Boks aiming for world rugby dominantion

Ex Sport 24

Johannesburg - The Springboks’ victory over England last weekend was the first step towards national coach Heyneke Meyer’s plan of world dominance.

“We really want to be the best team in the world and we need to improve every single game,” Meyer said this week ahead of the second Test at Coca-Cola Park on Saturday.

“There aren’t many games left before the Rugby World Cup so we must improve in every game and it is a must-win for us.”

While Meyer‘s nerves had settled after the Boks’ first victory under his tutelage, he said he expected a backlash from the Roses.

“I am much more relieved, but again, in saying that, I think it is important to keep the pressure on the players," he said.

"It is important to keep our feet on the ground and be humble.

“I thought England were awesome at times and just by great defence and great discipline we kept them out.

“I don’t want to get into a comfort zone where we feel now the job has been done.”

The Bok mentor said his charges needed to make improvements if they wanted to clinch the series this weekend.

“They (England) will definitely come back stronger and we need to make a step up," Meyer said.

"They are a quality side and they are guys that don’t give up.

“A lot of other teams would probably have let go at the end. They came right back until after the hooter.”

While the challenge of facing an improved English side seemed like a daunting one, Meyer clearly relished the opportunity to test his troops.

“It is going to be an awesome battle this weekend,” he said.

“That is the great thing of a three-match series because you have to be at the top of your game, every game.”

Meyer said he was satisfied with certain areas of the Boks’ performance in Durban, but he expected a marked improvement from both sides in the second match.

“There are a few things I am happy with, but mostly (we did not play to) our standards," said Meyer.

"We want to really improve and they will improve, so it is going to be a tough battle.

“At one stage in the second half, we really played great rugby but we didn’t put the points on the board, which is unacceptable.

“They (the Boks) need to lift themselves again and we can build on that second half.

Not much new here but I am glad Meyer realsies that the vision for a Bok side has to be world rugby domination. A very plausible goal and one that he should reach.

This is no cheat beaing from Meyer but simply him setting down a realistic target. Like Jaque Fourie wanting to be best in world or AB De Villiers etc.  So please no immature reactions to this.

abs are going doooown!  Just accept the inevitable!

"We want to play like that for 80 minutes and that is the challenge.”

What an immodest statement. Something AB fans will have a good laugh about. There is a long way from beating a toothless Pom team to world domination.

The fault here probably lies mostly with the author of this piece of rubbish for overstating the case. But I don't like Heyneke's comment about a short time to the RWC. That should not be what it's all about. Winning a few TNs should be the immediate objective.....and, oh yes.....making sure a totally toothless Pom squad is beaten more convincingly this weekend.

Dr Moz, Meyer has made it his oft stated goal to win every test but wants the Boks to improve all the time till the next WC. Please lets understand matters correctly. In Meyers mind the next world cup is not a long way off and the time must be used properly.

Maybe the author is saying what Meyer's plan is but as you point out maybe not. In my opinion it has to be the goal to get the Boks back wherethey belong - top of the world.

As for the kiwi birds - if they dont like it tough luck. They are probably very concerend right now as we have the players and a coach at last. More like it they are wetting themselves - QUAKING IN THEIR BOOTS!!

As for England I think they are a reasonable side. Far tougher than Ireland.

 Media can be a very , very bad enemy  This type of skewed reporting does nothing to promote the current effort.

@ben10,

not concerned at the moment about the Boks, still a good team and still our No1 rivals, but speaking for myself theres only one team who i dont feel comfortable playing and thats a full strength wallabies team.
as long as we play our No1 team against the Boks we should be right.

this time next year after meyer has a year under his belt, i will be watching the Boks with more interest then usual, which is high at the worst of times, as i do think meyer is a very good coach, but u will also have goosen (hopefully) a little bit more wiser after some top level rugby and that dude is the real deal hollyfield.
2012 is a rebuilding phase for all teams across the board, but even more so for the Boks who have lost a lot of senior players and come out the wrong end of the PDV era.

as for the article, i dont see anything wrong with meyers comments, every team should strive for world rugby domination, especially the ABs and the Boks but meyers got his work cut out for him.
latest world rankings have the ABs 5.01 points clear of 2nd place wallabies, that is a massive lead, also the ABs have been No1 more then double the time that everyone else has been combined.
meyers got his work cut out for him and IMO he wont do it this year, but the future is anyones guess, one things for certain, ABs wont go down without a fight, if they go down at all.

Nothing new, it has been the objective of all Bok sides in History to dominate all opposition. They usuall fell short with the execution. If they improve every game, they might just be able to beat NZ once this year. Set your goals high, less you fail?

 Meyer has already stressed that its not about World Cups and that every test must be won

Without raining down on Meyer every Bok coach that sat in his seat demanded "World domination"....He is certainly not showing any view that surprises me.

I like that he is got the RWC firmly in his mind and that his plan is to win every game....However again he aint the only coach that states that....If you listen to Hansen he says the same but states it as "improving on our last performance" 

We will be the team that will challenge the AB's the most - However I predict that England will be a massive challenge for all the SH teams come the RWC in 2015.

As for the RC this year as long as we win all our home games we then put ourselves in the best possible chance to challenge for the trophy. Any silly talk about domination by the Boks with a new coach and a newish team is just silly and setting ourselves up for big fall.

Lets apply some common sense guys not some passionate loyal ignorance - The Wallabies will still be tough but I think we have their number well covered, The Argies wont be a force for at least another two or three seasons. Gotta hope that its the AB's or the Wallabies that lose to them first and not us.

Go the Bokkies

I personally think that Meyer is on the right way - although world domination is a future question mark.   We have to blood some more youngsters for the next WC - but I believe the talent is available.   I wrote elsewhere about the age factor in new Zealand rugby - and unless that is addressed soon - they could face a problem in future.  

Yes - there is a distinct possibility of top team performances - but there are some issues to be dealt with.   Those include a replcement for De Villiers - but there are a number of youngsters competing for his position.   Same applies to Habana and Morne Steyn, as well as Spies.   The rest of the team could make it through to the next WC. 

Draad until isolation we had a better test record gainst every side including the ABS. Us returning to the top would be a natural homecoming.

Sasucks is correct that it may only be after next year by which time Meyer wil lhave got his ducks in a row and also some youngsters will be making an impact. But we may be pleasantly surprised before that. 

There can be no doubt about it - if there are such things as thinking kiwis - they are very worried about the boks right now. I guess they must start getting used to being second best or even third best if the Wallabys come right. Bwahahahahahahaha

meyer's biggest problem right now is gettting his team structures right. his in a era where there is a massive void left by senior players and to replace that will take a massive effort. in saying that al lot of things need to happen for the boks to be the best. first thing that springs to mind is depth. to make sure we can compete with best we need to identifiy the top 40 50 odd players and make sure they are managed well across the board. skills needs to fit in there as well. to be honest we dont have proper backline coaches so are backs are under developt and lacks skills in all areas. massive problem when you play against the aussies and AB's. because to be the best you need to have a 15 man game where everyone needs to be the best. if our forwards get matched we generally just fade away in games because we have the mental thing where we think we can outmuscle every team out there. that needs to change. we need a universal playing method that get adobted from juniors to seniors that promotes forward and backline play but it needs to be high ball posession attack minded. we have taken the right step in apointing rassie for this purpose but it will take years before it will reap benefits.a backline adviser to all the senior teams might also help in transfer of skills to the local teams that clearly are lacking in creating proper backline play.

the younger players will develop in time but i think they will be at the peak of there powers come the next rwc. but if we can take players like goosen lambie and co and develop them as players and incorporate them into a struture and enviroment where they can play then we can destory any team that comes before us. the one reason why the AB are whey are is due to the amazing playing pattern and structure, if we have the same then i can see us losing any game. we need to take leaf from there book.

HM can do it he has the right group of players ext but he needs alot of things to happen first before that can happen. at the current moment we need to change the playing pattern skills need to be looked at urgently and the rest will sort themselves out.

Interesting points by all guys and certainly as a nation we have the talent pool to manifest and create a team that can sustain the mantle of NO#1 as the AB's do and obviously go on to become RWC champions again.

I agree that the rules and laws of the game will make us have to play catch up rugby and adapt accordingly to ensure we keep pace. However I fear that we are a rigid nation to change and continually fall back to whaat we have always known and that is to be "dominant" to be "aggressive" in our approach to our strategy. This is all good in seasons past but it is apparent that we no longer outmuscle teams on size, height, aggression and as the Kiwis say "Mongrel".

So my question back is, if that is the case then what do we have to go forward with to make the right steps to be the very best? I am cautious using that word "domination" as I sincerely believe no one team will ever be able to sustain that long term and any one who thinks that is so is only kidding themselves.

We at least have a new coach whether he will be the messiah we need will only be found out come 4 years time as this is when his tenure will be judged.....He can win everything prior, but lose the RWC he will be released to the wolves of SARU, such is the fickleness of our administration.

I also agree with other comments about the need to change how we use our back line players. It is not natural for SA to just throw the ball around like the AB's and Wallabies, they had rugby league and touch rugby and got into the 7's a lot more than we did. So changing that habit will take many years to do so as muncher stated.

We have no choice but to do this now and implement changes! We will certainly see Heyneke's intent after he has a season under his belt. I am confident with alll the challenges that are in front of us that we will always be at the very top of the rugby ladder. However, we do need change to become the very best as passion alone may win you some games but not keep us at the top long term.

I remember watching an interview of ZinZan Brooke I thnk it was???? after they had beaten the Boks and he statedback then this very pertinent point........"We are always mindful about keeping to the basics as we will not win unless we do this right, however we know that techniques and methods changes along with the game so we adapt accordingly" To me that is hindsight and a natural attitude to change and not being afraid to do so?

Question have we changed our game much in the last 10 years? Will we change our game enough to be able to win the next RWC? Do we have the skills set? Are we smart enough to make the right decisions now for a future game? What happens if Meyers game plan comes un stuck over the next two years will SARU persist through to the RWC? If not then who do we have?

GHo the Bokkie!!!