Ken Borland

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer believes the current Springbok team will become stars of the future despite a lean recent run that has seen them lose to New Zealand and Australia and be held to a draw by Argentina.

“I have a special feeling about this team going forward. We’re on the right track and the results will come,” Meyer told journalists at the O.R. Tambo International Airport on Monday after the team’s return from New Zealand, where they were beaten 21-11 by the All Blacks in Dunedin.

“I thought we scrummed well and I’m very happy with our front row. The combination we used in the loose forwards was superb against the best loose trio in the world and we have four great locks going forward.

“There were lots of positives from Dunedin, especially from the forwards, and I believe we did enough to win that game. I think it instilled that self-belief in the team that they can beat anyone anywhere,” Meyer said.

South Africa dominated the first 50 minutes of the Rugby Championship test, but missed kicks at goal cost them 20 points.

Flyhalf Morne Steyn, the hero of their 2009 and 2010 campaigns, was responsible for 11 of those missed points and the waning influence of the Springbok backline has also been blamed on the 28-year-old pivot. But Meyer believes Steyn, who has started all seven matches this year under the new coach, still has a future at international level, pointing to the resurgence in form shown by wing Bryan Habana, South Africa’s all-time leading try-scorer who struggled with his form last year and played just six of the Springboks’ nine tests.

“I don’t want to knock individuals but the missed kicks were crucial. Morne is mentally tough though and if you look at what happened to Bryan Habana, with the right guidance he is now playing phenomenal rugby again. I don’t want to boost myself, but I’ve always been great at getting the best out of players and the mental break will do Morne well. We’ll look at the situation after this weekend’s Currie Cup matches and then decide who will play,” Meyer said.

Meyer said the way the Springboks dominated the All Blacks in Dunedin showed that the controversial game plan they were using was the right one.

“The guys were very unhappy not to win, but sometimes we’ve played worse rugby in New Zealand and won, it was just the goalkicking that let us down. Otherwise we did enough to win, it was the right game plan and we kept them under pressure, we just couldn’t convert that into points.

“It was 3-5 at half-time, but it could have been 15-5 if we’d made our kicks, that would have built pressure and they would have had to chase the game. There’s always criticism about the game plan, but I believe we got it 100% right, we just didn’t put the kicks over. We had them under pressure,” Meyer said.

The Springbok squad for their last two Rugby Championship matches, both at home against Australia in Pretoria on September 29 and New Zealand in Soweto on October 6, will be named on Saturday night after the Currie Cup games have been completed.

South Africa have an outside chance of still claiming the title if they register bonus-point wins in both those home fixtures and the All Blacks lose in Argentina without getting a bonus point.

The MTN Golden Lions regained first place on the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division log as they put away the Toyota Free State Cheetahs 38-23 (half-time 20-16) in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The Cheetahs weathered an early storm from the Lions to actually lead 16-13 after half-an-hour, but the Lions scored two tries in three minutes either side of half time to give the Gautengers a 27-16 lead and thereafter there was nothing that could rescue the Free Staters from a fourth defeat in six matches.

Flyhalf Elton Jantjies instituted some early control for the Lions as his short kick-off caught the Cheetahs napping, was claimed by flank Willie Britz and led to a penalty which Jantjies kicked, followed by another penalty in the sixth minute.

The one area where the Lions did struggle was at the breakdown and referee Sindile Mayende set the tone with an early call against fetcher Cobus Grobbelaar, allowing Cheetahs wing Nico Scheepers to kick a penalty (3-6).

The Cheetahs had a much bigger problem, however, and that was their insistence on trying to run their surfeit of possession in their own territory and the mistakes that came as they tried to run under pressure was what eventually brought them to their knees.

It was the cause of the Lions’ first try as flyhalf Tewis de Bruyn swung the ball from inside his own 22, but his intentions were beautifully read by Lions lock Franco van der Merwe, who put himself between the pivot and the midfield receivers and claimed an easy intercept try.

De Bruyn will probably claim he did not see Van der Merwe lurking because both teams were playing in predominantly white jerseys, with the Cheetahs changing to orange four minutes later, but the pass should never have been given in the first place.

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/article.aspx?id=1583351

The Border Bulldogs were rolled over easily as the Ford Pumas thumped them 41-10 (half-time 24-3) in their Absa Currie Cup First Division match at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Saturday.

The scoreline certainly did not lie in terms of the Pumas’ dominance as their powerful pack took firm control in damp conditions and their backline had more pace and precision than their Bulldogs counterparts.

The bonus-point win maintained the Pumas’ challenge for top spot, although the EP Kings are still in prime positon with an eight-point lead over the Mpumalanga side with two rounds of league play remaining.

The Pumas took a little while to settle in front of 14 305 people at Mbombela Stadium, but they opened the scoring in the 15th minute as star fullback Coenie van Wyk crossed for a thrilling try.

Border flyhalf Reinhardt Gerber pulled three points back for the Bulldogs with a 22nd-minute penalty, but the rest of the half was a cruise for the Pumas as they comfortably adapted to the wet conditions, thanks to their gritty forwards.

Scrumhalf Shaun Venter, who sparked numerous attacks, went over for the Pumas’ second try two minutes later and centre and captain JW Jonker showed his experience as he glided over three minutes later.

The reliable boot of flyhalf Naas Olivier accounted for all three conversions and the well-travelled 30-year-old also kicked a penalty in the 34th minute to ensure the Pumas reached the break in firm control.

Olivier also began the second-half scoring with a penalty, stretching the lead to 27-3 and, just two minutes later, the Pumas quickly spread the ball wide and wing Wilhelm Loock, who gave a typically passionate display, crossed for the try.

Despite looking all at sea for the last half-hour, the Bulldogs did manage to score a try of their own through centre Neill Jacobs, with Gerber turning it into a seven-pointer with the conversion.

But the Pumas rounded-off an action-packed display as Venter punched his way through for his second try and Mpumalanga’s fifth overall.

The Punas will go into their last two round-robin games needing to make up ground on the Kings to qualify for a home final.

The crunch game is next Friday against the Kings at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, with the Pumas then finishing the league section against the Griffons back at the Mbombela Stadium.

SCORERS

FORD PUMAS – Tries: Coenie van Wyk, Shaun Venter (2), JW Jonker, Wilhelm Loock. Conversions: Naas Olivier (4), Carl Bezuidenhout. Penalties: Olivier (2).

BORDER BULLDOGS – Try: Neill Jacobs. Conversion: Reinhardt Gerber. Penalty: Gerber.

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup-first-division/news/120915/Pumas_thump_Bulldogs_in_Nelspruit

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has a degree in psychology and he will surely need to have sessions with Morne Steyn on the couch – and bring Dean Greyling along for good measure – after South Africa’s infuriating 21-11 loss to the All Blacks in Dunedin on Saturday.

Meyer has persevered with Steyn at flyhalf for all seven Tests this year, but surely a man of his intellectual capacity and people skills must now realise that the hero of 2009 and 2010 is mentally shattered and devoid of all confidence.

The Springboks wasted 20 points with kicks at goal, with Steyn missing three penalties along with a conversion, while Francois Steyn (2) and Johan Goosen also missed three long-range penalties between them.

It is hard to remember a substitute having a more disastrous impact than Greyling did. The front-ranker clearly needs his head read after conceding some of the stupidest penalties possible on a rugby field, including a shocking assault on the face of Richie McCaw that is bound to have some more serious consequences than the yellow card he was issued with.

The inexperienced Springbok pack was magnificent in a come-of-age performance that saw them match if not edge the All Blacks up front, laying a platform that was ultimately wasted by Morne Steyn and some laborious backline play.

There were some promising signs from the backline, but great try-scoring opportunities were butchered in the fifth minute, on the half-hour and on the hour mark.

With three minutes remaining and the All Blacks 18-11 up, the Springboks were then gifted another golden opportunity when Keven Mealamu threw a lineout ball five metres from his own line straight to Greyling, who promptly dropped the ball.

The Blue Bulls prop should have had the good grace to want to be swallowed whole by the Forsyth Barr Stadium turf, but instead he then cost South Africa even a bonus point for their efforts when he stupidly handled the ball in a ruck, allowing All Blacks flyhalf Aaron Cruden to kick a penalty after the final hooter.

Greyling’s first act after coming on to the field in the 50^th minute was also a blatant hands in the ruck, Cruden’s penalty allowing New Zealand to draw level just two minutes after Bryan Habana’s brilliant individual try.

There were times in the first half when the All Blacks were floundering against the Springboks’ suffocating defence, physicality in the collisions and pressure game. But the goalkicking woes drowned out all conversation about those major positives.

Fullback Israel Dagg’s wonderful attacking instincts saw him feature prominently in the move he finished for the All Blacks’ opening try in the 20^th minute and the hosts led 5-3 at half-time. At that stage, South Africa had already missed 15 points via missed kicks at goal.

But the Springboks regained the lead in the 50^th minute through Habana’s brilliant try. Flip van der Merwe won the lineout throw and, even though Francois Louw stumbled in receiving the pop off the top, he found Habana roaring through on the angle. South Africa’s all-time leading try-scorer burst through the first line of defence before he chipped over the fullback and regathered the ball to score in the right corner.

The next half-hour was dominated by Greyling, although Morne Steyn also kicked away some good attacking ball with aimless kicks. If it were the navy, they would be consigned to port immediately by the good ship South Africa, because their heads are clearly not in the right place.

But there are huge positives to be drawn from the game for the Springboks, even if the result was a major disappointment.

The ferocious performance of the pack, led by flank Willem Alberts and lock Juandre Kruger, is at the head of the list, while the defence was also much improved as the Springboks warded off several dangerous attacking forays by the New Zealand backs.

Springbok rugby may well have moved out of the ICU ward on Saturday and, if Meyer can correctly diagnose where the mental deficiencies are, he may well be able to produce pleasing results in Pretoria and Soweto in coming weeks.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-09-15-crushed-by-the-all-blacks-south-africas-national-facepalm-moment