Ex Supersport
The Boks were half-decent in the first half, and were full value for the 13-3 lead they built up heading towards the halfway mark. But even then there were warning signs and those pigeons that have been hovering around Meyer’s head over the past few months started to show signs of coming back to roost.
The Boks tried hard to be more inventive when in the right areas of the field (they never did anything other than put boot to ball when they were in their own half), and the selection of Ruan Pienaar as the starting scrumhalf, something that was probably about three matches overdue, paid off by taking pressure off Morne Steyn.
But while Steyn was improved on Mendoza, he still made mistakes as a distributor and decision maker that kept the Boks from being the factor on attack that might have seen their first-half dominance translated into something much more meaningful than the six-point lead they eventually enjoyed.
There were shades of last year’s World Cup quarterfinal against Australia in Wellington about this match. Only last October the Boks might have tried too hard to run the ball and play attacking rugby when perhaps a more conservative, forward based approach would have brought the desired result. This time they fell down because they went too much the other way, and while they appeared to complete the task of subduing, they never really looked like putting the seal on it by penetrating.
In a nutshell then what is missing from the Boks is balance, and that little bit of unpredictability that would enable them to remain a threat even on those days, which come often in the modern era, where their opponents are able to front them physically.(Not hard to do given he weak tight five)
When the chips were down and there was no option but to play attacking rugby the Boks showed signs in the last 10 minutes of being able to do it, when significantly Johan Goosen and Patrick Lambie had been added to the mix.
Two footballers with a bit of X-factor ahead of players who at their best are solid but no more than that can make a big difference to a team’s winning potential and with Goosen you have a player who is able to do what Steyn does -- and bring more.
It would be a gamble to throw him into the starting team against the All Blacks as he is only recently back from injury and has hardly played.
There is far more pressure brought to bear on a player when he starts than when he comes on as a replacement.
But it has probably always been Meyer’s intention to phase Goosen into the team in time and his cameo in Perth should have been enough to nudge the coach into realising that it is something that must happen sooner rather than later. If that proves the case, then the sweat expended by the Boks in this disappointing defeat to a poor Wallaby side may not have been in vain. Provided the right decisions are made and the lessons heeded going forward, there is at least a glimmer of hope.
Certainly Lambie and Goosen bring more creativity but this tight five is not shaping up. I look forward to seeing Meyers team selection.
