Ken Borland

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer on Monday blamed the lack of experience in the Springbok side for their shock 16-16 Rugby Championship draw with Argentina in Mendoza at the weekend.

South Africa trailed Argentina, playing in the southern hemisphere tournament which was previously known as the Tri-Nations for the first time this year, for three-quarters of the test before a charge-down try by centre Francois Steyn allowed them to draw level.

“It was not good enough, it was unacceptable and I was very disappointed. But I always knew it would be very tough in the first year because of the inexperience of the side, a lot of them were playing their first test away from home.

“If we’re realistic, then there were only a couple of members of the pack who played in the World Cup. People underestimate Argentina, but their whole starting line-up plays in Europe and they are very experienced,” Meyer told reporters at Johannesburg International Airport on his arrival back from Argentina on Monday.

Meyer is missing a quartet of players who would have been in the starting line-up in veteran flank Schalk Burger, explosive hooker Bismarck du Plessis, loose forward Pierre Spies and experienced wing JP Pietersen, while stalwarts such as John Smit, Victor Matfield and Jaque Fourie have retired and Fourie du Preez, Bakkies Botha, Danie Rossouw and Gurtho Steenkamp are not playing rugby in South Africa.

The Springbok coach will announce his squad for their Australasian leg of the Rugby Championship on Tuesday, but Meyer said there would not be a raft of changes.

“It’s easy to say throw people out and pick new ones, but that’s not coaching, that’s picking. I’ve been in this position a few times as a coach and the easiest thing is just to cut players, but that won’t move you forward. We’ve already lost a lot of leadership and then you’d be throwing out what little experience you’ve got.”

Meyer admitted that taking on Australia in Perth and New Zealand in Dunedin in their next two Rugby Championship fixtures would be a more daunting prospect requiring a much improved performance from the Springboks.

“The next two games will be even tougher and we have to improve. I know we can do it, but the only way the side will improve is by coaching them, improving their technique and mental strength,” Meyer said.

South Africa suffered from a distinct lack of continuity against the Pumas, who dominated the breakdowns, but Meyer said the make-up of the loose-trio – three big, physical players in Willem Alberts, Jacques Potgieter and Marcell Coetzee – was not the problem. The Springboks have a top-class fetcher flank in Heinrich Brussow, but he has not been selected by Meyer and is currently out injured.

“Argentina are also very physical and it’s not just about the loose trio. It’s the whole pack and also the backs who have to contest the ball, and the Pumas flooded the breakdown. It’s more about numbers and technique,” Meyer said.

The Springbok coach suggested some of Argentina’s ball-stealing was illegal.

“I coached a few of their players while I was at Leicester, so I knew how tough it would be. Argentina have finished third in the World Cup and New Zealand could only score two tries against them in Auckland last year. They’re especially hard to play against if they slow down your ball and they don’t play like teams in SuperRugby.

“It was a different interpretation and Argentina competed a lot, threw numbers at the breakdown and got their hands on the ball to slow it down. Our guys were used to SuperRugby for 16 weeks and now players were flying into the rucks from all areas. But we should have done better with our clearing.”

Meyer admitted that it had been a case of the Springboks’ discipline also letting them down.

“Argentina had a lot of PR and emotion behind them, but I was very disappointed with our discipline because we knew they would come hard at us and get the crowd behind them early on. Because of our discipline, we’d concede a penalty and they would start mauling, which makes life very difficult. Away from home, your discipline needs to be impeccable, but we got very frustrated, which is part of the inexperience. It was a very hostile environment and there was off-the-ball stuff, especially at the breakdown. But there’s no excuse, this team needs to grow up,” Meyer said.

There are many cases of highly-successful players then becoming triumphant coaches, but not many can claim to have reached the pinnacle of their sport mentoring two such vastly different teams as Gary Kirsten has.

As a player, Kirsten was one of the most effective opening batsmen of the 1990s and early 2000s, as 7289 Test runs at 45.27 and 6798 ODI runs at 40.95 attest.

But he really became a legend of the game when he took over as the coach of a seriously-talented but under-performing Indian team.

Despite having no top-level coaching experience before that daunting assignment, Kirsten managed to get a group of celebrity cricketers, under the biggest burden of expectation in the game, playing consistently as a winning unit.

Under Kirsten, India won the World Cup on home soil and reached the number one Test ranking.

Now South Africa have also scaled the Test peak and top the rankings after their 2-0 series victory in England.

Apart from the talent and the expectation (admittedly at a much lower level of intensity), South Africa are a very different team to India.

Even Jacques Kallis, arguably the greatest all-rounder to grace the game, does not have the same cult status of a Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag or Rahul Dravid.

The team ethos is drummed into South Africans from a young age and with it comes a conservative approach, a fear of failure and a great work ethic when it comes to things like fitness and nets.

Being an individual is almost frowned upon; the whole team must be treated the same.

But Kirsten has begun dismantling these long-held beliefs. Eyebrows were raised when South Africa spent time in the Alps with explorer Mike Horn rather than arrive earlier in England for more match practice.

And those same eyebrows were in orbit when Kirsten said practice the day before the crucial Lord’s Test was optional.

It’s not that the 44-year-old does not believe in preparation. He swears by it.

It’s just that Kirsten realised a long time ago – during his lengthy playing career – that everyone is different and requires different preparation. At the elite level, most of this preparation is mental anyway.

“We will focus on our preparation and the work that we do. We always respect the opposition and we understand we are playing against quality teams. We will never underestimate any side, we will never go into any Test match complacent and arrive thinking the job is done.

“We will do the preparation necessary to look at the opposition and what they have got in their team and how we can exploit certain areas,” Kirsten assured the media in London before the battle for the number one ranking reached its climax.

South Africa have been number one before, of course, briefly in 2009 after winning in Australia, but, according to captain Graeme Smith, they now have the maturity to try and hang on to the top spot for longer.

“Having touched it before, I think we have learned some lessons. I can’t predict what will happen, but we are pretty humble. I don’t think there will be any flashiness from our guys.

“There will be lots of hard work and with the type of people we have around our group, if we do lose this it won’t be because of our attitudes,” Smith said.

Words like “humble”, “no flashiness”, “hard work” and “attitude” have been used many times to describe Kirsten and the coach has made it clear that he wants to change the players as people as much as cricketers.

Kirsten believes it is vital for his players to have perspective – that real life extends far beyond the cricket field (this, of course, can make it easier to handle those inaptly named “life-or-death” moments in the game).

But he also insists that players have to take personal responsibility within the team unit.

Although the technical knowledge of Kirsten has been refined on the biggest stage, it is the man-management skills of the Capetonian that set him apart.

The failures and the disappointments are dealt with quickly and then forgotten; the blame game is never played; and the talk in the changeroom is always of the positive and what the team has already achieved.

The mental freshness of the squad is also one of the key factors Kirsten won’t compromise.

Allan Donald, the bowling coach, was allowed to leave the New Zealand tour earlier this year to spend time with the family, while avid surfer Paddy Upton, the mental conditioning coach with India but now the performance director with South Africa, was allowed some leave from the England tour in order to chase the waves in the remote oceans around Indonesia.

The same principle was in play when the players were told nets were optional.

In the thrilling final stages of the Test at Lord’s, when England made it clear that they were not going to relinquish the number one ranking without a huge fight, it was the mental state of the South African team that mattered most.

With Matt Prior throwing down the gauntlet in marvellous fashion, South Africa showed no signs of the “choking” ailment that has dogged them in the past.

Far from ignoring the unwanted tag, Kirsten dealt with it head-on during the time in Switzerland with Horn, one of the most inspirational people on the planet.

By being put in real life-threatening situations on the glaciers of the Alps, South Africa’s cricketers learnt a huge amount about their own abilities to handle pressure.

Mentally, the Lord’s thriller was like a stroll in the park compared to some of the adventures Horn has introduced to them.

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer on Saturday announced five uncapped players in the 30-man Springbok squad for the two Rugby Championship Tests against Argentina in Cape Town and Mendoza.

Wing JJ Engelbrecht, flyhalf Elton Jantjies and scrumhalf Jano Vermaak were members of the extended squad for the series against England in June, but did not feature in any of the three Tests, while flank Siya Kolisi and prop Pat Cilliers have been brought into the team for the first time after strong showings in the SuperRugby competition.

Eighthman Ryan Kankowski and centre Wynand Olivier, who have both signed contracts to play in Japan, have been dropped, allowing the experienced Pierre Spies to retain his place, while Francois Steyn returns after missing the last Test against England to get married.

Fullback Bjorn Basson, prop Coenie Oosthuizen, flyhalf Johan Goosen and loose forwards Schalk Burger, Heinrich Brussow and Duane Vermuelen were not considered due to injury.

Lock Andries Bekker, the tallest Springbok ever at 2.08m, has been recalled to the squad after missing the England series due to injury, and will join youngsters Juandre Kruger, Eben Etzebeth and Flip van der Merwe in the second row.

“The Rugby Championship is going to be very tough and a few youngsters are going to need to put their hands up because we’re playing against the best teams in the world. We’ll need to improve every game and we’d like to keep some continuity in the squad,” Meyer told a news conference in Worcester on Saturday.

Meyer named seven front-row players, including the complete front row of the Sharks team that reached the SuperRugby final – burly loosehead prop Tendai Mtawarira, hooker Bismarck du Plessis and his brother, tighthead Jannie.

Lions prop Cilliers’ ability to play both tighthead and loosehead has seen him selected for the first time.

The 21-year-old Kolisi enjoyed a top-class SuperRugby campaign for the Stormers, proving himself as a ferocious tackler and strong ball-carrier.

The squad will assemble in Cape Town on Sunday for a training camp.

“It’s a big challenge, playing six Tests against the best teams in the world in eight weeks and we now have to ensure we improve on how we played against England. It’s still early days for this team, but we are excited about what lies ahead in a brand-new competition that promises to be very testing,” Meyer said.

South Africa are playing Argentina, who are making their debut in the southern hemisphere competition that also includes World Cup winners New Zealand and defending champions Australia, in Cape Town on August 18, before travelling to South America to play the same team in Mendoza on August 25.

The Springboks are coming off a disappointing 14-14 draw with England in their last Test, in Port Elizabeth on June 23 and Meyer said the make-up of the squad would be reconsidered after the two Tests against Argentina. This will be followed by Tests against Australia in Perth (September 8) and the All Blacks in Dunedin (September 15), followed by the home matches against those two sides, in Pretoria (September 29) and Soweto (October 6).

Squad – Zane Kirchner, Pat Lambie, JP Pietersen, Bryan Habana, Lwazi Mvovo, Francois Hougaard, JJ Engelbrecht, Jean de Villiers, Francois Steyn, Morne Steyn, Elton Jantjies, Ruan Pienaar, Jano Vermaak, Keegan Daniel, Pierre Spies, Marcell Coetzee, Willem Alberts, Jacques Potgieter, Siya Kolisi, Andries Bekker, Juandre Kruger, Eben Etzebeth, Flip van der Merwe, Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis, Adriaan Strauss, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Tendai Mtawarira, Dean Greyling, Pat Cilliers.

Pierre Spies has served the Springboks under Jake White, Peter de Villiers and now Heyneke Meyer, and the eighthman says South Africa’s newest coach’s strengths of precise planning and mental skills will keep the team moving forward.

“It’s been a great privilege to play under three Springbok coaches now and they’ve all had a significant impact on my career,” Spies tells Midi Olympique at his home fortress of Loftus Versfeld.

“Heyneke has such amazing plans set out for the team and has a great pride in the Springbok jersey. He is someone who really enjoys the psychological side of things and he always has an interesting story to tell which motivates the players.

“That’s what makes him special and also that he is such a meticulous planner.”

Spreading the ball wide is not a major feature of the Meyer plan and Spies explains that this was because he wanted the Springboks to play to their strengths – massive forwards who can carry the ball and dominate the tight phases.

“It’s important for us to get momentum, to build pressure and then convert that into points, because that’s what rugby is about. The result is all that matters,” Spies says.

The Springboks began the Meyer era with a 2-0 series win over England, but the final Test was drawn 14-14 in Port Elizabeth with the home side struggling to match the hunger and intensity of the visitors.

“It’s important that we learn from the last game, but I think the series as a whole went really well. We were together as a group for just three weeks and it was a massive challenge because England had been together for the whole Six Nations and were desperate for the result.

“We had to work really hard, but Heyneke and the management team planned things properly and we were able to build and lay a good foundation for the Rugby Championship,” Spies says.

While the 27-year-old believes the Springboks can only get better, he adds that England have sent out a clear message that they are gearing up well for another World Cup challenge on home turf in 2015.

“England have some great players and if they can keep this squad together for a few more years, then they will definitely be a threat at the next World Cup,” Spies says.

“But we’ve also laid a good foundation. England were definitely fresher than us and had much better preparation because we came straight off SuperRugby, while they played Six Nations together and then had a break.

“That’s why it was such a good result for us. We hadn’t played together for a while and the only way for us to get better is by playing together,” Spies says.

The former wing is heading into a crunch game for his Bulls team on Friday night when they take on the Sharks in Durban. Defeat for Spies and his men will signal the end of the road for their hopes of topping the South African Conference.

But even so, it has still been an impressive campaign for the Bulls, considering they have lost so much experience with the departures of Victor Matfield, Fourie du Preez, Bakkies Botha, Danie Rossouw, Gurthro Steenkamp, Gary Botha and Derick Kuhn.

“As a group, at the beginning of the season, we looked at the calendar and set goals for ourselves. Even though we lost a lot of experience, we still have the right mix of youth and talent and experience. Hopefully this will set us up for the years ahead.

“The management group has set us up nicely for the final run-in now and we’re heading into an exciting part of the tournament. There’s a lot at stake, but we must just focus on our play and our processes.”

With the changing of the guard at Loftus Versfeld, Spies was given the captaincy and the committed Christian has handled the added responsibility relatively easily.

“It’s a journey on which I learn every day. I’m just very proud to be part of such a talented group. There’s a great environment created by the management and the culture around the players is very special.

“It’s a great honour and I learn a lot every day. Hopefully I’ll be captain for a few more seasons,” Spies says.

With the publication of his autobiography, More than Rugby, last year, Spies revealed an impressive ability to rise above hardship – the loss of his father when he was still a teenager and injuries that kept him out of the U19 World Championship and the 2007 World Cup with a potentially career-ending blood condition.

So it is no surprise that he still believes the Bulls have a date with destiny with the SuperRugby final on August 4.

“Our mentality is the same as always, we want to win every game.”

And after that comes the Rugby Championship, which the Springboks will finish on October 6 at the stunning FNB Stadium in Soweto, the venue for the 2010 Soccer World Cup final.