Fleckie's 2008 wrap

In his final column for the year, rugby365s Robbie Fleck looks back at the England Test and makes some of his own awards after an exciting 2008 rugby season.

Well, how pleasing was that win on Saturday?

I must say, and this is purely from a selfish point of view; I slept very, very well on Saturday night… Having been part of that Springbok side that lost 53-3 in 2002, I can finally look myself in the mirror again.

Martin Johnson was the England captain when we lost that day and he was very critical of us afterwards. Well, it seems the shoe is on the other foot this time around – although he has still not congratulated us on our win in 2008.

It wasn’t nice when that interviewer tore into Johnson after the game; it wasn’t clever journalism, but Martin Johnson is too smart a guy to simply back down from what he believes just because of some media criticism. He will stick with his players and you have to respect him for that.

That young flyhalf of theirs, Danny Cipriani, had a nightmare day too and he has been dropped ahead of this weekend’s clash against the All Blacks. He still has plenty of hard graft ahead of him before he can even dream about being mentioned in the same breath as Dan Carter, but this game was his best lesson yet as a professional rugby player.

Sure, this wasn’t the best ever England team I have ever seen, but the Boks’ defensive effort was probably the best I have ever seen. I have never seen an England pack and backline go backwards so quickly – and this at ‘Fortress Twickenham’ of all places.

Bakkies Botha was colossal on defence – making tackles at the corner flag and in the middle of the field – while I thought JP Pietersen was also particularly good on attack and defence.

Ruan Pienaar was very good at flyhalf, but even more pleasing was that South Africa’s attack on the day was very penetrative. There was no willy-nilly tossing the ball around. There was planned attack and everyone played their part in the victory.

I think this win was an improvement – and more clinical – on the 53-8 victory over Australia in the Tri-Nations and some of my lingering questions after that match were answered at Twickenham. It also appears that the players are more comfortable with what their coach, Peter de Villiers is trying to achieve.

Looking at the year on a whole; De Villiers has had an above average first year in charge. He won nine out 13 matches (for a 69% win rate); winning in Dunedin for the first time ever in Springbok history, he put 50 points past Australia and 40 points past England at Twickenham. Kitch Christie, Nick Mallett and Jake White never achieved that during their stints in charge of the Boks.

Next year will be a big one for De Villiers and the Springboks and his time in charge of the Boks will be defined by what happens in the Lions series, but he can take a lot of confidence from the way 2008 ended. The cogs are finally starting to turn for the Peter de Villiers era, next year he can take it up a few gears.

Looking at the players, I see Jean de Villiers was announced as the SA Rugby Player of the Year on Tuesday, as well as also grabbing the Players’ Player of the Year Award. (See my rugby awards for 2008 below!)

I have spoken about Jean quite a lot this season and if ever somebody deserved the Player of the Year Award, it was Jean. He was simply immense this year; the best centre in the country by some distance. The fact that he also won the Players’ Player of the Year Award shows just how highly his peers rate him too – it’s probably an even bigger honour.

Jean had a disappointing 2007 when he was forced to miss the majority of the World Cup with that bicep injury, but he showed superb mental strength to bounce back this season; first in the Super 14 – where he also showed fine leadership – and then during the international season where he just got better and better with each match.

Jean’s defence, in particular, got sharper as the season progressed and although he sometimes gets criticised for taking the wrong options on attack – holding on to the ball too long – when he gets that right he will be an even better player. Jean is a very creative player and with that comes a lot of responsibility, so that’s maybe why he sometimes holds onto the ball too long… He will, however, get that right, soon.

His leadership, too, is a massive factor and he will be a key figure for the Stormers, who will look to go one better in the 2009 Super 14. Jean has the potential to captain the Boks one day – if he stays in the country – and he should really become John Smit’s official understudy in the not-too-distant future; South African rugby need to look after a guy of Jean de Villiers’s class.

Robbie Fleck’s 2008 rugby awards:

Player of the Year:
Jean de Villiers, in my mind, should have been nominated as one of the IRB Players of the Year. He was the form centre in the world and by the end of the year it was hard to find a weakness in either attack or defence.

Young Player of the Year:
Robert Ebersohn won the official SA Rugby Award, but I would have gone with Ryan Kankowski. He was immense throughout the year and was unlucky through an untimely injury not to see regular Test match action.

Coach(es) of the Year:
Rassie Erasmus (Super 14) and John Plumtree (Currie Cup); these two coaches were head and shoulders above the others in 2008. Don’t be surprised to see WP and the Sharks dominate local rugby for the next few seasons…

Player to watch in 2009:
This is my own award and an important one at that… I’m expecting young Nick Köster to explode onto the Super 14 scene next year and then become a regular for the Stormers and a Bok in 2010. This kid has it all; watch him in next weekend’s Baa-baas game.

Character of the Year:
Another one of my awards; JP Pietersen showed tremendous character to bounce back from a very ordinary Super 14 campaign to end the tour as probably my Player of the Tour. JP will get even better, but Peter de Villiers must be lauded here too for his management of Pietersen, who was gradually phased back into the team after the Super 14.

Well, that’s all from me for this year!

Thank you for your support during the year, I hope you have enjoyed my columns as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

It’s been a long season, starting with the Varsity Cup and the Super 14, before the June Tests, the Currie Cup and then some more Test match rugby.

I guess it’s always pleasing to end the year with a huge victory over Twickenham, but I am already looking forward to 2009 – which promises to be even more exciting than this season!

My UCT side has already started pre-season training ahead of the Varsity Cup; we’ve got the first-ever Cape Town Tens rugby tournament to look out for (go to www.capetowntens.com!) and then, of course, there’s the small matter of the Super 14 and a British & Irish Lions tour.

Have a great festive season and be safe.

Until next year,
Fleckie

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