Coach needs glasses and a road map

Call them legends of the fall, if you want. A year after their annus mirabilis, the Springbok team plummeted to number three in the world, conceded a record 22 tries in six matches and lost five out of six Vodacom Tri-Nations matches with only the World Cup in their trophy cabinet -- and looking unlikely to hang on to that.

Sounds like the Springbok team were the victims of a massive Highveld mugging or hijacking – but it was all legal.

The fact that they looked defensively in disarray must be a concern to the management. Maybe somebody should tell Peter de Villiers, who does not seem to share the concern.

The Springbok coach was adamant that there was little wrong with the Boks after they lost heartbreakingly 39-41 after a penalty by Kurtley Beale in injury-time.

Surprisingly, De Villiers does not feel the need for a defence coach despite the record tries conceded. The previous highest was 21 tries conceded in 2008 by the Wallabies.

He said on Saturday that he believed the necessary structures were in place to take the Springboks to a successful World Cup campaign in a year's time.

The Boks don't need a defence coach, De Villiers intimated after the Bloemfontein loss. Ignoring the reasons for the loss, he highlighted the positives in the Boks' display.

"I think we showed character to come back. Our structures are in place and they can take us to World Cup if executed properly.

"If we execute our plans perfectly, it will be very difficult to score against us. We needed to show more character on defence, like we did in Soweto and last week at Loftus,"  De Villiers told SAPA.

Staying or going?

Most sources indicate that De Villiers will not be dismissed as coach, but will face a grilling during the high-profile review by the South African Rugby Union later this month.

Many commentators have questioned the sanity of retaining De Villiers. Not only because of the poor performance by a talented Bok squad, but also because of his comments about Blue Bulls player Bees Roux, facing a murder charge after the death of a Pretoria metro policeman.

At the press conference last week in Bloemfontein, De Villiers said the Springbok team “supports him (Roux) 100%, not on the deed, but … how the situation developed.”

While De Villiers was offering his and his team’s support to Roux, there was no mention of the policemen who died or any words of condolence for his wife and children.

Most observers might have forgotten that Nick Mallett was sacked 10 years ago when he told a reporter that the tickets for the test match between South Africa and Australia were not reasonably priced. (Source: Weekend Argus, 4th September 2010).

The ticket story was the final straw and Mallett was charged for “bringing the game into disrepute” and dismissed.

It’s almost impossible to compare that minor indiscretion with the support for Roux, which has already caused some tension and tremors among the different groups in South Africa.

Yet, it seems as if De Villiers will be retained. As an official told the Cape Times: “South Africans like to fire coaches, get a new one and start over again, but we don’t want to do that.  Maybe we have not yet equipped the coach with enough support in certain areas. We want to review all aspects and find solutions.”

But what happens when the coach doesn’t seem to feel that he needs assistance and lives in a state of denial?

What the experts say

Different rugby writers have made very different assessments about the state of the game at Springbok level.

Mike Greenway wrote in the Cape Times that the Boks won six of their last 13 tests. “A year from the World Cup, the Springboks are in disarray. The coaching staff has not adapted to the new law and selections have sometimes been poor.”

SuperSport focused on the technical shortcomings of the Green and Gold, saying: “The game has changed under the new law interpretations at the breakdown, and in the overseas leg it was clear the Bok coaching staff had been left behind when it came to innovation.

“There were no real signs during the home leg that they had made up that ground as you would always expect the Boks to at least be competitive in three matches on the Highveld.”

Mark Keohane wrote in Business Day: “Technically the Boks were inferior to the All Blacks and Wallabies. Defensively they could have passed for headless chickens and this lack of direction put them under pressure whenever the opposition had the ball.

“The leaking of 22 tries in their six competition matches can’t be excused as the ball not bouncing in South Africa’s favour or some sort of referee conspiracy.

“Defence has always been the strength of any successful Bok side, and the reference here is not about players making one-on-one tackles.

“It is the system that has been absent since last November because the players again did not know whether to press up and attack the inside shoulder or to wait and use the touchline as an ally through use of an approach that requires less line speed and less aggression but demands composure, clarity and unison in shaping the defensive line.

“In all six tests some players were going up and in on the defensive line and others were waiting and drifting towards the touchline. The same defensive errors of the opening game in Auckland continued into the sixth and final Bok outing.

“Defence was just one aspect of the Boks’ failings and their woes were a bit more complex than Fourie du Preez’s unavailability.

“Selection did not reflect player form, too often guys were played out of position and the use of the subs bench was diabolical, with too-much predetermined and not enough the result of accurate reading of the match situation.”

Way forward

It is obvious that the Springboks will need a clear plan of action for the next 12 months if they want to successfully repeat their World Cup heroics of 2007.

Part of this plan should be whether they will allow their top players to recuperate by resting them for most of the Currie Cup campaign, as well as not taking part in the Northern Hemisphere end-of-the-year tour.

Already, there is an air of uncertainty about the Bok plans. John Smit said last Friday he is not sure how much rest will be offered by the management, while De Villiers claims he wants the senior Boks to recuperate for four weeks.

The Boks will also have to reconsider the quality of the support staff currently assisting De Villiers. Dick Muir was the coach of the Lions whose defensive record during the Super 14 season was horrendous. His record for the season as coach or assistant coach has been – played 19, won one.

If the Bok hierarchy retains De Villiers, there should be consideration given to replacing Muir and Gold and adding a defensive coach. South Africa needs new brooms, while glasses for De Villiers and a road map to the  test venues should be considerable pluses.

Because if he insists there is little wrong with Springbok rugby, he has clearly watched the wrong game.