Coach57,555 posts
28 Aug 2013, 07:00
#1
28 Aug 2013, 07:00#1
I wanted to leave this item until we see what Meyer is going to come up in the squad to go to Australasia - but decided to raise the issue in any event - because having seen what Meyer came up with thus far - I accept that there will be no real changes and we will just use the experienced players he likes.
In the first instance lets be honest - we have achieved nothing of substance and has not beaten the All Blacks in any tests of any real substance. We have never beaten the Wallabies away - but won an occasional test against them at home.
The few victories we had at home was when there were other factors at play as a result of major injury problems - like the Aussies had last year in Pretoria - ending up with a team of relative unknowns.
Yet we have been consistent in having teams in the upper half od the log for Super 15 in 2012 and even in 2013. In 2012 we had 3 of the top 6 teams - this year we had 4 of the top 8 teams. Although SA teams have not been winning the trophy in the final analysis - the log positions mean that we should be reasonably competitive in the Championship - but we have not been so. We have been consistently lower than Australia and New Zealand in the Championship log.
Why then have we been so poor in the Championship up to and including 2012? The answer largely lies in the team selection and our playing strategy. Now lets look at the two issues mentioned.
PLAYER SELECTION
There was an enforced change after 2011 - because so many of the Springboks left our shores or stopped playing rugby after the 2011 WC. Most of those have been way past their sell-by date even in 2010 and 2011. Where we brought in new players before the WC - a substantial number of players were not competent enough to beat the AB's and the Wallabies in the RC.
Lets look at generalized statements. We need a heavy and slow back row since the people selected are strong ball carriers. But then Tomas came up with a real statement - which was proven true even in the test on Saturday - tackle them low and despite their weight and size they go down. The result - no really successful ball carriers.
We talk about bone-crushing tackles - but those players who are allegedly making those tackles - are distinguished by their extremely low tackle count.
We talk about experienced players - yet the experienced players are the real reason for the failures of the past four years.
There can be no doubt that the recycling of the same experienced players - quite a number of them having been poor performers - have been the reason for the poor performances in the period 2010 to 2012.
The answer remains - why not analyse the performances of all players - experienced or otherwise - and determine whether they are acceptable and whether their performances actually justifiy their retention. Of the experienced players - some were totally ineffective in tests as late as last year. Lets look at our back row in the Soweto test last year. All the players produced zilch either in defence, ball carrying or ball recovery. The same was in evidence in the away tests last year. So why stick with the same back row if they were unsuccessful?
The same can be said about other positions on the field of play. Our lock combinations have largely been unsuccessful. We have Etzebeth - one of the best in the world - but have been unsuccessful with experienced players like Kruger and Van der Merwe as his partners. Bekker was always the obvious answer, but he was injury prone and is not available anymore. When you analyse the performances of Van der Merwe and Kruger you find that they were poor on test level - similar to their performances In Super 15 - but any suggestion to changing them is met with howls of protest from certain quarters - and obviously also from Meyer who actually persists with them come hell or high water.
We had an abomination in our backline - especially with the inside positions and ast full back and selections were made that could only spell disaster. We had two of the best wings in the world - but the players inside of them were mostly useless. I would exclude De Villiers here - because he was the one player whose performances were acceptable. At full back we had a player whose only claim to fame was "that he is good under high balls" -- but was in all other aspects of the game a real liability.
Now lets look at the backline selections specifically. Firstly we had Francois Steyn and Olivier at 12. Despite howls of protest to the contrary from Saffex - Steyn was a disaster last year. He was slow and fat and unfit and his only contribution was really to crash ball. His defence was poor and his kicking game bad. He was injured and came back to play for the Sharks in 2013 - and was a similar disaster. Despite the issues raised Meyer insisted to have him in his squad and went so far as to call him up to his first training camp this year. If he was not injured he was a shoo-in for the team this year. Steyn's injury resulted in a forced change - so Meyer brought in Taute at center - despite the fact that in all the games he played in bar 3 since 2010 he played at full back. So the expected happened Taute - not really being a center - failed in that position - especially in defence.
The signs are better this year - but would they have been if Francois Steyn was available for selection? I doubt it very much. At least Meyer tried a different approach by bringing in Serfontein and Engelbrecht - but there are some question marks about the defence of the latter.
If there was one consistency in the whole backline it was Morne Steyn. Nobody can deny that Morne Steyn is one-dimentional and utterly predictable. Even his most ardent supporters can't argue against the fact that he is a very average - some might even say poor - pivot insofar as attacking backline play is concerned The opposition knows exactly what is to be expected from Morne and they take counter-measures - and our whole backline performance is jeopardised.
The above examples are statements of fact that nobody can deny. and is mostly our "experienced" players that cause our poor performances - not the few new players that Meyer (mostly enforced as a result of injuries to experienced players) who are to blame.
PLAYING STRATEGY
The unsuccessful playing strategy still centers around -
* Pienaar and Morne's strategic kicking and the chase game associated with the kicking
* Kicking at goal - a disastrous mess like happened last year can be extremely problematic
* Ball recovery at breakdiwns - Meyer's big bugbear.
Now lets look at the implementation of the strategies mentioned. The strategic kicking game depends on accuracy and being such that pressure can be applied. Both Morne and Pienaar is at fault here. There aimless kicks are often enough too far for effective chase and they merely result in handing over valuable possession to the opposition.
The ball recovery from Breakdowns Is Meyer's biggest issue. Despite the appointment of a Consultant - it does not work and he question is why not? The answer is simple - the players selected to do the bulk of the work in the relevant regard is unable to deliver the service. They have never been capable to do so and the tests against the Scots and the Pumas this year showed up that deficiency repeatedly.
SUMMARY
Why are we not at all successful in the Championships? The reasons are obvious -
* an unwillingness to deal effectively with defective "experienced" players and reluctance to replace them
* the continuation with a predictable game plan which are simple to nullify by the opposition.
Will we be any more successful than we have been since 2010? I believe not - since it would seen that Meyer is not prepared to identify properly the problems related to player selection and strategy and make some very necessary changes in the relevant regard.
