'Is he the right guy you want there?': Matfield questions Willemse
Former Springboks captain Victor Matfield has questioned the inclusion of Damian Willemse on the Springboks bench after the side lost 28-26 to the Wallabies on the Gold Coast.
The dynamic playmaker was the utility player selected by Jacques Nienaber and his staff, and was injected into the game early for Handre Pollard after an errant pass from the starting flyhalf was thrown over the sideline just outside his own 22.
Pollard had an off-night with the boot, missing eight potential points with two missed penalties and a conversion. One penalty was almost directly in front and clanged off the upright back into the field of play.
The Springboks goal-kicking woes didn’t end there, as Willemse shanked the conversion wildly after Malcolm Marx had scored the go-ahead try to put the Springboks up 26-25. If Willemse kick was made, the visitors would have restored a three-point buffer.
Matfield was critical of Willemse in his post-match comments, saying he isn’t sure that Willemse is “a great player”, and that the kick he missed “wasn’t difficult”.
The 127-test veteran asked whether the team should have had a “90 percent kicker on the bench”, possibly an obscure reference to Morne Steyn, a former teammate of Matfield’s, who was able to kick a clutch penalty in the third Lions test after Pollard was also pulled early in that game.
“Tonight we were just a little bit off,” Matfield explained to the SuperSport panel during the post-match show.
“So we need to pick ourselves up, even have a look at the bench.
“I’m not sure that Damian Willemse is a great rugby player. Is he ready to take over from Handre Pollard if he goes off at 10? Handre never has an off day so normally you would play him through.
“Is he the right guy you want there at the end with a kick for poles? It wasn’t a difficult kick. He kicked it way right.
“Shouldn’t there be someone who is a 90 percent kicker on the bench?”
Although Willemse missed the two points, he surely saved seven when Michael Hooper found a break down the left-hand side with less than three minutes to go.
In the clear, Hooper tried to draw the last man and pass to Reece Hodge, but Willemse made a great read to slide off Hooper and tackle Hodge, forcing the ball loose and winning a scrum.
It was a try-saving effort that kept the Springboks alive until the Wallabies won a penalty with time up on the clock.
Some Springbok fans were disappointed in Matfield’s comments, unhappy that he had failed to recognise the positive impact of Willemse’s cameo, while at the same time offering Pollard a free pass for his off-night that left eight points on the table.
These views from Victor Matfield are very questionable and worrisome.
While removing all the blame from Handre pollard, who missed 8 easily convertible points, He then finds a scapegoat and blames Damian Willemse for Pollards poor kicking and handling of the game today. pic.twitter.com/puacrg4JfN
— LineBreakSARugbyNews (@LineBreak_) September 12, 2021
@VictorMatfield I couldn’t believe my ears! What about Pollard? Did he get a pass because?? Pollard lost us soooo many points and yet he gets a pass…shocking.
— #FreeBritneyNOW??? (@Thembileeh) September 12, 2021
Willemse missed 2 points & saved 7 points with a try saving tackle so that argument is flawed.Pollard was rubbish in terms of controlling the game tempo coupled with lack of accuracy & variation in his play. The kicking off the tee was the icing on the sugar on a BAD performance.
— Khuboni (@Rugga_Head) September 12, 2021
I am shocked. Willemse is a Bok, selected in the bok squad and selected for the bench today: 100% Springbok. How can he not be a great player? It is the Bok selectors who selected him and how would they select not “great players”? Pollard today was not a great player: he was poor
— Ernest Carelse (@ErnestCarelse2) September 12, 2021
His way of punting for Morne Steyn. Ai. As much as things change they stay the same.
— Daniel Manchest (@manchestdaniel) September 12, 2021
Victor must come and apologize for this. Nothing about this is sensible.
Pollard cost us the game
— Ahjussi T: The C.P. (@GreatWhyte23) September 12, 2021
Willemse is one of the most talented SA rugby players but he will get lost the same way Gio Aplon was lost because “you first need to focus on goal kicking” that’s the most important thing for SA rugby lol ??
— SGB (@saagieb55) September 12, 2021
I do agree, Willemse should not be the back up kicker and it doesn’t even seem like Rassie and Jacques know what they want to do with Willemse, but saying Pollard was slightly off when he’s been missing kicks for fun and only looking at that 1 kick is wrong.
— H?ï§?ñbé?? (@jayt5298) September 12, 2021
Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber defended his flyhalf’s performance after the game, calling his showing “solid” and said “it is what it is” regarding the missed kicks .
“I don’t think a kicker goes out to miss a kick and, in fairness, Handre was quite good in the warm-up,” said Nienaber.
“He was solid. Another day it goes a foot left and it is over, even the long-distance one he missed in the first half, but it is ifs and buts. It is what it is.”
Nienaber pinned the loss on discipline, having outscored the Wallabies three tries to one, they conceded seven penalty goals as Quade Cooper took every opportunity from the tee landing 100 percent of his kicks.
“We scored three tries to one and we gave them 23 points off the tee and that is the reason why we lost,” Nienaber said.
“I thought we made a couple of errors. I thought the first 20 minutes we were quite dominant, and we probably had control of the game, but then in the last 20 we lost control and they got a bit of a lead on us.
“I thought we did brilliantly to get back into the game and we lost it in the 82nd minute. And again it was discipline – we lost it because we conceded a penalty.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Bar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
9 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
35 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
35 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
35 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
35 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
35 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
35 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
35 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
18 Go to comments