Delighted Springboks defend their game plan
Booed at home following five defeats in six Tri-Nations matches and written off on arrival in Dublin, the injury-hit Boks – missing 13 frontline players – recorded a first victory in Dublin since 2000 and ended a three-match losing streak.
South Africa survived a late Irish rally, which cut their lead from 23-9 after 63 minutes to 23-21, and completed the job with only 14 men following the 75th minute sin-binning of Bryan Habana.
The win takes some of the pressure off head coach Peter de Villiers and as the world champions’ Grand Slam tour moves to Cardiff for Saturday’s Test against Wales, de Villiers admitted that every win is vital.
“After the Tri-Nations we always knew that coming here was going to be tough. Maybe we gave up too early but, then again, to pull it through is a great achievement.”
Springboks captain Victor Matfield, leading the team in the absence of the injured John Smit, echoed his coach’s sentiments and said self belief had won through in the face of criticism from several quarters.
“We always had belief in ourselves. This is a team with a lot of talent and every time we pull on that jersey, it’s a Springbok team. It doesn’t matter whether people write you down or up, you’re a Springbok and you need to go and perform. But that was a proud Ireland team and they showed it by the way they came back. Luckily, our guys showed character. The coach talked a lot about character and that was what came through.”
South Africa’s victory was underpinned by their pack’s dominance and Matfield insisted that Ireland missed the presence of Paul O’Connell. The Munster lock has been out of action since the Six Nations, and his counterpart was pleased to see him missing.
“We all know the class of Paul O’Connell and (his absence) definitely made it much, much easier for me. He’s a star player and any time you lose a guy like that, it must be tough. He knows how to run the line-outs, so it was nice to see him not playing.”
Springboks coach de Villiers praised both Matfield’s game management as well as his captain’s tactical victory over Ireland. “That’s our team and that’s the way we play,” he insisted. “For us to stick to our plan – that’s heartwarming. We did well in the forwards, we never really ran the ball. We just stuck to our guns and executed the plan.”
The Boks boss denied the very same game plan was exposed by the more expansive running game of New Zealand and Australia in the Tri-Nations however, and said while rugby was developing in that direction, there was still a place for a more old-fashioned approach.
“This is a game plan we’ve played for years. Our execution was bad, especially in the Tri-Nations, and we didn’t execute it the way we wanted to on Saturday. We had opportunities we didn’t take, but Ireland also never gave up.
“The game will always move (on), so a lot depends on what you apply on the day. We try to be realistic and then give the players the freedom to make the decisions that will close things down on the field. Victor made the right decisions (against Ireland).”
The Springboks arrive in Cardiff with no serious injury concerns and are joined by Racing Metro fly-half Frans Steyn, who was not released for the Ireland game and will link up with an upbeat squad and a happy coach.
“We focused on certain areas and it was pleasing to see the results,” de Villiers added. “It was a new-look team but they responded well to the occasion and the tricky conditions to deliver a great performance.
“But that’s behind us now and it will mean nothing when we meet Wales on Saturday. We’ve already switched our focus to them and the type of challenge they present.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
