Springboks may be forced to play second fiddle again

Saturday, 16 August 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: South Africa’s annual quest to knock arch rivals New Zealand off their pedestal begins again in the Rugby Championship, with little to suggest any impending change in the status quo.

South Africa"s Bakkies Botha (C) gathers the ball during their rugby union match against the Rest of the World XV in Cape Town – REUTERS

A key injury, disappointing returns by South African sides in the recent Super Rugby competition and unconvincing form by the Springboks in June’s warm-up internationals suggest the challenge may again prove a bridge too far. The Springboks finished runners-up to the all-conquering All Blacks in the four-nation competition - which also includes Australia and Argentina - last year, beaten both home and away by the New Zealanders in performances that emphasised the competitive nature of the rivalry but also the gulf in all-round quality between the two teams. In nine tests against the All Blacks since 2010, South Africa have won just once, when both Dan Carter and Richie McCaw were rested ahead of the 2011 World Cup. “For us to go forward as a team and to make strides as a team, and get confidence going into next year, I think it is important for us to beat the All Blacks,” said captain Jean de Villiers at a recent event, with one eye clearly on next year’s Rugby World Cup in England. “We haven’t done so in the last two years, that is one of our goals. We want to be the best team in the world and to get back to number one.” That chance will come only after the Springboks have met the other two countries in the competition. South Africa start the Rugby Championship with a home match against Argentina in Pretoria on Saturday before a return encounter in Salta the following weekend. Then they take on Australia in Perth, followed by a first meeting with the All Blacks in Wellington - and then the return fixtures, on home soil, in late September and early October. But they will have to do without veteran scrumhalf Fourie du Preez, whose ankle injury is a key blow to the plans of coach Heyneke Meyer. He coaxed the midfield general out of international retirement last year and has since brought back several other veterans - Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha and most recently Juan Smith. Scrumhalf is one of the areas where the Boks lack depth and Du Preez’s absence will be keenly felt. There was, however, good news on Monday when team doctors passed fit props Frans Malherbe, Tendai Mtawarira and lock Eben Etzebeth, and crucially gave captain de Villiers the all-clear to play after months on the sidelines. A knee injury kept De Villiers out of much of the Super Rugby season and the June internationals against Wales and Scotland. Mtawarira has not played for the past six weeks with a neck injury. But Matfield, who has a tear in his knee cartilage, will miss the start of the championship before being assessed ahead of next week’s trip to Argentina. Matfield returned from two years in retirement this year and captained the side in place of de Villiers in June when they scraped home against Wales but won fairly easily against Scotland. Conviction None of the performances at home was flush with conviction, particularly the second test against Wales where the Boks squeezed home 31-30 in the last minute. Again, South Africa’s powerful forward game is their foundation but the backline has more potential than in the recent past, mainly since the inclusion of the unpredictable Willie le Roux. The 24-year-old, moved from wing to fullback, has added a real element of flair with his ability to conjure up clever counter attacks. But tactical kicking remains a weakness and Meyer expressed reservations about the conditioning of his side, saying they needed to be in better shape if they were to emerge on top. “We are not where I want us to be. The one area we have to improve in, if we want to be the best in the world, is conditioning. “If your tactical kicking isn’t there you get fatigued, your skill levels go, your defence goes, the scrums go down and the penalties go up,” he told reporters at a press conference in the build-up to the first game.

Pumas seek elusive first win in third Championship season

Reuters: Argentina have rarely been embarrassed, and even forced one draw, but go into their third Rugby Championship campaign still looking for their first victory. The Pumas have also yet to record a test win this year, having lost a home series 2-0 to Six Nations champions Ireland and also lost at home to Scotland in June. And yet, Argentina are optimistic about this championship even if they realise it is arguably an even bigger challenge than in the previous two years. Like them, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa are all building towards next year’s World Cup in England. The closest the Pumas came to a win was in their second match, at home to South Africa in Mendoza in 2012 when they drew 16-16. Coach Daniel Hourcade has now had almost a year in the position to forge his own team after inheriting Santiago Phelan’s side last November on the cusp of their tour of Europe. Phelan’s Pumas lost all six tests in the championship last year, starting off with a veritable 73-13 mauling by the Springboks in the equivalent opening fixture to this Saturday’s clash at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. Hourcade and his new captain Agustin Creevy have South African experience that should stand them in good stead as they try to set a tone for the team with a good start in the first two matches against the Springboks. The Pampas XV, a feeder side previously coached by Hourcade, played in South Africa’s third-tier Vodacom Cup between 2010-13, winning it in 2011 and in the process blooding a large number of the current generation of Argentina players. Several more were promoted after the Pampas won the Pacific Rugby Cup in Australia early in the year with a squad made up entirely of home-based players. Argentina are gradually depending less and less on players that have made their careers in France and England and the European exiles make up a mere third of the squad this year. Pampas to Pumas About a dozen of Hourcade’s Championship squad played the Vodacom Cup, including hooker Creevy and the two players vying for the number nine jersey for the Pumas, Martin Landajo and Tomas Cubelli. There is no magic from Nicolas Sanchez at flyhalf as there often was with Juan Martin Hernandez but there is solid playmaking and sound place kicking. Argentina’s third place at the 2007 World Cup in France remains their greatest achievement but only five members of that squad survive. Among the backs, Hernandez and wing Horacio Agulla remain. Back row forwards Juan Fernandez Lobbe and Juan Manuel Leguizamon, both former Pumas captains, and loosehead prop Marcos Ayerza bring experience to the pack. Hourcade has set his sights on building a side for the 2015 World Cup - a realistic timeframe when he took charge - and he is confident his team are already well prepared for this championship. “I think we’re well prepared, good in our heads. I have a lot of confidence in the team,” Hourcade said during the build-up. That confidence extends to avoiding a similar fate to the nine-try mauling they suffered at the hands of the Springboks in last season’s opener - the one occasion in the Rugby Championship when they were truly outclassed. “Obviously, we don’t ever want a repeat of what happened last year,” Fernandez Lobbe said “Winning and keeping the ball and defence are key aspects in any rugby match ... The team has good attacking ambitions and if we can combine those four aspects I think we can have a good match.” Argentina arrived in Pretoria 10 days before the match to get acclimatized to the 1,200 metres altitude with Hourcade leaving no stone unturned in his efforts to forge the best Pumas side. “Adapting to the altitude is difficult but it gets better all the time,” Leguizamon said. “It’s one of the hardest matches of the year, without a doubt, because of the direct game South Africa play looking to subjugate you physically. “Last year we succumbed which is why the mental factor will be fundamental to pressure them a lot and force them into mistakes.”