Well, there you have it. Another assumption and/or general impression that is flushed down the toilet. As I've said many a time, there is no record at any level of Josè coaching to a high standard. Strip away defence and you are really left with nothing. All week I've been correcting these assumptions and general impressions. Do the Boks beat in form and top teams under Josè? Dame Unteromlett aggressively insisted we do, until I put him straight. 4 in 31 tests. Not very impressive. One of those three with a depleted Welsh side, one an anomaly in Wellington. It begins to look rather desperate.
Did Josè immediately turn the Boks around from Coetzee? No. As I showed, 2017 was better than 2018 in just about every possible way. Yet he received so much praise. Why? Why is Josè not being held to any kind of standard? He is the very incarnation of everything that Meyer was incorrectly and viciously attacked for being.
Where were the Boks before the World Cup? 5th. They had flitted between 5th and 6th under Josè until that point. They were exposed for their dumb muscle approach against the All Blacks in the opener, coming close to dropping to 6th again, before leapfrogging through the rankings with double points against minnows. More than half of their tournament production coming against Canada, the 22nd ranked team. They did not play good rugby up until the final. 2019 comes down to a home win against a struggling Wallaby side who war statistically the worst Wallaby side in 45 years and the final against England.
We are not talking about consistent quality here. And we still haven't seen it this year. The Boks are awful. Uncharacteristically poor basic skills from the Lion's players saved the Boks, and some very favourable reffing decisions.
The big question : Is it sustainable? I don't think so. Not unless Covid has seen a damaging regression across the board. I still believe Gatland could have won a series that was there for the taking. The Boks were being bossed around at the collisions and the defence was folding when put through phases. Argentina had only themselves to blame in the first test for silly errors which really gifted the Boks a lead without having done anything; then they were blown out of the game in the second test. Where to from here?
It's up to Josè and Krutch to sweep the Wallabies and All Blacks. With his reputation, anything less will be a failure. You couldn't really ask for an easier opportunity to face these two teams given the way covid restrictions have affected the game and without having to be in New Zealand.
