More of the same please
Impressed with last weekend’s 43-17 Springbok thrashing of Wales, former Bok centre Robbie Fleck wants to see more of the same in this Saturday’s second Test in Pretoria.
My initial impression of the first Test in Bloemfontein was one of satisfaction. Let’s face it, the Springboks were impressive and it’s not every Saturday that you hammer the Six Nations champions 43-17.
Whilst confident of victory, I knew in the back of my mind that it was always going to be tough, what with a new management team in place and also a new-look side being selected.
What impressed me most on Saturday was how the guys played what was in front of them. I thought they would struggle to break the shackles of the past four years, but they looked keen to give the ball some air – how good was Butch James at flyhalf? – and they seemed to be playing with less structure, an off-the-cuff game as it were.
More pleasing, however, was watching the Bok players run onto the ball and into space and them running onto the arms of their opponents, as opposed to always taking contact. The signs are there that this Springbok team can take their game to the next level.
The midfield of Jean de Villiers and Adrian Jacobs gelled nicely, the loose forwards ran strongly off them – Juan Smith was immense on attack – and it was great seeing Conrad Jantjes popping up everywhere, from flyhalf through to fullback. You could even see how hungry Bryan Habana was for the ball, he went looking for work all day long.
I did, however, watch the game on tape again during the week and it really dawned on me just how poor Wales were, actually. Frankly, they were disappointing and they allowed us to take the game to them.
Without trying to play devil’s advocate, it was hard to ignore just how bad the reigning Six Nations champions were. There was plenty of hype and noise coming from their camp during the week, but they disappointed immensely – this from a side missing basically just their top two scrumhalves, Gavin Henson and their star openside Martyn Williams.
The Wallabies and the All Blacks won’t afford the Springboks the same space come the Tri-Nations – it will be a different story altogether – plus the Boks will have to improve their defence considerably.
As well as Jacobs fared on attack, he is yet to be tested fully on defence, although Wales have picked Jamie Roberts – a big, strapping lad – at No.12 this week after he did some damage from fullback in Bloem. Jacobs will be tested this week!
There is still a question mark over the Bok midfield defence in general and Roberts’s try in the first half, after a strong run from Sonny Parker up the middle, did little to alleviate my concerns. Shane Williams’s second-half try was also a bit soft for my liking, so I’d like to see an improvement in that area.
In all, I think the Welsh will be a far tougher proposition this week – make no mistake about that!
They will be hurting like mad – one can see by all the comments in the media this week just how embarrassed they are – and they will be up for revenge in Pretoria on Saturday. As bad as they were last week, they showed glimpses of structure at times – but the Boks weren’t tested enough as Wales kept losing the ball after just three phases!
Victory aside, which one would have to assume is a given, this weekend is also very important for Peter de Villiers as he looks to build – or rather identify – his strongest starting XV ahead of the Tri-Nations.
It’s great to see Victor Matfield back in the starting team, he made a difference off the bench last week and he is the best line-out forward in the world. Andries Bekker should get another chance off the bench, so he will get another taste of Test action.
Both props have been changed to sort out the problems up front, so it will be interesting to see how Beast and BJ do in what is effectively an all-Sharks front row.
Naturally, as you would expect, I’m delighted to see Frans Steyn’s name amongst the replacements. He will be wearing jersey No.21 this weekend; swap those two numbers around and you have the position he should be playing in. Maybe it’s a sign of things to come?
I’m glad De Villiers has not made too many changes from the first Test. Jake White proved how important continuity in selection is, so it’s good to see him not going the Graham Henry way and making loads of changes on a weekly basis.
I expect some experimentation against Italy next weekend (especially with John Smit and Percy Montgomery due back in France on club duty) and rightly so against limited opposition – but this Saturday’s Test will hopefully be another step in the right direction ahead of the Tri-Nations, the true test in De Villiers’s first year in charge.
Fleckie’s prediction: It will be tougher this weekend, but the Boks to win and take the series.
Enjoy the game,
Fleckie
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