October 20 2007 is beginning to seem a distant and rosy memory. The glow and aura of invincibility that the Springboks earned only 10 months ago have been replaced by the boos that echoed around Durban’s Kings Park Stadium as captain Victor Matfield and coach Peter de Villiers glumly stepped up for their post-match interviews following a 27-15 drubbing at the hands of the Wallabies. This, a week after a 19-0 whitewash by the All Blacks in Cape Town.
Not surprisingly, the critics who were happy to give De Villiers plenty of benefit of the doubt a few months ago have quickly changed their minds, criticising his strategic approach, his selections, his team’s ineptness at the breakdown and his choice of captain.
But with knives coming out for De Villiers, South African Rugby Union (Saru) president Oregan Hoskins, when asked how long he expects De Villiers to stay in the hot seat, says, ‘His contract is for four years and I expect him to stay for that long. I support Peter de Villiers and I support his game plan.â€
Hoskins is a practical man. ‘We acknowledge that we have just suffered two terrible losses, but it is still early days,†he says, arguing in effect that De Villiers needs more time to settle into his job.
The Boks have one more Tri-Nations game to play: on Saturday they confront the Wallabies at Johannesburg’s Coca-Cola Park — a venue where the Australians have not beaten them since 1963. If what was so recently unthinkable happens and the Boks succumb to the Wallabies for the third straight game, the pressure will only ratchet up. De Villiers may never get the time he wants, the time to ‘instill the pride we want in ourselves and our supportersâ€, as he put it on Monday.
Hoskins says: ‘Comparisons to Jake White are unfair at this stage. Peter has only just had his ninth game in the job.â€
He has a point. Putting De Villiers side by side with the experienced and toughened White of 2007 would be an unfair comparison. But compare him to the freshly appointed newbie White of 2004 and the differences become stark. After De Villiers’s first nine games, he has had wins against under-par Welsh, Italian and Argentinian sides, and an away win against a weakened New Zealand. He also has double losses to the Wallabies and All Blacks, consigning the Springboks to a distant third place in this year’s Tri-Nations, leaving the world champions holding the wooden spoon.
Four years ago, after nine games with a inexperienced and young Bok team, newly put together after the embarrassments of the Rudolf Straeuli era, White had managed wins against Ireland, Wales and a Pacific Islands team. Crucially, he had also secured bonus-point wins against Australia and New Zealand, securing the Boks their first Tri-Nations win since 1998.
Despite its failings, De Villiers seems even more determined to put into action his ambitious, more ‘expansive†game plan.
‘I have a new style of playing that I want to establish. Rome wasn’t built in a day. I ask the public to give us more time to master the things we are trying to do,†he said.
Yet the criticism of this new playing philosophy is growing. Earlier this week former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones, technical adviser to White at last year’s World Cup, was quoted as saying, ‘The Springboks will get worse if they continue in this way,†and, ‘Everyone has discipline, policies and a procedure in their game. The way he is talking is nonsense. You can’t just play an expansive, wide game.â€
Saturday’s game is made harder for both sides by injuries, with the Wallabies’ inside centre Berrick Barnes and lock Dan Vickerman both out with shoulder injuries. Barnes has been replaced by league convert Timana Tahu and Vickerman by veteran Nathan Sharpe. Bok right wing JP Pietersen is also out with a hamstring sprain, replaced by Sharks flyer Odwa Ndungane, who earns his third cap.
The Springboks should be beginning a period of global dominance. They have the talent, with several world-ranked players in their prime, the depth and the experience from last year. Instead, they have slipped to third place in the International Rugby Board ranking, from first a few months ago. The All Blacks and Wallabies, teams which exited in the quarterfinals in France last year, have turned things around and are playing pragmatic, winning rugby. The Boks have gone backwards.