The Boks gained a shot of confidence after overturning the Argentineans in their backyard on Saturday night, and rightly so after the previous weekend.
We have all (myself included) been caught up in the hysteria of playing a more attractive brand of rugby. The Boks have been a pleasure to watch for the most part, however we need to be cognisant of the fact that we must not lose our identity in terms of how we play but rather add to that identity of our traditional strengths.
South Africa, in a very simplistic and basic summation of our strengths, is forward orientated with a good kicking flyhalf and backs which resemble forwards with more than a generous dose of pace being used sparsely.
On Saturday night the Boks easily left three tries begging in the second half and while that is a concern and continues to be, the fact that those opportunities were created came from a solid foundation laid by the forward pack and smart tactical kicking.
The Bok pack is one of the most vaunted in the world game, due in no small part to our genetic ability to produce large human specimens that are built for contact sports.
The ability of the Bok pack to gain ascendency at the coal face has and always will be an element opposition teams do their homework on and must not be forgotten about by the current coaching staff.
It is a fearful weapon to have in your arsenal. The forward pack has an advantage and should have dominance over their opponents for significant periods of the game.
However, the Boks of late have been a bit too quick to look to go wide or keep ball in hand, and here I believe we have made our most crucial error.
The cliché of earning the right to go wide is imperative to the Boks and they must fully appreciate the situations presented to them during a match. Therefore we need to use our traditional strengths of getting the heavies over the advantage line and gaining a positional field advantage first before looking to spread the ball wide.
At the same time however, if it is good to go wide from the start then that is first prize, but very often is this the case.
While I appreciate every person who has ever played the game will understand the cliché “earn the right to go wide” and it is basic, yet it is wholly true. It is more prevalent for the Boks due in part to them striving to play more expansively which is not first nature in this country, hence the celebrations of players such as Willie Le Roux, Jesse Kriel and Handre Pollard.
But in order for us to be able to unleash those players from an attacking point of view, they need forward momentum and to a lesser degree field position. These players and many others can and will showcase their attacking skills if the situation presents it self and that will only be achieved by dominance upfront coupled with intelligent various forms of kicks.
A great example of taking an opportunity which presented itself was Pat Lambie’s drop goal. After hammering away at the Argentineans defence, with not many options out wide and the forwards being gang tackled, Lambie slipped into the pocket and took three points via a drop goal. For me this smart rugby, summing up a situation, making the right decision and taking the advantage with points on the scoreboard.
I am not for one second saying we revert back to type and arguable play ten-man rugby. I am an ardent fan of the Boks’ desire to play attractive rugby, but it must be interwoven and a style of play must suit in regards to opposition, weather and the importance of the Test match.
If the Boks can amalgamate their dominant forward pack, good tactical kicking and explosive backs into a holistic approach you would be a fool to bet against them. The closest The Boks got to an overall perfect game plan was 2013, we were breathtaking in our running ability, our tactical kicking was on point and our forwards were titans.
The burning question is how do they replicate that style? And the simple answer to that is by having a solid foundation at first, and expression and razzle dazzle will follow.
Harry Jones
Expert
More worried about Flo than Thor.
I suspect it will be sooner rather than later. I am actually quite concerned about our backrow at the moment. Vermeulen, Coetzee and Louw injured, will they make it in time and be fit? I think that is why Brussow got a call up, Kriel will most likely have no chance for this world cup, but with a couple of the players near retirement and going overseas after the world cup, he might be in sooner than we think
superba
Guest
BB an interesting point you make . Some of the no namers have established themselves in one season ie Faf , Combrink and the magnificent Jaco Kriel . Kriel's greatest problem is that SA has a conga line of loosies so I guess he will have to wait his turn.A shame that he can not play at international level just yet .
Superba, Lions will improve as they contract more household names. What they achieved in the past season and previous season was with no name brands.
superba
Guest
Two seasons ago it was Drotske and his Cheetahs team who played wonderful open running rugby .Then the mojo was lost and it has gone to the Lions under Ackerman .The Lions play wonderful rugby but they must also learn to play winning rugby .If he can win a S15 playing this way he can put his hand up for Bok coach .But only then .
Mielie
Guest
IMO, this is by far the most pertinent aspect of SB Rugby. I'm not being blindly patriotic when I say this, but it is my honest opinion that SA has access to the finest Rugby players this planet has to offer. They have playing ability and more important, they are emotionally motivated much more than most. I can write an essay on that alone. A sparkling player gets noticed by the coach, however, instead of offering encouragement and enthusiasm by putting the player in various game situations where the player's ability can only flourish, the player instead, gets introduced to the dreaded SA...."The game plan..." Excellent players are obliged to forget why they are good Rugby players so that the coach can acclaim world fame because of his .."Game plan....." I'm not saying that a game plan is not crucial, however, the game plan is designed around the natural ability and natural flare of the individual players. If disallowed to play to the strengths of their collective natural ability, they merely become a mediocre team. Ask the present SBs. Then, change tactics. Every man and his dog knows exactly what the SBs are going to do next. Even my Ouma sits in front of the TV and quietly murmurs "Why do they keep doing that? It's not working. Try something else...." We are no where near fit enough. We should be running those guys haggared. If we were fit enough we would not lose a game. Please guys, you are Springbokke! And presently you are pathetically unfit. Why do we not know how to off load? Why? Why are our players not being supported. How often is a guy left with absolutely no one to pass to? Why?? This is all stuff that can be taught, and linked with natural flare and ability would make us infallible. But no, it doesn't fit into the bloody game plan.. You want to see the Sprinkbok team flourish? Make Ackerman head coach and make Lambie the Captain NOW!
Harry Jones
Expert
Good stuff, Biltongbek. I don't see a lack of ambition; I think we regressed on fitness, we knock on too much (15 a game in TRC) and miss too many tackles (20 a game), and this spoils our promising attacks, and puts us under too much pressure. Good hands and good tacking is coachable. Practice improves it. Taking good angles and being fit enough to support the carrier and passing well in contact and refusing to miss tackles: all possible.
"A great example of taking an opportunity which presented itself was Pat Lambie’s drop goal. After hammering away at the Argentineans defence, with not many options out wide and the forwards being gang tackled, Lambie slipped into the pocket and took three points via a drop goal. For me this smart rugby, summing up a situation, making the right decision and taking the advantage with points on the scoreboard." Hi Brandon, right there was where our first instinct was to revert to one pass forward bashing runs, exactly the same thing that happened against the All Blacks when we had them under the cosh and pressing for thr score to increase our lead to two scores. Exactly the same thing that happened last year when in the final minute Lood de Jager was taken down and we lost a match. The call for South Africa from many fans is not that they forsake their strengths alltogether, and yes forward dominance generating momentum is vital to "earn the right to go wide" , but there is nothing more frustrating to see us forget about the options out wide, shifting the point of contact and being less PREDICTABLE. What I have noticed in the past four years is that South Africa have become rather competent in getting the ball into space on turnover ball, be it in our 22 or the opponent half, and when you go look at the more than 100 tries scored under Meyer you will not that most of them have come from seizing and recognising the opportunity to counter in space. However when building phases and building pressure in the opponent 22, I forwards completely ignore the potential out wide. I have been an advocator of running bok rugby for some time now, and it is simply the wish that we become less predictable, something that sadly is forsaken close to the opponent's line.