Mission accomplished!
The Boks had to win the Newlands test against the All Blacks to stand a chance of defending the Tri-Nations. Well done boys on your victory!
As Scott Johnson, the Australian video analyst for the Lions said, getting points on the board ahead of the All Blacks could rattle them. It certainly did. The importance of the Boks tactics today cannot be overestimated. It was clear that the instruction was to get into the All Blacks half and get points on the board. Andre Pretorius duly obliged and put over a drop goal. Good pressure, a Montgomery tackle and a De Villiers interception resulted in a try shortly thereafter. Together with a Mongomery penalty, the 13 - 0 lead knocked the All Blacks back out of their starting blocks.
The Boks constant pressure thereafter paid off, causing the All Blacks to become jittery, never more so than during the third quarter, when Daniel Carter knocked on a straight forward pass. It was clear he was keeping a half eye out for Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield, both of whom played like loose forwards in terrorizing the All Blacks on defence. The pattern was set as early as the first five minutes when Matfield knocked the stuffing out of Byron Kelleher in a crunching tackle. This would eventually cause Kelleher to be replaced by Weepu.
Enrico Januarie was also a terrier on defence and appeared to sum up the Boks determination to win. It was apparent that the Boks walked out with this as their mission today, a plan on how to achieve it and belief that they would. This marks a major change in the Boks positioning in world rugby. They regard themselves as one of the best.
Schalk Burger made a welcome return today and exhibited fantastic self control. He was the workhorse as usual and made sure the Boks turned over more of the opposition's ball than their own. Joe van Niekerk played like an extra back on defence today and complimented Burger well. Juan Smith was a little quieter.
One characteristic marked a changed attitude: the battle for the loose ball today. The Boks clearly decided they were going to play the referee regarding Richie McCaw's tactics on the ground. They did and did well to milk a few penalties and free up more of their ball on the ground. Not that they were undeserved - McCaw plays as far beyond the law as referees will allow him. The changed characteristic is one of intelligence. The Boks clearly understood they would need to reduce the threat of Carter and McCaw and found ways of doing so.
The Boks played a much wiser kicking game today than was the case during their Mandela cup match in Sydney. They kicked more accurately for touch and found the space on the field. Once when Monty missed one of these touch finders it resulted in an All Black try. It marked one of two Montgomery faults during the day. The second when he failed to organise assistance during a place kick on the windy side of the field. By the time he did, he was hurried by the referee and missed the poles. His practice before the game should have told him that he needed someone to hold the ball on the tee. These two faults were really his only two on the day. Sadly the same could not be said for Pretorius, who appears to have been struck by the impression that the drop goal is always on. Misses cost his side possession and potential try-scoring opportunities. His outside backs were starved of attacking opportunities and this seems a waste given their potency.
The most glaring fault of the Boks today was the shocking cleaning out at ruck time and the mysterious slowness of Januarie to arrive. Good ball was often slowed or lost. The backs were sucked in to fill in for forwards waiting on the other side of the field.
The best of the Boks was shown in the lineouts, where Matfield and Botha continued to win on their opponents' throw. They poached four in total and only lost one.
But changed attitudes marked the continued rise of the Boks. The self belief was evident as early as the Haka, when the crowds' chants of Ole, Ole, Ole drowned out the All Blacks war cry. It showed that the Boks and their supporters have no undue respect for their opponents anymore and that they believe their home matches are theirs to bank.
The challenge is now to raise the levels of their game on the road. To be number one in the world, the Boks need to love traveling, soak up the occasion of opposing home crowds and continue to exploit their strengths and their opponents weaknesses.
Perth may provide them with the slight edge: while there are thousands of South Africans in the West Australian city, we have tended to falsely hold up the advantage as a third "home game." It is certainly not in a territory more closely aligned to rugby league than union, but the Bok management should exploit the myth as much as possible.
Man of the match: Victor Matfield has become the Bok talisman since returning from being dropped. He exhibits a native understanding of what will happen on the opponents’ line out throw, organises his fellow forwards and has upped his work rate so that he is a Trojan on defence and attack. His hits on All Black backs today and his continued organisation of our lineouts made a massive difference. Bakkies was the Supersport commentators' choice, but Matfield was the driving influence behind Bakkies' new renaissance.
Player ratings out of ten:
Mongomery 8
Montgomery has become the foundation of his team's confidence and poise. His reliability with kicks, improved tackling in defence, steadfast takes of the high ball and space creating joining of the line on attack create a base for his team mates to perform. Would have been a 9 but for his missed touch finder, under estimation of the wind (that resulted in the ball falling off the tee twice and the resultant miss of the rushed kick) and once losing the ball to a tackler - although he was somewhat isolated. I wish he would involve himself more on attack through entering the line earlier - perhaps taking the ball at flyhalf and looking to break through that channel.
Paulse 7
Limited opportunities but did what was asked and made huge ground with one touch finder in particular.
Fourie 6
No opportunities to speak of. Played a critical role in rush defence. Defence was read and skip pass resulted in the All Black try.
De Villiers 8
Created huge pressure through being in the opposition's faces the whole time on defence. Together with Monty's tackle, this resulted in yet another intercept try.
Habana 7
Made big tackles when they counted. Is becoming one of a solid back three with good positional play and lethal attacking skills.
Pretorius 5
His first drop goal was spot on as a tactic, the other attempts wasted Bok possession. His outside backs never saw the ball.
Januarie 6
Fantastic attitude, tigerish on defence. Mysteriously was exceptionally slow to clear the rucks from about the 10th minute until the end of the first half. He appeared to arrive late each time.
Van Niekerk 7
Awesome on defence. Closing in on his best form again. Should have been at rucks earlier to clean out.
Smith 6
Almost invisible today. Probably because he was one of the few in the rucks. As a result did not seem to have many hits in defence or opportunities on attack.
Burger 8
Well controlled return to the side. Fantastic on defence with some good hits. Out played McCaw on the day.
Matfield 9
Majestic! Awesome organisation of the lineout, huge, huge hits on defence.
Botha 8
Together with Matfield, ruled the lineouts and was big on defence. Was the main combatant with McCaw but controlled his aggression well.
Van der Linde 7
Made some big hits and scrummed well. Must now be the first choice on his side of the scrum.
Smit 9
Best game as captain. Managed the ref well, resulting in the calling of penalties against McCaw. Led from the front and carried the ball well. Must receive credit for our lineouts too. Could not have been easy throwing in on a windy Newlands day.
Du Randt 7
Good return from injury. Provided experience in the scrums and made some good cover tackles.
As Scott Johnson, the Australian video analyst for the Lions said, getting points on the board ahead of the All Blacks could rattle them. It certainly did. The importance of the Boks tactics today cannot be overestimated. It was clear that the instruction was to get into the All Blacks half and get points on the board. Andre Pretorius duly obliged and put over a drop goal. Good pressure, a Montgomery tackle and a De Villiers interception resulted in a try shortly thereafter. Together with a Mongomery penalty, the 13 - 0 lead knocked the All Blacks back out of their starting blocks.
The Boks constant pressure thereafter paid off, causing the All Blacks to become jittery, never more so than during the third quarter, when Daniel Carter knocked on a straight forward pass. It was clear he was keeping a half eye out for Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield, both of whom played like loose forwards in terrorizing the All Blacks on defence. The pattern was set as early as the first five minutes when Matfield knocked the stuffing out of Byron Kelleher in a crunching tackle. This would eventually cause Kelleher to be replaced by Weepu.
Enrico Januarie was also a terrier on defence and appeared to sum up the Boks determination to win. It was apparent that the Boks walked out with this as their mission today, a plan on how to achieve it and belief that they would. This marks a major change in the Boks positioning in world rugby. They regard themselves as one of the best.
Schalk Burger made a welcome return today and exhibited fantastic self control. He was the workhorse as usual and made sure the Boks turned over more of the opposition's ball than their own. Joe van Niekerk played like an extra back on defence today and complimented Burger well. Juan Smith was a little quieter.
One characteristic marked a changed attitude: the battle for the loose ball today. The Boks clearly decided they were going to play the referee regarding Richie McCaw's tactics on the ground. They did and did well to milk a few penalties and free up more of their ball on the ground. Not that they were undeserved - McCaw plays as far beyond the law as referees will allow him. The changed characteristic is one of intelligence. The Boks clearly understood they would need to reduce the threat of Carter and McCaw and found ways of doing so.
The Boks played a much wiser kicking game today than was the case during their Mandela cup match in Sydney. They kicked more accurately for touch and found the space on the field. Once when Monty missed one of these touch finders it resulted in an All Black try. It marked one of two Montgomery faults during the day. The second when he failed to organise assistance during a place kick on the windy side of the field. By the time he did, he was hurried by the referee and missed the poles. His practice before the game should have told him that he needed someone to hold the ball on the tee. These two faults were really his only two on the day. Sadly the same could not be said for Pretorius, who appears to have been struck by the impression that the drop goal is always on. Misses cost his side possession and potential try-scoring opportunities. His outside backs were starved of attacking opportunities and this seems a waste given their potency.
The most glaring fault of the Boks today was the shocking cleaning out at ruck time and the mysterious slowness of Januarie to arrive. Good ball was often slowed or lost. The backs were sucked in to fill in for forwards waiting on the other side of the field.
The best of the Boks was shown in the lineouts, where Matfield and Botha continued to win on their opponents' throw. They poached four in total and only lost one.
But changed attitudes marked the continued rise of the Boks. The self belief was evident as early as the Haka, when the crowds' chants of Ole, Ole, Ole drowned out the All Blacks war cry. It showed that the Boks and their supporters have no undue respect for their opponents anymore and that they believe their home matches are theirs to bank.
The challenge is now to raise the levels of their game on the road. To be number one in the world, the Boks need to love traveling, soak up the occasion of opposing home crowds and continue to exploit their strengths and their opponents weaknesses.
Perth may provide them with the slight edge: while there are thousands of South Africans in the West Australian city, we have tended to falsely hold up the advantage as a third "home game." It is certainly not in a territory more closely aligned to rugby league than union, but the Bok management should exploit the myth as much as possible.
Man of the match: Victor Matfield has become the Bok talisman since returning from being dropped. He exhibits a native understanding of what will happen on the opponents’ line out throw, organises his fellow forwards and has upped his work rate so that he is a Trojan on defence and attack. His hits on All Black backs today and his continued organisation of our lineouts made a massive difference. Bakkies was the Supersport commentators' choice, but Matfield was the driving influence behind Bakkies' new renaissance.
Player ratings out of ten:
Mongomery 8
Montgomery has become the foundation of his team's confidence and poise. His reliability with kicks, improved tackling in defence, steadfast takes of the high ball and space creating joining of the line on attack create a base for his team mates to perform. Would have been a 9 but for his missed touch finder, under estimation of the wind (that resulted in the ball falling off the tee twice and the resultant miss of the rushed kick) and once losing the ball to a tackler - although he was somewhat isolated. I wish he would involve himself more on attack through entering the line earlier - perhaps taking the ball at flyhalf and looking to break through that channel.
Paulse 7
Limited opportunities but did what was asked and made huge ground with one touch finder in particular.
Fourie 6
No opportunities to speak of. Played a critical role in rush defence. Defence was read and skip pass resulted in the All Black try.
De Villiers 8
Created huge pressure through being in the opposition's faces the whole time on defence. Together with Monty's tackle, this resulted in yet another intercept try.
Habana 7
Made big tackles when they counted. Is becoming one of a solid back three with good positional play and lethal attacking skills.
Pretorius 5
His first drop goal was spot on as a tactic, the other attempts wasted Bok possession. His outside backs never saw the ball.
Januarie 6
Fantastic attitude, tigerish on defence. Mysteriously was exceptionally slow to clear the rucks from about the 10th minute until the end of the first half. He appeared to arrive late each time.
Van Niekerk 7
Awesome on defence. Closing in on his best form again. Should have been at rucks earlier to clean out.
Smith 6
Almost invisible today. Probably because he was one of the few in the rucks. As a result did not seem to have many hits in defence or opportunities on attack.
Burger 8
Well controlled return to the side. Fantastic on defence with some good hits. Out played McCaw on the day.
Matfield 9
Majestic! Awesome organisation of the lineout, huge, huge hits on defence.
Botha 8
Together with Matfield, ruled the lineouts and was big on defence. Was the main combatant with McCaw but controlled his aggression well.
Van der Linde 7
Made some big hits and scrummed well. Must now be the first choice on his side of the scrum.
Smit 9
Best game as captain. Managed the ref well, resulting in the calling of penalties against McCaw. Led from the front and carried the ball well. Must receive credit for our lineouts too. Could not have been easy throwing in on a windy Newlands day.
Du Randt 7
Good return from injury. Provided experience in the scrums and made some good cover tackles.
posted at 5:08 PM
1 Comments:
Sorry, I meant AFL. Saying that, I guess both the AFL and RL fans will want to kill me...
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