There is a reason why I frequent overseas rugby websites and forums, and it is rather straight forward, it provides fresh and objective analysis and opinion on South African rugby.
Admittedly, it may not always seem to be objective, but rather critical and biased.
But it does serve the purpose of reading opinions outside the comfort zone of the conservative sporting mind-set that plagues South African sport.
It is not often I agree with Spiro Zavos, he has a natural tendency to come across as a South African rugby hater, rather than an objective-minded soul. However, every once in a while, Spiro will produce an article that comes across diplomatically scribed and objectively thought out.
On Monday Spiro produced such an article, which I believe most South African rugby supporters would wholeheartedly agree with.
“Mind you, the Springboks are their own worst enemies,” he wrote.
“How their supporters tolerate the obsession with kicking away possession is beyond me. It is boring. And it allows a team like the Wallabies, beaten comprehensively in the set pieces, to defeat them.
“If the Springboks used even half of the ball they kicked away there is no way the Wallabies could have come out as winners.”
Spiro, the kicking game is boring, I agree. But it has most importantly been ineffective since 2010. The All Blacks kick a lot as well, but nobody is going to suggest their kicking is boring, as they kick with purpose, execution and the results favour them.
I wrote a piece prior to the Test against Australia in Perth suggesting that the Springbok pack must dominate in order for Heyneke Meyer’s crash-ball tactics to be effective. Sadly I negated to note that he might not use it, but rather kick the hard-earned possession away.
Watching the one creative player in the Springbok team Willie le Roux kick away every ounce of possession he received for territory was an indictment on the coaching mantra of Heyneke Meyer. If this was the middle ages he would have been drawn and quartered.
What sacrilege it is to negate the natural tendencies of a player and turn him into another automated robot for the sake of an antiquated game plan? There aren’t enough four letter words in my vocabulary to express my utter disgust.
Spiro suggests he doesn’t know how South African supporters tolerate the incessant kicking away of hard-earned possession. Well mate, we don’t tolerate it, we cannot tolerate it and are quite frankly completely and utterly fed up with it.
It is also very true that kicking away possession allows the outcome of the match to be dictated by the opposition, but it also speaks volumes of the mind set of South African coaches in general that they have no clue how to use the pill.
Would South African coaches insist on kicking ball away if they had any suggestions on how to use the ball? I doubt that. When you kick the ball away you put your defensive structures under pressure.
Spiro also suggested that the success of the kicking game relies upon the opposition making mistakes. But in order for you to force those mistakes your kicking game must be accurate, and you need chasers applying pressure on the receivers.
Otherwise what are you hoping for? Unforced errors?
Finally, Spiro suggested that without the ball you can force penalties, but you can’t score tries. The mere fact that this logic has escaped South African coaches for the past 100 years is an absolute mystery.
It is as much astounding and frustrating that the powers that be in South African rugby are yet to come to the conclusion that rugby has moved on and that defences are better organised than ever before. Players are more physical and better conditioned, and that it implies the game is now more technical, more advanced and therefore the requirement to outthink opposition coaches is an absolute necessity and not a luxury.
In recent times many South Africans have said that we don’t need to play like New Zealand or Australia. Sorry, but that’s a cop out and is laughable.
Rugby requires that you run the ball, and if running the ball is seen as playing like New Zealand or Australia, then we have completely missed the script and we should turn our rugby stadia across the country into AFL ovals.
Varying the point of attack, being less predictable and holding on to the ball is not a New Zealand or Australian invention, it is merely a requirement for a modern day rugby team to be successful.
Roy Isbister
Guest
Crumpets and ice-cream (don't knock it till you've tried it).
Loosey
Guest
Thanks for that, the Herschelle Gibbs Highlight is honestly one of the best rugby highlights I've watched. I love how the 10 (Gibbs) is staying involved in each backline play and adding to the options.
Bakkies
Guest
His footwork and passing was really excellent. Rugby wasn't close to becoming pro so no wonder he chose Cricket http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTuyq8SHXzU Sam Lane went to the same school he has some good highlights up on their too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qkSxe6vRlA
Loosey
Guest
That's even more interesting!
Sharkfan
Guest
Misplaced Dutch?? Not every white person in South Africa has Dutch heritage
chis
Guest
Rugby In South Africa is the most over rated place ever as if you look at crowds from 1890's to before the world war 2 you find South Africa (or the misplaced Dutch) having the worst crowds compared to the 5 Nations and Australia and New Zealand....South African Rugby Union is up there with the English RFU.
Loosey
Guest
I think the ABs evened the score with what happened to the french...sorry buddy, you can't use that one anymore ;)
Bakkies
Guest
There's a vintage clip of Herschelle Gibbs playing 10 and running rings around Jacques Kallis.
Mike
Guest
Great article biltong bek, I think that sums up almost everything
RobC
Roar Guru
Hey Chan Wee. Welcome back. Did you notice Hanson make metres? According to the stats, he ran almost a 100m. I struggle to remember how that happened. http://www.sanzarrugby.com/therugbychampionship/match-centre/?season=2015&competition=214&match=2763 http://www.espnscrum.com/the-rugby-championship-2014/rugby/match/207963.html
Chan Wee
Guest
they need someone like Frank Steyn or JJ Englebrecht in center. The midfield defence is suspect as exploited by Kuridrani. also Steyn and the Scrum half seem to be kicking everything but last year they had FDP who was a more like Genia in 2011. also not having Alberts may have some impact on the play. his power game is a major threat.
Chan Wee
Guest
up to a point. but once the team's pillars are lost even they cant perform miracles.
Chan Wee
Guest
wonder which match u was watching , coz i watched him play against NZ twice live and he was hopless in both. the BOK U20 were enormous. in fact at the time I asked harry why call them baby boks coz they were full grown men and then some. their pack basically monstered the NZ pack and won every single line out and stole half the NZ line outs. still pollard was useless as the captain and navigator. If for example the NZ 10 was playing for boks they would have scored 100 points considering their dominance. i still remember one play when the bok team defended from their 20 to NZ 20 and drove the NZ team back without a single penalty , they did not turnover the ball but kept on pushing the opposition back. one of the props was like 130kg and the center (who was injured for NZ pool game was over 100kg). all the 2nd rowers and flanks were like 120kg !!! my issue with pollard was, it was i think the 3rd year form him at U20 level. he shud have played with a lot of maturity than what i saw. also he hung his head as the scoreline went south in that semi (i think england but cant remember) He shud have rallied the troops and made the war cry. instead he was sulking. u will not see that from a NZ fly half irrespective of age.
Chan Wee
Guest
@ AndyS : ur observation is correct about OZ. they got into a kicking duel with SA and came out 2nd best. the stats may say they passed and ran more but i think most of it was in their half and also sideways. it was Kuridrani who managed to provide go forward a couple of times. one noticeable play was Folau kicking out without pressure and gaining little ground. I would have thought for someone coming from NFL he would rather run at every given chance and look to gain ground. i think the wind also played a part in the game , given it was favoring one side in each half. IMO Tumooa underestimated the effect of the wind when his kick went out beyond goal and brought play back into OZ side. It may also be that Steyn tried to compensate for a head wind and failed to find the touchline. The whole issue for both teams was that they just kicked either high or long ; there was hardly any variety to where they kicked or how they kicked. it could be that the conditions played a part in those decisions.
wardad
Guest
I think he was Bilbos wee nephew on the Took side ?
Brendan Hope
Roar Guru
Hi Riccardo. I'm happy with that selection and feel that we could have gone one further and rested RP. Even if we win this weekend, it won't change how I feel about the situation.
fanie
Guest
I concur BB please do not take a sabattical it is all ways better to hear the truth than to live a lie.
Wal
Roar Guru
The AB's jumped on the money ball concept not long before the movie can out http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/opinion/6456754/Moneyballs-mantra-helped-ABs-win-World-Cup
JamestheElder
Guest
The Boks never lost a series in NZ until 1956. I was there when it happened and recall, vividly, how emotional my father was at the loss. They were without question the dominant rugby playing nation up until that point and possibly into the 60's as well.
Loosey
Guest
That's interesting to know the SA schoolboys like to attack, hopefully the change in senior management can come soon then and we see a bit more of it with the senior teams.