What is the vital factor above all things re the Boks disappointing year end tour

LMAO!

Let me guess . . . it was all the naughty referees fault? No? Maybe it was all the injuries that only the SA teams ever seem to have? Was it the slippery ball that was only slippery when the Springboks were in possession? Was it that nasty old cheat Richie McCaw's fault? The jet lag that only affects South African teams when they travel? The wet conditions? The alignment of the moon and planets? Hang on . . . I bet it was those silly old evolutionists who caused the Springboks to lose!

Am I close, Bab oon-ou?

 Beeno
Your comment on my perception is wrong - I never blamed Morne for any loss inthe recent tests.   I said he should not have been in the squad since he never played in any game - thus removing a spot for another player - even in another position - who may have been better if played.   The same applied to Bakkies Botha and Gurthro Steenkamp as well.
Now lets look at the games itself and try to be objective.   In the RC matches - the Springboks lost one they won last year - namely the away game against Australia.   They should have woon that game -but for sheer lunacy by Morne Steyn to find touch with a penalty from within his own 22 - when the Springboks only had 14 men on the field of play - with the 15th coming back on in teh case of a line out - which would be 90% sure of being won by the Springboks.   The root casue of the loss remained Morne Steyn - who was dropped from the team.
Now lets look at the AB tests.  The 2013 test at Eden Park was marred by a poor refereee's decision about Bismarck.  The Springboks was bound to lose - but probably not by a bonus point win for the AB's.  The latter was sealed by Morne Steyn - when he failed to find touch with two penalty kicks - both endingup with tries for the AB's.   So Morne was partly to blame for the situation in that case as well - the debacle in Perth was in a way to be expected.   The Ellis Park test was again a problem - the Springboks scored 4 tries - but give away three by rank poor defence - especially Willem Alberts, Morne Steyn, De Villiers and Engelbrecht - and one poor decision by Morne Steyn - letting to the second try of Messam.  
Now lets look at the situation this year.   The Wellington test was lost - but it was touch and go.   In the end it was poor play by espcially Matfield - who flyffed a line out ball 5 meters out - which was set up as a basis for a driving maul - which as a result never materialized.    In the Ellis Park test it was touch and go as well.   The Springbok forwards started the game well - but in the end petered out.   A typical example is again a line out loss by Matfield late in teh game that could have secured victory for the AB's.   In the end it was the brillianty penalty by Lambie that sealed the game for us.
The EOYT series was marred by a serious refereeing mistake in the Wales game - awarding a try to the Springboks when Jacque Fourie was off-side after a Du Preez kick - a penalty in that case could have put Wales in the lead.  A refereeing mistake is unlikely to be repeated - so the end result was touch and go for the Springboks as well.   Aside from the Welsh test  last year - the Springboks played Scotland and France - where the frencgh made a serious mistake in letting in a try by Pietersen early in the game.   I would not call that a runaway win by the Springboks.
This year the Springboks played against stronger opposition.   Ireland won the Six-Nations this year - England was stronger than they were in 2012 and thegame against italy was a given.   So where did it go wrong in the Ireland and Wales games in particular?
Lets me start by saying that our Tght 5 - sufficient against the Wallabies and AB's - did not meet requirements in both the Irish and Wales tests.   In both cases th absece of a physically strong enough lock was counter-productive.   A second serious problem in the Ireland test was that the service of Hougaard was not good enough and Pollard suffeered as a result.   In both cases there were structural problems - but the main the problems relate to the absence of a proper Tight 5 and the inclusion of a weak player at 7.   Fact is we ended up having to play 6 forwards against a full irish and Welsh complement of players and suffered as a result.
As I said the EOYT had nothing to do with Morne Steyn - and everything to do with gruntless performance up front - mainly by the two players mentioned.    

 

 Ou maaaikie. I asked for the single dominant factor not a laundry list!! You actually have the answer buried in there! An astute comment you made. Now remember I said think also of why we had a sucessful  2013 NH tour. 

 Beeno
The answer lies in the absence of an acceptable Tight 5 with grunt missing in the case of one player and the playing of a fu rther below par player in the forward set-up.  That is the key to the whole scenario.

Simple, gameplan, execution, decision making and selections. Then you can add fatigue and form.  

 Mike you are about there!! I would say that its the pack. You can playa pap pack agaisnt the wobblies and wee abs and getawya with it but not against NH sides - as you said!!!. Last tour we had a very physical loose trio in Louw, Vermuelen and Alberts which gave the pack dominance. This year no Louw or Alberts. Now I am not saying Alberts is vital as we have many big number sevens available like Du Plessis, Elstadt etc etc.
But that is where we lost the plot in the most significant way. It even led the normally sane Venter to say achieving forard domiance is not so possible. Fatal error . You cant play a tight 4. I selected a 950 kg mobile pack - what a far cry from Meyers lame attempt.

I might have known this was just some new way for Baboon-ou to tell everyone how much he hates Victor Matfield.

 BB
You are very near to the mark with your comments.  I believe a critical component is the excution of the game plan.   The game plan aim at forward dominance or at least aprity - and that was not achieved beciase of skewed selections.   

Its simple, we have a sub standard coach who primarily cant select the best 23 and secondly is out of touch with how modern test rugby is won.  

 rooitwit from my answer supplied to ou maaaikie you can easily see you were wrong yet again dispite your many answers. I have to point out we did not play nz so mcaaaw cannot be reason for our poor tour etc etc.
I do not hate wee victor just his continued prescence in the Bok team which is costing us dear. 
Well done Mike for nailing it.