Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Boot against the bottom

I think it is safe to say that there is some heavy public pressure against Heyneke Meyer. And it is for good reason. Even someone unknowledgeable in the fine art of rugby can see that there is something wrong with the springbok team.
Moments of sheer individual brilliance is what has saved us from what could possibly jave been terrible upsets.
A lacklustre performance against Argentina really got the public up in arms and the loss to Australia only served to worsen what was already a hige public outcry against what seemed a planless Meyer.
The performance against the All black was definotely a huge improvement but Im sorry to say that is was in now way due to an improved gameplan.
Rather I think the players took it upon themselves to play their hearts out and make the best of the terrible deal they've been dealt.
In my opinion the team seems to be stuck somewhere in the middle between the Stormers' kick and chase gameplan and the Bulls' forward dominance gameplan.
Maybe I'm biased here but I really believe that the Sharks had the best balanced gameplan amongst the South african conferences. Surely considering the amount of sharks players in the bok team they should rather concentrate on a simmilar gameplan.
A real breath of fresh air was the inclusion of Johan Goosen.
Against the All Blacks I have no doubt that the Boks would have won if the young Goosen had started the game.
Another sore point is the amount of gametime Lamby has had in past weeks.
With Louw and Coetzee on the side of the scrum we really looked a force to be reconned with.
At the moment Duane Vermeulen's match fitness is a bit questionable though.
Maybe Alberts on 8 could be the answer but he doesn't look the player he usually is from the bench.
My biggest concern though is what thinking made Meyer even include Dean Greyling in the side.
If a finger can be pointed against any single player it would surely be him.
In 20 minutes he cost the Boks no less than 4 penalties of which one was a yellow card.
Hopefully Meyer's eyes will open in the following weeks and he will set up a proper, modern gameplan and select players to suite it instead of his unexplainable faith in the Bulls players who couldn't even manage at their own gameplan in this year's Super15.