More pain in Dunedin

Former Springbok star Robbie Fleck looks back at Saturday’s Tri-Nations Test in Wellington and he sees no way back for the Boks in this weekend’s return encounter in Dunedin.

The pen is mightier than the sword. And judging by what was written before last Saturday’s match at the Westpac Stadium, and what has been written since, that idiom could not ring any truer this week.

The media, and whoever is responsible for getting the information out there to the public, have a responsibility to take into consideration what they write.

Virtually everybody wrote that the Boks would beat the All Blacks last week without really thinking about it properly. It’s great being positive, but one should always remain realistic at the same time…

We had a new coach involved in his first big Test match abroad, after just three ‘warm-ups’ against Wales and Italy, whilst we also had a new side and a new pattern of play. It was always going to be a big ask for the Springboks to beat the All Blacks in New Zealand – something they had not managed since 1998.

I was worried that the Boks would believe their own press and you could see it out there – the Boks looked like a team that seemed to think they just had to rock up and take the victory. At the same time, they came up against a side that really looked hungry to win – a team that could easily have lost its coach had they been defeated.

Yes, we’re the world champions and the best team in the world, but South Africa should have been the ones hungry for glory; trying to win it for their new coach and with a few players – CJ van der Linde, Joe van Niekerk and Adrian Jacobs – hungry to prove that they do indeed belong in Peter de Villiers’s starting XV.

Instead, we now have a bunch of vultures circling over the Springbok camp; the same so-called ‘experts’ that tipped SA to win, are those now criticising De Villiers for not making the proper selections. For me, it was rather simple – the All Blacks wanted the match more.

They were more determined and the better team won on the day. Jake White could have been the coach of the Boks, Fourie du Preez and Jaque Fourie could have been playing – it would not have made a difference. New Zealand’s key men fired, ours didn’t – Ali Williams stood up, Dan Carter stood up, whilst Victor Matfield and Butch James both disappointed.

Brad Thorn was also outstanding on the night, playing the Bakkies Botha role to perfection. Where was Bakkies? (Well, probably worrying about his court case back home.) You could see that Thorn was picked solely to have a go at the likes of Bakkies and it worked like a charm.

However, how he didn’t get yellow-carded for that spear tackle on John Smit is a mystery, but I would stop short of blaming Stuart Dickinson for us losing the Test. Many people seem to be forgetting that he chalked off an All Blacks try later on, claiming Rudi Wulf had been off-side, when clearly he wasn’t. I think Dickinson was too nervous of handing out a card so early in a Test and it certainly was a heat-of-the-moment incident from Thorn, as could be seen by his apology to Smit afterwards.

I’m glad he wasn’t red-carded though – as some people have suggested he should have been. Decisions like that can only ruin a Test – I’m one of those guys that would rather see the yellow card used as opposed to sending someone off for the entire match.

What we can’t escape from is that this was a very average New Zealand team, probably one of the weaker All Blacks sides I have seen, yet they pulled together and played like a team. I actually don’t think Graham Henry has got his selections right thus far; Adam Thomson is not a Test loose forward and I honestly think Leon MacDonald is better bet than Mils Muliaina at fullback – especially at Test level.

But the Boks played as a bunch of individuals. I expected the Boks to dominate the line-outs, but Williams ruled that area of the game, and the Kiwis also bossed the collisions, with Thorn outplaying the likes of Botha on the ground.

The only Bok forward to leave Wellington with his reputation enhanced was Schalk Burger. Remember, Schalk had not started a match since picking up a knee injury in the Super 14 at the end of April. Unfortunately, not many of his teammates followed suit; I have mentioned Victor and Butch, but a guy like Juan Smith wasn’t his usual self either.

I mentioned a few selection worries last week and I wasn’t surprised to see CJ van der Linde get dominated in the scrums. At the same time I didn’t think Jean de Villiers and Adrian Jacobs did badly as a centre duo, but the Springboks lacked a strike runner in the midfield – somebody who just runs straight and hard and commits defenders. (Somebody like Jaque Fourie.)

Jean was absolutely brilliant on the night – along with Schalk, they were our two best players – but I would like to see Frans Steyn at No.12 this weekend and Jean on his outside.

Having Steyn there would split the field into two – with Butch doing the kicking on one side of the field and Steyn the other and give the Boks more territory to work with. Jean can ‘hoof’ a ball, but he doesn’t have the tactical appreciation of a Frans Steyn – something that Dan Carter has in abundance. Aside from two clean breaks, All Blacks inside centre Ma’a Nonu wasn’t particularly impressive last week, but he didn’t really have to do much with Carter on fire on his inside.

The experiment with Joe van Niekerk at No.8 did not work either and Pierre Spies and Ryan Kankowski both need to be included in the 22-man squad for this weekend, along with Ruan Pienaar, who offers so much more than Bolla Conradie off the bench as a back replacement.

Those selection changes aside, De Villiers cannot afford to panic this week. Yes, things won’t get any easier with John Smit out for two weeks, but in his absence the senior players – Victor, Bakkies, Butch, Habana – need to step up and raise their games.

The Kiwis are in awe of Smit’s physical presence and leadership skills – Victor Matfield does not have the same aura when it comes to captaincy. John not being there is a major shot in the arm for the All Blacks, well before Saturday’s kick-off.

Looking at the game then, I hope De Villiers makes a few of those selection changes I have mentioned and he needs the weather to play the game too.

If it’s dry at Carisbrook on Saturday, expect to witness a top-class Test match. If it rains, and Steyn doesn’t start, expect to see much of the same as last week.

I’m not sure if any of you watched the WP-Cheetahs Currie Cup match last week. It wasn’t exactly the best advertisement for the game, but it did prove what a kicking flyhalf like Willem de Waal can achieve in the wet. I am not advocating De Waal as the next Bok No.10, but Steyn alongside Butch in that crucial 10-12 axis could have the same affect for South Africa.

I am not sure if we can recover from the pasting we took in the scrums last week, but the line-outs will go better – Matfield won’t miss out twice in a row, but I still can’t see the Boks taking this match, despite New Zealand being such an average side at present.

Fleckie’s prediction: It will be close, the Boks won’t lie down, but the All Blacks will win and make it 2-0.

Until next week,
Robbie

* Email Fleckie at rugby365@365digital.co.za with any comments.

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