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The Boks may have had an indifferent year, but the world fears the South Africans will remember how to play rugby again in time for the 2011 World Cup.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has declared the five-week tour of Britain and Ireland with an injury-hit squad a qualified success.
The Springboks won three of their four Tests before an experimental and further injury-plagued line-up pushed a star-studded Barbarians side to the final whistle in a 26-20 defeat at Twickenham on Saturday in the tour finale.
Some will agree with the Bok boss, saying three out of five “ain’t bad”, but one wonders which results will last longer in the minds of the players, the coaches and the fans – the diabolical showing against Scotland or the thumping win over England?
Wales assistant coach Shaun Edwards, writing last week on guardian.co.uk, said the following after the Boks had beaten England: “ ... pride played a huge part because what England got was a team that suddenly remembered they were the world champions. They may have been down on numbers with the likes of John Smit, Fourie du Preez, Jaque Fourie, Heinrich Brüssow and Schalk Burger back home, but they showed the same passion as the Springboks who played the Lions in the second Test at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, a year ago.
“The only other time I can remember Peter de Villiers’s side raising their game to such heights this (northern hemisphere) autumn was at the start of the second half at the Millennium Stadium when they scored twice to come from behind. However, put those 10 Millennium minutes with the 80 at Twickenham and you see a side which, if the World Cup started tomorrow rather than next September, would make the final.”
So, despite what critics in South Africa and all over the world think of the Bok coaching team and the results of the last year, many “men-in-the-know”, like Edwards, still rate the Boks highly. The victory over England saved the coaches from being fired and also, no doubt, ensured there will be more confidence going into 2011 than had they lost to Martin Johnson’s men.
The blip, though, was THAT defeat to Scotland and it’ll hurt this group of players for a long time to come – they missed a golden opportunity to win a famous Grand Slam.
“Losing to Scotland remains very disappointing, but it shouldn’t totally overshadow the progress we have made,” said De Villiers yesterday. “We left a large number of senior players at home and many commentators didn’t give us much chance. But we showed in our wins against Ireland, Wales and England that when we properly execute our game-plan. we make it very hard for the opposition.
“We dominated England and Ireland – for the first 60 minutes – and turned around our game against Wales with some great play in the second half. Those were hard games in difficult conditions against fresh and motivated teams.”
De Villiers said that there were other valuable outcomes of the tour. “We have been able to blood some new players in Test match rugby as well as give some young players an exposure to the Springbok environment that’ll stand our rugby in good stead in 2011 and beyond,” he said.
He further pointed to other areas that had given him a smile. “Our scrum has continued to improve on this tour and we held our own and had periods of dominance in a region where they take scrumming very seriously. Overall I think our first phases were very good.
“We were also able to work on the way we want to play and we’re very clear on that within the group. We have South African strengths and we will play to them and when we keep hold of the ball as we plan, and execute our plans with accuracy a Springbok team is very hard to beat.”
Edwards said: “Australia and probably England would make up the semifinals (with New Zealand and South Africa at the 2011 World Cup), but the Boks would be the only side I would wager anything on to beat the All Blacks. Even after one of their poorest Tri-Nations performances on record and with a good side in the sick bay, they are clearly second best in the world right now and will only get better when they have rested and reflected.”
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Brendan, wrote
my money is on australia, new zealand final. boks are nowhere. They need to rebuild. We have great young talent much like aussie did at the last wc. This time boks are a target for early elimination since they are reigning world champs. Oh @Ryan I would rather see All Blacks go out playing the type of rugby they did during tri nations than see the boks win with old school bone-head rugby. I am sorry. I don't care if my team (AB's) lose the world cup they are the definitive team in world rugby for the last 8 years. They change the way the game is played and others imitate. And it is exciting to watch. Much like aussie rugby is becoming under deans.
CNL, wrote
@Lion: PDV inherited a great team from Jake White, and if it weren't for individual players brilliance, we would rank below Italy at current. Nevermind building on the 2007 success, PDV, man alone, have broken down all structure and actually humiliated the SA nation. Yes, i did hope for England to win, anything to get rid of an incompetent coach. We are playing boring and brainless rugby, no game plan, and that reflects incompetency. Weaker sides in the world out-think us - that is humiliating...i feel sorry to all the players in the current squad - they could, and should be the greatest side in the world, but they cant coach themselves.
Warren, wrote
The tour showed SA has the best pack of forwards in World rugby. Build on this, play the traditional game and with a bit of 2007 WC luck the Boks will be in the 2011 final. Whether they can beat NZ at home is another question.
Lion , wrote
The only people moaning about Peter DV are some of the whites that think they know all anout rugby. At the same time before the last world cup Jake had the worst record but was well supported by everybody. They even got some help from down under to win the worl cup. If you dont want to support the BOKS or PDV go get stuffed. I'm almost sure you wanted England to beat us. So THREE CHEERS FOR PETER GARY AND DICK
sg, wrote
Jacques, I'm not sure how you come to the conclusion from the above that "many men in the know still rate the Boks highly". There's nothing to suggest this. Putting 10 mins and 80 minutes together out of all the tests this year does not restore the falling standards of the Boks (actually, now the Proteas).
richard, wrote
Ryan, The bookies and no1 team have not won any of the last world cups. The best team in the tournament has.
@Ryan, wrote
Just like NZ were the better team for the past 3 WC's??? Bwahaha - no WC chockers like NZ and it would be no different come 2011!!!
NJABULO, wrote
WE WILL BOUNCE BACK NEXT YEAR,I AM VERY CONFIDENT OF YOUNG LADS LAMBIE,MVOVO AND JANJTIES
Not buying it..., wrote
Yawn....yawn...I see the win against England reignited the positivity in some, but me still thinks them Boks need to raise the bar.
Greg Shark, wrote
It was a success even tho' losing to scotland. considering the number of youngsters that have been exposed to test rugby things can only get better.
Greg Shark, wrote
It was a success even tho' losing to scotland. considering the number of youngsters that have been exposed to test rugby things can only get better.
e, wrote
The fact that the Boks are still able to perform DESPITE having such pathetich coaches as PDV and Dick Muir, only shows what could have been if they had a coach in charge who knew what he was doing! Unfortunately, we all have to suffer the incompetence idiocy of SARU and PDV!
Ryan, wrote
@ Anonymous ... keep telling yourself that. nothing like false hope hey. on current form the boks won't win, and would not deserve to win either. the All Blacks are clearly the better team, and unless their bad luck continues in the World Cup, they are odds on favorites to win it. the bookies odds will attest to that.
Anonymous, wrote
Yes, of course the end of year tour, as De Villiers maintains, "was a success". When the bar is set as low as it currently is in SA, even not turning up would have qualified as "a success".
Anonymous, wrote
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