News
State of the nation - South Africa
December 02 2008
South Africa will look back at 2008 with mixed feelings on a year that offered so much but produced little in terms of expectancy. The Bok engine room never really got going and there was the constant feeling that something was causing the men in green and gold to hold back.
In assessing the year, nine wins in thirteen starts statistically is a very good return. But it is the two Tri-Nations wins in six matches that will define the season more than the November series, because this was the year in which the World Cup holders should have been superior to New Zealand and Australia in belief and results.
The measure of any successful side should be against its peers and, as ruthless as their 42-6 display against England may have been, the abiding memory of 2008 remains the four defeats in the Tri-Nations.
South Africa finished at the bottom of the three-team pile again and no amount of wins against Northern Hemisphere opposition should be allowed to obscure that fact.
New Zealand lost thirteen of their World Cup All Blacks to Europe this year. Many of them will return to New Zealand in 2011 and be good enough to challenge for a World Cup squad spot. Australia also entered a rebuilding phase. With the Springboks, there was no rebuilding because there was no need for a makeover of a World Cup-winning squad with an average age of 25. It is why 2008 will always be the season of missed opportunity.
South African rugby began the year with a World Cup trophy and without a Springbok coach.
But when Peter de Villiers - with no Super 14 experience - was appointed for the job, howls of protest echoed across the country's newspapers, magazines, websites, televisions and radios. In the months since, that noise has been drowned out by the whispered wisdom and wackiness of the man in the green tracksuit. De Villiers' media conferences are by now the stuff of legend.
His turns of phrase and idiomatic acrobatics have left the South African rugby public wondering whether he is a philosopher or a fool, a genius or a madman, a rugby coach or a social visionary.
On June 7 in Bloemfontein, the Springboks opened the De Villiers era in fine style with a comprehensive win over Wales. In the build-up, it had been apparent that skipper John Smit was playing a massive role in ensuring that under the new regime, the structures of the old one were not completely swept away.
In the second Test a week later, South Africa looked hell-bent on running the ball from everywhere. They scored some early tries, but they also got turned over, and at half-time Wales were not only in the game, they looked as though they could win it. Ultimately the Springboks prevailed in a scoreline that flattered the hosts.
And it was to the fore again at Newlands against the All Blacks, when failure to respect territory and a lack of structure and control to the Springbok approach cost the hosts what should have been a victory. Ditto the following week in Durban against Australia and in two of the away matches in the Tri-Nations.
Both in Dunedin against the All Blacks and in the massive win over the Wallabies in Johannesburg, South Africa paid greater adherence to the need to employ a structured approach. Needless to say, it paid handsome dividends.
On to the November Tests and a hat-trick of wins - two of which were far less convincing than the slaughter of England at Twickenham - helped end the Springboks lukewarm season on a hot note.
Previous end-of-year tours had tended to slide downhill and after the fortunate escape against Scotland this one seemed headed the same way.
Two things conspired in South Africa's favour: England are not very good at the moment and there has never been a time in history when the Springboks needed to be motivated to play against them.
But the brilliant win against England only emphasised the failure of the Tri-Nations. A settled Springbok team, with so much natural talent, should have beaten the All Blacks and Wallabies, home and away. Armed with the correct game-plan, it surely would have.
It was the first time since the Nick Mallett era in 1997 that the Springboks arrived home from a European trip undefeated, something that will certainly boost De Villiers and his troops ahead of the British and Irish Lions series heading their way next year.
Star man: After missing the majority of the World Cup through injury, Jean de Villiers made an emphatic return to Test rugby in 2008. Having reclaimed his number twelve jersey from Francois Steyn, he went on to form an excellent midfield partnership with Adrian Jacobs. Deceptively quick and possessing superb handling skills, De Villiers' pedigree has never been up for debate. He is one of the most talented players in the country (recently voted best player and players' player of the year at a SA Rugby awards ceremony), with a skill set to rival anyone. De Villiers is the man who makes the back-line tick in any team he plays for and when John Smit finally calls it day, then the Bok captaincy should go to the Stormers man. This year has been a rarity in De Villiers' career, in that he has avoided serious injury. Consequently his confidence levels have been sky high and other players have thrived on that fact. May he continue to stay out of harm's way in 2009.