The worst combinations in the Springbok team in 2014

The half-backs

This is easy - thw worst combination by a mile was Morne Steyn and Ruan Pienaar.

Morne's defense was chaotically poor - his kicking game atrocious - and he never attacks the gain line and never ever varies his game.

Defense - he missed 7 tackles out of 15 attempts in the Aussie game alone -   In the  one Welsh test he missed 2 out of 5 attempts.     His kicking game was poorly directed and basically only served as a means to hand over possession to the opposing teams.   He was grossluy poor in not finding touch with a penalty kick 5 meters out costing the Springboks the match - an habitual mistake in his case.   Other poor examples were the charge-down kick in the Argenina test in Pretoria - where his reaction was atrociously slow - and the kick directly into touch when the second test against Argentina was in the balance.   His passing game is as a rule slow and ineffective.The lock combination

Pienaar's kicking game is inaccurate and basically serve as a possession hand-over means.   He is slow in passing - often standing behind mauls looking at the ball.   His passing game deficiency is made worse when at his pace he runs a few strides before passing.   

The lock Combination

Meyer started off badly by bringing in Matfield and Bakkies Botha as locks in the first Welsh test.  Both players are physically much weaker than they used to be and it destroyed the team competitiveness in the Tight 5.   Bakkies went out after playing the first half of the first Welsh test - and then went missibng for th rest of the June tests.   He subsequently admitted himself t hat he is not up to test standard anymore and opted out permanently.

The wek situation subsequently is entirely due to Matfield.   He is a weak tackler and there have been at least one case when a backline player dragged him for five meters while h desperately hung on  until other players brought down the ball carrier.    Normally his tackles are weak and no real problem for the opposition.   He strated off looking good in line-outs and then deteriorated to the elvel where him taking a line-out is an exception and not the rule.   He cannot last a match and his competitiveness in lne-outs towards the end of games - vanish from sight.  His ball carries in trafic is on the whole vtotally ineffectve and he gets tackled easily - going down straight and at times in the process gave away penalties.   Unless Matfield is dropped from the team - the Tight 5 will not be able to compete in games.  

1. Morné's only misses were as part of a scramble defence after another - quite often several - players blew the defence and allowed New Zealanders behind it. Is it great? No, but that's scramble defence for you, you make some, you lose some. He did prevent two tries and as a tackle assist mopped up after Jannie, Duane, Eden, Habana and someone else after they stuffed up their tackle. 
   
2. Morné's kick did not cost us a try, it cost us field position. For Morné's kick to have cost us a try it would have to have been charged down and dotted down for a try, or a fielded kick that was run back in open space for a try. What we got was a lineout. First phase possession for New Zealand whereby Jean jumped the line, Barrett entered that space and JJ fluffed a tackle. 
   
3. Morné missed those kicks, yes. I conceded that his kicking was not great. But did it cost us the test? No. Why? Well, when he left the field the score was 8-8. What happened after he left? Goosen was run over by Nonu which allowed New Zealand to pour through our defence and have numbers out wide. Try. New Zealand had a ruck deep in our territory. Goosen was the ONLY man as the guard on the openside. He could have called for more support. He could have stayed and protected the fringe. What he did was jog away without ever looking at the attackers. Smith simply ran through and it was an easy try. Now how in the heck did yo conclude Morné cost us the test? 

As I said already. When I did my assessment of Lambie, I showed everything. I didn't hide anything or fabricate events. That's how it's done Michael.

Why are you off again Lestat?

Perhaps ou Rooi would like to have another vote to remove Letstat from the forum?

Who can forget that funny little exercise!?

But before he embarrasses himself once again I might remind him that Letstat was one of the founding fathers of this forum and long before the miserable Rooinek rocked up Letstat had helped to revitalize this board making it a haven for others to enjoy.

Misery, if you'd like to find the door yourself ain't no-one gonna stop you.

So ummm do you want me to believe that your behavior is exemplary? Huh?...is that what you're saying....oh I see...now there's a laugh. 

Oh by the way boy genius, I thought we had an understanding?...no?

NFL is the most boring bit of garbage I have seen in ages......it is closely followed by basketball......as for rugby league, while far better than NFL it is boringly predictable........you are welcome to both.

As for Rooinek, he is spot on

Nonsense Dave.....every sport has it's plusses and negatives, but they almost all involve lots of skill. There is no game on Earth that is more analysed and scientifically conducted than American Football. There is no group of humans that are more physically awesome in real life than an American football team. The collisions in football are far more violent....no namby pamby high tackle and no arms rules. These guys fly into each other....only the helmet is off limits.

So you may prefer rugby, I certainly do....but have no doubts American football is brutal and scientific.