A lot has been said about Heyneke Meyer’s game plan and the players he selects as well as the way the Springboks have performed in their first 5 tests with him as coach. I have been one of those who has been calling for a change in the game plan and asking questions regarding certain players.
I have been told that we are too harsh on the man and that he should be given a chance to proof himself. We can’t expect him to start performing at 100% when he has just taken over and is trying to build a new team and so on and so forth. This got me think on how does Heyneke Meyer compare to the coaches before him and their first 5 tests in charge. I took only the coaches since 1992 and re-admission into world rugby.
JOHN WILLIAMS (1992 20% win)
John Williams probably had the hardest job of all the coaches in South Africa. He had to start from scratch with a new team and no one with any really experience in recent international rugby to guide him. He won only 20% of his games overall and here are the results of his first 5 tests in charge:
New Zealand – Lost 24-27
Australia – Lost 3-26
France – Won 20-15
France – Lost 16-29
England – Lost 16-33
IAN McINTOSH (1993-1994 33% win)
When Ian McIntosh took over the Springboks had 5 tests behind them. He went on to get a success rate of 33%. Again he won his first test away from home.
France – Drew 20-20
France – Lost 16-25
Australia – Won 19-12
Australia – Lost 20-28
Australia – Lost 12-19
KITCH CHRISTIE (1994-1996 100% win)
The greatest coach South Africa has had since re-admission and probably ever. He coached the Springboks to our first World Cup Trophy. He is the only coach with a 100% record through his Springbok career.
Argentina – Won 42-22
Argentina – Won 46-26
Scotland – Won 34-10
Wales – Won 20-12
Samoa – Won 60-8
ANDRE MARKGRAAFf (1996 61% win)
Fiji – Won 43-18
Australia – Lost 16-21
New Zealand – Lost 11-15
Australia – Won 25-19
New Zealand – Lost 18-29
CAREL DU PLESSIS (1997 37% win)
Tonga – Won 74-10
B&I Lions – Lost 16-25
B&I Lions – Lost 15-18
B&I Lions – Won 35-16
New Zealand – Lost 32-35
NICK MALLET (1997-2000 71% win)
Nick Mallet took the Springboks to 17 consecutive wins and then got the boot after losing 3 games in a row. He took over from a struggling Du Plessis and went on a year end tour straight after taking over.
Italy – Won 62-31
France – Won 36-32
France – Won 52-10
England – Won 29-11
Scotland – Won 68-10
HARRY VILJOEN (2000-2002 53% win)
England – Won 18-13
England – Lost 22-27
Australia – Lost 23-44
New Zealand – Lost 12-25
Australia – Lost 6-26.
RUDOLPH STRAEULI (2002-2003 52% win)
Wales – Won 34-19
Wales – Won 19-8
Argentina – Won 49-29
Samoa – Won 60-18
New Zealand – Lost 20-41
JAKE WHITE (2004-2007 67% win)
Jake White took over Straeuli and had to start and rebuild a team. He did this and took that team to the 2007 World Cup and won the Trophy.
Ireland – Won 31-17
Ireland – Won 26-17
Wales – Won 53-18
Pacific Islands – Won 38-24
New Zealand – Lost 21-23
PETER DE VILLIERS (2007-2011 62% win)
PDivvy might not have been the brightest coach we have had, but he knew how to entertain and also had the cleverness to keep Jake’s team and it paid off to an extent.
Wales – Won 43-17
Wales – Won 37-21
Italy – Won 26-0
New Zealand – Lost 8-19
New Zealand – Won 30-28
HEYNEKE MEYER (2012 – CURRENT 60% win)
England – Won 22-17
England – Won 36-27
England – Drew 14-14
Argentina – Won 27-6
Argentina – Drew 16-16
Looking at the coaches above the average winning ratio for the first 5 tests since 1992 is 58%. 3 has ratios of 20% and 2 ratios of 40%. Christie and Mallet started of with a 100% ratio while Straeuli, White and De Villiers had 80%. Of the guys with ratios more than Meyer they lost their 1 game against New Zealand and that in itself says a lot.
So I stick with what I said before: Meyer needs to rethink his game plan and the players and combinations he is selecting. At this rate the Springboks are more like sitting ducks waiting to be beaten instead of playing to win. Still let us give Meyer a chance to really proof himself and that will be in the next 4 tests against Australia and New Zealand.
If he doesn’t I fear that we will be subjected to boring out of date rugby for the next 4 years or until SARU decides enough is enough. I believe he has the ability to be one of our best coaches, but not with the plan he is using at the moment.
All we can do is hope that he sees what we are seeing and that all those injured players recover and regain the form they had.
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