Problem down to coaching

There was a moment in Saturday's rugby Test when the All Blacks hooker Dane Coles threw a pass to his left that seemed to travel as far as the Christchurch car park, where Sam Whitelock was loitering with intent.

All the big lock needed to do was catch the ball and walk across the Bok tryline.

There was a beauty in the throw: a flick of a wrist to give the ball momentum, a flowing follow-through with the top hand to ensure accuracy and the combined power of both arms to ensure that it travelled the 15m or so to Whitelock.

The ugly contrast was that there was no one at home for the Boks.

Bryan Habana was out of position, trying to mark Coles, whom Damian D'Allende already had in his sights.

It wasn't the first time the Bok defence had been caught out wide; it's also happened against Australia, Argentina and Ireland this year.

There are many reasons for the ignominious defeat last Saturday, but a specific one was the team's abysmal defence. Chean Roux please stand up.

Roux was plucked from Stellenbosch (by whom? you might ask suspiciously) to be the Bok defence coach. He's not the man for the job if he can't teach Habana not to commit a schoolboy howler.

Or teach Faf de Klerk, for that matter. What scrumhalf covers for the flyhalf in defence when the opposition has a scrum 5m from your line? TJ Perenara must have thought Christmas had come early as he put in the left shoulder and drove over the Bok line.

Allister Coetzee has enough on his plate as the Bok coach without lumbering him with inexperienced back-ups like Roux, Mzwandile Stick and Johan van Graan. I wouldn't blame any, however. As Jan Pickard once said to an out-of-depth player at Western Province: "I don't blame you. I blame the selectors for picking you."

SA Rugby is to blame.

Fixing a defence should be straightforward; it's technical, so you can do it with drills.

Fixing the selection is harder because it's part of the game's subjective soul: the difference between your team and mine is only a matter of opinion.

For what it's worth, I'll give you mine.

Coetzee is at an immediate disadvantage because his two best tightheads, Frans Malherbe and Julian Redelinghuys, are out -- and it showed against the All Blacks on Saturday. Not much he can do there.

Malcolm Marx must start at hooker. His throw-ins were poor on Saturday, but he's done better so he will improve. Adriaan Strauss can be let down gently since he is retiring anyway.

Jaco Kriel must start at No6 and Flo Louw sent back to Bath with a "thanks for coming".

When Duane Vermeulen is back, let him and Warren Whitely alternate between blindside and No8. The former is magnificent in driving out of the red zone, the latter outstanding in distribution close to enemy lines.

Elton Jantjies, sadly, may have played his last game for the Boks, and Pat Lambie will be back. Outside Lambie, it's essential to play the magician Rohan Janse van Rensburg (Juan de Jongh is an outside centre, anyway).

Lionel Mapoe, without having had a decent chance to prove himself, should be brought back and Jessie Kriel sent to fullback.

A team like that should beat the Wallabies, probably not the All Blacks, but at least it will be a start.