Ken Borland

There was no panic, no impatience, just a steely determination to stick to the game plan as George Coetzee chased a birdie on the closing holes to win the Tshwane Open at Pretoria Country Club on Sunday.

The time to panic has arrived and Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer is going to have to shed his fear of losing because the struggles of 2015 have now developed into a full-scale crisis after the shock loss to Japan in their opening World Cup match.

As magnificently as Japan played, what makes the loss even harder to swallow is that Eddie Jones telegraphed their game plan during the week; everybody knew they would go low in the tackle, bring pressure on the breakdown and move the ball away quickly from the collisions, and yet Meyer and the Springboks were unable to develop or execute a strategy to counter this.

All those tired old, injured bodies were not able to physically dominate the smallest team in international rugby, so what chance do they have against the massive Samoans? And if anyone says “no, but the Springboks will be ‘up’ for that game”, then I’d like to know what the hell was wrong with them that they couldn’t get properly motivated for the World Cup opening game?!

A defeat to Samoa will, in all probability, mean a flight home after the pool stages for the Springboks, so Meyer is now in a position where he has to go for broke.

A second-row of Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager will bring a more physical edge, which will be a prerequisite against Samoa. Francois Louw was anonymous against Japan after his injury woes and a second flank playing to the ball in Siya Kolisi could be useful. Frans Malherbe must come in for the unfit Coenie Oosthuizen.

Schalk Burger was a busy contributor, but what did he actually achieve? He is no longer a dominant force in the collisions, turning over ball far too often in contact, and constantly popping up at flyhalf or inside centre made him a disruptive force in the backline. Duane Vermeulen has to return, as captain, and maybe even Willem Alberts, if the medical team can actually get him on to a rugby field.

Zane Kirchner, after a bright opening 10 minutes, disappeared and is a total non-contributor on attack; Willie le Roux has to return at fullback to add a creative edge to a Springbok team that is a blunt weapon offensively.

Jean de Villiers has been a tremendous captain and a great player, but the emotion of a tenacious comeback should not be allowed to cloud the reality that the best centre pairing available for the Springboks right now is Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel.

It’s a great sadness that the legacy of top-class players like Victor Matfield, Schalk Burger, Fourie du Preez and De Villiers is being tarnished as they stumble on for a tournament too far. Du Preez should start at scrumhalf against Samoa and have a last chance to show that he still has a role to play for the Springboks.

Cell C Sharks coach Gary Gold said on Sunday that there was no need to panic after his team succumbed to a shock 35-29 home loss to the Toyota Cheetahs in their Vodacom SuperRugby opener at Kings Park.

It was an uncharacteristically error-ridden performance from the Sharks and the Cheetahs are the last team that will stand back and allow mistakes to go unpunished, running in four tries to claim the bonus point and put themselves second on the overall log and on top of the South African Conference.

“People have got to learn the lesson that you can’t underestimate the Cheetahs, the type of team they are, tightly-knit and able to punish any errors. So we knew what the Cheetahs were about, but we made far too many errors and we had set-piece problems.

“It was just one of those days and it depends on how you deal with it. It’s no good panicking about it, we need to feel the pain and fix what went wrong on the night. And we know what to fix, starting with the set-piece,” Gold told The Citizen on Sunday.

The new Sharks coach was, however, pleased with the character his side showed in the second half in trying to overcome a 35-22 deficit.

“We showed great character in the second half to come back and if Marcell Coetzee’s try had been allowed we would have won. That doesn’t take away from a poor performance, but the fact is that we still had an opportunity to win the game despite playing so poorly,” Gold said.

Hooker and captain Bismarck du Plessis was a late withdrawal through injury and then loosehead prop Tendai Mtawarira limped off with what looks to be a serious calf tear shortly before halftime to disrupt the Sharks pack, but Gold said they needed to adapt better to the misfortune.

The Sharks were their own worst enemies, which was no better illustrated than in the 27^th minute after Pat Lambie had just scored to put the home side’s noses in front 13-10. From the kickoff, the ball went to hooker Kyle Cooper and he contrived to kick waywardly, even though fullback SP Marais was all lined up to clear with his left foot, the ball going straight to eighthman Willie Britz, who counter-attacked to set up a try for centre Francois Venter. The Sharks were never ahead again.

Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske praised experienced flyhalf and new signing Joe Pietersen and the defence for taking the underdogs to victory.

“We knew if we wanted to beat them we had to have a good kicking plan and Joe made a real difference for us. He’s really calm and brings a lot of experience. I thought tactically he and Willie le Roux really kicked well and really put them under pressure, especially in the first half.

“The big difference between us tonight and last year was the work-rate on defence. I think the intensity is something we’ve worked on and that made a big difference. The second half we lost some momentum, but the defence pulled us through,” Drotske said.

Panicky wholesale changes to the South African team are not likely to be considered ahead of the second Test against Australia starting in Port Elizabeth on Thursday, but JP Duminy and Robin Peterson will be in the spotlight.

South Africa were crushed by 281 runs in the first Test at Centurion yesterday, which was only fair given how poorly they batted, bowled and fielded, and how superbly Mitchell Johnson bowled and the likes of Shaun Marsh, Steven Smith, David Warner and Alex Doolan batted.

Duminy scored 25 and 10 in the Test and, in both innings, batted for over an hour. In the first innings he was looking good, had seen off Johnson but then threw away his wicket holing out to spinner Nathan Lyon, and in the second innings he fell to a freakish catch at short-leg by Doolan.

But Duminy has underperformed for a while, scoring just 77 runs in his last seven innings and the under-pressure selectors may feel change has to come in the number six position.

South Africa’s spin bowling stocks are often the subject of despairing, even furious letters in the pages of this newspaper, and it will be difficult for the selectors to solve this long-standing problem.

Peterson was selected on the basis of being the most accurate, reliable spinner, someone who can hold up an end. But the orthodox left-armer went for 136 runs in 34 overs and was easily milked by the Australian batsmen. He did claim three wickets, but generally looked entirely unthreatening.

Imran Tahir remains the best wicket-taking spinner in the country, but we all know what happened to him the last time he was up against the Australians.

Warriors off-spinner Simon Harmer is next in line, but we should be cautious before throwing an untried 25-year-old into action against a team that plays spin bowling so well.

South Africa’s attack looked ineffectual across the board, mostly due to bad strategy, but the selectors will certainly consider employing an all-pace attack and bringing in left-armer Wayne Parnell on his home ground, to add something different.

That would probably save Duminy, who would then be the spinner in the team, although his probable replacement, Dean Elgar, bowls slow left-arm too.

Alviro Petersen could be under pressure at the top of the order, given how insecure he looked at Centurion, but dropping him would be harsh considering he made consecutive half-centuries in the two Tests against India before the massacre by Australia.

Although Ryan McLaren did not make a telling contribution in the Test, he performed his role as a holding bowler well and the huge defeat had its origins elsewhere.

Yesterday’s result will be a massive blow to the confidence of the South Africans, but it should be remembered that, barring the large hole left by Jacques Kallis, this is the same team that took them to number one and beat Australia on their home turf.

The talent and skill is there, it just needs to be activated by a change in mental approach by the South Africans. It was noticeable in the field how low the intensity was and it was poor decision-making that compounded their woes.

The decision to bowl first was an awful one, the bowling strategy was misguided and the batting against Johnson was laborious.