Re: Jake losing it fast now...

Mike Thompson wrote:
From the outside, Jake White looks like the best thing to happen to Bok
Rugby is ages.

But given the nature of South African Rugby - it seems so corrosive - it
doesn't surprise me to see the knives are out. Media beat up after media
beat up - his every comment twisted and turned. Is he finished unless he
can win the TN? Looks that way. Which means he's a dead man walking from
this weekend.

Mike, it might appear that way from the outside, but you must know that
the knives may not have been out, but with every stupid act or
statement Jake made, they were getting closer. Home wins, coming off
the worst period in Springbok history gave Jake two years of relative
safety. Now that the results have stopped, we must take a look at other
aspects of his coaching. It's long, but try read this article below and
tell me what you think.

~~~

There is no Bok World Cup plan
Wednesday 16 August 2006
Everything about the Springboks at the moment is hit and miss. It will
be
no different at next year?s World Cup.

Events in the last two months have shown up the lack of World Cup
planning, starting with the warm-up match against the World XV, the
debacle at Newlands against the French and the embarrassment overseas
during the Vodacom Tri Nations.

Each time the Boks stumble, the management ducks in behind a World Cup
excuse. There's no crime in that if there was a World Cup excuse. If
the
Boks were losing and struggling because of World Cup preparation, you
could still stomach recent events. But there has been nothing to
suggest
any sort of plan with any player.

Let's go through the list, starting with Meyer Bosman last year. Bosman
was the controversial selection for the end of year tour and White
waxed
lyrical about the natural talents of a 20 year-old he said could play
anywhere in the backline. White told the media he had been following
Bosman's career since the player was a 16 year-old and that the kid had
it
all. He picked him against Wales and started him against France. And
that's been Bosman's exposure to the big time, other than warming
international benches and carrying tackles bags.

White could have played him against the World XV or in two Scottish
tests
if he had a plan with the player. He never did and despite Bosman not
making the initial playing squad for this test season injury to Andre
Pretorius prompted White to pick Bosman again. He took him on a Tri
Nations tour and never played him again. Instead he flew Butch James to
New Zealand and played him against the All Blacks. There has been no
plan
with Bosman whatsoever, other than to stuff him around.

White introduced 32 year-old veteran Andre Snyman from Leeds and told
the
media Akona Ndungane lacked pace. Two months later and Ndungane is the
test winger and Snyman is trying to get a release from a World Cup
contract to play in France. Danie Coetzee, another veteran playing in
England, was flown in from London Irish and paid to travel with the
Boks.
He is 32 years-old and played eight out of 22 matches for London Irish
in
the last year. We saw nothing of him in the test arena in the last two
months. He's on his way back to England. When Jaco van der Westhuyzen
signed to play in Japan White said it was the best thing for him. White
(YAWN) quoted his good mate Eddie Jones on the pros of Van der
Westhuyzen
playing in Japan and how the player could improve his skills because of
the lack of pressure. Now White says he needs to get Van der Westhuyzen
out of his Japanese contract because it is killing his international
rugby. Van der Westhuyzen's also gone back to Japan. Three players on
Bok
salaries not currently involved in the Tri Nations.

White at the start of the year said this was the season that he needed
to
find out if he had capable back-up to Percy Montgomery. In seven
matches,
six of them being tests, he has tried no other fullback and in four of
the
tests Monty has been appalling. When asked in Australia who Monty's
back-up was, White mentioned the likes of Johan Roets and Willem de
Waal.
He did this while Pietersen (the bench fullback) was lugging tackle
bags around. Pietersen will
get a game this weekend, but it will be for the Sharks. White wants him
back with the Boks on Monday. Why? To carry more tackle bags. After 79
tests with Montgomery, he knows what he has. Why doesn't he expose
Pietersen to test rugby and see what he may have in the 20 year-old? If
there was any planning around the likes of Pietersen, we would have
seen a
game schedule mapped out for him.

White and his selectors continue to clutch at straws. The majority of
players who cocked up in Australia continue to be rewarded, while
domestic
form has proved meaningless.

Breyton Paulse has been lured back to South Africa and is now on
holiday.
White has axed him from the Tri Nations squad.

Brent Russell was not in the mix before the French test in Cape Town.
He
got picked because of injury to Paulse and was one of the Boks better
players. He got taken to Australia and New Zealand and never made a
match
22. Now he is out of national mix again. Where was the planning around
Russell? There wasn't any.

Pierre Spies was overlooked for the initial season's training group and
the excuse was used that he would be available for the under 21 World
Championship. He excelled as a flanker in the tournament and White
picked
him to tour Australia. He then capped him as a No 8 in a
one-dimensional
ball-carrying loose-trio to play Australia in Brisbane. Spies was poor
and
the hapless Joe van Niekerk was even worse playing out of position as
an
opensider. A few weeks earlier Van Niekerk had looked good as a No 8
against the World XV and Scotland. Now he can't make the starting XV.

White had the opportunity to introduce new midfield talent against
France,
if there was indeed a plan. He didn't. He phoned De Wet Barry, asked
him
to play 80 minutes of test rugby after a month's break and then dropped
the player because he lacked penetration in the test match. White then
told the media that he was keen to pick Marius Joubert on the Boks
return
to South Africa. Joubert had not been on a rugby field in two months
and
when he eventually got back on a week ago he hurt his ankle.

White in May flew Anthony Eddie, an Australian consultant, into
Bloemfontein to work with the Bok backs. He waxed lyrical. Now Eddie's
out
of the mix and White has turned to Alan Zondagh to work with the backs.
Zondagh has been in Cape Town for the last few years and has been
running
his own academy in Cape Town. Where was the planning around that one?
Where was Zondagh in May?

Gary Gold was White's 'rush defence' expert and go to man in 2004 and
2005. Gold is now working in South Africa, but his expertise has not
been
asked for again with the Boks Planning?

Gert Smal went to Toulouse to find out a bit more about scrumming
techniques, but no call was made to Heyneke Meyer, the best forwards
specialist in South Africa. White ended up with Balie Swart, whose role
at
the Sharks was reduced to a cameo post Kevin Putt.

Andy Marinos, National Teams general manager, lambastes his players for
lacking professionalism in a rugby magazine in an article that reads
desperation and not inspiration.

All World Cup planning as far as selections go were put on hold when
France beat the Boks. At least that's the excuse at SARU.

But if there was a World Cup selection plan and it was founded on solid
principles then a win or a defeat against France should not have
altered
these selections.

New Zealand's coaching staff declared that Dan Carter would play only
two
matches on the Grand Slam tour and that only a few players would play
more
than two matches. They were true to their word. When the All Blacks
beat
England to set up only the second Grand Slam for New Zealand the
following
week against Scotland coach Graham Henry made 13 changes. He said that
playing the new guys meant more in terms of the World Cup planning than
playing his best team to win a Grand Slam. He said the same when he
juggled for the two test series against Ireland and the one-off against
Argentina. In all three tests New Zealand struggled and were in a
position
to lose all three. Henry stuck to the plan because he had a plan and it
was a plan he and his team believe in.

Henry had picked both Irish and Argentinean test line-ups three weeks
before the tests. Results did not change this.

Take young Isaia Toeava as an example of World Cup planning. He was
taken
on tour with a coaching staff intent on playing him only in the last
test.
This done, he was drafted to the Canes to play regularly at fullback.
This
done, he was picked to play Argentina at outside centre. This done, he
was
picked in the match 22 for the Australian test. This done he was
released
to play for Auckland at inside centre one week and a request was made
that
he play outside centre last week. Now, nearly nine months after first
touring with the All Blacks, the management are comfortable to give him
a
start at outside centre against Australia. It is part of the World Cup
plan.

The All Blacks have even pencilled in the team to play the Boks in a
fortnight. It is called planning. Now compare Toeava to Pietersen,
Russell, Spies, Ralapele, Sephaka, Gary Botha, Pienaar and Bosman and
talk
about a World Cup plan.

This week White will again talk about his axed international coaching
mates Eddie Jones and Clive Woodward and the need to explore every
avenue.
Unfortunately there is no conviction about any World Cup plan. There is
a
lot of talk about it, more as an excuse when things go wrong, but the
examples I just listed illustrate how little thought has gone into who
the
30 World Cup players should be and just what each player?s role will
be.

Again I ask. What happens when Monty goes down? Who replaces him? Still
Jake plays him into the ground, as he does with John Smit. For what? To
gain some redemption at winning home test matches?

It is all hit and miss as are the excuses about Luke Watson?s continued
omission.

The latest one is that the senior players don?t want Watson. Yep, those
brave souls who turned their backs and threw in the towel 49-0 in
Brisbane. Those senior players.

As I said, all in the name of World Cup planning.

Yeah. Right.

Posted by keo @ 2:39 PM

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