Hi.are there any south africans out there that can tell me what the h**l is up with the boks.?

Question

im a south african living in munich who´s been watching the tri nations and honestly cant believe whats happening to the boks.i firmly believe that jake white has to get the sack.we are a proud rugby nation and to see five straight defeats is just heart breaking.what can be down to stop the rot.please reply with your answers

Answer 1

they are running low on new players, probably because they all live in England now. Its the immigration capital for c**p countries to live off

Answer 2

I am a big Boks fan in the US. I think that there are several reasons that SA is in the toilet this year in the tri-nations:

1. Race still plays a part in SA, and these issues do not help in team cohesiveness (or in selection matters).

2. Jake White doesn't seem to have the respect of some of his players or the respect of the SARFU. If he did, he wouldn't be starting some of the line-ups we have witnessed this year.

3. This may sound naive, but Schalk Burger is out. Not only is this lad a monster at the breakdown, he is inspirational to his teammates when he is on the pitch. I think he brings something that makes the pack just a little more hungry (and hence, the defense a little more brutal for our opponents to face.)

Answer 3

Well we are in our worse perch but ofcoz South Africans never say die we'll bounce back in a minute i think lol

Answer 4

maybe they should pick players who are good at the game!  and stop picking players because they have to or are told to do so

Answer 5

The simple answer is: the quota system. I think that it has ruined sport in south africa in many ways. Some players are being fast-tracked into the national team (as with cricket), meaning often the best players miss out due to "racial equality" quotas. When i was in south africa i watched the bull bulls verses the lions, and it was one of the best games of rugby i have ever watched. i asked why some of those fantastic players werent in the national team, and the only real answer was "the quota system". some of the countries most talented players have no chance of making it, and the boks suffer. plus you are comparing them with 2 of the best rugby nations in the world!

Answer 6

I think that they get too much money.  They should play because it is an honour not because it's a job!

Even the Bulls are playing like their @#%%&&.

Answer 7

A few reasons...Our main sports in SA are soccer, rugby.and cricket.... now our government force the coaches of rugby and cricket to dance at their will and the management of these groups are to weak  to stand up the our minister of sports. the honorable mister Stofile. Now Jake is to blame to but how will you feel the soccer teams coaches after Clive Baker win just about no games with the team which is regarded as truly represented by all south africans. and they have the backing of our minister of sport at all times. Jake's problem though he speaks out against  certain players and then these players proofed him wrong and his favorite players are out of form but he keep playing them.He should be man enough to admit he was wrong and chose only inform players like NZ.

Answer 8

The game here is still pretty much ok...its the political game that's the boks problem! Jake refuses to choose the best players in key positions , and holds on to his precious U21 squad of old, like John Smit. Newest thing is that he wants to play Ruan Pinaar (scrumhalf all his life) on fullback...Why I ask you?! When there are perfectly good players in South Africa who have actually PLAYED fullback a day in their lives. Everything is going a bit out of the realm of what I thought to be common sense.

It used to be easy to play rugby...There were Springbok trails, the best players were chosen based on their play at the trails, and they went out and played...but NOW!

I don't know man, if something doesn't change we are going to keep going down the path we've started on.

Answer 9

Good win though.

Answer 10

I'm a huge Bok supporter and find it absolutely heart-breaking to see them lose each week - especially in the manner in which they lose.

Does the problem lie with Jake White? I'm not sure to be honest. I do believe that he is a good coach. Remember that when he took over, Springbok rugby was in a shocking state and he restored some pride to the jersey when we won the Tri-Nations in 2004. I reckon he is currently the best man for the job at the moment. Unfortunately, I don't think that we have a wealth of coaches to choose from at the moment and to fire Jake would be foolhardy.

An answerer mentioned that selection is the problem. This is definitely not the case. The current crop of players in the squad is the best in the country - perhaps with the exception of Luke Watson who is probably playing some of the best rugby of his career but is not in the squad. The answerer also questioned the selection of John Smit. I can assure you that he is the best hooker in the country - in terms of line-out throwing, scrumming and general play he is the best we have.

Also it was media speculation that Ruan Pienaar (outstanding young player by the way) was going to play fullback. In fact, Jaque Fourie, who has played fullback before, has been announced at the starting fullback.

I believe that the problem lies with morale. People may overlook this fact quite easily but the fact is, in any job - on the rugby field or in the office - if your morale is seriously low, you will struggle to perform. There is too much outside interference and backdoor dealings that will inevitably have an impact on the players. too many people seem to be influenced by personal gain rather than the forwarding movement of Springbok rugby.

We could also perhaps have a look at a new backline coach. The current one, Alistor Coetzee, has not performed well - made clearly evident by the Boks poor backline play. He was also in charge of the Cats backline the last couple of seasons and they have been quite poor in those seasons.

I also think that the New Zealander, Laurie Mains, could play a role in SA rugby if the SA Rugby Union would approach him. I would keep Jake has head coach but perhaps Laurie could play an advisory role of some sort. I think he is an extremely talented coach and it could be worth the effort to pursue him.

Anyway, cheers.

Hope you have a lekker day there in Germany...

Answer 11

I honestly can tell you that things down here are up to S*&^ when it comes sports. We don't seem to win much of anything for the past year or so...

Answer 12

I am a South African living in the USA, I have been following the tri nations to but it isnt Jakes fault, we cant keep chaning the coaches just becauese we have a bad season...Its the players in the team who arent the best.  With all the goverment putting players in the game that arent the best that is the problem...