A shambles that can be turned around

Last week this column commented that there was nothing like a good Springbok win to get the positive juices flowing. We now have evidence that there is nothing like a complete shambles to get them flowing in the opposite direction again.

A shambles is what the Bok performance against the All Blacks was, and nothing short of it. The leadership and the coaching staff do have to take a large portion of the blame for what went wrong. Apart from the woeful defence which has been a constant problem under the current management, there were several tactical decisions which contributed to the defeat.

It started at the kick-offs and restarts, where the All Blacks exposed the Boks for their naivety. Time and again the All Blacks manipulated the situation so that by the fourth restart half the Bok pack were standing around Ashwin Willemse, who had been targeted earlier, and the Kiwis promptly kicked the ball in the opposite direction.

Coach Rudolf Straeuli says there was more kicking than had been instructed, but someone has to take responsibility for the amount of possession gifted to an All Black backline that was allowed too much space to gain momentum and launch attacks.

In many ways, what happened at Loftus was similar to what I feared might happen at Newlands a week earlier, when I had grave misgivings about the kicking game the Boks appeared to be planning.

The All Blacks did not so much overpower the Boks as out-think them and the South African coaching staff have to cop at least some of the flak for failing to realise that the All Blacks were not going to fall to the same strategy that had been employed successfully against Australia.

Having De Wet Barry charging like a kamikaze pilot at the opposing inside backs works wonders as a once-off, but not when the opposition are ready for it, as the All Blacks were at Loftus.

The All Black success was not so much built around the superior calm under pressure of Aaron Mauger in comparison to Steve Kefu the previous week but their subtle little touches, such as shielding the ball carrier from the tackler, that reduced Barry's effectiveness.

Once the ball was transferred to the outside backs and beyond Barry's sphere of influence the All Blacks were able to wreak havoc, which was disturbing if you consider how often in the last 14 months the Bok defence in that area has been exposed.

Yet it was because the Bok problems on Saturday were concentrated so specifically around certain areas that I am not going to join those who will now loudly proclaim that because of this one defeat the Boks have absolutely no chance of winning the World Cup.

Yes, I know that saying it should qualify me for a straight-jacket, but the home leg of the Tri-Nations has not necessarily left the Boks in complete disarray and skipper Corne Krige may not have been blowing meaningless bubbles when he said after the Loftus defeat that there is sometimes a fine line between winning, as they did the previous week, and losing heavily like the Boks did at the weekend.

A skillful backline like the All Blacks have at the moment is always going to run up big scores when they are opposed, in perfect running conditions such as Saturday's, by backs who make basic elementary errors which lead to tackles being slipped and players who persist in gifting them possession by kicking the ball at them.

The Boks did not start badly at Loftus and their forwards showed throughout the match that assistant coach Gert Smal may have a point when he says that the pack could over the next two months grow into an awesome unit.

How many people in the crowd and watching on television started to envisage a rousing Bok win when off an early lineout the Bok forwards made their opponents look shambolic as they effortlessly drove upfield towards the All Black line? It was this move which prompted the All Blacks to stop competing in the lineouts, which is why it was not repeated (why bother to spoil opposing ball when you know they will just kick it back to you anyway?).

My point is that unlike at Twickenham last year, the Boks were not completely overpowered in every aspect of the game and apart from the afore-mentioned and admittedly disturbing lack of intelligence, it was almost exclusively the inability of the backs to tackle, and in some cases to catch, that led to the massive margin of defeat.

If the Boks have the pack, which was proved over the past few weeks, then what might they manage if somehow the coaching staff can sort out those almost perennial defensive problems out wide? On the evidence of the past weekend it might require a miracle, but the imminent return of Werner Greeff should at least add some substance and Ashwin Willemse, who recovered well at Loftus after a jittery start, proved that there is some hope among the youth.

On this score, may I suggest that the selectors take a closer look at the allround skills (he can play fullback as well as he does at centre) of the versatile Lions youngster, Jorrie Muller.

The selectors have a couple of Currie Cup games with which they can do a stock-take on what they have available (admittedly the Super 12 suggested there is not much) as an alternative to the veterans that are currently battling to keep their head above water in some key outside back positions.

There is a mountain to climb, but in a World Cup it all comes down to one or two games.

The Bok management have two months of camp coming up after the Tri-Nations and if they have any coaching ability at all that should be enough time for them to work on a way to negate the huge chasm that currently exists between the New Zealand and South African backs.

And maybe someone should think of sending out an SOS to Les Kiss, the Australian defensive expert who helped the Boks complete the 2001 Tri-Nations with an excellent defensive record before disappearing into the ether. Having a decent pack means nothing when you are the poorest defensive team in world rugby, which is where the Boks are right now.