Ken Borland

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

The Eastern Province Kings thrilled their home crowd as they overwhelmed the Griffons 60-19 in their Absa Currie Cup First Division match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

The tightly-knit Kings pack and their suffocating defence shut the Griffons out of the match from early on in a top-class performance by Eastern Province.

The win was set up up front by a dominant pack, who ruled the scrums with a fist of iron, and a now familiar rolling maul that saw loose forward Luke Watson cross for a hat-trick of tries.

But the Kings also boasted a slick, clinical backline, with Samoan Paul Perez a juggernaut on the wing.

Perez was the man who set the ball rolling for the Kings with a marvellous try, running 50 metres and bumping off half-a-dozen tacklers on his way to the tryline. Unsurprisingly, he was the go-to man whenever the Kings wanted momentum out wide.

The Kings backline was also efficient in capitalising on their front-foot ball and fullback SP Marais and centre Tiger Mangweni also scored before the first half was ended with Watson’s first try, giving Eastern Province a 29-0 lead at the break.

Although the match was totally one-sided, the Griffons did fight back in the second half with tries by centres Japie Nel and Werner Griesel. But they were missing the sheer physicality and precision of the Kings and were clearly going to finish the day as also-rans, despite being third on the log at the start of the game.

Flyhalf George Whitehead, loose forward Cornell du Preez (fittingly as he was the outstanding player of the night), replacement centre Siyanda Grey and Watson, twice, all crossed the tryline for the Kings in the second half as they cantered to victory in far more impressive fashion than even they probably presumed.

SCORERS:

Eastern Province Kings – Tries: Paul Perez, SP Marais, Tiger Mangweni, Luke Watson (3), George Whitehead, Cornell du Preez, Siyanda Grey. Conversions: Whitehead (6). Penalty: Whitehead.

Griffons – Tries: Japie Nel, Werner Griesel, Nicky Steyn. Conversions: Hansie Graaff (2).

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup-first-division/news/120914/Kings_beat_Griffons

Alistair Kettledas blazed his way to a hat-trick but the loose trio were the leading lights as the Leopards hammered the Valke 57-22 (halftime 29-3) in their Absa Currie Cup First Division match at Profert Olen Park in Potchefstroom on Friday.

While Kettledas, the competition’s leading try-scorer, cut through the Valke defences like a laser to score his three tries, the Leopards’ loose trio of Juan “Spanner” Pretorius, Robert Kruger and Morne Hanekom were superb, showing great penetration with ball in hand and being incisive at the breakdowns.

A large and enthusiastic tight five also had much to do with the Leopards’ victory and they were seldom in any danger of losing as they built up a sizeable 29-3 lead at halftime. Veteran former Springbok flyhalf Andre Pretorius is also clearly enjoying his new life in Potchefstroom as he kicked superbly in the gusting wind and also showed great vision at times.

The Valke made a lively start, but seemed to have the stuffing knocked out of them by a yellow card to prop Stefan Bezuidenhout for illegally disrupting a rolling maul close to his own tryline.

The power and skills of eighthman Juan Pretorius saw him charging over the tryline soon afterwards and the superb support play and pace of Kruger set up the second try, for centre Adriaan Engelbrecht.

The vision of Andre Pretorius, who pouched an interception and then sent a long pass out wide to wing Kettledas, set up the Leopards’ third try and, with a 22-3 lead after half-an-hour, the home side were already obvious winners.

Kettledas tapped and dived over for his second try just before halftime and the Leopards were soon swarming on to attack again from the second-half kick-off.

Wing Andrew van Wyk cleaned up well after an attack had been disrupted, drew a couple of defenders and allowed Engelbrecht to glide over for his second try.

Andre Pretorius’s fifth successful kick stretched the Leopards’ lead to 36-3, but the Valke’s balloon had not yet been burst and, keeping the ball alive for nine phases, they created the space for fullback JW Bell to go over for their first try.

But the Leopards struck back and made the score 43-10 two minutes later as centre Hennie Scorbinski made a half-break and made the space for replacement fullback Gerhard Nortier to dash down the right and score, and Andre Pretorius slotted an excellent conversion.

Just after the hour mark, great work by “Spanner” Pretorius and Kruger saw the Leopards swarming on to attack and Hanekom then dived over the tryline as if he was diving over breakers on the beach to score a spectacular try.

The Valke had not just been idle opposition in the second half, playing with great determination but not enough accuracy. But, in the 64th minute, replacement flyhalf Karlo Aspeling, who had been providing great balls for his backline, sparked another attack and scrumhalf Anrich Richter went over for the try as the Leopards defence scrambled.

There was even some humiliation in store for the Leopards as Valke right wing Sandile Ngcobo skinned the defence to score, but the home side had the last say as the pace of Kettledas took North-West from defence on to attack.

The Valke dropped the ball inside the Leopards 22, Kettledas kicked through, regathered and then got the ball back from Nortier to score the final try.

The Leopards’ victory keeps them in third position on the log and still in line for the semifinals.

SCORERS:

Leopards -Tries: Juan Pretorius, Adriaan Engelbrecht (2), Allister Kettledas (3), Gerhard Nortier, Morne Hanekom. Conversions: Andre Pretorius (6), Ernest Nortje. Penalty: Pretorius.

Valke – Tries: JW Bell, Anrich Richter, Sandile Ngcobo. Conversions: Karlo Aspeling (2). Penalty: Juan Kotze.

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup-first-division/news/120914/Leopards_hammer_Valke

The lack of attacking spark has been a theme for the Springboks in their first year under Heyneke Meyer, and on Saturday they come up against the masters of offensive play, the All Blacks, at one of their fortresses – Dunedin.

Interestingly, the Springboks and the All Blacks have both scored just five tries from three matches in the Rugby Championship thus far, but for South Africa, three of those came in the opening match against the debutants, Argentina, in the shadow of Table Mountain at Newlands.

The All Blacks are playing their last Test at home this year, and they are eager to produce the 100% performance that has eluded them thus far in 2012.

“We always aim for that perfect performance; it’s the last time that we are playing in New Zealand for a while, although I think wherever you play you want to improve on before. But certainly, seeing that it’s the last time we play, it would be nice to put a good one together before we head off,” New Zealand captain Richie McCaw said on the eve of the game.

“At times we have not been as accurate as we could be, but it won’t stop us from trying to play. One or two passes sometimes can make the difference. It is just a matter of getting the timing right to do that, and keep the guys creating those opportunities.”

The good news for the All Blacks – and very bad news for the Springboks – is that the venue for the Test, the Forsyth Barr Stadium, is enclosed under a roof and therefore the outside elements will play no part. There will be no swirling wind to make South Africa’s much-loved up-and-unders difficult to catch and there will be none of the wetness that helped Argentina in their mission of stopping the world champions from playing their favoured ball-in-hand game.

Coach Meyer has admitted that the conditions will be similar to a dry, windless winter’s day on the Highveld, and the All Blacks have regularly lit up Loftus Versfeld with their dazzling running play. South Africa tends to avoid playing New Zealand in Pretoria these days, which is not surprising when you consider the previous four results have been 45-26, 52-16, 34-18 and 33-26 in favour of the visitors to the Blue Bulls citadel.

Up-and-unders are not going to be the answer on Saturday against the thrilling All Blacks back three of Israel Dagg, Cory Jane and Julian Savea. South Africa’s best hope is to really get up the noses of the All Blacks at the source, up front.

But the Springboks’ inexperienced pack will be up against McCaw, arguably the greatest rugby player ever, and the likes of Kieran Read, Andrew Hore and Tony Woodcock, who are up with the all-time greats.

They are bound to supply their backline with at least 50% possession and at least 50% of that will be front-foot ball, so New Zealand will create enough try-scoring opportunities for their lethal finishers.

The Springboks, on the other hand, are labouring with a flyhalf that stands too deep, an inside centre who has just played crash ball all year, an outside centre who looks out of place, and a fullback not known for his attacking prowess.

With 64% possession against the desperate Wallabies last weekend, the Springboks could still only score one try.

It is difficult to see what weapon the Springboks could possibly hurt the All Blacks with.

They will probably try to physically intimidate and rattle their hosts, but that approach has rarely borne fruit in New Zealand and has usually led to a yellow card and more gaps for the best users of space in the game.

After the All Blacks have absorbed the physical challenge, they will be able to play their game and that’s when it will become a rough night for the Springboks.

Like men overboard in turbulent seas, they’re going to have to cling on to every tackle in sight, claim every scrap of 50/50 ball that they are presented with and hope that the All Blacks believe that they are invincible and try and run the ball from everywhere, including positions that will just put them under pressure.

The Springboks have claimed just nine victories in New Zealand since 1921,and some great South African sides have fallen short in the Land of the Long White Cloud. There won’t be many expecting Meyer’s inexperienced and embattled team to secure a 10^th win.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-09-14-rugby-preview-the-all-black-fortress-awaits-springboks