chance.
Steve Morris: Rugby
There can be little doubt in anyone’s minds=20 that the crushing 61-22 Springbok victory=20 in front of the baying Loftus Versfeld=20 crowd last weekend gave some joyous relief=20 to what has been a season markedly short of=20 the taste of triumph.
It is also well within the bounds of South=20 African rugby logic to see that the win=20 gave some breathing space to Carel du=20 Plessis and has probably given one of the=20 game’s most elegant players a chance to=20 shake off his gaucheness as a coach for the=20 Tests against France, Scotland and England=20 at the end of the year.
Mostly though, the manner in which the=20 Springboks rolled over the Australians to=20 edge them into the wooden spoonist slot on=20 the Tri-Nations log for the second=20 consecutive year, gave some comfort to=20 South African captain Gary Teichmann, a=20 player who has given everything he had and=20 more for the cause of the game and the=20 country he serves.
Teichmann, rather than the public he=20 publicly said he owed a debt to, deserved=20 this one, just as he did the praise heaped=20 on his individual performances by the=20 normally one-eyed Aussies and New=20 Zealanders.
It is then worth examining just what impact=20 Du Plessis had on the side which notched up=20 the highest score against a major rugby- playing nation – for surely the 74-10 win=20 over the outgunned Tongans at Newlands in=20 June is not in the same category.
It was such a staggering second-half=20 turnaround that the Wallabies must have=20 wondered just what it was that the=20 Springboks had in their half-time water=20 bottles. It was a truly superb period of=20 play, one which reaffirmed the faith in=20 South African rugby as a force after a=20 spell of wandering in the wilds of=20 disorganisation and the despair of=20 constant defeat.
As a measure of last Saturday’s resurgence,=20 it is apposite to run a rule over the team=20 which took the field in Pretoria and=20 examine just how Du Plessis regarded them=20 at the start of his eight-Test season.
In the front row, James Dalton was second=20 choice behind Free State’s Naka Drotske for=20 the series against the British Lions. True,=20 Dalton had been out of the frame for a=20 while with injury, but, fit again, one of=20 the best forwards in a number two jersey=20 for many years, was left to languish on the=20 bench.
When Dalton did come back the impact was=20 immediate. Even those unskilled in the dark=20 arts of front row play must surely be able=20 to see that Bullet is one of the few=20 forwards this country can lay claim to with=20 the upper body strength to rip the ball=20 away in the tight-loose.
It was not, seemingly, immediately apparent=20 to Du Plessis.
In the second row, Hannes Strydom – one of=20 the most honest lock forwards imaginable=20 and a vastly experienced player at Test=20 level – was only third choice, coming in=20 when Krynauw Otto cried off with a rib=20 injury and Fritz van Heerden went down with=20 respiratory problems.
Kobus Wiese was an early casualty to the=20 coach’s game plan, Otto has been a signal=20 disappointment at international level and=20 Van Heerden has still to fully grow into=20 his rebirth as a lock from his more=20 accustomed role as a flank. Strydom is a=20 man deeply imbued in second row play …=20 and it showed in his combination with Mark=20 Andrews.
Neither of the flanks who played last=20 Saturday were immediate choices. But in the=20 coach’s defence, it must be said that the=20 selection of Rassie Erasmus and Warren=20 Brosnihan were foreced through the injury=20 that robbed the Boks of Ruben Kruger, and=20 the three-match suspension of Andre Venter=20 for some mindless, boot-driven facial=20 surgery on All Black captain Sean=20 Fitxpatrick.
Few would argue the claims of Kruger or=20 Venter. But the performances produced by=20 Erasmus and Brosnihan – and, perhaps more=20 important, the discipline they showed on=20 the field – would lead one to imagine that=20 whoever lays claim to the flank positions=20 will have to play like hell to unseat the=20 two young men in the saddle.
But it is for his philosphy behind the the=20 scrum that Du Plessis has taken the most=20 flack as he flew in the face of logic,=20 public opinion and the patent fact that his=20 preferred backline leaked more copiously=20 than a cheap umbrella.
Jannie de Beer – fast developing into a far=20 more complete player at Test level than=20 hisprovincial form would have indicated was=20 possible – was not a first choice at=20 flyhalf and really only emerged as a=20 candidate when it became evident that the=20 coach had gone into battle without a first- line kicker.=20
De Beer has proved and inspired choice and=20 he ended the Tri-Nations campaign with 64=20 points and second only to All Black Carolos=20 Spender’s 84-point haul for the series.
At centre, the defensive capabilities,=20 incisive inventiveness and broken-field=20 running brilliance of Henne le Roux was=20 discarded, Japie Mulder was injured and=20 Henry Honiball left on the bench when De=20 Beer took his place, Percy Montgomery and=20 Danie van Schalkwyk were flavour of the=20 month with the coach and the opposition=20 they faced.
Montgomery, despite his two tries, still=20 has much to learn. But having Honiball=20 inside him – and the tough Underberg farmer=20 only came back after a serious injury to=20 the talented but raw Van Schalkwyk – has=20 helped enormously and, it must be said,=20 added some oomph to the Bok tackling.
As an observation, Honiball’s proven=20 abilities at centre took some time to=20 filter through to the coach. So too did the=20 claims of James Small on the wing. His=20 incisive punch with the ball in his hand=20 was something that Du Plessis, a winger of=20 sterling ability in his own right, was=20 content to let linger on the bench as he=20 experimented with retreaded centres and=20 fullback.
But the biggest gaffe of all was to leave=20 Andre Joubert out of the immediate=20 reckoning and finally redraft him into his=20 rightful role as a reluctant third choice.
Joubert’s impact, stemming from that=20 initial weaving of running magic which=20 opened the second half deluge, was immense.=20 Add to that an instinct for position under=20 pressure and the sheer weight his play=20 brings to the side, and Joubert was a gem=20 cast mindlessly away.
It is an equation that has been drawn with=20 some obviously weighted emphasis, but there=20 must surely be some thought to what this=20 assembly of Springboks achieved at Loftus=20 in the light of what had occurred in the=20 shadows they flew out of.
And hopefully, this experience will be=20 applied to the coming tour to Europe, for=20 if the British Lions taught us anything at=20 all, it is that no side can be considered=20 easy for a South African team any more.
We live, for the present with the memory of=20 that 61-22 win, the current volatility of=20 the Currie Cup and – it must be said – some=20 hope for a successful year end tour. Geluk=20 Carel!
ENDS