Hmmmm . . . who to believe? Legendary Springboks like John Smit, Bakkies Botha and Bryan Habana . . . or Doos XL, the poster who knows the least about rugby on a meaningless message board?
It's a tough one . . .
"It's a tough one . . ."
Mozart
You and l'Grande Merde are both talking shit. Fact is the Steyn missed tackle nearly let to a English try. He missed two other tackles as well. Steyn never was a matchwinner in his whole career in tests - that is why he was never in any tests played between 2013 and 2018. For that reason it was a mystery that Erasmus selected him as a back-up player for the 2014 RWC. In major matches in 2019 never played more than 12 minutes on average. Fact is Steyn was a disaster in 2012 as well.
Pieterse and Habana did well in the group matches in 2007 - in the final they never saw a ball. Personally I thought Pietersen looked good and very promising in 2007 at age of 19 - but by 2014 he was piss-poor and not a really good Springbok wing anymore.
So let me answer the simple question l'Grande Merde raised. The Springbok backline was dysfunctional and not properly used in the final. There obviously was no such problem in the Group matches - but in the final they played Jake Ball - which meant that the backline ended with the Flyhalf or in rare cases with Steyn at 12. So Jones did play a role in matches through proper usage of the backline - but in the final White did not allow for that to happen. By the way numbskulls mention one good backline attacking in the final - there was not a single attack by the backline that could be called even partly effective.
He led Japan to a RWC victory over the mighty Bokke, an ignominious day in our rugby history.
So I ask you with tears in my eyes Clever, if the Springbok backline was dysfunctional, which I don’t believe, how does Eddie get credit for our victory.
You are so befuddled , you don’t even realize you are arguing for Jake and against Eddie.
No Mozart - helped the Springboks by treating them as grown ups - not like children. He was a proper coach while White behaved like a schoolteacher. Fact is that White's coaching problems include situations players gets dispirited and in important matches the team collapsed. That was noticeable wherever he was a coach - irrespective whether on international or club/franchise level. .