In a thrilling match at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, South Africa won for the first time in this year’s Tri-Nations Championship, by 44 points to the Wallabies 31. The match was in doubt right to the final minute, with the Wallabies attacking frantically to bridge the six point margin. A ball turnover in the tackle gave the Springboks their opportunity to seal the match and they did just that, with a try on the final whistle by right-wing JP Pietersen.
The Boks had been able to field their best team of this year’s tournament, with de Villiers and Fourie together at last in the centres, and tight-head prop, Janie du Plessis, and blindside flanker, Juan Smith, recently returned from injury. Subsequently, the Wallabies were always going to be the underdogs, particularly with the game being played at altitude. Visiting teams rarely win here and the Wallabies last win was in 1963!
Selection plays a vital role in the fortunes of a team. The Boks have belatedly begun to understand that simple fact, but not so the Wallabies. Can someone please tell me, “In what part of the game is Saia Faainga considered superior to Stephen Moore?” Moore is a much better scrummager and lineout thrower, surely the two fundamental roles of the hooker. Then Moore is an excellent ball-carrier, compared to Faainga’s modest talent in this facet of play. Both do their share of the defensive work. Moore is vastly more experienced than his younger team-mate and surely this is a vital commodity in such a crunch match.
That’s the background of the two hookers. Now let’s look at this specific game. Faainga struggled badly, even in the first half. He played only 30 minutes, due to a blood injury, but he still managed to give away three penalties and had two poor throws, which resulted in Springbok ball. The Wallaby scrum was, dare I say it, dusted once again, with Faainga (and Mafu) unable to combat the Springbok strategy. In the second half, his performance deteriorated still further, with even his tackling less sure.
My total was four penalties, three poor throws, one missed tackle, and two ball turnovers at the tackle (although his team-mates must accept some of the responsibility for this last statistic). When you add his inability at the scrum, this is a terrible performance, yet Stephen Moore remained on the bench. This is nothing short of bloody-mindedness on the part of Robbie Deans – and perhaps his assistants. I would have made the change, no later than the 50 minute mark – perhaps even before!
Without taking anything away from the Springboks, this was a game that the Wallabies could have won. Yet, despite the fact that they did NOT score a point in the last 30 minutes of the game – the Boks scored 17 – and were clearly tiring, Deans left FOUR players unused on the bench. The ARFU’s media releases refer to the bench as “run-on replacements”. ” Bench spectators” might be a better description. Deans frequently leaves us puzzled with his handling of the bench, but Saturday’s effort reached new heights. His pig-headedness, and/or lack of selection ability, made a significant contribution to this Wallaby loss.
The Wallabies were dusted at the scrum, dusted at the lineout and ran out of puff. We had at hand, the answer to most, if not all, of these problems and we stubbornly refused to use it. How much longer are we Wallabies supporters going to be forced to tolerate this treatment?
The Boks had their best selection of the year at hand – even the Yappies are less pig-headed than us! – and deserved their win. With clear ascendancy in the set-pieces, they controlled the match, once they made the decision to control the territory and forget the helter-skelter. In a few unSpringbok-like moments, they declined kicks for goal – even with the world’s best goal-kicker at hand – and backed their ability to score tries. This they did – five of them – and picked up a bonus point, while denying the Wallabies their losing point. They looked for the quick recycle throughout, although good Wallaby defence denied them frequently, and, with the Wallabies tiring, managed a number of off-loads from the tackle. These, as always, were productive and in the lead-up to Pierre Spies’ try, there were in fact two off-loads.
The Sprinboks showed some continued improvement, with their obvious centre pairing, together at last, giving freedom to Morne Steyn. He played his best game to date for this international season. Juan Smith and Schalk Burger were industrious and effective, and this gave Spies the freedom to play ‘his’ game. Only Francois Steyn was below par, but I’m sure that he has not forgotten how to play and he will be better for the outing.
Kurtley Beale was outstanding. Even our blinkered selection panel seems finally to understand this – although he was only given his chance because of injuries. Quade Cooper was very good again and Will Genia seemed to benefit from his presence. There are rumours that Matt Giteau lacks the communication skills necessary in a quality fly-half. If so, he could have a chat to Michael Lynagh and a look at a few of his performances; Noddy was one of the great communicators and the “eyes” of his scrum-half!
For the first time in a long while, I saw some progress in the Wallaby performance. You know, as in the “work in progress” that we’ve been promised for the last two years. We played, as usual, with passion and commitment, and this time, we had some alignment, even a little realignment. Now, maybe, we can work on our catch-and-pass skills – Session 1, Practice 1 in my Coaching Manual. Every single pass – yes EVERY – from the Wallabies is a “reload and sling”, making it absolutely impossible for any player to change or adjust his line onto the pass. This is not good enough! Oh yes, and, once again, it’s simple!
My parting suggestions:
- 1. I’m not sure that David Pocock is worthy of the huge raps being piled on him. He’s definitely a good player, but a great player? Maybe time will tell. He’s for sure no Richie McCaw, or even a George Smith! Come to think of it, didn’t our selectors dump George Smith for Pocock? Most world-class backrowers can at least pass accurately – and more frequently.
- 2. Adam Ashley-Cooper to fullback, where he is GREAT under the high ball and runs excellent lines in the #13 channel. Kurtley Beale to outside-centre; I want to see if my idea is right. He will be a GREAT player; I’m sure of that!
