Not so long ago, in October 2015 to be specific, there was a very quirky joke going around…
Little known fact
There is a Playoff for 5th Place at the Rugby World Cup
It’s called the 6 Nations
The Northern Hemisphere really silenced the Southern Hemisphere on Saturday…
Wales almost beating the All Blacks
England putting the Aussies to the Sword
And then there was Ireland – Spanking the Boks at Newlands with only 14 men!
Lots have been said about the Ireland defeat of the Boks and reiterating it on Paul’s blog will not change much or bring new insights – what is obvious, is that the South African rugby community is upset and hurting. Let’s put the weekend into context:
The bad run started with a shock loss for Dawie Theron’s Bokkies against the Argies.
Then Ireland played their 14-man part against a poor Bok side and just as you thought things couldn’t get worse, the Proteas managed to lose against Australia in the West Indies, after being comfortably ahead and on their way to victory, only to end up 40 odd runs short.
To say it was a weekend to forget, is an understatement! Maar ek kan ook sê: Ons is nou MOEG van verloor!
The weekend ahead is vital, not only for the new Bok coach and his troops, but also for SARU. What has become obvious, is that the product they are delivering is inferior. The shine of the once proud rugby nation is rubbing off and mediocrity is becoming the norm. The crowds are getting restless and the paying public impatient!
We are a nation of survivors and with some necessary changes, I am full of hope that the Boks will bounce back.
The Springbok A side also lst against the Saxon’s of England, all in one weekend.
Francois – thanks for reminding us… 🙂
All Blacks did not almost lose to Wales look at the scoreboard.
On top of this a perfectly good try try by the All Blacks was disallowed
by the referee the same person who saved the 2007 Springboks from
facing them in the final of the same year.. I have been watching tests
from 1949 and i am afraid our style of Rugby is generally boring
relying on penalty and drop kicks to win All Blacks are sensational.
We will need to agree to disagree… the commentary afterwards reflected that the score card was hardly a reflection of the game. RE: the forward pass – that is open to interpretation – the hands might have shown backwards but it could also be argued that the passer of the ball was not square on going forward but rather running at an angle almost towards the corner flag which a pass with the hands back would also be forward…
SA rugby has been downgraded to Junk Status ….. just like soccer and cricket.
Politics is playing to much of a roll in selection!
I really hope that SARU is rueing their political correctness in appointing “Toetie” as Coach – and throwing a sop to Johan Ackerman (the A side) who has shown that he is the best when it comes to building a side of Newcomers. Calling back two players who obviously did not really care, was the dumbest thing Mr. Coetzee has done to date.
To be fair Toetie’s CV on its own justifies his appointment – although the Boks might be selected on “merit” it’s the teams under that too school level that is heavily governed by selection criteria imposed by the Sport Ministry… perhaps questions and accountability should rather be directed towards the Ministry as to why the quality of the product is what it is at the moment. SARU can only work within the parameters they are allowed to operate within…
It seems that the Boks have forgotten the fact that when 15 play against 14 players the side with 15 is numerically superior and all they have to do is keep possession, grind their way froward until they get to the try line and score a try. That is how the AB’s do it, the Aussies and any other team of note. This is not rocket science it is simple logic that sooner or later when you keep possession a hole in the defense will occur. How basic is that and yet neither the coach nor the captain could convey that to the rest of the team. All the Boks had to do was slow the game down and wear out the opposition. In the end it would have been a cake walk.