Ken Borland

Australia utility back Adam Ashley-Cooper said on Monday that injured flyhalf Quade Cooper’s comments on the squad, in which he roasted the camp for having a “toxic environment”, would not be a distraction as the Wallabies prepare for their Rugby Championship Test against South Africa in Pretoria on Saturday.

“There’s a lot of people who are afraid to say what they feel so they just go along with it and nothing is going to change,” Cooper told Australian Associated Press at the weekend. “That’s why I feel so strongly as a player. I don’t want to be involved in the toxic environment, and that’s how it is at the moment.”

Cooper has also tweeted his displeasure at Wallabies coach Robbie Deans’ game plan, saying he was only allowed to play the attacking brand of rugby he favours from “February to May” at the Queensland Reds in SuperRugby.

But Ashley-Cooper said there was a very convivial mood in the Wallabies camp.

“I’m not aware of what the tweets are saying, but you can’t ignore social media, it’s a big part of the game. But it won’t be a distraction for us.

“There’s a great buzz in the squad and we’re excited to be here. We’ve had two good wins and we feel that we’re building as a group,” Ashley-Cooper told a news conference in Johannesburg on Monday.

While Australia have come from behind to win their last two Tests, against South Africa and Argentina, Deans is still under enormous pressure at home, mainly due to his record of just two wins in his last 16 matches against the All Blacks for the Bledisloe Cup.

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer is also feeling the heat with his team managing just a win and a draw against Argentina thus far in the Rugby Championship.

“I think the Springboks are facing similar challenges to us with a lot of injuries and having to give opportunities to younger blokes. But those youngsters bring a lot of enthusiasm and energy which the older guys can feed off.

“The Springboks are coming off two disappointing losses so they’ll be pretty motivated and we expect it to be really tough to win in Pretoria.

“The challenge is greater for us away from home, we have two really tough games on a pretty tough trip and with the travel conditions added in, so there’s no room for complacency,” Ashley-Cooper said.

The 28-year-old veteran of 71Tests and numerous SuperRugby games against the Pretoria-based Bulls said Loftus Versfeld would not be a place for the faint-hearted on Saturday.

“Playing at Loftus is always pretty tough, you’re usually up against quality opposition there and a hostile crowd that they feed off. Plus the altitude and the pace of the game there means it’s always a challenge. A win is something we’ve never achieved before in Pretoria, we came close in 2010 [31-44], so there’s a lot of motivation for us,” Ashley-Cooper said.

Australia’s coaching co-ordinator, Tony McGahan, said despite criticism that the Springboks’ game plan was dull and conservative in comparison to the Wallabies’, every top international team employed similar tactics.

“Generally, most sides have the same principles with just small variations from week-to-week depending on the opposition and the conditions. But the core values are set in stone.

“You need a bit of both possession and territory. You use possession to gain territory and that’s how you control the scoreboard, converting field position into points. It will continue to be that way in test rugby.

“There will be more cause to have a penalty against you when you’re running the ball out of your own half, but you tend to get more favour from possession on attack. It also depends on the quality of your possession,” McGahan said.

Australia will name their team for Saturday’s Test on Thursday, while South Africa’s squad will be announced on Wednesday.

Perhaps Heyneke Meyer didn’t want to spoil the actual team announcement on Wednesday, or he’s afraid of irreparably damaging fragile psyches, but the Springbok coach on Saturday night announced an expanded 30-man squad with three flyhalves and three fullbacks included for the home Rugby Championship Tests against Australia and New Zealand.

That meant that despite adding the Lions duo of Elton Jantjies and Jaco Taute to the mix, there was still place for Morne Steyn and Zane Kirchner, the two most unpopular selections in his teams this year.

Thankfully, the selection of the Springbok team is not a popularity contest, because that would be catastrophically fickle, but Lady Luck has clearly turned her face away from Steyn, with even his kicking boots deserting him. She could well look in Steyn’s direction again, but what the 28-year-old clearly needs is a break from the game and the chance to rediscover himself, his form and confidence, perhaps in Currie Cup rugby with the Bulls.

Instead, the embattled flyhalf will have to pitch up for Springbok duty again, face the uncertainty of playing for his place and feel all the pressure and ugly, nasty public vitriol all over again. For someone who prides himself on getting the best out of his players, it seems cruel that Meyer will subject Steyn to that again, rather than a sympathetic arm around the shoulder and a “Listen, you’re still a great player but I think you need a break” chat.

Or is Meyer hoping that a few sleeps at home will be a miracle cure for Steyn and the confidence that has so steadily been eroded all year will suddenly return?

Common sense would dictate that the starting flyhalf berth will now be between the 20-year-old Goosen, who has looked to the manner born in his half-an-hour of Test rugby thus far, and Jantjies, surely the most in-form pivot in South Africa at the moment, whose all-round brilliance has led the Lions to the top of the Currie Cup log.

But will Meyer back them? The fact that he has not yet summoned the courage to drop Steyn suggests he struggles to have complete confidence in players he does not know intimately.

The same has happened at fullback, where Pat Lambie and Taute could bring some attacking flair, if only Meyer would back them. Zane Kirchner has been solid and done little wrong, but he does not bring any inspiration to a backline that has only played in fits and starts.

The hedging of bets can also be seen in the selection of four tighthead props in Jannie du Plessis, Pat Cilliers, CJ van der Linde and Coenie Oosthuizen, although the latter two are also comfortable in the number one jersey. But at least some good sense can be seen in that over-supply, because both Du Plessis and Cilliers have been struggling with injury.

Lock Eben Etzebeth is also back in the fold after being suspended for an ineffectual headbutt and the battle for three second-row places in the 22-man squad will be intriguing.

Flip van der Merwe, Juandre Kruger and Andries Bekker did their chances no harm at all with their committed performances in Dunedin and Meyer may well want to bed down the forward combinations that surprised everyone by dominating the All Blacks on their home turf. But Etzebeth has enjoyed a dream year thus far.

Squad:

Pat Lambie, Zane Kirchner, Bryan Habana, Jean de Villiers, Juan de Jongh, Francois Steyn, Jaco Taute, Francois Hougaard, Lwazi Mvovo, Johan Goosen, Elton Jantjies, Morne Steyn, Ruan Pienaar, Duane Vermeulen, Willem Alberts, Jacques Potgieter, Francois Louw, Marcell Coetzee, Juandre Kruger, Andries Bekker, Flip van der Merwe, Eben Etzebeth, Jannie du Plessis, Pat Cilliers, Adriaan Strauss, Tiaan Liebenberg, Craig Burden, Tendai Mtawarira, CJ van der Linde, Coenie Oosthuizen.

– http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-09-23-rugby-lady-luck-vs-morne-steyn

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer on Saturday included three flyhalves and a trio of fullbacks in an expanded 30-man squad for the Springboks’ two home Rugby Championship tests against Australia and New Zealand.

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.