South Africans are passionate about their rugby. And the critics of the Springbok coach will have plenty of ammunition after South Africa crashed to its third straight defeat in the 2010 Tri-Nations in Brisbane last night. The Springboks head back from their three-week road-trip empty-handed; no competion points halfway through the tournament. Surely their Tri-Nations defence is already over.
Graham Henry hasn't hesitated to ramp up the pressure on his South African counterpart; the Sunday Star-Times reports:
Graham Henry has used the controversy Peter de Villiers has embroiled himself in to gently turn the screws on his Tri Nations rivals.
De Villiers made the outlandish claim this past week that the All Blacks recent supremacy over the Springboks was part of a conspiracy aimed at generating support before next year's world cup tournament.
Henry yesterday flew to the scene of the crime in Brisbane and watched the Wallabies open their Tri Nations campaign against South Africa.
Before he departed on his spying mission, he expertly distanced himself from the controversy.
"I can't really take anything [de Villiers] says seriously," Henry said.
Nor, we suspect, do South African rugby supporters. At 7.30pm on Saturday night two weeks ago, the Springboks were, in everything but IRB rankings, the #1 team in world rugby. What a difference a fortnight makes. After three consecutive losses, the Springboks are in disarray, and we don't know that Peter de Villiers is the man to turn them around.
Interesting times await, and the All Blacks vs Springboks match at Soccer City next month will be crucial for both teams' fortunes as thoughts turn to 2011.
7 comments:
As i said a couple of weeks ago the Boks did well last Tri Nations despite de Villiers. However I did see one instance in the Wallabies test which I think gave a modicum of vindication to his call that they are harshly treated by referees.
It happened after Habana's break just beofre half time. Pocock made an excellent try saving tackle and play moved to a ruck infield about 7 or 8 metres and roughly on the 5 metre line. When Pocock rejoined play he:
1. Dived on top of the players in what I considered to be a ruck.
2. Whetner he came `through the gate' is a moot poin as he was clearly off his feet.
3. He then leaned down and played the ball with his hand moving it away from Pienaar who was about to pick it up.
It was a blatant Professional Foul for which he was penalised but, that was all.
Yet when Botha did almost exactly the same thing in the second half he was put in the bin even though he was outside the 22 as I recall.
What do you think?
I thought Botha was treated harshly for his sinbinning.
But De Villiers can't really expect to be taken seriously when he continues to blame reffing and he really needs to lose his chip on the shoulder. Interesting that last year when the boks were so dominant under the old laws there was no hint from De Villers et al of any skullduggery from the IRB refs.
The man needs to focus on pulling together his team to prevent what could be a very embarrassing season for them if they do not improve. They are a shadow of their former selves ...time for some fresh talent at the top perhaps??
Couldn't sleep despite a day on the water so got up and watched a bit of the cycling. then went to sky news to see what the result was.
strangely enough went to bed and fell asleep quite happliy after that.
Bleating won't work for Mr Devilliers. He needs to work with his senior players to identify what is wrong and fix it. That or put in place a plan "b" when plan "A" doesn't work.
@ pdm - Pocock's incident was pretty blatant, and should probably have been treated more harshly. Clancy did not have the best of games, and looked a bit overawed early on.
At least the next two matches will be controlled by Southern Hemisphere referees (Joubert and Kaplan), both of whom have refereed a lot more matches this season under the new laws than their NH counterparts. Having said that, Rolland had a pretty good match last week.
@ Anton - good point about the ageing Springboks. Smit and Matfield have been nowhere near as dominant this season. Can they peak again in 14 months time?
Yes it will be interesting to see the difference a fit southern hemisphere ref makes.
As far as the aging boks are concerned it is hard to understand why Bekker wasn't seen yesterday and I thought Potgeister made a difference when he came on.
Captaincy must be a concern for them because Smit now seems to be well off the pace and if Matfield fades and du Preez fade away who do they have left.
My $4.75 odds for next year are looking a bit dodgy at the momernt.
Is this another anomaly:
Fourie gets 4 weeks and Cooper 2 weeks for basically the same offence.
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