding onto the ruck before clearing out the opposition player. It’s just that this law has been ignored. What that says about the state of the laws and their implementation is a column all on its own.

The requirement that you stay on your feet precludes a running dive with the shoulder. But a big forward can still generate a lot of force by rocking back and slamming his shoulder into an opponent at ruck time. One of my cherished memories of the ’07RWC is the sight of a white England jersey being ejected out the back of a ruck like a piece of popcorn, courtesy of our Bakkies (to view it click here). But for all the protestations of the Boks that rugby is a contact sport, there is another important consideration.

Players like Brüssow, McCaw, Smith et al are often crouched over the tackled player with their head down and the back of their neck exposed to the oncoming opposition. An impact to the base of the neck while in this vulnerable position could be catastrophic.

What is the solution? I don’t know. But the answer must lie somewhere between the two extremes of tiddlywinks and a “linker skouer met mening” (left shoulder with intent).

Oh and John, if you are going to let a ten-year-old do the writing on your armbands, then at least give him a thick marker pen.

Part Three – I admit, I am Smithin

All the attention in the lead up to the game was focussed on the return of Richie McCaw, but the Ozmob were led onto the field by George Smith. The match at Eden Park was his 100th test. It is a phenomenal achievement for any player, let alone a forward.

I am unapologetic in my admiration for Smith.  Many is the time I have seen him try to rip the ball off the tackled player only to get smashed by one or more big tight-forwards. I have yet to see him respond with any aggro or petulance. He simply picks himself up and sets out to do it again. The only occasion I have seen him look remotely angry was when he showed the ref one of his dreadlocks that had been ripped off in the dark alley of some ruck.

If it feels like he has been around forever, it’s because he has. He was on the bench for the ’99 WC final and a decade later he is still regularly chosen as the Australian S14 player of the year.

Over the years he has improved immensely in his support play as well as his ability to carry the ball over the advantage-line. But it is as a pilferer of the ball that he will always be remembered. His stats after the first Tri-Nations test included 19 tackles and 4 turnovers – against the All Blacks.

But to me the most remarkable and oft-ignored fact about Smith, is that he has yet to play with a world-beating tight-five. McCaw is a truly remarkable player but he has played in teams where his big men have routinely dominated, or at worst, been held to parity. Imagine what George Smith could have achieved behind the Crusaders or AB tight-five.

Part Four – Time to front up

I must admit to an element of deception. In the last column I included Ricky Januarie in a list of South Africa’s scrum-half talent (note I didn’t say form).  I was duly taken to task by Ian and JP in the comments section and at least one mate of mine thought that I had taken leave of my senses. I deliberately didn’t qualify Januarie’s inclusion by mentioning “that” try in Dunedin or any other justification for that matter. The bait was thrown out there to prove something seen from couch – how easily we discard talent in South Africa.

Januarie is not playing well. But he has talent. No-one who saw “that” try can deny it. It was only four years ago that we were debating who was the better option against the All Blacks at Newlands. He was chosen ahead of Fourie du Preez and did a great job pressurizing Kelleher and Carter.

Du Preez has kicked on to become one of the best footballers on the planet, while Januarie has regressed. But no worries, there’s always Pienaar, Vermaak, Kockott, Adams, Insert Name Here. The attitude seems to be that there will always be some other youngster from the bottomless pit of South African rugby talent.

Contrast this to the way Robbie Deans has persisted with Luke Burgess. He has no choice because there’s no-one else. The pool of rugby players is so small in Australia that they cannot afford to discard anyone (unless you have a big salary and problem reputation). As a result players are nurtured and developed. Their weaknesses are worked on or worked around.

A reasonable drop-out rate among players is expected in rugby due to its attritional nature and resulting injuries. But even so, how many young Seffrican players can you name that have been tried and tossed in the last 10 years; without even trashing a hotel room? Post the names below as we continue to look at this issue in columns to come.

Part Five – It gets in your blood

It seems a bit precious to look back on a previous column especially as this is only the second one. But there was a comment posted that cannot be ignored (plus I already did it above).

Peter wrote: “I am of an age to remember that Jack van der Schyf kick! We were devastated…” This is a kick from a game that took place 54 years ago and yet Peter can still not only remember it but also the emotion it evoked.

Rugby is special. I can’t explain it (especially not to my my perfumed steamroller) but once it’s in your blood it fuses with your DNA and becomes part of your history. Before you know it five decades have passed and you are still talking about that match.

I don’t know how old you are, Peter, but you can’t be a spring chicken. In 1955 you had to wind up the telephone yet here you are in 2009, using the internet to share your memories of this game that we love.

Peter, as the youngsters would say: Respect!

LOOKING FORWARD

Part One – Don’t tell us we can’t have the cake and eat it.

For more than a year the Twakkie (aka PdV) plan to “play what is in front of you” has been pitted against the media obsession with “structure.” The real question is: Why not both?

Every Bok supporter has a right to expect a well drilled team that knows what they are doing – a well-tuned engine that is slick and cohesive. The most worrying times over the last year have been when the Boks have looked like they did under Straueli i.e. headless chooks. Yet they have also done some wondrous new stuff. Tries have been scored from first phase, forwards have run into space instead of contact and big scores have been posted against strong teams.

South Africa has always been known for its great forward play and the pack named for the Bloemfontein test against the All Blacks is an awesome one (power, speed and skill; tremendous experience with a sprinkling of youngsters; and the front row, lock and flank combinations all play together at S14 level).

Yet SA has also produced Danie Gerber, the du Plessis brothers, H. O. de Villiers and Andre Joubert. Keith Oxlee used to say that Mannetjies Roux was so mercurial that the opposition weren’t the only ones who had no idea what he would do next – he suspected even Mannetjies didn’t know.

In previous tests against teams with great fetchers, a rigid adherence to structure was necessary because it told the pack where the ball was going to be in three phases time. They could then smash players like McCaw off the ball before he turned it over. But now the last piece of the puzzle is in place – our own fetcher to keep McCaw occupied.

Why can’t the Boks take control with structured, powerful play but at the same time seize the unplanned opportunities that present themselves? Surely in du Preez, Pienaar, de Villiers and Francois Steyn they have players capable of reading the game and spotting the gap?

We are the world champions. Forget the cake. We want the whole menu, please.

Part Two – Is the heart still beating?

The people of Bloem don’t get regular test matches and when they are allocated a game, it is normally against the lower-ranked teams like Ireland or Wales. It is 33 years since they last hosted the biggest match-up in world rugby. In fact, this is only the third time that the Boks have played the All Blacks in Bloemfontein. The 1976 test was a jam-packed with something like 70 000 delirious Bok supporters.  But as of the Friday morning before the 2009 test, there were still tickets unsold.

Free State would be considered part of the heartland of the South African game. They have produced some of the greatest Bok players and Bloemfontein is the home of arguably the greatest rugby school in the world – Grey College. Yet very rarely does the Free State stadium look anything like full.

Much has been said, including in the last column, about the ridiculous prices charged for test tickets. Even so, “iets is nie pluis nie” (something is not right) when the Free State Rugby Union battles to sell out an All Black test.

Part Three – Quit stirring

It has been quite funny to see the attempts in the media to generate some drama around the Bok selection for the first test against the old enemy. Headlines included gems like “Lion-slayer dropped” in reference to the selection of Pienaar over Morné Steyn at flyhalf.

The truth is that the team almost picked itself. There are a few injuries and a case may be made for the odd overseas-based player, but otherwise this could be the most controversy free selection in Bok history. After Steyn’s performance in the third test against the Lions and with a hard, dry field expected; even the selection of Pienaar has merit.

Give us on the couch a bit of credit and if you want to stir, we’d like coffee please. It’s too cold for beer.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Ticket prices are always the first thing people look at, but the fact is ticket prices have been growing at less than the rate of inflation for the last five years… This year they have been frozen at 2008’s prices ” – Andy Marinos, acting managing director of SA Rugby, who called ticket prices “relatively low”

Andy, Andy, Andy. Because the price increases have been less than inflation for five years, does not mean that, ergo, the prices are now low. That is not logical captain. They were already so expensive five years ago that you could have lowered that price and it would still be too much today.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

The All Blacks were based in Centurion this last week and only travelled to Bloemfontein on Friday before the test. Even the Wallabies would battle to misbehave in Bloemfontein, but it’s not that boring. You can always look for something interesting to take home for the family. Just ask Jonah Lomu. *

When teams are scheduled to play in the smaller cities like Bloem and Port Elizabeth, why not politely request them to play and train there in the week leading up to the game? Imagine what it would mean for the laaities (youngsters) to see Ma’a Nonu and Richie McCaw at their local shopping centre (to those who have not been there, these are very friendly towns but not big ones). Rural fans in the Eastern Cape would have to sell their homes to afford test tickets, but they would travel a long way just to see the men in black train.

AFTERTHOUGHT

On behalf of all Bok supporters, a big thanks to whoever chased the Huguenots out of France.

I give you… Bismark du Plessis, Fourie du Preez, Jean de Villiers, Jaque Fourie, Jannie du Plessis and Danie Rossouw

(* He found a wife)

By John O’Connor