Focus on the mighty All Blacks
Address transformation, but team needs SA’s support now
EXCITEMENT is reaching fever pitch throughout South Africa for the Rugby World Cup, with just two weeks to go before the Springboks start their campaign to become world champions for a record third time.
There are high hopes that the Boks, led by captain Jean de Villiers, will bring back the revered Webb Ellis Cup from the UK. The Boks play their opening match against Japan in Brighton on September 19.
Yesterday, rugby legends Corné Krige and Breyton Paulse were among local celebs who gathered at the Springbok Experience Rugby Museum at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town to water a special piece of turf which the Boks will take to the UK and put in their dressing room.
The turf will be the last piece of land the players’ boots will touch as they make their way onto the field before every game.
The grass is part of a #HomeGroundAdvantage campaign of support for the team. Former Springbok cap- tain Krige said the turf would inspire the team before every match.
“In my mind, the most important thing now is that everyone sets aside their agendas and that everybody says I am going to support the team 100 percent. And the team can feel that. 1995 showed what can be achieved when there’s a groundswell of support behind the team.
“Once that momentum starts building and they feel the support from South Africa, I have no doubt that we can go all the way,” he said.
“We live in a country where transformation is hugely important, and that has been taken into consideration. And the team has been picked.
“It’s a little bit like your family. You can’t pick your family, but you love them, and you don’t always have to agree with them, but when they do go into battle, you support them 100 percent,” Krige added.
But the Bok squad picked by coach Heyneke Meyer has not won universal approval, with experts and the public questioning a number of selections on social media and other platforms.
Also, the fact that there are only eight players of colour in the 31-man squad has brought the issue of transformation to the fore again.
A three-part series of dialogues to discuss the Bok team and transformation in rugby and sport in general, co-ordinated by Labyrinth Consulting and with Independent Media as media partners, got under way at Trafalgar High School in District Six, Cape Town, on Wednesday.
The second event in the rugby dialogue series will take place in Heidelberg in the Western Cape on Wednesday.
Dubbed “Our Boks 2015”, the first dialogue resulted in a heated debate among the panel and from the floor.
The Boks begin their predeparture camp in Joburg on Monday, and will fly to the UK next Friday.
THEY’RE the best team on the planet. They have been for many years and they know it. The All Blacks ooze confidence and know how to win.
Since lifting the World Cup at the end of 2011, Hansen’s team have played 47 Test matches and lost only three – to England in 2012, the Springboks last season and the Wallabies this year. They’ve also drawn twice – to Australia in 2012 and 2014. That’s 42 wins from 47 matches; a phenomenal record that sets them apart from every other team on the globe.
New Zealand are the hot favourites going into the tournament and rightly so. They’ve been the dominant force in the game over the last four years and have shown they don’t fear playing away from New Zealand, even if they’ve come unstuck on the odd occasion and relied on as close as it gets to a miracle to win away (think Ireland in Dublin a few years ago).
But, with a captain who’s only ever lost on 15 occasions in well over his 100 Test matches, the All Blacks are again the team to beat if someone else is to lift the Webb Ellis cup.
Steve Hansen’s men have a fairly easy pool, with matches against Argentina, Georgia, Namibia and Tonga, which will set them up nicely for the knockout games, but then some will say they won’t have played enough hard matches before the proper stuff gets underway. That is true and they may get to their quarter-final a little undercooked, but then they might also still be fresh and hungry and, most importantly, be brimming with confidence, the ingredient they most thrive on.
It’s a formidable All Blacks squad, with most bases well-covered. They’re a powerful scrumming unit and in hooker Dane Coles, they boast the most athletic No2 in the world game. He’s been the nemesis of a few teams in recent times, while in the second row Brodie Retallick is the best in the game.
In scrumhalf Aaron Smith they’ve got the best tactical No 9 in rugby; his box kicks always pinpoint accurate and it’s no exaggeration when Boks coach Heyneke Meyer says New Zealand kick more, and far better, than his team. They’re masters of playing smart rugby, but then they’ve also got dangerous outside backs who have the ability to run teams off their feet.
Once in their stride they’re difficult to break down, but the All Blacks have also shown vulnerabilities in recent times, most notably against Australia and the Boks when two fetchers were employed against them, who slowed down their ball and prevented them from playing at their pace. Also, get in their faces and rush them and they can come horribly unstuck.
Hansen will have some big calls to make when the big games arrive, especially regarding his flyhalf. Dan Carter hasn’t been too flash this season, but the coach will also know that if he’s on song not too many teams will beat them.
If they play to their potential, no one will stop them from going all the way.