The four incidents that saved Rassie’s bacon….and a fifth

The Boks came to this test with nothing new tactically. The Lions tried to play rugby and it showed in metres and defenders beaten. They were the better team but these four incidents were fatal:

The Lions had struggled to score tries throughout the Test series, not least ones that involved their three-quarter line. When Liam Williams made a break down the right-wing, with Handre Pollard ahead of him and Josh Adams on the outside with a clear run to the try line, it felt like five points were in the offing. Williams instead shows the pass to Pollard before thinking better of it in an attempt to jag back infield for a go at the Bok flyhalf’s inside shoulder.

Pollard makes the tackle and the move was shut down.

‘ TOM CURRY OFFSIDE – 29 MINUTES

The men in red appeared to have scored a second try only to be hauled back care of  a moment of ill-discipline from Tom Curry, who had needlessly broken his bind as the Lions maul trundled over the line. The score would have seen the Lions go 17 – 3 ahead, with the proviso of a tricky confusion for Russell to come.

ALUN’S LOST LINEOUT – 38 MINUTES
With momentum still behind them, Finn Russell and the Lions kicked the corner after Curry had won a penalty off a restart. The odds were short that the subsequent lineout maul drive would result in a try for the Lions, but Eben Etzebeth had other ideas, poaching the ball from Alun Wyn Jones in a potential series saving intervention. The Lions were awarded a scrum in a decent attacking position a few minutes later but the imminent danger of the lineout maul had passed and the Lions couldn’t capitalise on the scrum.

SINCKLER’S SCRUM PENALTY – 70 MINUTES
The dire state of the surface at the Cape Town Stadium had made the Test match scrums an absolute mess, with neither side able to gain any sustained advantage at the setpiece.  With frequent scrum collapses the order of the series, referee Mathieu Raynal and his officials were looking for any reason to make a case for either side winning any given scrum contest. When replacement tighthead Sinckler took a knee a few moments before one such collapse in the 70th minute, it was enough to see the Lions penalised. With the score 16 – 13 to the Springboks, it felt like the ball game right there.

…………

I’m not actually sure the cover might not have got to Adam’s before he scored, but the pass should have been made. Credit Willie and credit Etzebeth for diffusing 2 of the four threats.

…..But there was a fifth. Price who had a pretty horrible game, took the ball solo right back into the teeth of the Bok pack metres from the Bok line when he had no immediate support. He was turned and the opportunity lost.

I can’t think of any Bok opportunities that were lost. Only the kicks Pollard missed.

It's the way Gatland's teams play...we struggled against Wales in the RWC and barely pulled through...and before that, we haven't beaten them in ages...

Argie will be difficult too...they counter our strengths well...

Thre was another incident which played a role and that wa when the Lions were on the attack  deep in the Springboks 22 and DE Allende was ina possition to reciver the ball at a breakdiwn and the lions were penalized.     

Los Pumas have the best midfield in SH rugby. The depth at centre is amazing. It's hit or miss with them. In 2018, they played like us, very predictable 9 to POD or POD screen punctuated by a kick. That was their game aside from a couple of series. Then came test two: They kept the ball alive and had support coming onto the ball from great angles. We simply couldn't stop them once they made the initial breach. The Boks defend like rhinos, and the Lions failed to challenge it. The Boks are like the walls of Babylon initially, but once you make a break, they are like headless chickens. You just have to be smarter. For a period the Lions were having their big carriers slip a pass in the face of contact and getting support over the gainline with ease. This is something NZ do better than anyone, they use their pods like its own midfield, and will play the ball amongst themselves to create space. Take the Wellington test, they would bait Steph out, and out a runner into space, now they had a breach and momentum. Clean ball, and now Barrett was there to slice up the cover. We had to absorb up to 30 phases of that after the intial breach. The Bok defence can definitely be beaten, and the one-dimensional players we have are very easily exploitable. We haven't really beaten a team that has had a full go at us since Wellington 2018. The closest would be France 2018.

Sure they beat the Meyer lot in 2015 in  because the duds selected by Meyer was incompetent and unfit.    in the Durban test they won  by a wide margin and that applies to  the real situation.   In the  RC test in 2019 in Argentina they were beaten by a comprehensive performance by a team using both forwards and backline players playing 15 man rugby - something impossible under Meyer and Coetzee.    Their only try in that match stem from a missed tackle by Mostert on their flyhalf  - which were standard with  Mostert - his open-field tackles are still non-existent.      

world cup results vs NZ

HM vs ABs …….18 to 20

RE vs ABs……13 to 23

Were it not for the fact that Dud Allende allowed his man Nonu to run diagonally for 20 metres inside our 22 and offload for a try, we could have won that match.

Don't forget the Lood gaff. Meyer kept the Boks at 2 for most of his tenure, until Damian, Lood, Lambie, Reinach, Coetzee, Coenie came into the team. 

Spot on HM got badgered into selecting fan favorites who bombed.

Australia, Damian flubbed the entire test. I remember how excited everyone was after that game, the Boks were great. The centre pairing was dubbed world class. If only. We lost that test directly because of Damian. 

The NZ loss was close. It came down to an illegal NZ lineout.

Argentina. Lood, Steph, Coetzee, Damian, Mvovo, Kriel et al. We really struggled with the fan favourite flubs. Jean's first game back from his horror injury. This was the game where Pollard was booed off the field.

Japan: We were told by Mark Andrews that we must build our entire campaign around Steph. Well, at 7, he folded like a deck of cards from start to finish. Coenie and Kriel put a nail through us and Lambie's two missed conversions were costly. Kirchner was the scapegoat (he made one bad clearance in the whole game, his only error). The fact was, the fan flubs were found out. Jones started that they had two months of preparation for this one game and that Lambie's predictability and passivity were keenly exploited (they didn't want to face Pollard).

New Zealand: Discussed already.

Fast forward to today and we can conclude that a leopard never changes its spots. Once a flub always a flub. 

"world cup results vs NZ

HM vs ABs …….18 to 20

RE vs ABs……13 to 23

Were it not for the fact that Dud Allende allowed his man Nonu to run diagonally for 20 metres inside our 22 and offload for a try, we could have won that match."

What utter horse sh!t comparison...

HM RWC's = 0

HM Lions tour victories = 0

HM RC trophies = 0

HM losses to Japan.

It's silly to pick the parameters of a case study in a way that guarantees the result you want to achieve ...this is getting sillier and more spiteful by the day.

Not spiteful. Facts. You can't really compare the two. Parameters show that Meyer was the better coach. Josè needs to face lesser foes. 2018 was a washout and 2019 was about three games. That's it. We've regressed markedly. Our best players don't register in the top 10 in any position and our game is absolutely putrid. The plastics keep their eyes shut. 

Nope, jy kla met 'n witbrood onder die arm...nothing will be good enough for you two...sad.

Draad if you want conformity China is the country for you. There are different views on this stuff. That’s fine with me…..so I come up with specific  documented facts to backup my arguments. Like Allende never closed down his opposite number and they got the winning try…..look at the tape. Tell me I’m lying.

I’m never going to be persuaded by statements like ‘nothing will be good enough for you’…show me where I’m wrong.

Believe me I don’t like being critical of the Boks  and the coaches. I think we played an impressive WC final, but what’s happened since then is discouraging.

I'm everything but a conformist, and both you and Card have good points and insights,  but IMO the level of negativity is way over the top for the situation where we find ourselves...and IMO you undervalue the Bok's achievements significantly...there has to be balance in you're criticism...I don't see it...at al.

Balance sounds like conformity…boring….but when the Boks play the test they are capable of, I will be the first to cheer. We saw glimpses of that in the WC final.

Believe me, negative as you may see me….when Kolbe got the ball in space on Saturday I was on my feet cheering him on.

I want the Boks to win and I want them to do so playing exciting rugby. With Willie, Am, Mapimpi, Pollard, Faf  and Kolbe we have as exciting a group of running backs as any international team. Why do they have to be relegated to up and under chasers?

"Balance sounds like conformity…boring…."

No...balanced is also fair...anything overdone can be boring,  even criticism...

We ended 2018 worse than 2017. You gave it a pass, because the media told you to. What then? We played badly leading up to the final. Ironically, I was one of those who were quite confident of the Boks against England. The plastics bought into the media narrative of us being run off our feet, reading it wrong, just like against New Zealand in 2015 after the French annihilation. When you have strong opinions, yet cannot tell me why, there is a problem. You assert a point with absolutely nothing resembling evidence because you are told to believe it by the media. Nothing more. Bring out the tape and the conclusion is always the same: the plastics followed the pied piper into oblivion. When reality comes home to rest, like it did after Snor's brief success in 2009, there are only tears. José kept the Boks 1 long enough (without a test) to make the plastics truly fall into these fantasies of greatness. 

"We ended 2018 worse than 2017. You gave it a pass, because the media told you to."

You talking to me I suppose? How did I give them a pass?

"When you have strong opinions, yet cannot tell me why, there is a problem. You assert a point with absolutely nothing resembling evidence because you are told to believe it by the media. "

Nope, the problem is you ignoring the facts you don't like. I never said the Boks are the best team, or Damien is the best 12 or PSDT was the deserved POTY. I was one of those who did not but into the Pom hype...was totally baffled when they the Allblacks though.

No fantasy of greatness on my part. I enjoy the success while it lasts and don't look for reasons to make it less significant...I also don't look for reasons to kick certain individuals at every conceivable opportunity...not now and not under any previous Bok coaching setup prior to this one.