Meyer won't throw out the baby

The emotional outbursts – from the South African public, media and even former Springbok coaches – demand an immediate overhaul. However, Bok mentor Heyneke Meyer is not about to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Following SA's disappointing 16-all draw with a charged-up Argentina in Mendoza at the weekend, the bloodhounds started closing in – with some of the uninformed 'critics' even calling for Meyer's head.

However, the new Bok mentor – who is still unbeaten after five Tests – has stood his ground.

Meyer, who has expressed his own disappointment with the below par performance against the Pumas, will name the squad for the Australasian leg of the Rugby Championship on Tuesday, August 28.

The Boks, who have been given a few days off before regathering in Johannesburg on Thursday, will play Australia in Perth on September 8 and New Zealand in Dunedin a week later.

Meyer told a media gathering in Johannesburg, upon the team's arrival back from Mendoza, there would not be a raft of changes.

"It's easy to say throw people out and pick new ones, but that's not coaching, that's picking," the Bok mentor said.

"I've been in this position a few times as a coach and the easiest thing is just to cut players, but that won't move you forward.

"We've already lost a lot of leadership and then you'd be throwing out what little experience you've got," said Meyer of a team that lost players like John Smit (retired from international rugby), Victor Matfield (retired from all rugby), Jaque Fourie (retired from international rugby), Fourie du Preez (playing in Japan an unavailable for the Boks),  Bakkies Botha (playing in France), Danie Rossouw (playing in Japan) and Gurthrö Steenkamp (playing in France).

The Boks are also missing a number of senior players currently injured – Schalk Burger, Bismarck du Plessis, Pierre Spies and JP Pietersen.

Meyer admitted that taking on the Wallabies and All Blacks in back-to-back Tests would require a much-improved performance from the Boks.

"The next two games will be even tougher and we have to improve," he told the media scrum.

"I know we can do it, but the only way the side will improve is by coaching them, improving their technique and mental strength," Meyer added.

He said the lack of experience was a major factor in their draw with a wily Pumas team.

"It was not good enough, it was unacceptable and I was very disappointed," Meyer said.

"But I always knew it would be very tough in the first year because of the inexperience of the side, a lot of them were playing their first test away from home.

"People underestimate Argentina, but their whole starting line-up plays in Europe and they are very experienced."

Meyer gambled on a new loose trio combination of flanks Marcell Coetzee and Jacques Potgieter and No.8 Willem Alberts.

However, the anticipated physicality from the men in Green and Gold never materialised, as they repeatedly came off second best at the breakdowns and in the contact situations.

“I think firstly credit must go to Argentina, but it definitely wasn't good enough from us,” Meyer said.

“We let ourselves and our country down. It's unacceptable, but I think Argentina played well. I think where everything went wrong was at the breakdown. We couldn't get any quick ball and we found that very difficult. When we did, we played some good rugby, but then we lost the ball in crucial positions on the field.”

Meyer admitted that the high penalty count, particularly early on, had put the team under unnecessary additional pressure.

“I think there are a lot of youngsters and inexperienced guys in this side, but that's not an excuse. Obviously we have to learn from this, part of having mental toughness is for when you play away from home. I think what really let us down in the beginning was more the penalties. We gave away four penalties in the first 10 minutes, and at this level, it's unacceptable.

"Also, part of mental toughness is discipline, particularly under pressure, because we knew Argentina would come out hard in front of a passionate crowd.”

However, Meyer refused to play the blame game, although he acknowledged that they failed to adapt to Argentina's different approach to the breakdown.

“I don't want to make excuses, I just feel we needed to deal with what happened at the breakdown better. I think we had numbers there, but in a sense, we are probably more used to Super Rugby where guys roll away and you get quick ball, and you can clean out with just one or two cleaners. This is probably more like northern hemisphere rugby where they flood the breakdown, but that's what happens in Test rugby and we needed to cope with it better.”

Meyer admitted that there was also a technical aspect missing from the Springboks' breakdown play.

“We worked hard on the breakdown in the lead-up to this game, but we need to go back to the drawing board. I think our technique is not good enough for the breakdown at the moment.”