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springboks
"); document.write("any business who's MD make so many mistakes and blunders would have been replaced a long time ago. A fantastic rugby union and team is not getting where it should because of the people placed in charge. The coach etc.A player who gets pushed in regardless of colour should know within himself if he is good enough to be there and say not to a selection for his and his team. It should also be about pride and not just money.Replace the coach he is letting the team down and the supporters who pay the bills.Who want s to pay high prices and watch your team get smashed because os a fool. MALCOLM"); document.write("
What Coach?
"); document.write("Why is PDV coach in the first place? I have never agreed and never will with his appointment. I really believe it is the players that make the team not him but then he changes the team from week to week, making a mockery of the Springboks. Why the hell do you \"Drop\" Habana and put Spies on the bench!!! Yes, give eveyone a turn but why 10 changes? Let it be gradually, maybe 1 or 2 a week. PDV talks as if the world is coming to an end every week and everybody has to have a turn, who is chasing him? Anyway I can go on and on but Player 23 has to just sit and watch these idiot of a coach week after week. Wait, maybe I am wrong, can anybody just confirm that he has the final say with selection?. John"); document.write("
hm?
"); document.write("Experience won the day in the first two Tests? i thort it was a pressure kick by a dude playing his second ever test match that won the second match.... brett fish"); document.write("
Can of worms
"); document.write("Now you started something, Why was he not chosen in the first place as he was the best flyhalf the whole Super 14 season and also the best kicker, we are very lucky to have won that test as it could of been catastrophic if Ruan stayed on the field. Then again PDV completely forgot how important it is to have a reliable kicker, remember '97! He obviously doesn't.. John"); document.write("
Coach of Springboks
"); document.write("Let me start by saying that I did not approve of the appointment of the current coach at the time. My view has since become tempered by several shots of reality. The reality in our beautifull country is that anything that is popular and internationally visible is going to be politicised. As such the appointment of a Springbok coach is always going to be a political decision and in that light Div is a great coach, mainly because it could have been a lot worse. He is at least willing to appoint assistant coaches that should know what they are doing.

As far as team selection goes I feel we should realise that at any given time frame you probably have 25 to 30 players that can start in a Springbok team (you will never get 15 players that everybody agrees on.) The coach picks his 22, but any one of those 30 could play and not really change the result. The selection of the players may seem to be vital, but quite frankly it is almost impossible to stuff up with the quality that we have available (I said almost!) In this regard the coach seems to be able to do ok, except for moments of insanity when he tries his best to give the country a nationwide heart attack.

The biggest problem that everybody seems to have with the coach is his attitude of the field, and especially to the media. Again, I do not see this as being as big a problem as it is made out to be. The real problem is that one has to hear what he means not what he says. Remember also that English is his second language, and he appears to get flustered when pressured. Here is what I \"heard\" as opposed to what he said:
I support my players, even when they make mistakes.
No one in the Springbok team (incl management)condones dirty play, and no one in the squad deliberately plays dirty.
Rugby is a contact sport and people are going to get hurt. If this comes as a surprise then you are an idiot and I don't have time for idiots.

Lets face it the guy does manage to say the funniest things, but on the whole I can only respect a guy that will get up after every game and go into that media storm and say what he thinks, despite knowing beforehand that its not going to come out right and that he will be ridiculed for it. . Jan Robertson"); document.write("
Coaches & players
"); document.write("Coaching is more that just teaching players to play rugby, It's also teaching them how they think.....now what has really been irritating me of late is the way Fourie du Preez is forever waving his arms at the ref...taking his eye off the ball, only for it to be snatched by the oppostion and putting the rest of the team under huge pressure.....what the heck is Fourie thinking.....that the ref is just parking off there, waiting for Fourie to bitch about something that HE thinks should be blown up for.....A good coach would coach this bad habit out of him.....simply put, the ref has the whisttle.....play to it....coaches, wake up, teach your players to play to the damn whistle and stop trying to be more that what you supposed to be on the field.. Francois"); document.write("
p divvy
"); document.write("p divvy wil not get fired because of a bad performence like other coaches, and let's face it, I don't have to go into explaining why that is!. julius"); document.write("
No, I don't agree
"); document.write("Sorry but I can't agree with at any given time 25 to 30 players are able to play at the same level. We have Bakkies missing one game, Bekker & Rossouw injured an it is chaos, so where is the depth now? Our wings were an absolute joke this weekend. Sorry but you just can't make 10 changes and tell me it is the same quality team!. John"); document.write("
Springboks
"); document.write("The Sprinboks were poor on Saturday through no fault of the players. It seems that the coaches have lost sight of the importance of winning test matches. You cannot offset losing test matches against trying out new talent. At least not 10 of them - 3 max otherwise you will never know how they fit into the core team. Then we haven't even discussed what it does for the team's psyche which is critical. Remember winning becomes a habit, but so does losing.
It is unfortunately all part of the uncomfortable reality that South Africa is a country grappling with the demons of its past and that reconstruction will inevitably lead to unwise appointments and the steady erosion of standards. This goes for all spheres of life, just look at business.. Francie"); document.write("
PDV AN EMBARRASMENT TO SOUTH AFRICA
"); document.write("This is what happens with your National Side when your Coach is a TOKEN appointment. The same as all these BEE companies that are going down the drain. When the lean times come they like PDV cannot hold their own with the big boys. The Aussies & All Blacks are licking their lips. You will never see this type of behaviour from the Bulls Coach. I am not a Bulls supporter. With PDV, Muir & Gold the BOKS are going to be smashed in the 3N. There is a lot of truth in this article. Show me any Coach worth his salt, that would of made all these changes. PDV will be packing his bags after this 3N tournament.. BOERE SEUN"); document.write("
PDV
"); document.write("Why did PDV not come through the ranks like in all spheres. e.g. School Principal, MD of a Company, etc. Has he ever won the Currie Cup or Super 14??? Does not make sense. The people who must be held accountable are those in charge of SA Rugby.. Brian D."); document.write("
I disagree...
"); document.write("...with Brett - yes, the pressure kick may have won the game, but it was the last 20 minutes in Pretoria (where, for a change, the right subs came onto the field) that put the Boks in the position to be able to force a mistake and take that pressure kick. So, in the end, it was experience that won that particular game, and I say this with all due respect to Morne Steyn. (I'm a Bulls supporter, I love him, and I don't for a second think that either Ruan or Frans would have put that over, the way they were kicking that day.)

...with Francois, about Fourie. Let him wave his arms as and when he sees fit (he does it far less than you think, but when you're looking for faults in a test match ridden with them, you'll find plenty) - every scrumhalf does it, and Mike Phillips was giving him a pretty good run for his money in terms of wind-milling. Maybe I wasn't watching properly, but I don't recall more than one instance in which Fourie \"lost\" the ball because he was trying to bring the ref's attention to something. (Not that it did any good, because the standard of refereeing in this series has been shoddy at best and it hurt both the Lions and the Boks.)

I do agree that we have a useless coach. But I don't want to get into it cos everything has already been said. Besides, it's a waste of breath - he'll never get fired and he'll run this team into the ground, to a place where we'll be lucky to get results against the \"lesser\" unions. Div does not have a rugby brain, he does not have a media brain and he does not have a management brain - ergo, he has no qualifications whatsoever. Anybody else would have been out of a job long ago. (PS, I did enjoy watching Spies on the wing, but I'd rather it were an exception and not a rule.). Ans"); document.write("
well maybe he's looking at the bigger picture
"); document.write("Wil Tri-nations coming and series sewn up why not try out a few combinations before tri-nations??? I agree 7 changes was a bit too much but he had to give game time to some guys who haven't been playing plus blood in a youngster, if it wasn't for that intercept try and we had scored there, it wouldn't have looked too bad. Jose Correia"); document.write("
The coaches don't play
"); document.write("Guys, we can blame the coaches, and I don't think we have the best coaching staff at present, but they don't lose a test match, the players do. When the team plays well, good on the players, when they play badly its the coaches fault? Come on!

The coaches can't put fire in the soul, the green jersey should do that. The Lions haven't been playing together forever, and they have numerous changes each game, yet they out-scored us in points and tries!

Our players were running into defenders, were lying too flat, were drifting sideways on attack, got rucked off the ball.... Do you think they were coached to play like that? Every player deserved to be in the team based on past performance...and they were 'out-passioned'. Thats all there is to it! Well done Lions for giving the boks a big wake-up before the tri-nations. Hopefully the arrogance was knocked out of them this series, as the Lions matched the boks physically and outplayed the Boks mentally.

Good luck for the Tri-Nations, I hope that we can turn things around!!!

. Luke"); document.write("
Rush Defence
"); document.write("Did anyone else notice how much time the Lion's backs had and how little time ours had? Fourie Du Preez was constantly harrased by his opposite number and it just progressed from there.

When we have dominated it has been based on rush defence and forcing errors. Has the current coaching team ditched this approach?. Prometheus"); document.write("
COACH / MANAGING DIRECTOR
"); document.write("TRY AND EQUATE THE TWO...
IF A CEO WAS REQUIRED BY A LARGE COMPANY...... SAY S A BREWERIES, AND THAT PERSON EQUATED TO THE POSITION OF SOUTH AFRICAN RUGBY COACH...
WOULD A PERSON SUCH AS P DEVILLIERS BE CONSIDERED?
YOU TELL ME......I THINK NOT! . "); document.write("
what a superb article!!
"); document.write("As per usual you are spot on Rob Peters. I am so glad someone in the media is not scared of being barred from interviews and tells it like it is. P Div is strange to say the least but he also relies on the likes of Gary Gold. This \"genius\" who massterminded the Stormers with Rassie is so out of touch with the modern game that he still, after a dismal S14 campaign and a lucky winning campaign over the Lions, believes that kicking away hard fought posession is the way to play. Reality check Gary, it only serves to get the oppposition's side of the scoreboard ticking. At half time in Pretoria he was interviewed by Kobus and after the Boks had just given up 70% of the game possesion he still said \"we have to kick in to the part of the field we want and need to play in\" Everytime Pienaar or Steyn kicked it Carne or Bowe ran it back 60m. When they stopped kicking and ran the ball they made mincemeat of the much vaunted Lions defense. So what did he instruct this week....kick it away. Hey Gary, that might have worked in Naas's day but possesion is everything in rugby today!!!. Simon"); document.write("
gary gold?
"); document.write("hey im with simon here...he's got a point...if this useless kicking-up and under-loosing possession thing were employing is mr Gold's idea than HE'S the main idiot in the springbok camp...Because that tactic is the death of our game...wake up! our kicking game is retarded! were not playing! Basically half the time we just kick up and unders (putting the ball in a 50/50 situation at best) and than tackling all day long cause the other team is actually using the ball and running at us. If u want to kick, kick to touch and lets win their line out or atleast put pressure on them in their half.. Braam"); document.write("
Boks going backwards ? DEFINITELY!!
"); document.write("When the little W -- anchor was appointed, I among many tens of thousands had grave doubts about his ability to fit into this particular pair of size nines. Many also believed we should give him a chance.Well he has now used up many chances and still comes up smelly and suspect. Our National image has been seriously tarnished by his inapropriate remarks and squelchy reasons for those remarks.
As Rob P. so rightly says,so far all he has done is get lucky and s####ed through, via political connections, to dodge the bullets he justifiably should have collected square in the forehead.
This diminutive upstart is going to drag SA Rugby through the dirt - statement of fact - no fiction here.
Perhaps Jose and Luke should join the cesspool which forms our rugby management and coaching pool. \" Bigger Picture \" ??? 'Coaches dont play \"?? Div and his co coaches Muir and Gold are so myopic and confused I dont think they can see any picture at all. If as Luke says, Coaches dont play - what do we need them for ??
They need to be fired and replaced WITH PROPERLY QUALIFIED PEOPLE or SA Rugby is going to see its fundemental orifice without a mirror.

. CharlesA"); document.write("
Are coaches that important?
"); document.write("I don't if coaches are as important as we make them out to be... Let's look at the Bulls who were coached by Frans Ludeke. I remember him taking the reins from Laurie Mains for the Lions/Cats and he made that team right to the bottom. I was shocked when he won the Super 14 this year, as I strongly believed he would do the same thing to the Bulls.... "); document.write("
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