Boks the best by far
by Gavin Rich | 14 September 2009 (06:08)
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| © Gallo Images |
So in the end the defeat in Brisbane just delayed the inevitable, and the vanquished All Blacks were the first to admit it afterwards – the Springboks are the best rugby team in the world, and by some distance.
They did it the hard way, thus underlined their right to be known as one of the great teams, beating New Zealand in New Zealand. While there was again an element of self-destruct about the All Blacks, just as there was during the two matches in South Africa, the way they imploded only served to underline how much better than them the Springboks were.
There was an air of panic about the All Blacks from the early stages of the match, when the wisdom of Frans Steyn’s recall after being left out in the two matches in Australia was quickly made apparent. The All Blacks had started comfortably enough, but as flanker Jerome Kaino admitted afterwards, when Steyn landed a monster penalty from 60 metres, the Kiwis were rocked back on their heels.
Steyn landed another two from a similar distance, there was a well taken drop-goal from flyhalf Morne Steyn, and just when the All Blacks should have been looking to claw their way back after half-time, Jean de Villiers dropped in for one of those against the run of play intercept tries.
That accounted for 19 of the Boks’ 32 points, and in terms of the scoreboard, it was there clinical ability to gather the points when it was necessary that made the difference against a New Zealand team that did more than okay in terms of territory and also forced the Boks to miss a welter of tackles in the second half.
But when the coaches and players who have featured against the Boks this year get to look back on it in the future, it must surely be two things that stand out: firstly, the wizardry of Victor Matfield in the lineouts, something that forced the All Blacks into a helter-skelter approach in all three tests, and secondly the Springbok physicality.
The tackle skipper John Smit put in on Brad Thorn summed it up, as did the blood that flowed in the game. Like in South Africa, doubtless there were many sore and bruised All Blacks afterwards. As no doubt there were Boks, but the South Africans seem to like it that way and relish the physical confrontation more than any other nation.
Former Bok coach Jake White used the phrase “men against boys” to describe a defeat to England towards the end of 2004, but there were many times the same could have been said about these Tri-Nations games, only the roles being reversed this time, the now matured Boks taking on the role of teachers.
Neither New Zealand nor Australia were able to live with the Springbok physicality, with the only exception being Brisbane, where the Wallaby willingness to step up and match their opponents’ testosterone levels sent out a message to future pretenders to the Bok throne.
The All Blacks never looked like replicating the Australian effort, and it was clear from an early stage that this time the Boks were on their game. New Zealand fought back well towards the end, and a Dan Carter cross-kick, that eventually flew over a clutch of unmarked All Blacks on the Bok line, very nearly won it for them.
But the game was effectively over when the Bok ability to pile up points and their refusal to give the home team any breathing space pushed McCaw’s men into panic mode.
The Bok lineout dominance over the Kiwis, which stretches back now several years, was astonishing. It says a lot about their esteem for Matfield and company that All Black forward coach Steve Hansen should afterwards have given the impression that he was happy with the performance on the basis of two second half poaches.
Yet this was a game where the All Blacks were unable to win any lineout ball in the first half. How is a team supposed to pick up any momentum under those circumstances? When eventually the ball did come the All Black way off a lineout, flyhalf Carter seemed ill-prepared for it, almost as if the All Blacks accepted that “our ball is also their ball”.
The Bok lineout dominance in this series underscored what a mistake it was for the Boks to play away from their main strengths in 2008. When you have a lineout like that, and kickers like the Boks do, then it is just common sense to apply a tactical kicking game and shut out opponents with the suffocation strategy for which Springbok rugby has been renowned.
It was the strategy readjustment the Boks underwent between August 2008 and now, during which time they only lost twice, that was the difference between last place in the previous Tri-Nations and first place this year. After all, most of the Bok players who were part of this triumph were there 12 months ago, such as Matfield and the irrepressible Fourie du Preez.
The man who wasn’t, however, was Smit (injured for most of 2008 Tri-Nations), and it really is hard to describe just how valuable his contribution as leader has been to the Boks over the past 12 months without being too wordy and too repetitive.
Both on and off the field Smit was immense, and while it would be over the top to suggest Hamilton heralds the end of the question marks over his scrumming, for after all this was just one solid performance in several iffy ones in that phase, the importance of his leadership makes him indispensible.
It was Smit more than anyone who determined that the Boks needed to go back to what worked for them in winning the 2007 World Cup, and there is an interesting fact about the Bok Tri-Nations campaign that should not be completely neglected. They were outscored in tries by 10 to 11.
With four of those tries coming in one game, that tells us that there was nothing fancy or flash about these Boks. They got the job done by exerting pressure which forced opposition mistakes, yet there is no-one in South Africa today complaining that they are boring. Everyone is celebrating.
It should be a lesson to New Zealand, and it was not surprising afterwards to learn that Graham Henry conceded that his team will have to look for greater balance to their approach in the future.
Read more on the Tri-Nations page.
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