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Tactics, not the referee, is to blame
Alain Rolland is currently public enemy number one of anyone displaying any form of Springbok memorabilia. But perhaps the Sydney Morning Herald came close to the truth by begging South African fans not to "shoot the pianist", as he is doing his best.
The All Blacks made an emphatic statement in Wellington on Saturday by comprehensively outplaying the Springboks in the second game of the Vodacom Tri-Nations competition. The 31-17 defeat was no fluke, and it was not attributable to the poor handling of the rules by Rolland.
Rolland, to be fair to South African fans, was irritatingly inconsistent at times; and Richie McCaw, the All Black captain, was extremely fortunate to escape without a yellow card.
But ultimately, Rolland should not be in the dock for the defeat. The penalty score was only 10-9 to the All Blacks, by the way.
The Springboks' poor preparation, the lack of a Plan B, and the team’s inadequate mental preparation should come under scrutiny.
Furthermore, South African coaches persisting with their first-choice players and bluntly ignoring calls by the world-class sports scientist Professor Tim Noakes that the Springboks require eight weeks recuperation per year, has contributed to the defeats.
The New Zealand view
The former All Black captain Sean Fitzpatrick, a columnist for the Herald on Sunday, wrote that the South African team seemed tired.
“John Smit looks tired and Bryan Habana, Ricky Januarie and Jean de Villiers all seem off the pace."
He wrote that the All Blacks were smarter and more physical than the Boks.
"That's where the All Blacks were superior. They were better and smarter at getting the ball over the advantage line – whereas the Boks just kept banging it up the old No.1 channel; and got crushed."
His teammate and fellow front-row forward prop Richard Loe, also in the Herald on Sunday, questioned Bok team selections and particularly the lack of aggression by the Springboks.
"The Boks look a bit sick to me," Loe wrote. "The Boks were too cocksure last week and did not know how to fix it this week.
"We got used to seeing them take charge in the Super 14, but it hasn't happened in the test team. They didn't carry the ball well in the first Test and it wasn't much better this week.”
The problem for South Africa and coach Peter de Villiers is that their thugby/kicking penalties game does not work against strong opponents under the interpretations of the laws.
The reason for this was explained by the All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith before the Tests: "You can't kill the ball on the ground anymore, you can't slow it down, you have to get out of there; it's a totally different game."
The interpretations are designed to open up rugby and allow teams to run the ball without fear of incurring penalties, such as the Springboks who play a negative kicking and pressure game, claimed the Sydney Morning Herald.
The All Blacks have scored 24 tries in five Tests this season by being prepared to run the ball from inside their own 22. This is one fewer than they scored in 14 Tests last season, added the Herald.
In two Tests against the Boks, they have scored eight tries to two. Israel Dagg's fabulous try came after 12 phases of play.
Interestingly, the two Springbok tries came toward the end of the second Test when they started to run the ball.
Poor coaching by De Villiers, therefore, has ensured that the Springboks have not yet adjusted to the "totally different game" of 2010, stated the Sydney Morning Herald.
Now for the Wallabies
Which brings us to this Saturday's Test in Brisbane against the Wallabies.
The referee is another Irishman, George Clancy. His style, unfortunately, is more like that of a martinet rather than the facilitator whom the International Rugby Board's referees boss Paddy O'Brien says he wants. "We don't want them to be traffic cops out there.”
The question is: will the Boks shoot the pianist again, instead of dancing to his tune?
Perhaps they should ask Louis Oosthuizen how it is done. The 27-year-old golfer from Mossel Bay became only the fourth South African to win the Claret Jug, or the British Open – and by a grand margin of seven shots.
Instead of blaming the wind, he used the elements to his advantage. And the complaint by Tiger Woods that he had the wind at his back was surely a half truth, as Oosthuizen excelled in all four rounds.
He had very little experience, yet sprung one of the biggest surprises in the history of Open golf.
Oosthuizen missed the cut in his only other Grand Slam appearances – the British Open and the Masters. But he did not need Slam experience to make the right call on whether to shoot the wind or use it! Instead, he befriended the wind.
The Springboks should ask themselves how the Irish referee would interpret Saturday’s game in Brisbane, and adjust to him.
As an aside, Rolland was the 31st man on the field on 20 October 2007 in the final of the Rugby World Cup. The Boks beat England 15-6. There were no complaints during that game, were there?
Super 14 lessons
No, the biggest culprit of the past two games was not the Irish referees, nor Enrico Januarie, the yellow-card men Bakkies Botha and Danie Rossouw, nor the poor displays by Pierre Spies, Jean de Villiers, John Smit or some of the other senior Springboks.
The biggest culprit was perhaps coach De Villiers.
Where was he when the Stormers and the Bulls expertly recycled the ball through several phases in almost every Super 14 game during the 2010 campaign?
The Stormers dismantled the Crusaders through magnificent ball control and phenomenal shifting of the ball from the point of contact to the three-quarters.
The Bulls denied the Crusaders and the Stormers possession during the playoffs and played with almost perfect intensity and ball control.
Yet, De Villiers returned to the outdated Plan A of 2009 during the first two games of the Tri-Nations campaign. He did not adapt to the new laws, and simply accepted that the All Blacks would succumb to the tried and trusted tactics of 2009.
The All Blacks not only defended these up-and-unders, but attacked them. At least one try during Saturday’s encounter came from an ill-advised kick by Januarie, which was recycled and converted to a superb attacking movement.
Don’t shoot the pianist, Peter. Shoot your own tactics.
