Ken Borland

Graeme Smith is the captain who has sent the opposition in to bat more than any other skipper in Test history and the statistics for Centurion show that South Africa have won four of the last six Tests there batting second.

So the decision to send Australia in to bat on the first day of the first Test at SuperSport Park yesterday perhaps should not have been as surprising as it was. Except that the conditions really did not justify it: there was bright sunshine, the temperature was already high, the pitch had a slight greenish-yellow tinge to it but nothing out of the ordinary. It was the sort of day that just feels like a “batting day”.

The first session was always going to be tough for batsmen and the Australians struggled to 83 for three at lunch and were 98 for four soon after the break. But by the close of play, Shaun Marsh and Steven Smith had added 199 to take the tourists through to 297 for four at stumps.

Apart from not being at their sharpest, once again starting a Test series slowly, South Africa were guilty of not playing what was in front of them; the statistical history might have said one thing, but the here and now of the actual conditions were suggesting the opposite.

Coach Russell Domingo is known to be an ardent follower of statistics and Ryan McLaren admitted after the day’s play that the decision at the toss had been motivated by past history.

“The stats going into the game say enough – in most games, the team bowling first ends up winning, it’s a high percentage and it’s what’s worked in the past,” McLaren said.

Yesterday, however, it was a case of the pitch offering the usual amount of assistance for the first hour and then flattening out.

“The ball moved around a bit in the beginning, but it was slowish off the pitch. And then the ball got softer and the pitch became slower and flatter as the day went on,” McLaren admitted.

The overall record at Centurion indicates that the team batting second have won the Test 10 times in 19 matches, which is only slightly greater than 50%. Australia, having not appeared here since 1997, just played what was in front of them.

“We were surprised actually that we were sent in to bat,” Steven Smith said. “We thought it would be quite tough this morning, but if you get through that initial period then it would be quite nice for batting. And there is good pace and bounce in the wicket and if you get through the start, then it is good for batting.

“There are a few cracks forming too and, with the heat overhead, we’re hoping to get a big total and then use those cracks.”

South Africa’s bowlers toiled admirably, but were not at their sharpest. Dale Steyn, suffering from a stomach bug, deserves special mention for bowling 20 overs and taking two for 54.

His strikes removed dangermen David Warner (12) and Michael Clarke (23), but it’s apparent that there is a definite release in pressure once the seamers come out of the South African attack.

Australia were precariously placed on 113 for four after 40 overs midway through the second session when Robin Peterson came on to bowl. Marsh and Smith hit 22 runs off his four overs to change the momentum and added 63 runs in the 14 overs before tea.

Smith, originally a limited-overs dasher, plays with a refreshing simplicity and plenty of good sense, and he admitted that tightening up his technique and being more patient have been the two major factors in his recent success.

Marsh, able to average no more than 35.02 in first-class cricket, went to his second Test century and surprised everyone. A controversial selection, his inclusion was a hunch that did pay off and is going to be celebrated for a long while.

The left-hander was able to play within himself, occupying the crease for five-and-three-quarter hours, but he was accomplished when driving down the ground or cutting.

“Marsh and Smith played really well, you have to give credit to them. Shaun showed how good a player he is, he was under pressure, he took a few blows, but he adapted well,” McLaren said.

South Africa took more blows on the first day than Australia, but they have shown time and time again that they can adapt to misfortune, even if much of it was self-inflicted right at the start of the day.

Rugby journalists tend to receive a steady diet of “facts”, statistics and obfuscation from coaches and players in the regular course of their duties; and filters, a fair degree of cynicism and good old fashioned fact-checking are all necessary in making sense of it all.

Steve Hansen (New Zealand), Robbie Deans (Australia) and our very own Heyneke Meyer have been the coaches under pressure in this year’s Rugby Championship (Argentina’s Santiago Phelan has had immunity because of his team’s new boy status) and all of them have had their moments of spreading disinformation and spin.

Following the Springboks’ convincing victory over the Wallabies last weekend, Deans is probably the coach whose head is closest to the chopping block. Being a Kiwi certainly doesn’t help in Australia.

The former All Blacks fullback tries to add extra gravitas to his press conference utterings by speaking slowly and staring intently. The fact that he is the most successful SuperRugby coach ever, steering the Canterbury Crusaders to five titles between 2000 and 2008, and is generally a pleasant bloke to chat to, means that the magnifying glass of closer scrutiny is not always applied to what he has to say.

One of the surest signs someone is feeling the pressure is when they try something smart or out of the ordinary. It’s a classic Heyneke Meyer principle that rugby is a simple game and as soon as the opposition gets you to deviate from your normal game plan or strengths, they have the advantage over you.

It was a tell-tale sign of strain when Deans, a thoroughly decent bloke, used a sneak move involving his front row at Loftus Versfeld that would ultimately lead to his team finishing the match with 14 men.

Benn Robinson, arguably the best loosehead prop in the world, was surprisingly substituted after just 30 minutes on Saturday, with Deans later confirming that it was a “strategic move”.

He was replaced by James Slipper, but it was inevitable that Robinson would return, with either Slipper or Ben Alexander “developing” an injury in the second half.
Sure enough, Alexander hobbled from the field in the 67th minute with a fresh Robinson returning.

But the cunning plan backfired on the Wallabies because, in a game that saw them suffer a freakish number of injuries, Robinson’s return was the seventh substitution and the maximum allowed, so when hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau needed to be replaced due to genuine injury, they couldn’t and had to make do with 14 men.

After the game, Deans sallied forth into a tale of woe about their injuries, claiming they only had 12 men standing in the latter stages of the game and fired a salvo at the fourth referee, who he blamed for not allowing Polota-Nau to be replaced after initially saying he could be.

Deans also claimed that Robinson’s trips to and from the bench were “totally irrelevant” to the situation, which was disingenuous in the extreme.

Hansen was promoted from forwards coach to replace Sir Graham Henry as the All Blacks head coach after their World Cup triumph and he has had some difficulties of his own in satisfying the demanding New Zealand rugby public.

While most observers would agree the All Blacks have been some way off their best until last weekend in Argentina, Hansen has been extolling their dominance and brilliance after every game, including the Dunedin match against the Springboks which even had the home media giving most of the praise to the South Africans.

As far as Meyer goes, he is not afraid to engage with the media, and there have been some memorable technical discussions where he has allowed his passion for the game to overflow – and he has given an impromptu coaching session to journalists! There is a memorable photograph on a reporter’s cellphone of Springbok media manager De Jongh Borchardt lying on the ground with a bunch of media guides doubling as the ball and Meyer bent over him demonstrating the correct ball-stealing technique at a ruck.

And if you ask Meyer why he has chosen Arno Botha ahead of Keegan Daniel, he will give a detailed, reasoned response.

It is all rather refreshing because his predecessor, Peter de Villiers, was always very reluctant to talk about technical matters or even to explain selections beyond “He’s the guy I think we want to go with this week”.

De Villiers has not been so chicken to speak about where he believes Meyer is going wrong.

Meyer treats rugby as a science and is extremely statistics-driven. While it may seem robotic and liable to inhibit flair and experimentation, it does ensure that the coach is not led on flights of fancy by his perceptions or emotions.

Statistics can reveal some fascinating insights. I was intrigued on Tuesday when kicking coach Louis Koen said Morne Steyn averages a 78% success rate when kicking at goal in Tests and the only year he has been above 80% was during his annus mirabilis in 2010 when he was at 90%.

Facts are sometimes forgotten in the mists of time, though, and I do get mildly irritated when Meyer insists on saying Jannie du Plessis is the only member of the World Cup pack still playing. Willem Alberts, Francois Louw, Tendai Mtawarira and CJ van der Linde were all also in New Zealand, although the tighthead prop was the only one who started the infamous quarterfinal defeat to Australia.

It would probably help considerably if South African rugby fans could begin to watch games with a more analytical eye rather than just blind emotion. How many fans have picked up that the Springboks have kicked less than their opposition in every Rugby Championship game this year?

Who would the public say had the greater impact in the weekend hammering of the Wallabies – Zane Kirchner or Pat Lambie?

One should hastily add that the media also needs to lift their reporting to new levels, with astonishing numbers attributing Saturday’s win to “a new game plan”.

– http://dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2012-10-03-its-just-part-of-the-lip-service