Meyer proves week is a long time in rugby

IT IS amazing how things can change in a week in professional sport. Last Thursday fans in certain quarters were still seething over the omission of Gio Aplon, Juan de Jongh and Heinrich Brüssow from Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer’s original 32-man squad, and the coach had only just rid himself of the pro-Bulls tag by naming mostly Sharks players in his match-22 to face England.

But after the Boks’ victory in Durban last week, it appears that a large chunk of the bitterness towards Meyer has been forgotten and that rugby fans countrywide have rallied behind the team.

The past week undoubtedly taught Meyer valuable lessons, the most important of which was never to allow public sentiment to control his actions or decisions in this new highpressure position.

Still, Meyer made it clear from the outset that his main objective was for the Boks to reclaim the top spot on the world rankings and that every decision he makes would be in the side’s best interests.

Of course, it is important not to get carried away after one victory, but it was particularly encouraging to see the way the Boks smashed England in the scrums and used their power to burst over the advantage line.

It was equally exciting to see how the newcomers rose to the challenge of Test rugby and the way Meyer’s plan to opt for a ball-carrying openside flank who doubles up as a hard worker at the breakdowns rather than a specialist fetcher, worked.

Critics might argue that the team conceded five turnovers at the breakdown. But three of those were conceded by the ballcarriers, not the cleaners, which weakens the argument.

Obviously, one will get a better idea of how well this plan works at Ellis Park on Saturday, as both teams will be better prepared for the second Test after having had a week to study the other’s game plans and iron out their own problems.

However, it remains to be seen if omitting a specialist fetcher would work against teams such as Australia and New Zealand, who place a big emphasis on the breakdown battle, with the likes of David Pocock and Richie McCaw playing to the ball.

Yet Meyer makes a valid point that hooker Bismarck du Plessis and prop Coenie Oosthuizen (who was ruled out for two to three months on Tuesday with a neck injury) turned over the most ball during the first leg of the Super Rugby series, which negates the need to select a fetcher at flank.

His argument that fetchers concede too many penalties is also fair, especially given how decisive goal-kicking has become in winning Tests.

But Meyer and his assistant coaches will learn what works best against the northern and southern hemisphere teams as the season progresses.

For now, these men deserve to take a bow for developing an effective game that suits SA’s strengths and for getting the team to gel with only a week to prepare for the opening Test.

What made the victory more significant was that the Boks beat a side that played five games in the Six Nations a few months ago, with their only defeat being against tournament winners Wales.

While the Boks can take several positives from last week’s performance into the second Test, they will have to work even harder for a victory on Saturday as England know exactly what to expect in terms of their plan and their physicality.

That said, if Meyer’s charges could emulate their fantastic scrummaging performance, continue to dominate the gainline battle and have the forwards and backs feed off each other from the outset as effectively as they did in the second half last week, it would take a special effort by England to stop them.

It may be early days in Meyer’s reign, but having watched him develop into a world-class coach at the Bulls a few years ago, I believe the Boks could become the best team in the world under his leadership.

Isaacs is rugby correspondent.