Forget the conspiracy theories

With all the talk of anti-Springbok conspiracy theories doing their rounds in France this week, former Bok centre and sport365 columnist Robbie Fleck has a simple theory of his own – nobody is out to get us!

Well, not all the matches at the 2007 World Cup have been that exciting, but the various off-field shenanigans, thanks mainly to over-zealous citing officers, has kept us all on our toes.

First things first, let’s get this straight – nobody is out to get the Springboks. Conspiracy theorists relax, you’ve clearly been reading too many Robert Ludlam novels it seems…

The International Rugby Board have a simple objective – they are trying to clean things up, and to do so they have set a few precedents to help them do so. Unfortunately, Schalk Burger was one of the players to suffer because of this, as was England captain Phil Vickery and America’s Paul Emerick.

Sure, it is strange that Brian Lima initially got away with his rough tackling against the Springboks, as did Drew Mitchell – in a similar spear-tackle incident to Emerick’s – but, by and large, the powers that be are trying to be as strict as possible in order to stamp out any foul play.

And, as a result of them trying to be strict, when there was talk of biting, they had to act and that is why Frans Steyn was cited after the Tongan match.

In my opinion, the man to blame here is that Tongan winger Vaka. He knew he was in trouble for his part in the Bakkies Botha scuffle and rather than risk being sent off for fighting, he threw the biting claim out there to deflect the attention away from his misdemeanour. If anybody needs to be punished it’s Vaka, yet poor old Frans Steyn – who has probably never even thrown a punch in his life – found himself in the media spotlight.

Thankfully, of course, Frans was cleared earlier this week. Yes, there was damage done, but at the end of the day, his reputation has been enhanced rather than damaged.

So, back onto these conspiracy theories then, which, frankly, are utter nonsense. It’s typical media-talk, but even typically, very South African to think that the world is out there to get us. If we’re such a threat, why is nobody out there to get New Zealand?

I just hope Jake stamps out any possible conspiracy talk in the Bok camp. If he believes it, or agrees with it, his players will too and that will take their focus off the job at hand. They need to laugh off any talk of anti-SA bias and get on with the job; which is winning the Rugby World Cup.

I was not too concerned by our performance against Tonga – after all, a win’s a win and they got their four-try bonus point in the process.

The second-stringers haven’t played a lot of rugby of late, and that showed, but Jake did the right thing by bringing on his first-choice players when he did. It was a simple message to the guys who had not performed; ‘You’ve had your chance, now it’s back to the other guys to finish off the match’.

It was disappointing that none of the ‘dirt-trackers’ took their chances to push for first-team selection during the knockout stages. We could name and shame some of the under-performing players, but that is not the point. The big worry, however, is what will happen if players like Fourie, Butch or Frans Steyn get hurt – do we have adequate back-ups for them? Sadly, I think not and that is the major negative to take out of the Tonga match.

Looking ahead to the US match, the Boks need to put the Tongan match out of their minds and concentrate on getting things right against the Eagles – especially with the quarter-finals on the horizon.

The big selection talking point this week concerns the No.8 position now that Danie Rossouw is injured – Jake now wants to play Schalk at No.8, but I would rather take a punt and put Juan Smith at the back of the scrum, where he played at the last Rugby World Cup.

Wikus van Heerden has done more than enough to warrant selection in the No.6 shirt (with his leadership qualities and high level of play), and he deserves to stay there for the rest of the tournament, so Schalk and Juan will have to move to accommodate him.

If Schalk were to play at No.8 he would have to drop back to play more of a sweeping role, which would limit his effectiveness in playing to the ball. Schalk is a better footballer than Juan, so I can see Jake’s logic in wanting to move him to No.8, but I would rather keep him on the flank and let him and Wikus play to the ball together (imagine how much damage they could do together?), with Juan then able to use his superior ball-carrying abilities at No.8.

And last, but certainly not least, it would be unjust of me not to mention my old mate Percy Montgomery – who is now the most-capped Springbok ever.

I don’t think I have ever played with or seen a more professional player in all my time. He is a truly dedicated player; at training, in the gym and with his on-field attitude, it’s just a pity that it’s taken so long for fans and media to fully appreciated Percy for what he is – a bloody good rugby player.

Sure, he’s had his ups and downs – who hasn’t? – but his commitment and love for the game have also been questioned, and unfairly so. Monty’s endured a lot of criticism over the years, but it’s come from people that don’t really know the man they are laying into. Yes, he loves the beach, yes he’s not scared of some peroxide on his hair, but he’s never let that detract from his rugby.

Monty, it’s a brilliant achievement, well done – you deserve it! How I wish you could push for that magical 100-cap mark next year…

Fleckie’s RWC predictions – Take IV:

England v Tonga: Like last week against Samoa, I think England will be too strong for Tonga up front. Yes, Tonga were good against the Springboks, but I don’t think they would have had quite the same parity against a first-choice Bok pack. England will dominate up front and win by 20 points at least.

New Zealand v Romania: This will be another hiding… Romania are a tough side, but NZ will take this by at least 70 points.
Australia v Canada: Australia are playing well. They’ve chosen a second-string team, but will still be too strong for the Canucks.
Wales v Fiji: Both these teams like making the ball do the work for them… It should be an open match, but I expect Wales to win by 10 or so points and claim a quarter-final place.
Scotland v Italy: There is a lot at stake in this match, but I don’t expect this to be the most aesthetically pleasing fixture of the weekend. Both teams have underperformed at the World Cup, but Scotland should take this one by 15 points.

France v Georgia: Georgia are a physical team and a lot of their players play their club rugby in France. Still, the hosts should have too much for them – by 40 points.
Ireland v Argentina: The undoubted game of the weekend, which could make it quite a scrappy affair. I hope not though, I hope both teams are up for it. Ireland need to score four tries and win by seven points, Argentina need to keep the scoreline down. The Pumas will scrap hard, as always, and I think they’ll keep their noses ahead in this one.
South Africa v USA Eagles: Danie Rossouw’s injury is a blessing in disguise, he’s not stuck his hand up in the No.8 position. As I said above, I’m not sure who’s better-suited to No.8 – Schalk or Juan – but they should be an improvement on Danie, who still has a role to play in this World Cup, but from the bench. The Boks will win this, but I’d be disappointed with anything less than a 30/40-point win.

Until next week,
Robbie Fleck

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