Heynecke Meyer

If you love SA Rugby then you will do the right thing and resign as you are now becoming an embarrassment. How can you replace 2 of you front row players at the same time, who imo where both having blinders? Then as if that's not bad enough you take off your flyhalf who was tackling pigeons for fun. With you in charge you might as well save the airfare and the heart ache and give the WC a miss.

Would not make sense now to get a new coach with the world cup looming upon us. Was a nail biting game today and truth be told the aussies got lucky. It was the boks game to lose. We can debate every decision or play and this and that or we can park it and move on and learn from it.


The Boks are not without a chance.

How can a player give it his all when he knows that in the 50th or whatever minute he will be replaced no matter where the play is or how well or bad he is performing. Case in point yesterday when he replaced the 4 players who were playing some of their best rugby for a long time (bismark du Plessis, the beast, pollard and pienaar). he replaced the two front rowers prior to a scrum on the Bok 5 metre line. Who does that? Oh yes Meyer does. He has not idea and is ruining this current side who had the potential to be great. I am afraid that SA has as much chance as winning the rugby world cup as Greenland. Its going to end in tears come October. The All Blacks will thump the Boks on Saturday and then the Boks will beat Argentina and Meyer will then spin it as the beginning of a new phase. Wake up man this Meyer has taken the team backwards and needs to go.

I don't know much about rugby, however I think SA are very one dimensional and very boring to watch. It could be argued that they have won two World Cups since re-admission with this "boring style" approach, yet, I truly believe that they may have won more if encouraged to play expansive rugby or ball in hand rugby. Honestly believe they have had the personnel to do that, and still do.

For me here is the problem with SA sport across the board, however more so in cricket and rugby - fear of failure. Rugby has evolved, it's no more about dom krag, unfortunately when we lose, we blame everyone else but our own performance - that excuse is in place before kick-off.

Was listening to the sport's round up this morning, and the experts tell us SA only had 28% possession in the second have. That alone should tell everyone one team was content to defend, whilst the opposition were looking to score.

The philosophy is very simple, without the ball the opposition cannot score, and the good old, "best form of defence is attack", who knows, you may even out-score them, which is the intention of game.

Meyer did not blame fitness for his team’s loss against the Wallabies at the weekend – he laid that excuse at the door of inexperience in the second half and on the fickleness of fate that saw referee Nigel Owens blow a dubious penalty for a ruck infringement and then a TMO decision that could have gone either way, and ended up giving the Wallabies a heroic come-from-behind victory after they had been trailing 20-7 with 20 minutes to go.

He cant even admit that he fucked up with his sub calls but rather blames other factors for the defeat. Although I support the Boks through and through I hope that the ABs thrash us so that there will be pressure on him to resign.

I think that saru has realized they have picked the wrong coach but are stuck now so close to world cup, just hope the players can play the game of there lives against the all blacks and get a result

When the coach loses the dressing room then its good night. By the look on the faces of some of those players on Saturday it appears that this could well be the case. SA were once the most feared rugby side and every team including the All Blacks were worried when they played them. Nowadays all you have to do when playing them is to keep the score close (well 7-20 was close enough in the Aussies case) and you as the opposition know that the SA coach will take off his best performing players and in doing so hand the game to you. If this was the first time that this has happened then ok but its not. It will happen again.

Going to be interesting to see what's done against NZ

The Argentinians know that this excuse for an international rugby coach will announce the Bok team on Wednesday thus giving the opposition more than enough time to watch the tapes of the players selected. Argentina are going to win

The overall performance and style of South African teams in general contributes to what our national team is able to produce.

1.) South Africa has historically relied on brute strength to 'divide and conquer'. Since the advent of the professional era opposing teams have employed training methods and preparation to match this traditional advantage.

2.) Instead of developing skills coaches from schoolboy level upwards have continued to seek out or develope 'bigger oxen'. I have watched a number schoolboy matches in recent years where front row forwards at schoolboy level(!) already weigh in at 100kg plus.

3.) The default playing style of SA sides has always been to kick for territory and then rely on physical dominance to regain possession from ensuing set pieces. This mindset is slowly changing although players still tend to revert to the default option when under pressure.

4.) I have for many years contended that SA teams are 'under trained and over coached'; ie they are allowed little latitude to 'play what is in front of them' off the back of inadequate fitness.

Watch the Springboks in any test and you will often see them being unplayable for the first 20 minutes only to slowly fade away thereafter.

5.) Local teams seem unable to grasp that rugby is an 80 minute game. A good example of this would be the tendency to simply tap the ball into touch when they get a penalty outside of goal kicking range after the halftime hooter has sounded. Or to show no ambition once they are two scores in front with 10 minutes or less to run before the end of a game.

6.) It has taken them decades to learn not to react to provocation off the ball. This is an area where they have improved although we still suffer due to occasional 'hothead' actions.

7.) Our coaching cupboard is almost bare at present so the continual calls for Meyer's head are silly. Most of the alternatives bandied about do not want the job due to issues of a non rugby nature which go with the position. I also guess that the remuneration would have to be negotiated in US$ to attract an appropriate person. Which may create an affordability issue.

8.) The currency induced talent drain is not helping even when we use foreign based players. Most ply their trade in UK/Europe where the playing style is often more static than it is at home.

9.) If you think we have problems then look at the state of the UK national football side! Despite their self proclaimed 'best league in the world' England boast one of the worst international football sides around given their claim to have 'invented' the sport.

The only good news is this : The World Cup does not reward long term consistency. It comprises only seven 'must win' matches where just ONE great performance against, say, the All Blacks in a quarter or semi final can see an average side qualify for and win a final against lesser opposition. This makes it an attractive opportunity for SA who CAN raise their level for short periods and win the trophy.

It's also a good betting proposition as you can adjust your position as the tournament progresses as unconsidered sides at big prices ( eg Australia and France) perhaps 'come alive'. France, in particular, have often done well in these tournaments.

I feel Meyer has been quite flexible in his approach to his player personnel. He admittedly started with too much Blue Bull representation but has not been shy to discard them as their innate deficiencies were exposed.

In summary - I am not optimistic that we can win it but I am not convinced that we ever had the players with the skills to do so.

yes the SA team have been announced yet again on a Wednesday. The best thing about the announcement is that Jean de Villiers is back after that horrific injury he suffered at Cardiff. Meyer has played into the hands of the opposition once again and I predict that come Saturday evening SA will finish bottom of the Rugby Championship

Still on track Meyer. You get hammered by Argentina, time to take your sarnies and resign as even Scotland will beat SA in the world cup. Peter de Villiers was a genius compared to this clueless coach.