One thing has become very clear from the Boks two heavy defeats to the All Blacks – change is needed. The team does not currently have the personnel to effectively implement their “kick-chase” strategy. What has changed since last year? A couple key ingredients:
1) No Fourie du Preez. Morne Steyn is not the boot in the Bok or Bulls line-up. That responsibility falls to du Preez. He does an enormous amount of kicking and chasing, and fielding of kicks. His ability to read the play is supernatural. The Boks miss him more than anyone else on the field. We like to hype Burger, Matfield, Spies etc. The only irreplaceable man in this team is Fourie.
2) No JP Pietersen. This may seem like a strange one, but JP is a master of chasing kicks and leaping into the air to disrupt the fielding opponent. He has the speed, height and bulk to make opposing him in the air a very difficult and dangerous task. His defense is exceptional too. The All Blacks scored out wide against de Villiers and Aplon. You wouldn’t see it happen against JP.
3) No Heinrich Brussow. People talk up the rule change and the rise of Francois Louw. Frankly, he’s been horribly outplayed by McCaw, and the Boks have been unable to slow the Kiwi ball as a result. In order to successfully kick-chase, you have to be titanic in defence. Without Brussow, the Boks have been second-rate at the breakdown and the All Blacks have run riot.
Add those three ingredients back, and suddenly the team starts winning again. I also wonder if they’re missing the mongrel of Juan Smith and Bismarck at the breakdown…
The solution? Change the game plan until du Preez is available again. The team is stocked with runners, so why are they Boks kicking the ball away?
Aplon looks dangerous with every touch. Januarie kicks terribly, but more importantly, Pienaar runs fantastically and gives much quicker service.
De Jongh has looked elusive. Becker is a beast on the gainline. The Boks need to play to their current strengths.
So, start Aplon on the wing. De Villiers can move back to 12 with de Jongh backing him up on the bench. Pienaar needs to slot in at scrumhalf, and then the ball needs to be moved.
The Boks need to implement the Bulls simple strategy of 12 run it up, Spies, Burger or Becker bash up the 2nd phase, and then spread it wide to Habana and Aplon. They’re about the two quickest men around. Let them touch the ball!
Once the Boks are going forward, the support play of their athletic forwards is fantastic. But they have to be going forward. Without du Preez, that means they need to run it. They can revert to their old winning formula once he gets back – just in time for the World Cup.
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