HEADMASTER DROPS RANGER, MESSAM FROM SQUAD
New Zealanders are once again divided in their opinion, despite emphatic back-to-back victories over arch rivals South Africa, as to the value of their most recent success.
Rugby 365 and AFP
In the meantime All Black coach Graham Henry has dropped try-scoring hero Rene Ranger and flank Liam Messam from his Tri-Nations squad to play Australia in a fortnight and warned his side can only get better after beating South Africa twice.
“I think we are probably playing at 75 percent, so I think we can get a lot better,” Henry said after the All Blacks earned a maximum 10 points from the opening two Tri-Nations Tests against the defending champions South Africa.
All Blacks squad:
Forwards: John Afoa, Anthony Boric, Tom Donnelly, Corey Flynn, Ben Franks, Owen Franks, Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw, Keven Mealamu, Kieran Read, Brad Thorn, Victor Vito, Sam Whitelock and Tony Woodcock.
Backs: Daniel Carter, Jimmy Cowan, Aaron Cruden, Israel Dagg, Cory Jane, Mils Muliaina, Ma’a Nonu, Josevata Rokocoko, Conrad Smith, Benson Stanley and Piri Weepu.
While legendary All Black flyhalf Grant Fox took pot shots at the Springbok management for the team’s recent failures, respected New Zealand reporter Chris Rattue opted to criticise referee Alain Rolland for “tainting” the Kiwis’ 31-17 triumph over the Boks at the weekend.
Coach must shoulder the blame
Fox, speaking to Newstalk ZB, said he believes Boks coach Peter de Villiers needs to shoulder much of the blame for his side’s lacklustre start to the Tri-Nations.
Fox said can’t understand why the Boks are so unwilling to change their tactics and utilise the new law interpretations when the Bulls won the Super 14 playing running rugby.
The former All Black great said it is time De Villiers stopped blaming the referees and Richie McCaw for his sides’ poor performances.
He said the All Blacks have clearly taken over from the Boks as the benchmark in the world, and he is expecting the Wallabies to provide a much tougher challenge in the Tri-Nations.
Fox said he expected the All Blacks to get even better as time goes on and he rates the Wallabies with their mix of youth and experience as the best equipped to make a run at Graham Henry’s team.
However Rattue, the New Zealand Herald sports writer who made himself very unpopular in South Africa when he referred to Johannesburg during the soccer World Cup as a “hell-hole”, has now come out in defence of the Springbok team following their defeat against the All Blacks in Wellington at the weekend.
In his column in the NZ Herald, Rattue took a swipe at Rolland for yellow Bok lock Danie Rossouw early in the match and “tainting” the game.
“The sin-binning of Rossouw was diabolical, the distorting of a major international sporting contest on scant evidence.
“You’ll see more dangerous pushing and shoving in the pie queue.
“In fact, the pies themselves are probably more dangerous.
“The All Blacks were clearly superior, on speed alone, and thoroughly deserved their second-test victory, although the line-out reverted to a shambles and they made a fair few mistakes.
“What can’t be ignored, though, is the All Blacks were given a significant leg up, scoring 10 points while Rossouw was sitting down.
“The victory was badly tainted, and needlessly so. We all got robbed,” he wrote.
Fire the Lippy Looney coach
Rattue also believes South Africa’s World Cup prospects will be best served by Tri-Nations disaster that allows them the perfect excuse to axe the Lippy Looney, coach Peter de Villiers.
“Age may be starting to catch up with a couple of Springboks, notably their legendary leader John Smit. The problem is, Smit – by quiet account – actually runs the Springbok team along with veteran line-out ace Victor Matfield with input from the assistant coaches.
“Smit hasn’t been as prominent around the field as we’ve come to expect, and the Springboks have an outstanding alternative in the injured Bismarck du Plessis along with Gary Botha.
“The jury will also start to scratch the chin about Matfield’s all-round contribution, especially with ball in hand and in the physical confrontations.
“As for playing Jean de Villiers on the wing – utter madness from de Villiers … or should that be Smit.
“De Villiers was a political appointment – the administration acknowledged as much about a man with no senior coaching CV.
“If South African rugby had foresight and real desperation, it would realise the game is up, the joke is over, and give De Villiers the boot, and quick,” he concluded.
July 19th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Interesting that the coaching staff confirmed that they were worried with the initial onslaught of the Bokke in the first 10 minutes, from where they then just defend their lead for the rest of the game. Something smells fishy when in both test one of our crucial tight 5 players is send off for 10 minutes! What a disgrace that the Kiwi’s must now depend on envelopes passed to referees to win games….
July 19th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
Grant Fox you piece of possum shit
If anything it’s kiwis who cannot stop whingeing and whining about refs when they lose
I can recall two occasions when the Bok management have opnely criticised a referee
Once was last year’s Ireland test and the second this year’s Kiwi second test…
Pot
Kettle
No wonder it gets called BLACK
Because ref whingeing is an ALL BLACK sport
July 19th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
The Bok team is a combination of the Bulls and Stormers. Recent winners and runners-up in the Super-14.
The Stormers beat all 5 NZ teams. The Bulls only lost to one and beat their top team twice.
The NZ teams placed 4th, 8th, 11th and 13th.
The only logical explanation for the easy way the ABs have beaten the Boks is coaching.
July 19th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Reply to fyndraai @ 5:50 pm: It’s the ref demmit.
July 19th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
Reply to fyndraai @ 5:50 pm:
Duh
Dude watch the game
Pay for Rolland
Refereeing was so atrocious if this had been a Super 14 match and it had been an Australian team thusly screwed this ref would have ended up blowing controversial club games in Rwanda between neighbouring Hutu and Tutsi rebel militias for the rest of his short ass career….
July 19th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Reply to fyndraai @ 5:50 pm:
The only logical explanation for the easy way the ABs have beaten the Boks is coaching.
=====
Ahaaaa! Ek wonder mos lankal oor
dieselfde ding.
Maar dis dan omtrent dieselfde span en
dieselfde afrigter(s) wat laasjaar die
3N gewen het, hoor ek vir JT sê.
July 19th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
Reply to Boertjie @ 8:25 pm:
No
The only logical explanation is that the team is somehow “holding back” because the game plan is the same and clearly on the evidence of certain periods during the match a workable one … which was not executed precisely by the players…
THAT is not a coaching issue
July 19th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
Reply to DavidS @ 9:22 pm:
I think you’re barking up
the wrong tree.
Leave it to the Yanks – they
are the masters at conspiracy
theories.
July 19th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
boer if you had to drive where DavidS had to drive today you’d also be a little bit silly. JHB is a royal kakplaas.
DavudS has anger issues just like any good Joburger.
Should play in a metal band.
July 19th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Reply to entropy @ 9:45 pm:
Ja, nou net ‘n storie gedoen
oor kak in die Vaalrivier – skuim
staan op plekke 5 m hoog.
Van die sewe rioolpompe werk het twee.
Visse vrek op hope.
Viva, ANC, viva!
July 20th, 2010 at 2:01 am
Reply to Boertjie @ 8:25 pm:
Game-plan.
Die Bokke probeer die hardloop rugby speel waarvoor julle Kapenaars so lief is. Dit werk nie.
Laasjaar se game-plan was per ongeluk, nie PdV se keause nie en elke keer hy vol selfvertoue raak is dit terug na die eerste keuse.
July 20th, 2010 at 2:17 am
Note about up-and-unders.
The ABs recovered the ball back 3 times from their own up-and-unders. Two tries resulted: Ranger’s and Dagg’s.
Well placed and well chased it is a great attacking weapon.
July 20th, 2010 at 3:16 am
I see 2 possible conspiracies.
1 Ref Rolland had something to do with the JFk assasination
2. What’s the deal with Alain Rolland? Is he French? Can he be Irish? What gives?
If he is Irish I would think growing up there with a name like Alain would be like a boy named Sue in say Tennessee.
Gotta be coaching. Boks look so lacksidasical.
July 20th, 2010 at 7:27 am
Reply to Americano @ 3:16 am:
SO HERE WE GO AGAIN – when the Bokke win the 3N and beat the B&I lions then it is the players but when they lose the players are innocent and it the coaches fault
July 20th, 2010 at 9:36 am
Piet is just throwing the old Jake White players at the problem, no matter in what positions, and hope they somehow produce! Go and read the article in latest SA Rugby on the coaching of the Boks. Seems pretty clear that John and Victor were the actual coaches. Now that they are dead tired and Piet threw his toys out of the cot, they are leaving the coaching to him. And the results are clear….
July 20th, 2010 at 9:37 am
Reply to Bekke @ 9:36 am:
jajaja – so fire them then!
July 20th, 2010 at 10:46 am
Fynes
I said the players did not implement the game plan precisely… that is NOT a coaching issue… as you state… the up and under tactic still works… you just need to implement it perfectly and for that you need the players to do so… the coach cannot be blamed for players who fail his perfect game plan.
Americano
There was, as I said on Sunday, a period of eight consecutive rucks where the All Blacks committed penalizable penalties at each and were NOT penalized…
But do ot believe me
Read all the media
The refereeing was atrocious, that asking the question, “How much did NZRU pay Alain Rolland” is not actually funny anymore.
JT
I know
Scary huh?
How the f–k can the coach be blamed if the players fail to play precisely to the game plan… one they played perfectly to last year and al the tests this year…
Reply to Bekke @ 9:36 am:
Nonsense