yea, cos thorns a good bloke. Smitt is still a grub...
New Springboks coach Peter de Villiers is under the hammer in South Africa with rugby writers in the republic seemingly united in their opinion that he is out of his depth in the position after the world champions were blitzed by the All Blacks.
De Villiers, the first non-white handed the sought-after job, appears to be in a no-win situation after taking over from Jake White following South Africa's World Cup success last year in Paris.
After beating Wales and Italy in his first three tests in charge, the honeymoon is well and truly over for de Villiers after the stark realities of the Tri-Nations were emphasised to him by the All Blacks who won a torrid test 19-8 in Wellington last Saturday night.
The South African media have been quick to turn on him.
"The Springboks have a different coach and management team now to what they had last October, and on the evidence of the Wellington match, it makes a big difference," wrote respected South African rugby writer Gavin Rich in the respected
Weekend Argus newspaper.
"I have a strong suspicion that the problem is simply that the coach is out of his depth. His quotes this week saying it was up to the players and he couldn't play the game for them was reminiscent of Carel du Plessis, and he reminds me of Du Plessis in too many other ways.
"Those in the inner circle said that John Smit was the glue that held the team together towards the end of the training camp in Somerset West and into the series against Wales, so maybe it wasn't a coincidence that it was when Smit left the field injured that the Boks really lost their way.
"There was never any great impression of the Boks being a well-coached and organised team, but they became even less structured after the regular captain left the field. To say that the Boks were tactically naive would be a massive understatement."
Mark Keohane was just as scathing on his website keo.co.za.
"A crushing Springbok defeat in New Zealand - and one that was influenced by poor selections, tactical naivety and compounded by the brilliance of All Blacks flyhalf Daniel Carter," he wrote.
"Anyone trying to find the good in losing by 11 points to New Zealand is giving the All Blacks too much credit and not giving enough to the expectation that comes with being world champions.
"Selections, tactical approach and substitutions were always going to define this test because the pedigree in terms of individuals favoured the Springboks. For goodness sake South Africa are the world champions and they should have done better.
"This was a colossal opportunity lost. The All Blacks were vulnerable and they were there to be beaten. The Boks get a second chance next weekend in Dunedin but you get the sense it may be another 10 years before there can be realism among the Boks in beating the All Blacks in New Zealand.
"Anyone content that this was a brave effort is insulting what has been achieved in the last year because the reality is the Springboks played like novices and that can only come from the predetermined approach of the coaching leadership. Tactically the game plan was all wrong and the old dog in Graham Henry got one over the Bok coaching trio of Peter de Villiers, Gary Gold and Dick Muir."
The theme was continued on the same website by writer John Cardinelli.
"The Springboks' shocking ball retention and flawed display at the set piece are clear signs of regression for the world champions," wrote Cardinelli.
"Turnovers at the breakdown. Backpedaling at the scrums. Scrappy ball at the lineout. Honestly, was there anything resembling a pattern in the Boks' capitulation to an average New Zealand side?
"The shocking weather conditions may be a convenient scapegoat, but there's no talking round the fact that the Boks were rudderless."
The big question now for South Africans lamenting this poor performance is how do the Springboks react this week in Dunedin? De Villiers still has the chance to become the first Boks coach to nail a win in New Zealand in 10 years. But there doesn't seem to be much optimism about the rematch in the deep south.
"The Boks are the world champions, for goodness sake, and this was a decidedly mediocre All Black team," Rich lamented in finishing up his
Weekend Argus article.
"As I wrote last week, if the Boks don't win now, when are they going to win in New Zealand? With Richie McCaw out, they had a great chance, and you should still expect them to win next week if you look at what De Villiers has available to him.
"The question is what he does with his selections. The Boks have to turn it around next week if they are to change my perception that there was far too little commitment to excellence in the latest coaching appointment made by the World Cup champion nation.
"Saturday's defeat came in the same week that Heyneke Meyer (the successful Bulls coach who lost the Boks job to de Villiers) was appointed coach of the Leicester Tigers."
Cardinelli said the expected loss of Smit would only increase the problems and pressures for de Villiers and his coaching staff.
"The Boks' brain trust need to work a miracle if they are going to avoid a similar embarrassment at Carisbrook. The absence of Smit will affect the synergy of the team in terms of attitude, while the Boks will definitely miss Smit's abilities as a ball-carrier and at the lineout.
"Some may say this is a fantastic opportunity for Matfield as a captain and Du Plessis as a hooker, but the situation really couldn't be any worse and Smit's boots could prove too big to fill.
"The tour has begun on an awful note, but the loss of Smit is set to exacerbate matters further."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4610462a1823.html
