Lions in SA
Jean: Defence will be better
2009-06-26 14:30
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Better defence (Gallo Images)
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Pretoria - Jean de Villiers does not hide from the fact that the Springboks were severely exposed on defence in the first Test against the British and Irish Lions.
While he says that it came down to problems with the defensive unit, and not individuals, he was also honest enough to admit that there were individual mistakes as well that cost the team.
“Several individuals made mistakes last week, including myself, and it could have cost us the game,” admitted De Villiers.
“I was off at the stage of the game when the Lions fought back, but I think that what cost us was rustiness. It was in our defence that the rustiness that we feared beforehand really made itself felt.”
Listening to De Villiers talk, and give his own theory for what went wrong in the last quarter last Saturday, prompts one to look even more critically at Springbok coach Peter de Villiers's decision to replace so many players near the hour mark of the match.
“The rustiness would have been particularly acute among the reserves, as for most of the buildup it was the run-on team that trained together. The reserves did not run together much at all, so it was understandable that they struggled when they came onto the field.”
But Springbok fans can relax, for De Villiers is confident that the hard work done during the training week will have the pay-off of a far better defensive performance at Loftus, where the Boks just need to win to close out the series and thus avenge the memory of the infamous 1997 defeat.
“They (the Lions) really appeared to cut our line at will last week. It was very worrying. But we have worked hard to rectify it, and obviously it is something we are eager to sort out as we have always prided ourselves on our defensive game. We made mistakes as individuals, but some of where we went wrong was down to problems with our defensive structure.
“We have spotted those problems, and we have worked on getting it right. Our scrambling defence last week, particularly late in the game, was very good, and may have been what saved us in the end, but the match could so easily have gone the other way.
“The Lions had several scoring opportunities that they did not take, and on another day they may have done so and we would have lost the game. I was surprised at how effective their midfield was. I have played against Jamie Roberts a few times, and apart from being a strong, straight runner, he also has an excellent step on him.”
De Villiers believes that the Lions midfield combination of Roberts and Brian O’Driscoll is a good example of his own theory that you don’t pick centres as individuals, but as a combination.
“They are a strong combination, their styles mean they compliment each other superbly. We allowed them to get away with a lot last week, we are going to have to get up on them in this match as it could cost us if we don’t.”
De Villiers has a lot of respect for the Lions, and warned that while many South Africans were celebrating a series win already, it all still has to be done.
“Beating the Lions will be special, and may partially make up for me missing most of the last World Cup, but it will only be special if we win. If the Lions win the last two tests and win the series then there won’t be anything special about this series. I would then take my World Cup, even though I only played 40 minutes, ahead of playing the Lions.”
For De Villiers, the key to beating the Lions is simple – the Boks just have to do for 80 minutes on Saturday what they did for 60 minutes last week.
“We played an excellent kicking game last week and we also built our performance around a strong forward effort. I get asked if we are going to spread the ball wide, but I don’t see the point in doing that if we can win it with our pack and our picking game. We need to stick to what works for us.”