“FROM A SOUTH African perspective it wasn’t inspiring or particularly pleasing on the eye.”
While we in Ireland lauded Joe Schmidt and his side for an excellent performance last night in Dublin, the analysis from the home of the Springboks has been understandably negative so far.
Writing for SARugbyMag.co.za, experienced rugby journalist Mark Keohane is complimentary towards the home team in a piece entitled ‘Awful night for the Boks’.
“First up, compliments to the Irish,” writes Keohane. “They were good, without being outstanding. But on this particular night, good was still enough to secure a fourth win in Dublin from the last six Springbok visits.
“Ireland were the better side on attack and in defence and they were the more intelligent in playing field position, territory and in playing the game in the right areas.
They applied the basics well and asked questions of a Bok team that simply could not be answered on the night.”
Keohane then cuts into South Africa for their shortcomings.
“They failed to hold onto the ball, did not impose themselves in the contact areas and emphatically lost the tactical battle. Jean de Villiers and the core of the match 23 were underdone in terms of not having had a game since the last-minute win against the All Blacks at Ellis Park.
“De Villiers in the buildup described this as the Springboks’ most important game of the year. In that context, it was then their darkest Saturday in the year.”
Writing for the same publication, Jon Cardinelli argued against the selection of Johnny Sexton as man of the match. His piece bemoaned the lack of composure from South Africa’s halfbacks, Francois Hougaard and Handré Pollard.
“I was surprised to see that Jonny Sexton won the official Man of the Match award,” writes Cardinelli in an article headlined ‘Halfback horror brings Boks low.’
Ireland were dominant for most of the game, but some poor line kicking by Sexton often gifted possession back to the South Africans. However, you can’t argue with his flawless goal-kicking.”
In contrast to the coverage of Ireland’s performance on home soil, Cardinelli felt that the Boks had been beaten by an “ordinary” side.
“The performance served up at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday was one of the worst of the 2014 season,” says Cardinelli. “Physical intent, defensive organisation, tactical intelligence, decision-making … the Boks were found wanting in all departments.
“And against whom? A second-rate Ireland missing the bulk of their first-choice players. Heyneke Meyer may try to spin this as a wake-up call, as a valuable lesson a year out from the World Cup. But if this contest was to be viewed in isolation, one would have to say that Ireland were ordinary, and the Boks were just plain awful.”
Tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis was the best South African performer last night, in the opinion of Sport 24‘s Rob Houwing. His player ratings had du Plessis at 7/10, with some of his teammates trailing well behind.
Francois Hougaard picked up a rating of 4/10.
“Rattled by pure Irish passion and their unyielding commitment on defence, the Springboks progressively frittered away their composure to be humbled in Dublin on Saturday,” says Houwing, who also comments that the scrum was the only salvation.
“The tourists were right in the game for an hour or more, and that is some consolation from the wreckage of this one.”
Writing for SuperSport, journalist Gavin Rich praises the Irish effort at the Aviva Stadium:
“To put it simply, the Boks were ambushed by an Irish team that was excellent in playing without the ball and which appeared to exploit the anticipated rust that was the legacy of most of the South African players not having played for five weeks.
“Boy did the Irish tackle, and that tells part of the story of why they won. They put massive pressure on the Bok ball carriers, frequently forcing the South Africans to drop the ball with double hits.
“They also knew where the potential Bok weak points were, with Francois Hougaard having a poor game as he was pressurised and harried around the fringes and frequently also caught in possession.”
