Tuesday, February 9, 2010 Previous editions
Monday, November 30, 2009
IT WAS so cold last Saturday evening in Croke Park that we had to rely on gossip about the world’s most famous golfer to keep ourselves warm.
Until the game kicked off, that is.
Whoever laid on the cloud that hung over the pitch for Ireland-South Africa deserves a bonus: the freezing fog gave the stadium a look of the San Siro on Milan derby days or, maybe more accurately, something of a battlefield in the American Civil War, artillery smoke stubbornly remaining after the last salvo.
Certainly when the Boks camped in the Irish 22 as the clock wound down, the grey haze meant that for spectators in the Upper Hogan the final action was reduced to a rumour of war, though Brian O’Driscoll’s emphatic torpedoing of Zane Kirchner to kill the game was anything but vague.
Bok skipper John Smit and coach Peter de Villiers rolled in to face the media and looked disappointed but not noticeably heartbroken.
"We created enough pressure in the first half and kept the scoreboard going," said Smit. "We wanted to do the same thing in the second half. We wanted to create pressure but didn’t follow through.
"You have to kick your penalties. They took their chances but we didn’t. We did a lot of damage in the scrum and that gave us a huge amount of impetus, but our line-outs and kicking let us down. Ironically those have been our strengths this year."
True enough. One or two of the visiting South African pressmen murmured ‘lineoutgate’ with tongue firmly in cheek, and Gert Smal was a name on many frozen lips in Croke Park on Sunday.
Declan Kidney was quick to pay tribute to his imported forwards’ coach, even though the South African had been unwell earlier in the week.
Smit wasn’t wrong about the kicking either. The Boks’ tactic of booting the ball skyward didn’t seem to take into account Rob Kearney’s well-known ability to inhale such kicks and return them with interest; the Africans’ penalty misses also hurt.
"Missing penalties was crucial. Two in the first half near the break and then one afterwards, cost us dearly," added Smit.
"Those would have kept the scoreboard ticking over and it would have made it difficult for the Irish to come back at us as they did eventually."
His coach agreed: "We always knew it would be a tough tour to finish our year with," said Peter de Villiers.
"Our two wingers, for instance, have played 500 minutes more rugby this year than they should have done.
"However, at the end of the day we have no excuses. We want to honour rugby and do the best we can. If we’d picked the second team people would have thought we’re looking down on them but maybe we should have rested a few senior players."
Before anyone gets too touchy about the Boks’ apparent eagerness to rush to the dressing-rooms after the final whistle rather than applauding their opponents off the field – a turn of speed which seemed at odds with de Villiers’ intention to "honour rugby" – it’s worth acknowledging that they didn’t make any excuses.
They lost Bakkies Botha before the kick-off but made nothing of that when their line-out was destroyed, for instance. If Ireland had to scratch Paul O’Connell or Donncha O’Callaghan on Saturday morning would we have been so quiet? They didn’t complain about the jeering of Schalk Burger either. The flanker, who seems to be three-quarters torso, started well with a try and his surfer’s haircut was everywhere in the first half; after the break he faded along with his team-mates, even if he re-emerged to help batter the Irish line with minutes left.
We couldn’t stand up rumours that he’s fending off competing offers to appear as a villain this pantomime season, mind.
Cold comfort for the Boks all round. Heinrich Brussuow appears mortal and their line-out malfunctioned. Their kicking game was limited and the bench doesn’t look as deep as one might have thought.
Are you writing them off for a while? No, us neither.
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