You have to feel for some Boks
Grant Ball questions whether Peter de Villiers will hand over the Springbok squad to his successor in a better shape than he found it.
After the Boks lost to the Wallabies, De Villiers hinted that he’d retire after their disappointing World Cup exit. Whether he resigns or is asked to re-apply for the job, it must be asked whether his stay has left South African rugby in a healthier state than when he found it.
The short answer is no.
He inherited a squad who’d won the World Cup and the majority of who were young enough at the time to make a meaningful contribution to the 2011 campaign. But instead mismanagement and a lack of coaching has left the Boks with a botched defence. In the World Cup quarterfinal, the Boks lost the game themselves, Australia didn’t win it. That says all you need to know about who should take responsibility for the defeat.
It’s laughable that some are considering De Villiers’s future for another reign after what he’s done to the side and the way he’s negatively impacted an illustrious group of players’ careers. Watching the closing minutes in Wellington, one had to feel for many of the players such as Bismarck du Plessis and Schalk Burger, who couldn’t play to their true potential as they were let down by sub-standard coaching for four years.
But some of the senior players must also take the blame.
Many of those convinced themselves and others around them that De Villiers was good for the team, simply because it enhanced their motives rather than for the greater good of South African rugby.
The acceptance of the status quo under De Villiers where players trained when they wanted to and the seniors made vital selection calls, meant the side, and many individuals, stagnated. That was never more clearly emphasised when the Boks’ lack of a game plan and variety on attack cost them against Australia.
The great irony is that upon appointment, De Villiers ridiculed the way the Boks played in the last World Cup (when they scored five tries in the quarterfinal and four in the semi). He talked of how he would revolutionise the Boks’ attacking game – but at the time when it mattered most, the Boks couldn’t cross the line with all their quality possession and the Wallabies’ set piece floundering.
Many have complained about what David Pocock was allowed to get away with at the breakdown. Yes, Bryce Lawrence was lenient, but why didn’t the Boks have a real plan to negate Pocock? The breakdown has been a constant problem under De Villiers – look at the first time the Boks played Australia under De Villiers in Perth 2008. Any decent coach wouldn’t let the same problem persist for four years. De Villiers did, and the Boks paid the price.
The Wallabies had their plan to negate Heinrich Brüssow, and it worked. Pocock ran over him in the first few minutes, James Horwill put in a big tackle, and Dan Vickerman’s cheap shot at the breakdown meant he left the field – that physicality effectively doused Brüssow’s influence.
With Brüssow off, and as well as Francois Louw did, it was unfair to expect him to perform. He started one match at the World Cup, and wasn’t used in the Tri-Nations or November tour. Louw lacked the match fitness and hard edge required for a World Cup knock-out, and for that lack of planning, De Villiers must be accountable.
De Villiers has constantly complained about refereeing. Those rants in New Zealand last year further highlighted his inexperience as an international coach and his lack of tact, which has effected the Boks’ standing internationally.
It will be a major concern if South Africans in general blame the ref again and refuse to look at our own mistakes.
Yes, Lawrence was poor, but we can’t become a nation of whingers and blame a four-year tenure of disillusionment on one ref. The individuals who should take the blame are those who appointed De Villiers, De Villiers himself, and the players for accommodating such a lax atmosphere in the squad which meant they never truly filled their potential to become the first side to win consecutive World Cups.
To go forward, you have to look at the past and learn from it. Hopefully the powers-that-be in South African rugby don’t allow the same disastrous four year-period to happen ever again.
Follow Grant Ball on Twitter.
