Growing list of Bok disasters
Boks in danger of being second-tier nation
SO where to from here for the Springboks? An eighth defeat this year and ending November’s northern hemisphere tour winless for the first time since 2002 are other additions to a growing list of embarrassments for South African rugby in 2016.
Allister Coetzee’s Boks played three tests – losing 37-21 to England, 20-18 against Italy and 27-13 to Wales – to rack up defeats six, seven and eight.
They also drew 31-31 against a makeshift Barbarians team.
This touring party was not even an impersonation of a Springbok team, it was a shallow facsimile of a once-powerful rugby collective.
South Africa has been playing test rugby for 125 years and there has never been a worse season because, despite everything, Coetzee has not controlled what he could control.
The coach has spent the last month, since the historic indaba, hammering home the message that South Africa’s rugby’s structure is weak and that the Springboks’ problems are the symptom of those weaknesses.
But that does not exonerate him from his duty to develop a team and construct it on simple, time-honoured rugby basics.
Defence, something that Springbok teams have been revered for over more than a century, was treated as a discipline that would take care of itself rather than a top priority.
Three defence coaches over a period of 12 tests underlines just how shambolic the preparation for the season was.
Coetzee has complained that he did not have time to prepare properly, given that he was officially appointed on April 11.
It is a point, but then he should have prioritised the basics and prepared a team with a watertight defence and a limited gameplan to ensure better results.
Not only did he not control the controllables, as sports people say, he never even identified what they were.
In 12 tests, the Boks leaked 35 tries, which included nine against the All Blacks in Durban when they lost 57-15.
It was the most tries per game (2.9) the Boks have conceded in a season in the professional era.
In 452 tests between 1891 and 2015 the Boks conceded 692 tries, or an average concession of 1.5 per test.
They have nearly doubled that rate, and that is why, more than any other reason, they have lost 67% of their matches this year.
Losing to Ireland at home for the first time, when the tourists were down to 14 men for the bulk of the match, was the first sign that 2016 was going to be wreck.
The disaster continued unabated through the Rugby Championship and smashed into a wall on the fields of Europe.
All that’s left now is for Coetzee to be shown the door and a new coach – with vision and a blueprint – to start the process of rebuilding the image of Springbok rugby to be strapped in.
If the Boks endure one more season like this year, they will be consigned to a permanent place among tier-two nations.
WALES coach Rob Howley says his side need to go to the next level after ending their November programme with a 27-13 win over South Africa in Cardiff.
Saturday’s success was just the third by Wales against the Springboks in 110 years.
Wales hooker Ken Owens and flanker Justin Tipuric both scored second-half tries in a match where fullback Leigh Halfpenny kicked 17 points.
“I am delighted for the players,” interim head coach Howley said following Wales’s record margin of victory over South Africa.
This result set the seal on a November that started for Wales with a chastening 32-8 defeat by Australia before narrow wins over Argentina and Japan.
“The transfer from training, for whatever reason, has not been to the standard that we all expected,” Howley said.
He is in charge while Warren Gatland takes charge of the British and Irish Lions.
“That was the challenge today,” Howley said.
“I thought we were comfortable and were able to stretch South Africa more times than they were able to stretch us.
“There is another level in us – I thought we beat South Africa quite comfortably.
“At 20-6 ahead we didn’t make it easy for ourselves. “We never have, and never will.” A return of three wins from four matches represented the best showing by Wales in an end-of-year campaign since 2002.
Next up for Wales is the 2017 Six Nations, with two of the leading contenders both having to visit the Principality Stadium.
“We play England and Ireland here in the Six Nations this season -- that is what we have spoken about,” Howley said.
“We will enjoy tonight. It is important you celebrate success and the players deserve that, but then it is back to their day jobs with their clubs next week.
“We showed a lot of patience in our defensive alignment.
“They [South Africa] certainly came back on hit-backs and caused some issues early on, but thankfully, through good discipline and decision-making, we were able to keep them out.”
One disappointment for Wales was the sight of back-row forward Dan Lydiate having to go off injured on the stroke of half time.
“He has got a knee injury – we will wait to see what the medics have to say but it does not look good at the moment,” Howley said.
Wales captain Gethin Jenkins, leading the side in the absence of the injured Sam Warburton, said the best aspect of their November series had been the “way we have learnt”.
“We have worked on different things, we have been challenging each other to do that in the game,” the veteran prop added.
“Today, even though we only scored 27 points, I thought a lot of our game.
“Our attack especially was looking a bit better than it has.
“We are improving in that area but have got a long way to go.”