Saturday Sep 21, 2024
Saturday Sep 21, 2024
Friday, 13 September 2013 02:27 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Springboks coach said: “The All Blacks would step up for the game because they knew the tourists had shown they could win away from home.”
The All Blacks have the ability to consistently lift their game when there is a challenge, and win big. As one of the Wallabies said, you cannot afford to blink, as they will score. However at times NZ have shown vulnerability in the absence of McCaw who will miss this game and the Boks have their best chance to capitalise. However Kieran Read has led the team well in the first half of the year and is obviously heir apparent for the Captaincy role in the future. Such is the bench strength in the NZ camp that there are many to take up the leadership mantle at short notice. Thus the NZ think tank must be doing something right.
In the corporate world, there is often a void in terms of succession planning. Whilst there is merit in the argument that home grown talent should be given a chance there is another school of thought that fresh blood brings in a plethora of fresh ideas and innovation. Does this then dilute the culture of a team? The culture is generally set at the top and at a congressional hearing the former Barclays Chief Bob Diamond was told so quite bluntly.
The Boks believe that the scrum changes had gone well and they were getting the reward for their effort as the changes were opening up the scrum as an attacking base from which tries could be scored. It is interesting to hear such views as this then means that the previous format of the set piece was looked at as yet another item to be fulfilled without it actually adding value to the game.
Thus those sporting the No. 2 jersey will actually have to hook the ball and my mind goes back to arguably one of Sri Lanka’s best hookers of yesteryear, Mohan Balasuriya.
In the second game, the Wallabies are licking their wounds after three straight defeats and going through one of their worst patches in history. They are at the bottom of the heap and a loss in this game will be the ultimate disgrace for a country with such a proud sporting history. Although the Pumas are also winless they have impressed in their past two losses against the Boks and the All Blacks. The Pumas are great scrum technicians and this has been one of their strong points. They are abrasive and highly physical and will definitely test the Wallabies at breakdown. The Wallabies scrum has struggled to keep up with the new engagement laws and will face another tough assignment against the aggressive Pumas pack.
The benching of last week’s skipper Genia surprised many. Whether this will have an impact on the overall morale of the team is a question that is being asked especially for a team missing their regular skipper Horwill, whose absence was felt last week. The return of 125 kilogram powerhouse, Sitaleki Timani to the bench is a definite plus, although one does not expect him to get more than 20 minutes of play times, unless an injury forces him early into the field of play.
The decision to drop Genia has drawn widespread criticism as without doubt he is a world class player undergoing a temporary slump in form. What intrigues most of us is the choice of skipper Ben Mowen who is not even playing in his best position. At No. 8 he has been outplayed and should ideally be as the blindside flanker. The Wallabies coach is rattled and is possibly resorting to wrong options, and a loss this weekend may actually start the ball rolling for his ouster just a few weeks after being appointed. The quote of week came from the former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones when he said that he disagreed with McKenzie’s comments “that you can dumb the game down” because “I can’t see how we can play any dumber”.
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