Captain49,914 posts
23 Sept 2019, 17:59
#1
23 Sept 2019, 17:59#1
Rassie has benefited from two huge strokes of fortune.....a win and a draw in NZ, when the smart money would have said the games were lost. Other than those two results, his Bok record isn't even mediocre.
But, largely because of the recent draw, there has been huge optimism among Rasistas.....somewhat echoed by the world press who have never really bought into the decline of the Boks. The man who singlehandedly turned around the Boks fortunes. But what has he really done?
Our set pieces are no better, our general backline play has probably declined under Eraser.....so what? Better defence for sure, the moment our defence was unravelled by the cross kicks outside the defensive line, we looked lost. Somehow at half time Nienaber papered over the cracks.
And until the high energy required in an active defence sapped our energy in the last 10minutes, we were competitive......but not incisive.We cant construct anything....hell we couldn't even back up Kolbe's brilliant breaks. If it's a high scoring game, it's tough for the Boks.
So where are we? The very disappointing performance against the AB is being spun big time.....a bump in the road, the ref was biased, it was just two brief passages of play. None of that's true.
The real problem is we cant play with the ball. Our forwards still blunder into opposing tackles.....we managed 2 offloads vs a low 8 by NZ. We have gone backwards offensively under Eraser. The media needs to be shouting this from the hills.....but Eraser is the latest version of a South African prophet.
Make no mistake though, this loss has stolen a lot of perceived momentum. And we will have to likely go through 3 of Ireland, Wales, England and the ABs.
No doubt if we fail we will immediately hear about the short period of 2 years Eraser had. How we are set to win in 2023. But maybe some of our sychophantic press will peel away a bit of the teflon and admit, he has only improved our defence and that's 100% Nienaber, an obvious disciple of Jake White.
But the players don't operate in a vacuum, when all they read is positive, they are going to drink the Kool Aid......and there's some value in that versus the barrage of negativity White and HM had to face.
But confidence can only take you so far.....and confidence received a major blow with this loss. Luck has run Eraser's way so far.....and there is still a chance we can pull it off.
But if not perhaps we will see Eraser is the road back to the past, not a path to the future.
