The Sharks’ momentous effort to score a draw against the defending champions, the Crusaders, in Christchurch was a goal-kicking lesson by young superstar Curwin Bosch.
Bosch, just twenty-one years of age, was born in Port Elizabeth and attended Grey High School.
Even in clips from his schoolboy days, it is evident that he had an amazing goal-kicking talent from a young age. And boy did he deliver on Friday night!
He scored all of the Sharks’ 21 points from his own boot and some of the kicks were close to fifty metres in distance. He is an immense talent and will be vying for a place in the Springboks’ World Cup squad.
The topic Friday night’s performance raised though was the old, somewhat conservative yet logical notion of taking the points when they are on offer. It is an idea often stereotypically associated with the northern hemisphere nations and South Africa.
Admittedly, up north, conditions are not always suitable to running rugby and therefore taking the three is a much safer option.
Curwin Bosch of the Sharks (AAP Image/Joel Carrett)
In South Africa’s case, playing at altitude means kicking almost becomes an attacking move employed by the Boks, as generally, their rival Super Rugby nations do not kick as far and as well.
In recent times, Super Rugby teams (including those from South Africa) have tended to rely on their attacking prowess to score points and frequently kick for touch rather than line up the three.
New Zealand’s superior attacking ability and ball skills though are why their Super Rugby sides and the All Blacks have dominated of late in either Super Rugby or the Rugby Championship.
What Bosch and the Sharks proved on Friday was that the accumulation of points through consistently taking the penalty kick at goal when possible still works. And it worked against the best side in the competition.
Now, of course, people will say that the Crusaders were missing players of the calibre of Richie Mo’unga and Mitchell Drummond but the truth is, the plan was successful.
Much credit must go to Bosch for having the skills and talent to execute the plan of taking all points when on offer.
The most credit though must go to the Sharks brain-trust who had the guts to go into the match with this game-plan.
Many commentators claim that you cannot beat the Crusaders by taking the three points and you have to go for the five-pointer. And while this may be true to a sense, the Crusaders only managed to salvage the match after the siren.
It is fair to say the Sharks effectively won, mentally and tactically, if not on the scoreboard.
So while it may have been successful for the Sharks, could such a strategy work for the Aussie Super Rugby sides and the Wallabies?
My gut feeling says no. Not at the moment. In terms of the kicking of the Australian flyhalfs this season, I don’t think they have the accuracy or distance (apart from Reece Hodge) to execute such a plan.
It is an idea that needs to be used by the Wallabies in the near future though because, as the Sharks showed, it has the ability to topple even the greatest of opponents.
One of the young hopes for the future of Wallaby flyhalf and goal-kicking positions is a player who was part of the Australian U20 side that won the Oceania U20’s Rugby Championship.
Will Harrison played at flyhalf for the Junior Wallabies in the tournament and scored twenty-eight points in two games from his own boot, twelve of those were penalty kicks against New Zealand in the final game of the competition.
In greasy conditions at Bond University on the Gold Coast, Harrison kicked the Junior Wallabies to a 12-0 lead at half-time. Of the four kicks, two of them were just under thirty metres on a slight angle, one from almost forty metres on the angle and the final one was an astonishing kick on the forty metre line, almost on the far touchline, which still cleared the crossbar by almost ten metres!
I am in no ways trying to suggest that Harrison should be included in the Wallabies squad, far from it. Instead, what his awesome kicking performance displays is that the ideology of taking the points when on offer is a notion that is certainly plausible and can beat the best of teams (in this case, U20 New Zealand).
Reece Hodge might not be the Wallabies’ best kicker but he is their longest kicker. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)
The fact that the captain of the Junior Wallabies, Fraser McReight, had the confidence in both his kicker and his team to point to the posts each time is a sign that, under pressure, the next generation of Wallabies are not afraid to be slightly against the times and take the three.
For the U20s, the asset of having a quality kicker in the form of Harrison ultimately meant they consistently accumulated points while the Baby Blacks couldn’t break their own deadlock.
The fact that the U20’s have the game-plan and players to execute this strategy is an incredibly positive sign for the future of Australian rugby. And there is no reason why the current crop of Australian goal-kickers floating around Super Rugby can’t emulate that success.
If they can be confident and good enough kickers where they can be relied upon to take those bankable three points, or to have to try and knock one over from forty metres plus, it gives their side a huge advantage over their opponents.
The performance of the Sharks in Super Rugby, and the U20’s in the Oceania Championship, have shown a recipe that can effectively match and beat Australia’s Trans-Tasman rivals.
This does not mean that we give up on our attacking plays, if anything more creativity is needed in this department. What the Sharks and Junior Wallabies have presented is an opportunity that the Wallabies can exploit the New Zealanders at.
It will take time, patience and a slight attitude-shift. If the Australian Super Rugby sides and Wallabies can learn once again to have faith in their goal-kickers to provide a foundation for the team, they will hopefully find the key to a bolt much in need of being unlocked.
Frewy
Roar Rookie
Taking points on offer always works except when you can win with a 3 pointer at the end or your so far behind it doesn’t matter!
Ex force fan
Guest
Curwin can become a Bok provided that he addresses his defensive vulnerabilities. This vulnerabilities has been obvious since U19s level but has not been corrected. The SAders successfully targeted Bosch's inside shoulder on Saturday and scored two tries near the line from tackles that Bosch missed. Curwin are too upright and non-committed in the tackle and will not threaten Pollard Bok 10 jumper until he addresses this weekness. Will he become a complete player like a Barrett or Pollard or will Bosch be the next generation's Jantjies or Cooper that needs to be hidden in the defense?
Rich
Guest
Great win from under 20’s. Keeping any NZ national rugby team scoreless is a remarkable feat. Let’s hope there form and belief continues as I’m sure many NZ supporters would love to see both nations return to the great contests of years gone by. I watched some of the game and I enjoyed it more than watching the current Aust super teams.
Roddy
Roar Rookie
That game is its own little context. The Waratahs were rubbish prior to that match and are still rubbish across the whole season, they simply managed to pull off a very good isolated effort against a team who didn't want to be there- if you look at the way the Crusaders played pre CHCH attack and since you will see a real difference in how the team presents on the field- also all of the AB rest and rotation has now been completed so I think its likely we will see a return to form over the next few games.
CUW
Roar Rookie
I think folau has a great strike rate. 60 in 96 games. but his test record is nothing to write home about.
CUW
Roar Rookie
crusaders were without Franks Whitelock Douglas Crotty havili for Sharks. the difference between the Waratas match and Sharks match was the killing in NZ. it was obvios players were not mentally there. particularly coz the event happen in Christchurch.
CUW
Roar Rookie
it was rubbish that Crusaders once again played dry weather rugger on wet conditions. perhaps its the second time this season. it was as if they had not watched Sharks previos week onlything Crusaders didnt do what Waratahs did was to kick aimless. as the ball was wet , more pick n drives will have been the order of the day. but at the same time - on a dry day Sharks will never even be close :D
CUW
Roar Rookie
DITTO THAT> watching on TV this is the thing i was surprised at. obviosly the ref never heard of Newton's 3rd Law. scrums going down AFTER the ball is put in is difficult to judge from TV - unless ur lucky with the angle. but when one side goes down in a heap and the other side is standing at the command " engage " - it shud be obvious there was no = force coming from one side. the other big issue is the touchies are not on the same page with the ref. looks as if they are guessing. the sad part of all this is that when u watch matches from 20 years ago - they are engaging in proper fight. maybe peeps have to watch from now on - if the saffa teams do this to other NZ/ AUS teams as well ? becoz Crusaders according to the commentary have the best scrum.
Lux Interior
Roar Rookie
When Folau went to the top of the Super Rugby try scoring list, I had a look at who else was on there. Hit google and up came a list of the 18 top try scorers, 12 of them were from NZ franchises. That’s similar to the ratio of total SR titles by NZ teams vs the rest. I really don’t understand what this article is trying to say.
terrykidd
Roar Pro
A good part of your article is negated by comparing the Waratahs win over the Crusaders against the Sharks performance. The Waratahs employed a very solid defence to strangle the Crusaders (admittedly the Crusaders were without 4 key players), just like the Sharks did, however the Waratahs also used their attack to score 3 very good tries, unlike the Sharks who barely attacked at all. So it is possible to defend and attack decisively .... but in my opinion you make your decisions for possible points based on the circumstances pertaining at the time.
Neel
Roar Guru
Crusaders were quite disappointing. Lucky to scrape through with the draw. The Sharks were great. Deserved the win but unfortunately they were just pipped at the end for the draw.
Roddy
Roar Rookie
Good article, it’s definitely a tactic that has worked for SA in the past- remember the Steynes anybody? during 2009 kicked the ABs to 4 defeats during the ELV era. I would make a point however, that a lot of the penaltys are coming from some very odd scrum reffing- I was at the game and even from the stands you could see the Sharks front row pulling the hit- when the entire Crusaders front row goes down simultaneous then there is some skulduggery going on- to be fair, you have to play to the ref but he had no clue as to the scrum and it would have changed the complexion of that match immensely if the Sharks were forced to score by another method- Last season the Crusaders scrummed teams into the dirt- this year seems totally different, food for thought but we are also seeing massive time wasting and resets in the scrum as teams are trying to negate more powerful packs. A different ref on a different night might have blown that match in the exact opposite direction. Defence wins finals and the Crusaders D is the best.
Sinclair Whitbourne
Roar Rookie
Enjoyed the article. Two things about the Natal (Sharks) defence - proficient use of choke tackles/holding ball carrier up and relatively little effort to jackal until in deep defence. No Oz side is showing much skill, or consistency at the choke tackle and most Oz sides compete hard on the ground, most of the time. The choke tackle can limit offloads (which seem to be important to most NZ sides) and be very effective in leading to turnovers/very slow ball. Potentially Oz could field some big bruisers in the pack who would have the capacity to use the choke tackle but will they have had the training?
Fionn
Guest
Great article. Nic White aaa an accurate long range kicker. If he does sign with the Brumbies and become eligible, could that push him in front of Genia? White is play some exceptional rugby. Seems exceedingly unlikely, but food for thought.