An analysis of the evolution of the Springboks' attack

There is a fresh point of difference to the Springboks attacking play compared to during the Rugby Championship.

In the past they looked to bang the ball in the air on ‘money ball’ leather-hoofer plays. Now they look to use their halfbacks to bring guys onto the ball and even start playing extended passages of attack-building phases.

It’s thus no wonder they take No 10s who are “guys with a skill set”, as Quade Cooper puts it. Take a close look at Handre Pollard and Elton Jantjies – both have long passing range, good spin quality of pass and lethal attacking option taking. It’s better that they are now using their primary playmakers to create instead of just going to the skies.

How does this play into the Boks strategy?

The principle of the Springboks attack was shown in Makazole Mapimpi’s crucial try against the All Blacks: pay with power and thin the line so they can strike in the 15-metre channel.

The No. 10 (Pollard) gives a strong short ball for a crash-up as he challenges the line off the maul. He then directs the second and third pods to hit the defence at an angle off a wide pass by Faf de Klerk. Finally, Pollard makes a nuisance of himself by yelling for the ball, getting the defence’s attention. Jantjies has cleverly hidden himself as the secondary playmaker in this shape, floating across the field into second receiver.

With the defence rushing onto Pollard, who is first receiver in the 15-metre wide channel, a mis-pass to Jantjies and great hands creates the try.

The playmakers float behind the pods, directing power play and developing the attack with or without touching the ball before stepping in and exploiting when the ball gets to the 15-metre channel and/or the defensive line is thinned.

This was the same principle that the Springboks built their attack against Wales.

They launched few wide-to-wide set plays, instead focusing on quality passing and deft grubbers when creating in the 15-metre channel. This was evident in the performance of their pivot on the day, Pollard. He made four line-break assists – two were quality passes, two were kicks. Out of four of these assists only one was a flat pass from deep on a strike play to Damian de Allende’s hard line. The other three were due to the No. 10 exploiting the 15-metre channel.

Handre Pollard (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Phaseplay development
The No. 10 (Pollard) touches the ball mostly when there are gaps or half-gaps for him to attack, and he takes over in the 15-metre channel to exploit the defence.

Pollard’s standing depth in the crisp flat pass onto a hard line gives time for De Allende to accelerate and burst the frenzied line. As they play through the phases, Pollard floats across the field, integrating himself behind forward pods as he orders for a crash-up to reset their multilayered attack.

The following screenplay is a bit scrappy. Pollard takes a lousy pass from the forward pod and stumbles a subpar ball to Kwagga Smith – his arm had been slapped and his pass was sabotaged illegally – into a half-gap, and Smith can still use his acceleration and agility to make a good break through the half-gap. This generates an overlap in the 15-metre channel, and the Boks attack to strike skilfully in that exact zone.

Pollard stabs through a grubber to Mapimpi, who unfortunately fumbles a 50-50 try-scoring chance.

Exploiting the defence in the 15-metre channel attacking in the wide zone
The 15-metre channel is where the bulk of the Boks’ attacking flourishes and line breaks have come from this season. They attack using heavy power play from the forwards to hold up the defence, with the No. 10 directing play and stepping in to give precise distribution when it is needed. When the ball progresses into the 15-metre channel and the defensive line is thinned, the playmaker takes the ball to the line and sparks the attack.

Pollard (No. 10) spots space in the 15-metre channel and loops around from deep. He takes the ball flat to the line, engages Adam Beard, and releases Siya Kolisi down the tramlines with a precise fizzy pass. The captain makes a monster carry and gets the Springboks up the field.

His looping run isn’t shown here, but it is certainly available in the full-game footage

Conclusion
There has been much quicker ball with Herschel Janjities at scrumhalf – because his kicking game is less assertive the Boks have shifted to more expansive rugby. They look to hammer hard in the middle and strike out wide, thus not needing too many complex strike plays.

The 15-metre channel is the best place to strike, and if they can keep up the progress, they will have an effective attacking game that can even be exciting at times.

Moving forwards, they will have to decide whether or not they want to have an additional playmaker in the team. In the first gif we can see the primary pivot directing play from first receiver while the second playmaker hides himself under the first pivot to strike skilfully once the attack develops into a good position.

Essentially the primary playmaker (No. 10) creates and develops the attack while the secondary playmaker (Willie le Roux/Elton Jantjies) is a visionary striker who can complete the attack with a good exploitation of the opposition defence.

Do they persist with Le Roux at No. 15, which may result in a fractured attack where over-integration results in neither playmaker excelling? Or do they pick a fullback who can create but predominantly poses a running threat to allow Pollard to marshall the attack by himself? This new kind of fullback could be Frans Steyn, who has a massive boot, great passing and, most importantly, heavy power. Or it could be Warrick Gelant, a creative striker out wide.

Pollard is an absolute general of a pivot with an excellent passing game to create subtle chances and a fearsome kicking game, and he’s an assured decision-maker. He is now floating off the back of forward pods and is better connected into the attacking shape, directing play and developing it across the field.

All the 15-metre strike zone flourishes were by his hand against Wales, which means he can complete an attack on top of developing it. This should be enough to facilitate the new attacking patterns of playing it smart and striking the 15-metre zones.

Hence my question to you: is a world-class No. 10 enough to make the evolved Boks attack work, or do they need a second playmaker in Willie le Roux at No. 15 or Elton Jantjies off the bench?