The Springboks kicked a lot of front-foot possession away against the All Blacks, some of which were “just useless kicks”, says coach Heyneke Meyer, and he wants his team to “keep the ball in hand better” in Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash against the Wallabies at Newlands.
After a good start to 2014 in June, where they scored around five tries per game with an attacking, positive approach, the Boks crept into their shells somewhat in the Rugby Championship, and the rainy weather in three out of the four games hasn’t helped their cause either.
But even in the slippery conditions, the South Africans kicked too much in Perth and Wellington, and when it was the right option to use the boot, there was often poor execution with the ball either going straight into touch or up-and-unders going too far.
“We are really looking forward to Saturday and we hope that it’s a dry field – we haven’t played on a dry field for quite some time, and we want to show what we can do on attack as well,” the Bok coach said after naming his team yesterday, with Teboho ‘Oupa’ Mohoje and Francois Hougaard the two new faces in the starting line-up.
“We really want a great performance, and I really hope it’s a dry field because believe it or not, attacking-wise we have really improved, and three of our four games were in the wet and we couldn’t really move the ball around. I know Australia love to attack, and we really want to go out there and attack too, so I think it is going to be a great game to watch.
“We also want to get our mauls going, and we need to keep the ball in hand better. We really wanted to attack against the All Blacks, but we couldn’t keep the ball in hand enough, and we really didn’t respect the ball.
“The one thing we need to do better is execute and use our opportunities, and look after the ball.
“If we kick – and we don’t really want to kick, believe it or not – we have to kick more contestables, which is where the All Blacks totally out-kicked us. They kicked more than us, but they kick intelligently. We kicked a few kicks that were just useless kicks, and we put ourselves under pressure. So, we have to play a more all-round game, and execute better at home.”
Mohoje won the race for the No7 jersey as a replacement for the injured Francois Louw ahead of Schalk Burger, who returns to the squad after being unavailable for the away games of the Championship due to club commitments in Japan, and Meyer believes the Cheetahs flank can bring a new dimension to the loose trio.
“I have always liked a big ball-carrier on the blindside, and we have always struggled to find someone who can fill in for Willem (Alberts). Marcell (Coetzee) has done brilliantly there and we did think of going with two opensides again, but then we’d lack a big ball-carrier, especially at home,” the coach said.
“Oupa has been training really hard with us and improved a lot, and I just felt that he is really good in the line-outs and he is a good ball-carrier that we need. Oupa has been with us quite some time, and Schalk has only been with us for a few days and played in Japan last Friday.
“So it’s better to have the continuity, and Oupa worked hard on his ball-steals and line-outs, and I really feel he is going to have a great game. Schalk is the fittest I have seen him in years, and it is a quicker game in Japan as they run more, so I think he can make a great impact.”
Talking about impact, Hou-gaard could be the man to ignite the Bok attack as he is able to test the defence around the fringes with ball-in-hand, and he has a similar type of back-up in Cobus Reinach, who will make his Test debut if he comes on.
“Hougaard has other attributes and is a game-breaker in his own right. So it’s great to have him and give him a go,” said Meyer. “And I have been impressed with Cobus. He had a great Super Rugby season, and he has an unbelievable amount of speed and he has worked really hard on his tactical kicking and his passing game.”
Bok Team:
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements:16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Bakkies Botha, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Patrick Lambie, 23 JP Pietersen. –The Star