Springboks get it very wrong in Dublin

Just not good enough. What a disappointment. No, that is being mild. What a shambles. When Ireland embarrassed the Boks 38-3 at the

Aviva Stadium in 2017, Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber were the coaches of Ireland’s Munster. They were embarrassed to be South Africans that day.

Erasmus, who had never lost to Ireland as a player, was bemused. “How do you lose to Ireland?” was our WhatsApp exchange. It was my WhatsApp to him last night. How... how do you lose to Ireland?

Ireland were strong but not exceptional. This is a team that will never win the World Cup. They have never gone beyond a quarterfinal in World Cups. They won’t easily do so in the future. But forget Ireland. The Boks, for now, are done. They may be the World Cup holders, but they are nowhere near being representative of the world champions.

If you love rugby, like I do, this was painful to watch from the Boks. So many

Boks are playing on 2019 World Cup reputation. Ditto the coaches. Pick a word about last night. It wouldn’t be wrong. Individually, the most maligned Bok, Jessie Kriel, was the best Bok. He played with ticker and mongrel. He defended like his life depended on it.

The rest showed nothing like Kriel in attitude. This squad is comfortable, and they are tired. They were poor. The game plan was poor and the coaching management in this game was poor. This was a big game for Erasmus and Nienaber. They failed on the night.

In 2017, they chuckled to themselves as the Boks got pumped. Last night, they were the Court Jester. They were the clowns in charge of this mess. Earlier this week, I interviewed the Boks first Test centurion, 2007 World Cup winner and the record points scorer for the Springboks, Percy Montgomery.

He was perplexed that the Boks did not have a recognised goal-kicker in the match 23. It showed in the game, and as much as I believe Damian Willemse is South Africa’s best back, the fact that he failed in the goalkicking after missing one kick early in the Test, just left a poor taste.

Ireland led 19-16 on 76 minutes because Kolbe shanked another kick. Kolbe is not picked to win Test matches because of his goal-kicking. Some would say it was arrogance to not have a goal-kicker in the squad.

Those who said that were right. This was not a good night for Bok rugby. It doesn’t mean the Boks can’t win the World Cup. Of course they can. In 2018, the Boks were being smashed this time by Wales in Cardiff. A year later they won the World Cup and beat Wales in the semifinal.

The reflection here is simply about last night. The match officiating was awful, but the Boks were even worse. Every refereeing decision favoured the home team, every television replay favoured the home team.

Those were the uncontrollables. The controllable was the goal-kicking and the

Boks did not control it. The Boks should have won. They have the players to win, but in Dublin they were not good enough to win.

I love the Boks. I always back the Boks. At times it is too much from the heart and not enough from the head. But from the head, if you asked me pre-game who wins? I say South Africa! I got it wrong because I backed Rassie and Jacques unreservedly in their approach — but they got it wrong in Dublin.

The Boks had to go 16-6 down to start playing and with a team with no recognised kicker, they should have played like that from the outset. This result has no bearing on the 2023 World Cup, but it continues to ask questions of coaches who lose as much as they win.

They get as much wrong as they get right. In Dublin they got it very wrong.

The game plan was poor and the coaching management in this game was poor