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Sorry South Africa, Handre Pollard can't save you
By Ben Smith
The inevitable and predictable reaction to the Springboks’ narrow 13-8 loss to Ireland has led to chorus of South Africans swooning after their golden boy Handre Pollard.
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The goal-kicking ace who can save the Springboks because 11 points were left out on the table, never mind that Pollard doesn’t have the distance to nail them from 50 plus metres out like Faf de Klerk tried to twice.
And it’s not like he’s ever missed a goal either, a career kicker at around 75 per cent in Test rugby.
Before his heroic kick against Wales to propel the Springboks into the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, Pollard was kicking at 63 per cent in that tournament.
On the opening night he clanged a sitter from dead in front into the right upright against the All Blacks and finished with two from three. Against Italy he was six from nine, remaining at 66 per cent.
In the final against England he sliced two more penalties and couldn’t find touch kicking to the corner on one occasion.
His turnovers that night kept England in the contest longer than they should have been, with six points coming from backfield errors made by the Springboks No 10.
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But facts don’t matter with Pollard.
Never before has the perception of a player been so detached from reality as it is with the player Montpellier shelled out millions of euro for.
It was Morne Steyn who saved the Boks from the tee during the British & Irish Lions series and his immediate retirement afterward caused issues.
On the very first overseas trip Down Under to Australia, Quade Cooper nailed eight from eight for the Wallabies while South Africa had kicking issues.
“Polly” himself missed three shots at goal, yes three, while Damian Willemse copped the ire of Victor Matfield for a late conversion that sailed wide and didn’t even look like going close. He didn’t lament the No 10’s failures.
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The golden boy can save the Springboks because his name is Handre Pollard. Well, sorry to say South Africa, he can’t, and he wouldn’t have got the win last night either.
The two Springbok packs that were sent out to do a job on Ireland were feasted on at the breakdown, with Irish jacklers dining out all evening with continual ruck pressure.
The incessant jackalling took a toll and Ireland began to win turnovers forcing holding on penalties late in the second half.
Warrior performances from Caelan Doris and Tadhg Beirne, who both got through 80 minutes along with Josh van der Flier, led the counter-effort to the 7-1 injection.
Even the famed Bok scrum failed when it mattered most. Conor Murray smartly caught them pushing off before the ball was fed, a cardinal sin that cost three points.
Before that they were penalised on their own feed in front of the posts which Sexton converted calmly to take the lead back.
The uncomfortable matter for South Africa is that Ireland were able to match them in the physicality stakes.
For every punishing hit on an Irish player, there was a player in a white jersey getting folded.
It was the kind of game that the Springboks wanted to have, yet it was Ireland who came out on top despite a malfunctioning lineout that could not convert a throw early on.
The ‘what ifs’ for South Africa are low percentage hail mary-type penalty goals. The ‘what ifs’ for Ireland are multiple botched lineout opportunities around five out.
South Africa are looking for crumbs while Ireland had plans for the entire cake. That they didn’t get it was largely their own doing with miscommunication issues plaguing those throws.
Don’t tell us South Africa would’ve won had they made the kicks because had Ireland made their throws it could’ve been over by half-time.
The silver lining out of the game for the Springboks is that they now align with France for a quarter-final, a side that they’d probably prefer.
Parachute Pollard in for that one if you like, but if the two packs fail to get ascendency again it will be a similar result and the saviour will need saving.
Well you’ve made a proper tit of yourself, haven’t you! 😂
Love to see how wrong the strong Ben Smith opinions can go 😂
One of the great articles Ben. Well done
aged like milk 🥛🥛🥛
Sorry for you Ben Smith
This guy knows nothing. How in god's green earth did he become a rugby journalist.
Oh the irony…. Handle Pollard excecuted a penalty kick from the halfline. 😆
Rassie Erasmus planned it well. Give Ireland the bragging rights game, Play France and then deal with NZ in the final.
Sorry Ireland, Johnny Sexton couldn't save you.
A bit of a puerile article, but the key points are valid. The Irish forwards were exceptional in that game. There wasn't much in it overall, though, both sides gave as good as they got physically. Etzebeth got picked up, Sexton and somebody else got bounced by De Allende and had stars flying around their heads like cartoon characters for a moment. You can cherry pick all night depending on the picture you want to paint. But at the end of the match, all that matters is the scoreboard.
what a load of codswallop.
SA were cruising and hiding.
no line out mauls?
That game was a marginal win.
True Irish rugby fans know just how tight.
no stopping a one eyed fool though.
Good luck with winning the world cup
Over the years I’ve noticed how many people put down the Boks. They did in 95 before they won and then said it was home luck, even though afterwards they came to Europe and beat every northern hemisphere top team if memory serves.
Still the only team to win 3 world cups though with all major teams playing in the tournament.
I’ve been impressed with Irish comments and SA comments in general to each other. No need for hatred or sour grapes in this sport please.
the Boks lost to the All Blacks 1-4 in 1996 including a 3-test home series. Also lost to Australia. Didnt play England or Ireland. The only Springbok team to dominate and play like Champions was in 2009 when they beat the B.I.Lions and All Blacks.
Typical Ben Smith column he never did have much time for the Boks.
Take his column with a pinch of salt.
To him any team but the Boks.
This clown again.
Mate no offence. But we haven’t had a 10 for like 4 years now. Because there is none in Stock. Its a open fact! I know it, you know it, everyone knows is its no secret. So thanx for stating the obvious. Jantjies is fucked, Pollard inconsistent and injury prone. Willemse and Libbok great players but can’t kick for shit. It is w hat it is. We do with what we have. Even the the top team’s that does win just squeezes by. Now i recon thats not to bad for a team that doesn’t have a recognised 10.
I agree with Ben's article (and I am Bok supporter). I remember all those instances he writes about, and remember being very annoyed with Victor Matfield for his comments on DW's kicking, when we all knew he was a make shift 10. Springbok fans bemoaned our style of play when Pollard was @ 10 as the backline failed to fire. Plenty times in the RC Pollard missed to poles and touchline and in the BIL tour he was subbed for Morne and was watching from the side line as Morne kicked us to victory. If we honest and recall correctly the 2 tries in the world cup final, they happened in spite of and not because of Pollard. 1st try - Am to Marx on the blind, Am and MM linking up to score. 2nd try - Marx ball-and-all tackle, Am good interference to make space for PsDT with a pass to CK and then his brilliance on the wing took over. Point is both Pollard and Manie are no Dan Carter's they actually quite average International FH's with different skill sets.......Where Ben is even more than spot on, is his rant about the the pack......the forwards decide if you'll win, the backline determines by how much. If our pack/s don't fire don't care who is playing 10, you cannot win. Even the great Dan Carter was on the loosing side +/- 13 times - most of them coming on days when the pack was off.....Just my 2cents but I agree with Mr. Smith this time.
Ben? Ben?
is that you? 🤣
When you see Ben Smith', you need to read the article as comedy because he is paid to knock the Springboks. Good article Ben 🤣🤣🤣
Polly "only" 63% kicking success? Well what is 63% of 11 points? Thats over 6 points. What is 6 points plus the Bok score of 8? Huh? methinks a a little more than the 13 the leprechauns got...
Raymond why so bitter
Ireland would have loved to play open rugby, moving the big boys around but couldn't... would a Northern hemisphere ref made a difference. TBF O'Keefe was fine, just a style question..
The difference is SA impacted Irelands lineout...Ireland can't take any credit for Libboks awful kicking though. If you knew anything about rugby you'd understand that.
Exactly
Second, SA did well to dictate the type of game it was
they did, SA played well.....think they played slightly better than us. didnt look like scoring many tries albeit - and i know Ireland only scored one and the defences were excellent - but it emphasis' that need for the 3s when on offer.
Firstly, France at home are no joke
What game was this plonker watching? The kicks were irrelevant. That last ref error (lineout and scrum) robbed SA of victory.
So much negatifity from someone who have not played against Handre , says a lot about his personality to be honest.
Don't speak bad about someone cause you are bringing it onto yourself .
Handre and
Manie are both two great fly halves with different styles of play , Rassie will know what to do.
My advice is to Ben Smith is you are a well known player ,do not start to give yourself a reputation, SA has great respect for the AB and by your attitude and comments the SA publick will support Ireland against the AB.
JC. It appears from your comment you are understandably mistaking the All Blacks great Ben Smith with this namesake journo. They are not one and the same. And what a pity, we would get much greater insight and coherent thought from the AB legend compared to this guy
I recommend that Saffas don't reply to doos anymore he earns his dough by click baiting
A friend of mine said the All Blacks always peak early, they call it a bad dose of #prematureallblackulation
Pollard is at best a slow winger
At ten he is Mr ponderosa
That makes him an ideal fit for the rest of the team
Here you go again just calling everyone a hater when they disagree with you! Grow up!
The game was close, but Ireland won, just like they won the previous time and the time before that. They will win and keep winning every time you play and you will keep finding excuses. Grow up!
France have a better recent record against New Zealand than South Africa have. France have a better recent record against Ireland than South Africa have. France have only played South Africa once in the past 4 years (a match they won), but their better results against other top sides is enough to suggest that they are a better team.
So if Pollard cant save us Mr Smith, who and what can save us?
So many things are said in that headline…. One thing is clear there is no respect from him who at present is the highest paid rugby player in the world.
The only fly half I have seen score two tries against the AB’s in one game..
Also would not rely on one player but hos kicking coach left SA and Vlok has been contracted to the French until the end of this tournament.
Keep up the smart statement headlines, keeps us busy😁😁🤣🤣
Bennie Smit is probably a small guy that was bullied at school
Ben ben ben...you Re such a hater..unreal...
Well you do cause this weekends game could have gone either way. One could suggest if we kicked better we would have won. You could say if Ireland had better line outs they could have had more trys but the end result is what it is and anyone watching that game would know that the teams were pretty much evenly matched. You are just a SA rugby hater and everyone on here can see that clear as day. You say France will beat us just cause you don't like us it has nothing to do with any inside knowledge or them being a better team. So I'll say it again if you think France is a way better team than the boks then that makes them a way better team than Ireland. Keep trolling fin it's very cute to watch the little troll that could.
Rassie even pulled a sock over Ben Smith's eye. Love it! This game was for bragging rights only. The Cup is the main prize. We'll see you in the final....if Ireland can make it past NZ.
are you from France by any chance - you aint getting by them with their home support.........that group game..........that was in reality a knock out
This was a total different game. The game choices didn’t make any sense, which now has the rugby experts in South Africa thinking this was probably a very cleverly hidden planned game. Remember this game was just for bragging rights because t0he World Cup is the main goal. We're in a very nice position playing France later on and in the future most people only remember the Cup winner not the games that led up the the final. If Ireland make it to final you'll see a Springbok team like the one that slaughtered England in the previous World Cup final. I truly believe that. Rassie has an amazing rugby brain.
Here's an interesting bit of trivia - When we prepared for the previous WC final against England that took place in Japan....... Eddie Jones was the England coach and he instructed his people to go and spy on Rassie's practice sessions with the Springboks. Rassie knew this and instructed Faf de Klerk to kick as many up & under balls as he can.
Eddie's spies reported back and told Eddie that the Springgoks are practicing for a kicking game and the England backline will be tested all the time.
Come game day the Springboks played the hardest run & tackle game seen in a long time. Keeping ball possession by minimizing kicking the ball and the England team did not know where to stop the attacks because the Springboks were all over the place.
Even Eddie Jones didn't know what to say in the interview afterwards because we just outplayed them in every aspect. Eddie said he doesn't know what just happened.
So iin conclusion, let the Irish have their bragging day and let them think they're the best team out there. And like I've said previously, if they make it to the final you'll see the true wrath of the Springboks. This was planned and it's obvious when you analyze the way Rassie planned it by the way we used our reserves. That was not our strongest line-up on the field and he played it very clever. He could have had Pollard on the field (he arrived in the Springbok camp earlier in the week already).
I feel very comfortable with our current position in the pool. Much easier and very cleverly played.
Cant this guy just get lost somewhere. He obviously hasnt a clue of what he is talking about. Sanctimonius p...k.
We all know you're making a career out of pissing off Bok supporters, like so many YouTube are, conversely, by praising their team to the sky.
But tell you what. After watching the performances of the other Southern Hemisphere teams, I can see why the ABs are so poor. Imagine playing Aus teams day in day out, and using Bledisloe wins as a measure of your own self-worth. That's why the fell out of the bus so badly against the Boks. I will grant you this, the Boks really don't want to play the AB's again in the quarters. Teaching the same lesson is plain boring.
The All Black have a serious bone to pick with Ireland and are going to send them home in the QF
In SA we would say '' jy is is 'n opperste doos, Ben''. Een teen die oor en een teen die teer vir jou.
Mr Smith, you're pretty mouthy for a someone who is nothing more than a myopic fan given legitimacy by being paid for his opinion.
If it wasn't for the need to keep food on your table and meet your contractual obligations by generating click-bait (I'm fully aware that I fell for it by posting this), then you would be well advised to keep this rubbish to yourself, least your victims realize the pseudo-intellectual fraud that you are.
Meanwhile, I'll rewatch the Irish-S.A. game and enjoy the win, but know that 5 points a World Cup do not make.
He's not there to save us. He is there to convert penalties into points. It's all about execution. We all know the tired joke of the prop wanting to moer the flyhalf for kicking away hard won possession.
Save from what? Looking at this dude's other articles he seems to hate the Springboks... Someone remind him that his ancestors come from Africa and that New Zealand is just a corporation with a flag as a logo and all this, is just for fun. Come out of the illusion @ben and back into the real world where you can laugh all you laughter and cry all your tears
It appears to me that Rugbypass use Ben Smith purely to generate engagement on its site. They know that SA have arguably the most passionate supporters, so we will react and respond.
It's a cheap ploy. I personally won't be commenting on or even reading any articles written by Ben Smith in the future.
Ben Smith's initials says it all. BS.
Guys, there are other articles written by balanced educated journalists who cover matches and teams without agendas. I don’t see the need to spend energy on what Ben writes, or his alter ego Nige. The article by Nick Bishop is an example of intelligent journalism.
this guy seems to have an issue with the Boks ..... totally biased comments like this I would definitely call against the spirit of the game .... being a lifelong Bokke, I saw a clash of titans on Saturday, which was decided by a toss of a coin, and indeed, poor performance from the tee by the Boks ....
yes, Ireland were on par physically, kudos to them for that, and yes the Clover didn't "steal" their win .... but then again, they are No. 1 in the WR-List, and lived up to that, but we were equal (apart from the kicking game) ....
yes, we have areas to improve .... but should we be worried? I don't think so .... just keep up the team spirit, do your homework and everything will be alright ..... the Webb Ellis Cup is not a handout hammock, you have to earn it
Ben Smith loves to troll the Springboks but the reality is that was a close game of fine margins. Ireland won the breakdown but made over 100metres less than the Boks. The Boks showed plenty of flair and quality to suggest they could have won that. It wasnt just crumbs. Ireland won the breakdown and the Bok gambles of Fourie and the 7-1 didnt work so fair play to Ireland. Boks missed their kicks and its a big issue. Would have been parity had they nailed their two realistic shots at goal from the conversion and missed penalty from Libbok. Ireland really were great and deserved winners. New Zealand cant match their intensity and will not make it against them
When sa and nz meet in the final and sa give them a beat down, what will his "opinion" be?
How are we supposed to take Rugby pass seriously with posts like this?
Even the Irish pundits said after the game if SA kicked more of their points the result would have been different.
That was too very closely matched teams divided by goalkicking. Many of those kicks would have been high percentage for Pollard.
However, dumping a low on game time Pollard into a world cup comes with its own issues and SA will have to adapt. I think they have to though. Can they win 3 consecutive knockout matches with a bad kicker? They're likely to come unstuck.
But you can't only look at 11 points not kicked. At least 2 of those kicks were long range and difficult. Then five points came from one miskick. And you have to factor Ireland not kicking kickable penalties, going to the corner and then losing the resulting lineouts.
To me it was the driving maul at the end that got blown up as a turnover that I would be pointing to if I was South African (although I think the ref did make the right call). With their lineout dominance, I don't understand why the Springboks didn't kick those penalties to the corner and try to maul over. And that's on teh coaches with their stupid traffic lights. Not on Libbok or De Klerk.
So if SA had kicked more of their points the result would have been different. Wow, what a stunning revelation!!
After seeing the headline, I thought it was an analystic post. Only to see hatred by an opinionist hater. To make it worse, It's Ben Smith one of my favorite all blacks alongside Ma'a Nonu. So at least I'm going to stop reading this rubbish rugbypass so I don't hate the playerself.
Nah, it's not the player. He is, by all accounts, a great guy and a gentleman.
The author of this hit piece, otoh ...
Haters does what haters does best