Balanced and fair...a neutral's point of view....

Wayne Smith

Former New Zealand Coach

It would not surprise me if England win a test match against South Africa, but they will have to do it the hard way. Back in 2009 South Africa beat the All Blacks in all three matches between the two nations. At the time we felt they were different to other teams. They had an edge. We decided to find out what it was that set the 2007 world champions apart.

So when South Africa invited us into their changing room after the first test in Bloemfontein, we accepted. We were keen to talk to them and understand their motivation better. What impressed us first of all was how respectful they were as people. They were very polite and they had great respect for the both the All Blacks tradition and the All Blacks group.

We then got beaten the following week in Durban and again went into the South African changing room. Back in New Zealand we lost to the Boks in Hamilton and invited them to the post match gathering with friends and family. We were getting to know them.

We were realising that the South Africans weren’t just playing for their country, but for something more. They were representing the transformation of their country. Men like John Smit, Victor Matfield, Jean de Villiers and Brian Habana were leading the way.

In New Zealand we tend to be task orientated. Yes, there is great pride in the jersey and the history, but we realised that we needed to look for something more. We had to go up a level emotionally if we were to match South Africa.

That change in focus put us on the track to the World Cup. Beating South Africa 3-0 in 2010 was a huge part of winning the Webb Ellis trophy, just as winning test matches in the Southern Hemisphere was vital to England’s success in 2003.

I played with Schalk Burger’s dad for the Southern Hemisphere against the Northern Hemisphere in 1986 and it was wonderful to get to know the son. He is tough, competitive, respectful, a great man to have a beer with. Jean de Villers is another strong, honest man. You can see their character in the Stormers.

The Chiefs beat the Bulls last week by meeting the challenge head on. That is what you have to do against South African teams. You need strong body language, good tackle technique, smart defence and a big heart or they will come straight over the top of you. And they will keep coming.

I expect South Africa under Heineke Meyer to stick to their traditional strengths against England. Not for nothing has the coach recalled Fourie du Preez from Japan. Against the Lions most of South Africa’s influential plays came from lineout drives, penalties, kick to the corner, drive again.

England should know what to expect because Meyer coached at Leicester as well as the Bulls. They can draw from that intellectual capital. South Africa have a few selection issues to resolve, particularly in the back five of the scrum, but even if the personnel changes, the tactics are likely to remain the same. Kick and drive and tackle. It is not so easy to defend, particularly as Habana is one of the best kick chasers in world rugby.

England are looking to develop their game and it will be interesting to see if they continue to offload against one of the hardest hitting defences on their home soil. If England can successfully offload more and more in the tackle, add that to their natural assets of power and defence, then they are on the way to becoming a very dangerous side. I suspect Meyer would have preferred an easier opponent to begin his coaching reign.

I also expect the home team to win, but the series will be a good measure of how far England have come and how far South Africa are prepared to go.

England have been functioning much better amongst the backs than forwards for all of the last three years. Their pack is weak, set pieces weak. Not a great tactical side.

@der

Gotta agree

Their pack certainly looks like it could have holes punched right through it.

I do fear their outside backs though. ... if they see any decent ball, they are explosive runners!

Gentleman....It's not so much about them....it's more to do about us! For a start, just how prepared are we? Our combinations are new....etc

england vs ireland in the 6nats was a good game for the english forwards, they completely dominated the scrums and showed a lot of aggression in the breakdowns.

Yes they did, as Ireland has never been able to consistently out-muscle the English. The 2012 vintage being particularly weak and heavily exposed in wet weather. Adding insult to injury the Irish backs kept coughing up possession at key moments in the game. Neither side played to a good standard.

Of particular interest though was how easily the Italians and Scots shut England down. The two best packs in the competition made England fumble around like amateurs. It took an unforced error, namely a charge down, saved what should have been two consecutive defeats which would have been a much more accurate reflection of the side.

der you dont half speak a load of crap.......Englands strength is their set pieces, especially their scrum. Their pack dominated every pack in the 6N - what rugby were you watching? They have one of the best frontrows in the game for a start

I can't see the Poms winning a game....maybe a half. Nor do I think our pack as it's likely to be constituted will have much problem with the Pom pack. It will be service as usual.....no Martin Johnsons or Richard Hills in this bunch.

England's pack was manhandled by Italy and Scotland. Very much exposed. Only two very lucky charge downs saved them from a deserved defeat; defeats that would be more reflective of their actual ability. They have found slightly more enterprise amongst the backs but have lost a lot of grunt in the new generation of forwards. Their locks in particular are a tragedy.

der that is complete nonsense, England dominated every pack, Mallett confirmed that. Their locks are not great but solid enough - certainly better than say a Johan Muller who has a number of caps for the Boks.

One area we will not dominate England and that is in the scrums - at best we will achieve parity. In Cole they have one of the best tightheads in the game and Corbeserio is proving a real find at loosehead. Morgan at 8 is a huge man and is a real handful, as is Haskell. Their pack is solid enough and in Tuilagi they have real clout at 13 and plenty of zip out wide with Ashton and Foden. This Pom side will be tough to beat and we wont be beating them up in the forwards and chances are with Morne, Jean and de Jongh in the backs we stand very little chance of making an impression

Appalling weather conditions in both Scotland and Italy, two incredibly hard away games for a new team/new Caps and a new Coaching structure. Both matches won and neither Scotland nor Italy ever looked like winning those matches, even though they both fully expected to.

As an England supporter, I was more than satisfied with what I saw and the way the team coped, particularly with regards the Scotland match.

Probably best you concentrate on South Africa's game from now on.

i think the fact that the Boks are playing at home, will be the advantage that gives them just that little bit extra to win, but the first test will be meyers and the Boks batisim by fire, as england are battle hardened after their 6nats campaogn and the barbarians game help sort out last minute plays and combos.

wayne smiths comments about meyer not detracting from the Boks strengths and making a lot if any surprise selections on game day, makes a lot of sense, as they will need to adjust quickly in the short turn around they have between spXV and tests.
u would have to say that england will be the more synergised of the two, bottomline, england have had the ideal preperation.

@der aristokrat,

so england beat ireland 30 - 9, but niether team played very well??? pretty sure that  a scoreline like that against ireland on their holiest day is, makes that comment a little odd. oh and BTW, bad weather on game day effects both teams.
the english game against the azzuri is hardly surprising, the 6nat matches against italy in the azzuris backyard for the last 3 years have all been close, dosent matter whose been playing there. u dont give the azzuri enough credit.

Sas, more than most I give Italy credit. So much so that in 2009 I warned they could beat us. The point is that England do not possess the big monster pack that they are famous for. From 2010 they transitioned from pack reliance to more elusive backplay. The fact that their games have been close with Italy means nothing, particularly as the nature of those games each year are very different from each other.  As for the Irish game, no, neither side played well, it was bordering on CC level, as most 6 Nations tend towards anyway. It was slow and inaccurate. The Irish shot themselves in the foot throughout with a host of schoolboy errors that England took advantage of. Nothing remotely special about this showing.

Becs, your bias is truly astounding. Minus those charge downs England never looked like winning either game. They were well shut down and had absolutely NO answers. A very poor French showing and a very weak Irish side flatter England, as well as the incredibly overrated Welsh.