More questions than answers

Whilst impressed with Saturday’s record-breaking win over the Wallabies, rugby365 columnist Robbie Fleck still has a few questions left unanswered at the end of South Africa’s Tri-Nations campaign.

Looking at the scoreline from Johannesburg, it’s fair to say that something clicked for the Boks on Saturday! It’s not everyday you beat the Wallabies 53-8…

I have not seen a Bok side play with imagination and skill like that since Carel du Plessis’s last Test in charge – ironically also a high-scoring affair against the Wallabies back in 1997. The guys ran freely, they picked their angles well and they made superb decisions, too, and of course, it helped that all their passes started sticking.

I thought all the Bok combinations worked nicely on the day. The loose forwards gelled; Juan Smith was back to his best, Schalk was his typical self and Pierre Spies was powerful on the charge. The 10-12-13 combination of Butch, Jean and Adi Jacobs was also excellent – the best I have seen in the Green and Gold in about six years – and it’s no surprise that Jongi Nokwe scored four tries.

Bismarck du Plessis also bossed things up front nicely with his raw physicality and ‘The Beast’ continues to shape up nicely as an international prop. What impressed me most about Beast, however, was his cleaning out at rucks and ability to get stuck in when it was required. Andries Bekker also had his finest game in the Green and Gold, but I am still a bit worried about Victor Matfield, who still seems just a tad off the boil.

Whether this turnaround was all down to Peter de Villiers remains to be seen, but he has taught his players how to play it like they see it. The signs are there… the guys can build off this win, but I have just two questions which continue to bother me:
(1) Was this the same Australian team that we have seen in action all year long?
(2) Was this a ‘fly-by-night’ performance from a Bok side that disgraced itself the week before against the same opposition?

Unfortunately, for me, I cannot answer those questions – and that is why I remain troubled…

The Boks want to play an expansive game, and rightly so, but they cannot neglect a form of structure in their game. (As I mentioned in my previous column.) One cannot throw the ball to the wings willy-nilly, you need to build a base first and for that you need structures.

Can we rate the Springboks’ structures after one game – a match that was Australia’s worst performance since that night at Loftus back in 1997, or do they really know what they need to do in order to play it like they see it?

Personally, I don’t think the coaching staff could have learnt anything from this win and that worries me even more.

The Wallabies did not really turn up for this match – clearly their minds were on the game in Brisbane on the 13th – but no team can go out there wanting to take 50 points on purpose. Believe me, I was part of that Bok team that lost 53-3 to England – in my last-ever Test match – and it still hurts like hell just thinking about it almost six years later.

Surely a guy even I have described as the best coach in the world would not take 50 points on purpose? We never went out there to lose to England by 50 points back in 2002 – but we had Rudolf Straeuli in charge, and he’s no Robbie Deans.

Look make no mistake, if the Boks get it right like they did on Saturday – and I, for one, am hoping it was not a one-off – no team in the world will be able to live with them. It is something I have suggested before on these very pages, but it is something that some of those vultures out there – those that have not supported De Villiers – do not believe will happen.

Like him or not, his ideas are good, he is a rugby guy and he is a good team man. Forget that the media take the piss out of him – look at it as him being good entertainment and being something of a character. Technically, he is no Robbie Deans, but he is trying to make a difference and change the approach of a normally staid rugby nation.

If De Villiers had lost ten in a row up till now, then fine, I would have agreed; fire him. Just remember, Jake White lost five in a row back in 2006 – including a 49-0 drubbing in Brisbane – yet he was not fired.

White’s replacement was always on a hiding to nothing after the high of a World Cup. Whether the coach was black, white, brown or pink it would not have made a difference – the fact is anybody with a new philosophy and new personnel is going to need time to settle.

The big thing now for De Villiers is to learn from his first few games in charge and to go to Europe at the end of the year and kick some northern hemisphere arse. If he goes and loses all three, well, then he could be under some pressure and rightly so.

It seems De Villiers is having a rethink about not taking a full-strength squad on the tour and rightly so. His job is on the line and he needs to win and he needs John Smit and co. – his first-choice big-name players – fit and firing and leading from the front.

As I mentioned above, I was part of Rudolf Straeuli’s experimental touring party in 2002 and it did South African rugby no good at all with us being flogged three weekends in a row by France, Scotland and England. It took the Boks over a year to recover from that mess.

So, with SA’s Tri-Nations campaign over, it’s back to the Currie Cup for those Springboks fit and able and will certainly be watching things develop with a keen eye.

Let’s be frank, the Currie Cup is not the Currie Cup without the best players in South Africa taking part and I have not watched a game this season. Come this weekend, however, when the likes of Andries Bekker, Schalk Burger, Jean de Villiers – to name just three – travel to Bloemfontein to face the Cheetahs in a crunch match, well, then you will find me tuning in and very keen to see how it pans out.

Before I sign off this week, it would be wrong of me not to mention the international retirement of one Percival Colin Montgomery – an ex-teammate of mine and somebody I could not be prouder of.

I had a feeling Monty would call it day after the Tri-Nations and he really deserved to go out on a high – hopefully he will remain the most-capped Springbok for a long, long time.

Monty always gave his best for his country and as just the ninth player in the world to reach 100 caps, he will always be remembered as a great of South African rugby.

He is a rugby guy through and through and the team that signs him up when he hangs up his boots for good will reap the rewards.

Monty doesn’t belong at a bank or an investment firm and I am pretty sure Rassie Erasmus will be looking to sign him up in some capacity when his playing commitments at the Stormers and Western Province come to an end.

He would do well simply as a kicking coach or a backline assistant, but I think he could also add value to the Bok management too. You don’t just buy his experience at your local supermarket – I hope somebody utilises him before it is too late.

Catch you next week,
Fleckie

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

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