Matfield finally retiring from rugby?

The following from News24:-
"The curtain came down on legendary Springbok lock Victor Matfield’s rugby career this past weekend.

Matfield played his final game for English club, Northampton Saints, who beat Gloucester 28-20 at the Kingsholm Stadium to finish their season on a high.

Neither team managed to reach the Premiership playoffs, with Saints ending fifth on the log and Gloucester eighth.   It however ensured that Saints will play European Rugby Champions Cup rugby in the 2016/17 season.

Matfield joined Northampton after the conclusion of last year’s Rugby World Cup. 

He retires just short of his 39 birthday (May 11). He made most of his appearances for Northampton off the bench since arriving, as he did on Saturday, coming on for the final 22 minutes to help the Saints maintain control.

“I had a chat with Victor at the end,” director of rugby, Jim Mallinder told The Guardian. “He has been fantastic for us. He did not come here to play 80 minutes 32 times but be a part of the squad. He has played a massive part for us.” 

Matfield played a record 127 Tests for the Springboks between 2001 and 2015."

It is unfortunate that players often enough do not realize when to quit rugby.   After Matfield retired with a massive reputation in 2011 -  he returned to play Super Rugby and tests in 2014 and 2015.   It was soon clear that he was not up to standard anymore and he did massive damage to his image as a rugby player.   As a result the performances of his team was affected and that was unfortunate.   

After the WC he went to the Saints to play for one season and despite the polite comments above he was played from the bench and did not perform satisfactorily at all - clearly indicating that his inclusion in the WC squad was a ridiculous Meyer joke in bad taste.

Despite the above - he has to be wished well or the future,   He was at one stage attacking coach fr the Bulls and there was persistent newspaper reports that he was unpopular with players - who accused him of damaging their careers by providing derogatory info from inside the squad to Ludeke.   He was totally ine pt as an attack coach and there is a question mark as to his future in rugby coaching and management in SA.          

at his peak, hes the best lock ive ever seen, with eales a very close second.
i honestly cant recall any one player who made me nervous as much   as matfield, such was his tactical prowess and big game mettle.

- matfield is the biggest reason why NZs lineout is so formidable, we were forced to strengthen an area which was consistently exposed by matfield. our gameplans, lineout fundamentals and mental approach used to counter viktor, has now made an area of our game stronger than ever.

- its not easy retiring at the right time, more often than not they play one game too many.
matfield is a good example of this, he should never have come back from retirement. instead, he should have helped meyer as an assistant coach with the wealth of accu,mulated knowledge he had cultivated over his career.

all the best to vik and his future endeavours, i believe i read somewhere he was keen to pursue a career in coaching.

 Congrats to Matfield on his career as a SA and Bok great! I agree with Naru-San's post. It is rare in sports to see a player that can change the way a position is played & have such an impact on the game. Well done mate, glad we had the pleasure of seeing you play the game.

 Worst lock ever to play international rugby. A very pap string bean who loved nothing better to spoil our backline. Beloved of the kbbs who knew enough to realise he decimated our tight five. He never got injured becuase he avoided the hard yards like the plague. "Victor does not always play in the backline" said the long suffering and truly great lock Bakkies. You will note the kbbs really didnt like Bakkies. A sure sign he was effective.Victor was a con artist and pulled the wool over the eyes of the gullible. Victor actually was not any worse when playing in recent years as he never did much in any event (Pap tackles where youare driven back by scrummies are hardly much to shout about. Meters gained while running in the backline dont equate to hard yards which are the job of a real lock etc etc). 
I suggested the oaks take a close look at what Victor actually did and they would see how uttlery usless he was. This opened the eyes of some  of the conned. Well it was all very embarassing of course but ou maaaikie came up with the idea, or was it snapster, that wee matfiled was no longer the player he once was. That served as a mechanism to escape the EGG and many took the gap. In the end it was unfortunately the good Dr Moz still clinging to the myrth of matfield being a lock, nay a great one.Ou maaaike so changed his tune he adopted my famous comment about the Bok tight 4 (due to the absence of wee matfield) and so made it his own that he came to believe he had coined the phrase - even though I had been using the phrase for years before he started. Bwahahahahhahahahahahahahahahaha
Give me a break - matfield was pathetic and good riddance I say! 
We need locks like Etzebeth. Now there is a lock. Naturally the kbbs also malign him. Lady Etzebeth etc. So they extol wee matfiled and malign Etzebeth and Bakkies. Rule of the school never trust a kbbs!!!!

The great Matfield will be back as a coach so his "influence" will still be felt, we will still see 105 KG locks in the back-line showing them how it's done

Naru and JW - thanks for the classy posts.
Matfield was the best in the world at his position for a long period . Interesting to see AB fans acknowledge his influence on their game plan. Who do we have now that commands that kind of respect?

I echo Matey's comments. A great lock, who actually forced opponents to change their tactics to avoid lineouts. But also a brilliant open field defender and a creative linking player in the NZ mould , with flypaper hands. WC MOM.
But he also showed us the conventional view that a rugby player's career is all but over at 30, is dead wrong. He played brilliant rugby in 2014 at age 36. In 2015 he was injured almost continuously so he never found his best form, but still made great contributions and ended up the MOM in his last match, winning the bronze at the WC.

Thanks for the memories Victor.

 Mozart
Performance of player start deteriorating with age and there is no way that can be debated.  Matfield was a top class player when he retired initially and off-the-field he should have stayed.   
By coming back he ruined his reputation and his brilliance in 2014 was utter and unabridged imaginative BS on your part.  He was a handicap in 2014 and that can be proved in both Super Rugby matches and tests - this was proven over and over again in virtually all matches played.           

 Look you haven't proved anything in your life. All we have from you are hysterical assertions, usually as part of your deranged response to everything I post. It's funny I suppose but really it's tedious.

 What is hysterical is you baseless praise of Matfield in 2015 and 2015,   He was as useless in those two years as he was for the Saints subsequently.   The Club would have renewed his contract if he was any good - he was not.
I have pointed out strings of deficiencies in Matfield's performances in game after game - both in tests and on Super Rugby level - and all your response was to desperately whitewash those or blame other players for his deficiencies.
Fact is his final destruction of his reputation was the role he played in the loss against   Japan and the loss of the Bulls in 2015 against the Rebels in Super Rugby.   That showed where he handicapped the team to an atrocious level destroying the Tight 5 he was part of.  He most of anything else was the reason for Meyer losing his job.
        

 Hysterical assertions, no facts, just the same old accusations from a neurotic old harpy.

 The list of facts are too long to even start with - so the only response from you are back to personal assertions of no value and an outright lie thrown in.   

 Oh yes facts like he 'destroyed the tight five'.....that in spite of the fact we won every one of our lineouts and the few scrums on our throw, that we actually had a big territory and possession advantage. . More assertions that melt into nothing on inspection.

 Which tests or games are you talking of here?     

 The test against Japan...Matfield also made all 10 of his tackles, two offloads and a clean break, with zero turnovers. By contrast Lomp missed one of his tackles and turned the ball over twice. 

 Hell - but he ignored the so-called game plan of Meyer as well and did squat of any value, but then we had one minor fact ignored again - and that is that De Jager scored a try when he came on eventually from the bench.  Lies g alore as per normal in your case.  

'De Jager scored a try when he came on eventually from the bench' ....he started the game you pathetic ignoramus. You can't even write  one paragraph without making a total fool of yourself.

 He was good in his day ... a jolly jumper ... did what was expected of him in the lineout ... sadly lacking in other aspects ... avoided the physical as best he could ... 
Verbally abrasive ... not much of a team player ... a control freak ... sowed division at every opportunity ... known as a giant sized pr!ck in social circles around Pretoria ...
Glad to see the back of him. 
Eben is superior to him in every way and so is Pieter Steff Du Toit.
Both Eben and Pieter should by rights take their places in the Bok starting 15. 
Lood is useless. He will never amount to anything special. Hope he never sees the green and gold again. We have much better locks available than this slack jawed wannabe ...   
     

I am starting to agree with those that are against Lood. He had a good year last year, but does seem to be very one dimensional! Decent line-out lock, very strong, with good tackle stats, except when it really counts. However, that is about all there is to him. He does seem to be lacking in other areas. At test level, only a complete player is good enough. PSDT, having been injury free for a while, is starting to show some real form. A much better option at this stage. Etz ebeth as the other lock goes without say.  

 As  noted the daft kbbs extol the pathetic matfiled and denigrate the great Bakkies and Eben.Poor Oimatey actually thinks these untruthful kbbs are genuinely praising matfield. Of course they hope to heaven that we find another matfiled! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha how gullible do you get.Lood up to last year was very good. This year he has gone quiet playing for the Cheetahs. I have been wondering whats up.
Matfield was never any good and has been a complete disaster for the Boks and the Bulle.Good riddance to bad rubbish and thankfully we will not have to be embarassed by the show pony anymore! I will do my best to forget all the embarassments.

CC 
Nice description of Matfield - exactly what the players for the Bulls think of him telling tales to Ludeke from the changeroom.   While he and Ludeke was around the Bulls lost their games in strings.   Bad news those two.    

 "Matfield was never any good and has been a complete disaster for the Boks and the Bulle."

2007 Super 14 Final:
Bulls 20 - Sharks 19
BULLS:
FB     15     Johan Roets
RW     14     Akona Ndungane
OC     13     JP Nel
IC     12     Wynand Olivier
LW     11     Bryan Habana
FH     10     Derick Hougaard
SH     9     Fourie du Preez
N8     8     Pierre Spies
OF     7     Wikus van Heerden
BF     6     Pedrie Wannenburg
RL     5     Victor Matfield (c)
LL     4     Bakkies Botha
TP     3     Rayno Gerber
HK     2     Gary Botha
LP     1     Gurthro Steenkamp
Substitutions:
HK     16     Jaco Engels
LP     17     Danie Thiart
RL     18     Danie Rossouw
N8     19     Derick Kuün
SH     20     Heinie Adams
FH     21     Morné Steyn
FB     22     Jaco van der Westhuyzen

2009 Super 14 Final
Bulls 61 – 17 Chiefs
BULLS:
FB     15     Zane Kirchner
RW     14     Akona Ndungane
CT     13     Jaco Pretorius
SF     12     Wynand Olivier
LW     11     Bryan Habana
FF     10     Morné Steyn
HB     9     Fourie du Preez
N8     8     Pierre Spies
OF     7     Dewald Potgieter
BF     6     Deon Stegmann
RL     5     Victor Matfield (C)
LL     4     Bakkies Botha
TP     3     Werner Kruger
HK     2     Derick Kuun
LP     1     Gurthro Steenkamp
Substitutes:
HK     16     Chiliboy Ralepelle
LP     17     Rayno Gerber
N8     18     Danie Rossouw
LF     19     Pedrie Wannenburg
HB     20     Heini Adams
FF     21     Burton Francis

2010 Super 14 final
Bulls 25 – 17 Stormers
BULLS:
   
FB     15     Zane Kirchner
RW     14     Gerhard van den Heever
CT     13     Jaco Pretorius
SF     12     Wynand Olivier
LW     11     Francois Hougaard
FF     10     Morné Steyn
HB     9     Fourie du Preez
N8     8     Pierre Spies
OF     7     Dewald Potgieter
BF     6     Deon Stegmann
RL     5     Victor Matfield (Cpt)
LL     4     Danie Rossouw
TP     3     Werner Kruger
HK     2     Gary Botha
LP     1     Gurthrö Steenkamp
Substitutes:
HK     16     Bandise Maku
LP     17     Bees Roux
N8     18     Flip van der Merwe
LF     19     Derick Kuun
HB     20     Jacques-Louis Potgieter
FF     21     Jaco van der Westhuyzen
RW     22     Pedrie Wannenburg

2007 RWC Final
England      6–15 South Africa
FB     15     Percy Montgomery
RW     14     JP Pietersen
OC     13     Jaque Fourie
IC     12     François Steyn
LW     11     Bryan Habana
FH     10     Butch James
SH     9     Fourie du Preez
N8     8     Danie Rossouw        
OF     7     Juan Smith
BF     6     Schalk Burger
RL     5     Victor Matfield
LL     4     Bakkies Botha
TP     3     CJ van der Linde
HK     2     John Smit (c)        
LP     1     Os du Randt
Replacements:
HK     16     Bismarck du Plessis    
PR     17     Jannie du Plessis
LK     18     Johann Muller
FL     19     Wikus van Heerden        
SH     20     Ruan Pienaar
FH     21     Andre Pretorius
CE     22     Wynand Olivier

Notes from the final:

44 mins: Fantastic kick from Victor Matfield of all people. He gets the ball at first receiver, looks up and dabs one in that makes Mark Cueto turn.

The England winger has to play it, and has no choice but to run it out over the touchline.

8 mins: Victor Matfield calls a great mark inside his 22 under pressure from Mike Catt, and then taps to Fourie du Preez who kicks for touch.

The ball is touched in flight by an England hand, playing all the Springbok players in front onside. Os du Randt trundles towards the ball and forces Mark Cueto into a nervous-looking knock-on.

 Ceradunce - the idiot who thinks that 1707 is later than 1795 - now fails to read what was said about Matfield.  It was stated that Matfield was good enough prior to 2011 - when he retired and that his big mistake - ruining his reputation was returning to play rugby in 2014 and 2015.  So he wrote a book as to what happened before 2011.   I s 2014 and 2015 now before 2011?  

 You already had your nose moered out of place with the 1707 argument and now you are coming back for more. Ook maar lekker f@kken stupid, of hoe? Why don't you go back to that particular thread where you had your nose rub in it and continue the debate?

As far as VM is concerned, I do not give a crap about what has been said about 2011 or his comeback or whatever. I merely responded to one particular remark by Beeno. This one:  "Matfield was never any good and has been a complete disaster for the Boks and the Bulle."

Do you have anything to counter what I have said in response to that particular one by Beeno? If so, then produce it.Otherwise, STFU, doos .

 Matfield....best lock in the last 10 years
Etzebeth....head and shoulders above the current crop
Stephanie....playing well at the Stormers, but still not test proven and is he over the injuries.
Lomp....a selfish player, who puts out when it suits him, totally dominated by Etzebeth

Snyman....physically impressive and aggressive, need to see him head on head with a fully match fit Etzebeth to judge.
Mostert.....Not physical enough.
Willemse....almost as physical as Etzebeth, would snap Lomp like a twig....the one that got away
Quince Roux ......the one that got away, who should have got away

With this overwhelming evidence even Beeno would be convinced of the value of Matfield. 
I think we can safely assume that his silence is indicates his full agreement

 I have had the m isfortune of watch matfiled for years and he was a con artist who really should not play even club level rugby.Great news he will never again ruin our Bok pack. Away with the show pony!
I am afraid thre gullible are many but at least towards the end they saw through the bulldust.The good Doctors take on locks has been iffy to say the least with matfield being a disasterous call!
JW I have to watch my blood pressure when oaks start getting nostalgic about wee matfiled 105 kg - 2 kg heavier than wee Brussouw! 

I now know how to get wee Beeno to emerge from his lethargy & self-imposed isolation, just mention Matfield three times - it was the same with Beetlejuice 


It that Beeno or Matfield in the picture? 

Beeno
Mozart call Labuschagne at 108 kgs "Liggies" - but never called Matfield at 105 kgs and generally known as Kiewiet because of his lack of physicality and thin legs anything like that.   Then Matfield was supposedly a lock - while Labuschagne is a loosie.  
I must admit I liked Matfield in line-outs.  He was so light he could be lifted easily by support players.   He destroyed the Tight 5 of the Springboks for years and that was admitted by ex-Springbok locks in numerous discussions.   What I dislike intensely was when he buggered up the backline as well by pretending he is a center.  His appointment as Attack coach by the Bulls was a disaster from thr eord go and the Bulls went down badly - leading to Ludeke's firing and the coaching contract of Matfield be terminated.   T hey were so delighted when Matfield requested termination, they could not agree quickly enough.        

Beeno
Mozart call Labuschagne at 108 kgs "Liggies" - but never called Matfield at 105 kgs and generally known as Kiewiet because of his lack of physicality and thin legs anything like that.   Then Matfield was supposedly a lock - while Labuschagne is a loosie.  
I must admit I liked Matfield in line-outs.  He was so light he could be lifted easily by support players.   He destroyed the Tight 5 of the Springboks for years and that was admitted by ex-Springbok locks in numerous discussions.   What I dislike intensely was when he buggered up the backline as well by pretending he is a center.  His appointment as Attack coach by the Bulls was a disaster from thr eord go and the Bulls went down badly - leading to Ludeke's firing and the coaching contract of Matfield be terminated.   T hey were so delighted when Matfield requested termination, they could not agree quickly enough.        

Ex Springbok lock(s)....you mean Mark Andrews, who is so jealous of Victor he can't say a good word about him? That ex Springbok lock?

About time Vic, it was 6 years too much  

 Mo zart 
The issue of Matfield was discussed in a forum where Andrews was not present - broadcast on DSTV.  Matfield was credited with line out play, but none of the panelists recommended his selection to the WC squad because of the fact he was a liability for the Tight 5 and that not produce anything in Tight 5 play.   Even Bakkies remarked that he was not always standing around in the backline.   That implies he was standing around in the backline more than is acceptable.
Andrews jealous of Matfield - how difficult was it to dream up that BS?  Suppose it comes naturally in your case.             

 Typical of a twat like beendik to put down Matfield ,us kiwis were very happy to see him retire and Sasue is quite right about him forcing change on us in our line outs .And anyone who forces the ABs to change is indeed an influential player deserving of better than some of the crap heaped upon him .I hope he enjoys his well earned retirement.

 Thanks Wardad, I'm guessing all these so called South African rugby fans who hate their great players puzzle you...you NZ chappies seem much more loyal. It's part of a big winning culture vs our small, envious losing culture.