Ken Borland

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

The Rugby Championship, featuring the top three teams in the world and rising powers Argentina, should be all about the best the game can offer, a showpiece for the talents of most of the best players on the planet.

But unfortunately, for governing body Sanzar, it’s all about quantity rather than quality.

For Sanzar, the aim seems to be to fill every weekend of the year with rugby – SuperRugby stretched from February 24 to August 4, followed by the Rugby Championship from August  18 to October 7 – rather than ensuring that their product is the best it can be.

Before anyone accuses me of just being bitter because the Springboks are in the doldrums, let’s look at New Zealand, unbeaten in this year’s Rugby Championship and occupants of top spot on the log.

By their own admission, the All Blacks have struggled to hit their stride thus far and many experienced observers have been wondering how a team as poor as Australia’s managed to stay in the games against them for so long.

It can be argued that South Africa’s game plan is keeping their opposition in the game as well, but despite the new blood in the side, their displays have also been lacklustre.

The one side that has played with passion and intensity has been Argentina, who have performed with the typical enthusiasm of the new boys. With the vast majority of their players based in Europe, they also don’t have to deal with the draining effects of SuperRugby. The European clubs generally have bigger squads, so the workload is shared around more.

Leading South African sports scientist Professor Tim Noakes says it is impossible for the players to play with their usual intensity and accuracy after more than 14 weeks of high-intensity rugby, never mind the 22 weeks they endured at the start of the season.

“The players will pace themselves and make more mistakes, there won’t be the same intensity, they’ll cut out sprinting on the field, for instance.

“It’s because they’re exhausted. The brain tells the body to go easy and the players aren’t even aware of it. They’ll know they’re tired, but it won’t be a deliberate attempt to hold back. It’s just that their bodies can’t give them anything more,” Noakes said.

The ridiculous demands on the players are also shown in the catastrophic injury rate. The Springboks are without Bismarck du Plessis, Coenie Oosthuizen, Schalk Burger, Siya Kolisi, Pierre Spies, Bjorn Basson, JP Pietersen and probably Jannie du Plessis this weekend, while the likes of Heinrich Brussow, Duane Vermuelen and Johan Goosen have just returned to action after SuperRugby.

Australia have been similarly ravaged by injury, with the captains being particularly unfortunate. James Horwill, David Pocock and Will Genia are all out, joining James O’Connor, Stephen Moore, Wycliff Palu, Sekope Kepu and Sitaleki Timani on the sidelines.

The injury situation has become so bad that one of the team doctors has actually sent a letter of complaint to the governing body!

The product has to suffer with so many stars not featuring and the great god of TV has to see the warning lights flashing after some of the mediocre fare dished up this year.

It’s important to note that it’s not just matches every weekend that fatigue the players. It’s all the training and travelling (which is particularly onerous in the southern hemisphere) as well.

Thanks to sports science, the days when coaches would proudly say that the players died out on the training field are gone. The most successful coaches are those who taper and construct their training sessions the most efficiently, rather than just wearing the players out with over-training.

“Expanded competitions are widely being held accountable for increased demand on the top players and the rise in long-term injuries. But the management of player welfare isn’t as black and white as measuring the number of playing minutes each player receives in the game,” Queensland Reds coach Ewen McKenzie said this week.

“It is paramount that we protect our key assets, our players, and mitigate the risks of injury where possible. Probably the most effective way we manage our players’ workload is to determine the amount of minutes they spend in training versus the amount of minutes spent playing actual games. This is an area where teams have the biggest opportunity to manage an individual’s player welfare.
“We obviously want our top-performing and therefore highest-paid players on the field and fit to play every match in the season, so that’s where we start and work backwards from there. Typically, players can undertake up to three times more minutes in training each week than the important 80 minutes at the end of the week – playing in front of the supporters, viewers and sponsors.

“We need to ensure our players are receiving adequate rest to ensure they can perform at an optimal level during peak playing periods,” McKenzie said.

The bigger squads the SuperRugby coaches are asking for will help alleviate the situation a bit, but again the product suffers because second-string talent is on show. The only long-term solution is for Sanzar to cut back on the schedule.

The old adage that less is more is the pertinent one in the case of top-level rugby.