Boks to the future with Meyer
Each of the southern hemisphere heavyweights face a year of transition. The winner of this year’s Rugby Championship may well come down to who handles change the best.
’M expecting a pretty good Springboks team this year and a lot of that will be down to the coaching skills of the newmanin charge, Heyneke Meyer. There’s no doubt the Boks had their share of troubles under the colourful and controversial reign of Peter de Villiers.
But normal service resumes with Meyer. There will have been no shocks when he announced last week that he had a ‘‘win-at-all-costs’’ mentality. He would rather win ugly than lose trying to play a beautiful style.
Meyer is Afrikaans to the bone and his team will play a traditional Springboks game – forwardsorientated with plenty of kicking.
Meyer is a winner. Heproved that in his time in charge of the Bulls and also during his short stint with Leicester in the English Premiership. Both teams were moulded in his trademark image of big, strong players.
It’s an interesting time as the southern hemisphere teams get set to host tours by northern rivals. Coming a year after the World Cup heightens that interest. Howwill the big three – NewZealand, South Africa and Australia – respond?
I suspect the most change will come in the Springboks camp. They have already started that with the appointment of Meyer. The core of their great 2007 World Cup winning side is now gone with the retirement of stalwarts like John Smit, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha and Butch James. It means a new captain and a new engine room.
You had to feel that of all the teams to exit last year’s World Cup early, the Springboks, as defending champions, were the most gutted with the manner of their quarterfinal defeat.
Can their culture transform for the better with these changes? I believe so. Meyer has cleverly got the buy-in from his provincial coaches with a successful series of national camps. Andhistory suggests that when the Boks circle their wagons and play to their strengths, they are at their most dangerous, certainly on South African soil.
Across the Tasman you sense there’s a bit of pressure on Wallabies coach Robbie Deans. It’s his fifth year in charge and there can be no excuses now. The development period is over – it’s about performance and results.
Deans has got a two-year extension to his contract but I’m not sure his bosses will tolerate too many more shock losses, especially with an increasingly viable Aussie alternative lurking in the form of Reds coachEwenMcKenzie.
Despite ongoing criticism of their Super Rugby conference, the time could be right for the Wallabies. They were disappointed to finish third at last year’s World Cup but I always felt it was a tournament too early for their squad. I expect them to kick on this year, though they start with a handicap in terms of injuries with James O’Connor, Kurtley Beale and James Horwill missing.
Of the three, Horwill’s absence will hurt the most. He’s the captain and a fine lock. The pack will miss him because question marks remain over their forward effort and it seems their dazzling back play can’t always make up for that.
As for the All Blacks, well, this morning’s squad naming will give a pointer to the way forward.
There’s been a lot of comment going around that no team has gone well after a World Cup success. I don’t think that would sit too comfortably with the 1987 All Blacks, the inaugural world champs who continued their winning ways for a couple of years after lifting theWebbEllis Cup.
Can Steve Hansen’s team replicate that? I suspect they are two different beasts. The 1987 squad were tracking an upward graph. I think the better comparison for the current All Blacks was the vastly experienced England World Cupwinning squad of 2003.