THE SUNDAY HEAD 2 HEAD

What now Boks?

It has been said before that a week in SA Rugby can be a very long time.

This again was so true from last weeks solid and convincing win against The Wallabies to Saturdays loss to The All Blacks.

Questions are now being asked, how bad were The Wallabies, did The Boks change their game plan? And how much better are The All Blacks compared to The Boks.

In fact, are they better than The Boks?

I say no.

The Boks have as good players as The All Blacks, if not better. Look at Bryan Habana, Andries Bekker, Eben Etsebeth just to mention a few, these are world class players. On paper better than certain All Blacks.

Then what is the difference?

From what I saw on Saturday, The All Blacks seem to have more confidence in themselves and trust in the system they are playing. Each player knows what part he needs to play. And most importantly each player trust the other.

The Boks are too individualistic. It is like each one wants to be a hero. It takes me back to my High School days where there was always one individual who wanted to be the hero at Inter- schools.

Therefore, its not The All Blacks are better than The Boks. They have just got the players to believe in their structure and system. And to trust it.

That’s all.

The Boks have the players, as I said before even better players. They have the system and structure.

Now is the time to believe in the system and structures.

And to start trusting the player next to you!

That is what will build these current Springbok players into a champion Springbok team.

By: Joker Stephen
The game is the leveller.

We ARE a distant second….


The Springbok P.R. machine and it’s hangers-on love too point out how South Africa’s rugby prowess and tradition is only really matched by that of New Zealand, explaining the supposed ‘intense’ rivalry between the two. A ‘rivalry’ which on very few occasions since South Africa’s readmission to international rugby has actually seen result go South Africa’s way. Thatsportsite says rivalry, schmivalry!

A big component to a rivalry is surely that both sides have a healthy respect for the fact that the other team has the potential to beat you every time you’re not at the top of your form. Yes, there was the Dunedin test under Snorman de Villiers, and the ’95 World Cup Final remains what dreams are made of – but those types of results have been very rare exceptions to the rule over the years.

The times when Springbok rugby, and Aussie rugby to a lesser extent, has managed to look like frontrunners have really only been the handful of seasons out of the last twenty that New Zealand’s rugby house has not quite been in order.

How refreshing then, that at the very least, coach Heyneke Meyer has put up his hand and pointed out that the Springboks are a distant second to New Zealand right now. From both the media and many officials is S.A. Rugby circles, there has simply been a refusal to acknowledge precisely how far behind the world’s number one rugby nation we actually are. So kudos to you Mr Meyer, the honest

assessment is a good start.

Granted, the Springboks have quite a few young players in the team and the injury situation has not helped at all, but that said, New Zealand are without Sonny Bill Williams, have travelled extensively over the course of the last two weeks – mitigating circumstances can be used as ‘excuses’ on both sides is the point. On the evidence of yesterday’s performance, it is clear that Heyneke Meyer now needs to identify all the little ‘spaces’ that make up the gap between the Springboks and All Blacks, and engineer ways in which to close said gap.

Here’s hoping you get there soon Mr Meyer!

By: Newman Clinton

We aiming for second place

THE SUNDAY HEAD 2 HEAD