To get a draw in a dead rubber match is hardly a result... When playing for pride as what the Poms were talking about all week, they can't be too proud to go away with no win.
It was clear from the kick-off that England were in a fired up mood and the Boks were lethargic, uncomitted and with their minds clearly somewhere else.
Well firstly I have to say I think this is rubbish. You were always likely to say this if the Springboks didn't get the win. The boks clearly would have wanted to whitewash England just as the Wallabies and the All-backs did against their respective opposition. Do you really think Potgeiter wasn't bothered about making an impact on his debut for the Boks? Look again: the truth is that the boks did not play a 'complete' game in the first two tests, but had the physical dominance and the ability to get over the gain-line every single time and bludgeoned England (who have their own problems) into submission.
The difference this time was that South Africa were not dominating the collisions in quite the same black and white way, and without quick and clean ball you had no real platform, and that this is the case is a credit to the England pack, especially James Haskell and Tom Palmer, and not through lack of trying from the Springboks.
Give credit where credit is due. Same as last week when England took an advantage in the scrums later in the game, and someone on here was putting it down to lock substitutions from South Africa, where an outward-looking and judicious person would have noticed that Englands best loosehead had come on restoring a front-row that has had dominance over most test-sides with the exception of Wales.
Where I agree with you is that England shouldn't be too happy with the draw, when the game was clearly there for the winning. For all the gutsy determination up-front we still lacked the creativity in the backs (I really think we need a proper attack coach who isn't Mike Catt). With guys such as Joseph, May, Wade, Allen etc I don't think that we have remotely the same problems as Scotland, who just have limited attacking talent altogether.
You have to question what South Africa will have taken forward from this tour. Heyneke may have pleased the majority of part-time supporters but the more discerning supporters (such as you guys on this forum) have noticed that a more rounded game is needed to be able to be where South Africa need to be (at the top, and doing well in the 4 nations). The players are all there, but apart from one outing for Potgeiter and a go for Lambie at full-back I'm not sure that Heyneke has used this tour to develop his team as fully as he should have done. Still, the boks are a cracking outfit and I have the utmost respect for them - deservedly one of the top 3 sides.
I don't know if others agree or disagree but I was surprised by the choice of Care as MOTM. He played well enough, showing he's the man for quick and reliable service as well as an eye for attacking opportunities. But his kicking seemed erratic and I think there were more important showings up front. Haskell was able to stop players in and around the gain-line, not always through hits but also by wrapping them up and dragging them down. Palmer again for me showed that he has an impact that goes way beyond his size (very normal for a lock) and was competitive on the gain-line and made some important carries. I think the other forwards benefited hugely from this beef and physicality and Johnson had a better game as a result.
I don't think we've seen yet what Joseph has to offer, but he definitely has all the ability. He was a part of a pretty clueless back-line. Farrel is not the man. He wastes the hard phases put together by our pack when his grubber kicks through for a chasing winger are badly weighted. What he does well is to make hits and tackles low which enables the loose forwards more opportunity to compete for the ball on their feet. Shame we didn't get to see much of Flood. He looked indecisive, but credit must go for an abrasive and attacking South African defensive line. We badly need Ford or Burns to fully 'graduate', as without a top class 10 we will never cut it at the highest echelons of the game.
One worry is that this tour will only have complicated everything in terms of our back-row: Robshaw and Haskell both showed their value in a completely different way(robshaws work at the breakdown versus Haskell's general presence in the loose). Morgan is quality but was off the pace which gave Waldrom an opportunity to shine (which he took), only complicating things further in my opinion. Johnson really worked hard in defence and at the breakdown, also running some decent lines and making ground through agility rather than size. But I do think that until further notice Johnson is a stop-gap for the back-row. Fearns had a decent game(or half-game) against the Northern baa baas and will be an interesting option for the future, especially as he can play all three positions a bit.
I'd like to see us try 6. Haskell 7. Robshaw 8. Morgan 19. Wood sometime later this year. Croft is valuable but we know exactly what he can do and what he brings, we need to give Wood another chance and Haskell a chance to show how he can function as part of a new unit.
A word on Steve Walsh. I don't think he refereed that equitably, but I'm not having a proper moan as I don't think it affected the result at the end of the day. England messed around on the floor a few times in the first half, and I think when South African began doing that a bit later in the second half Walsh was probably still 'mad' at England because he just shouted at the boks fiddling with the ball on the floor telling them to stop, rather than giving the penalty he perhaps should have.
After getting round to watching the northern baa baas game on youtube just now I am excited by Johnny May's performance, and I really think Tom Youngs this time next year could be featuring in a England first choice 22. Hodgson still getting shrugged off tackles too easily. I think from the second choice team its disappointing that not all made the step up and had their best games, and disappointing that our defence was poor. Still, a handful of payers have really put their names forward.
