‘ABs’ lineout still nothing special’ – Smal
8 Jul 2010
Ireland forwards coach and former Springbok forwards specialist Gert Smal says the Boks will continue to boss the New Zealanders in the lineout.
Smal, who as forwards coach of the Boks won the 2004 Tri Nations and 2007 World Cup, also contributed to Ireland’s Six Nations glory a couple of seasons ago. He is widely regarded as among the best forward coaches in the business and has the track record to back up this opinion.
He told keo.co.za that despite the absence of Juan Smith at the back of the lineout, the Boks should still dominate the home team lineout.
Smal’s influence against the Boks in Dublin last year was obvious when the Boks struggled for lineout authority against a team for the first time in years. The Irish, when they toured New Zealand in June, were unable to assert lineout superiority because they lost a forward 15 minutes into the game. The Irish were also missing their best lineout jumper in Paul O’Connell.
Smal remains unimpressed with what he has seen from the All Blacks lineout this season, despite claims from the All Blacks forward coach Steve Hansen that his boys have lost only one lineout throw in three Tests in 2010.
‘They said they had worked on it a lot before they played us, but it’s still nothing special,’ Smal told keo.co.za. ‘Victor is quick on the ground and in the air and if he does his homework, which he will, the Boks will dominate. The All Blacks will try take quick throws and walk in late, but Victor is experienced enough to read them and close the gaps. They’ll also play the safe option to the front and try drive from there.
‘They’ll also try play towards our loosies, and a lot depends how well organised they are. Because Juan – who is the best loose forward jumper in the world – isn’t there, they’ll try manipulate play towards the back.’
Since last year the hosts have changed their lineout formation. Tom Donnelly has replaced Isaac Ross, while they have the unique situation where No 8 Kieran Read makes the calls, a la Matfield. The All Blacks also swapped coaching roles, with Graham Henry taking over the forwards from Steve Hansen for the November tour, but they’ve reverted back to how it was this time last year.
‘You can’t compare Victor to Read. The one is inexperienced, while the other’s been doing it for years.
‘Their coach’s role swapping also didn’t have much of an impact and it all depends on the man power you have. If it had worked for them, they would have stayed that way,’ said Smal.
One of the Kiwis’ main worries is the strength of the driving maul. Smal spoke of how they would try counter the Boks and the importance of referee Alan Lewis’s management of the area.
‘They and the Aussies realise its a big strength of the Bok and European teams. They’ll speak to the ref about the blocker at the back, and say they’re not allowed one in order to expose the jumpers and sack them. They’ll also try take the lifters out before the jumper’s hit the ground. The ref will have to be vigilant there.
‘Obviously the Boks want to use the lineout for other moves, but they’ll use the maul at least three or four times to expose the Kiwis.’
The 2007 World Cup-winning coach is backing the Boks to continue the dominance over their rivals.
‘That Irish game especially would have lulled them into a false sense of security. Ireland had many guys at home and lost a key player early on,’ Smal said in reference to their 65-28 loss with Jamie Heaslip red-carded after 15 minutes. ‘In the beginning they played for territory, but once we were a man down, they tried to open it up. It’s difficult to play them with 15 men, but with 14 it was near impossible.
‘I’m sure the Boks will climb into them and will have too much power. The All Blacks are dangerous from broken play and they’ll try take quick lineouts, but one of the main reasons for last year’s success was the Boks’ purposeful kicking. They’ll do that again and take them ball and all.’
While Smith’s presence in general play around the field has been filled by Francois Louw, the Free State hardman’s ability at the set-pieces is unrivalled by any loose forward in the world. While he’s on compassionate leave for the away leg of the Tri-Nations, Smith will do duty for the Cheetahs and Smal believes the Australasians will try take advantage of his absence at the tail.
He still believes that the Boks can negate this by making more use of Pierre Spies as a tail option, but left no one in doubt that the Spies, Smith and Schalk Burger lineout option among loose-forwards, aligned with the best locking duo of Matfield and Bakkies Botha, with the luxury of Danie Rossouw and Andries Bekker as back up is unrivalled in the current game.
By Grant Ball
251 Comments
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8 Jul 2010, 19:35 pm
@skopskiet(yliad)-144:
The difference between now and 2006 is depth and injuries. Most of the quality players only came onto the scene during and then after the 06 CC. There was no depth, and when we lost Bakkies, Fourie, Jean, Habana, Schalk, Van Niekerk amongst others it hurt a lot. But the team grew from those trials. Now, de Villiers has pretty much everything in front of him. No Du Preez? Well, how about duvenhage? Vermaak? Kockott? So much depth on the wings, loosies gallore, Morne, Butch, JL Potgieter, Pienaar at 10, quality everywhere. It’s his own inability to make the most of this that is the problem.
8 Jul 2010, 19:37 pm
@grant10(grant10)-150:
Aside from his fetching, he is inferior and his poor temperament his a liability in every test. Do you want a guaranteed loose cannon in the knockout stages? I don’t. discipline is the make or break of a team. There is no place for him.
8 Jul 2010, 19:42 pm
@grant10(grant10)-150: speedo dude luckily its only ur opnion
hows things on ur side grant?? lol
atleast the plod is one of the greatest of all time
what more can one say about twatson??
8 Jul 2010, 19:46 pm
@sharks_lover(sharks_lover)-153: all good my side……but i am going to miss the WC badly ! Really loved every minute and thrilled the Spanish are through, nice to know whatever happens THERE will be a brand new 1 st time world champion team……but i would bet my last penny spain will win!
Have not really got into the rugby as yet, i am sure it will all change come Saturday…..will be 1000% behind boks but fear that there are some glaring weaknesses in the make up of the team.
8 Jul 2010, 19:48 pm
@Alucard(Alucard)-152: bissy brings a lot to the party, but obviously its complex with plod there as capitano…..lets see how season develops….for now i am just happy plod away from 3.
8 Jul 2010, 19:50 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-134:
eina man….
not even a warning chirp….just straight for the jugular…..
8 Jul 2010, 19:53 pm
@Alucard(Alucard)-148:
So all in all, according to you, the coaching staff have not done anything since 2008 to take the team to where they are currently.
@grant10(grant10)-150:
Fair enough. Let’s see how the scrum goes when he plays with BJ, probably next year.
PS, as I said I’m in no position to blame any player when it comes to the scrums. I was just articulating what some scrum “experts” on this site said.
8 Jul 2010, 19:57 pm
@nama1(nama1)-157: i am no expert either…..its just i am also not a blind bat !
So it was obvious , to me anyway, that we were being drilled by all and sundry with Plod there…..but its water under the bridge….not much appetite from most pundits for plod at 3 anymore…..
key will be what happens when bissy 100% and firing on all cylinders?
8 Jul 2010, 19:57 pm
Smit, Botha, Burger, Spies, Olivier, Kirchner, Bj Botha, Roussow, James.
All are going to see some inverse gatte this weekend.
If I were a betting man I’d be putting my hard earned income on Ab’s this weekend and not on these dead men walking.
England France and Italy were taught this lesson recently in the current SWC. Next perhaps to learn the hard nose lesson that to everything turn turn turn, there is a season turn turn turn, and a time to every purpose under heaven are these that hedge their bets on redundant non evolution..
If you unable to learn the lesson willingly and bravely then nature will teach you the lesson unwillingly. Hope they got the stomach for such lesson when it drives its relentless course of awakening into the psyche of such sterile self preservation. .
8 Jul 2010, 20:07 pm
Smit is almost fini, same with Botha, Burger, Roussow, James and even perhaps to lesser extent Jdv.
This current setup may be hoping on a wing and a prayer that this bunch of yesterdays hero’s are going to somehow miraculously sustain their collective power all the way to Wc 2011 is hoping and praying with eyes wide shut.
8 Jul 2010, 20:10 pm
Spain to destroy Holland on sunday. There attack,midfield and ball retention is going to be too good for the dutch
8 Jul 2010, 20:10 pm
@grant10(grant10)-154:
I wouldnt bet your ‘last penny’ just yet. Save that for the RWC that you said some months ago that the Boks “will win” next year.
Dont underestimate the opposition. Netherlands are tough mentally, technically excellent and with a mean streak thats exhibits a win-at-all-cost ethic. Sound like any rugby team you know ? Yes, the Spanish are wonderful to watch and are loved the World over for their flair and personality and have the star players. Which sounds like a rugby team I know.
I think Sth Africa should be rightly proud of the World Cup. Its been a magnificent spectacle (eventually, the 1st 2 rounds were scrappy), the fans were magnificent and colourful (I’ll ignore those hideous-horns for now), the stadiums amazing, and now a dream Final for 2 under-achieving, yet talented, teams. Congratulations Sth Africa – encore !
8 Jul 2010, 20:16 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-162: i have gone to 3 games and did the fan walk when i didnt have a ticket…..Saw Spain against Portugal….spanish on another planet…..imo Dutch can bring it on….but will be chasing shadows…..Spain at least 2 nil….
WC 2011 ….if we are ‘clinical’ and dont select with sentiment i reckon boks will come close….but as Skop is rightfully pointing out….we may just be wanting to carry some dead wood…..
i do feel by end of 2010 the sentiment would have been replaced by hard nosed realism.
As for Sat….kiwis by 5 i reluctantly forecast.
8 Jul 2010, 20:18 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-147:
Just like Piet van Zyl ran on to the field to bash referee McHugh because he represented the collective Sth African opinion that there was a NZ-Aus refereeing conspiracy against the Boks. McHugh is Irish.
Ive specifically referred to you as fairer than most, albeit not entirely without a 1-eyed streak. But for every Transformation, there seem to be 10 x KKKs. In other words ‘collective’.
8 Jul 2010, 20:24 pm
@grant10(grant10)-163:
Will my opinion is that you dont honestly believe that. And I’d put my last penny on it.
8 Jul 2010, 20:28 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-165: well i hope i am dead wrong…as i often am….
but gacts are we are down Brussow, Juan Smith, Bissy….those three were the heart of the success last year….
Then we have some key backs out…..and throw in a mind numbing selecton of 12 and 14…..and the non selection of f steyn, and i foresee a rather steep hill……
8 Jul 2010, 20:29 pm
gacts is facts
8 Jul 2010, 20:29 pm
I found this extremely funny and thought I’d share it wiyh you.
Paul The Psychic Octopus to be appointed special adviser to Malema
POLOKWANE. The psychic octopus which last night continued an unbroken run of correct World Cup predictions is to be headhunted for the position of Chief Political Aide to Julius Malema, ANC Youth League sources confirmed. Following Germany’s loss to Spain in the semi-finals – a result predicted by the octopus – Malema is reported to have ordered, “Get me that magic sea-monster.”
ANC Youth League spokesperson, Toddler Makhanye, announced this morning that an offer is being made to the Aquarium Sea Life in Oberhausen, Germany, to purchase Paul the Psychic Octopus for the Youth League’s NEC.
“We in the ANC Youth League are continually trawling the sea-bed for signs of intellectual dynamism in protoplasmic life forms, and it is clear to us that this octopus has a mind which is as razor-sharp as a sharp, sharp razor,” said Makhanye.
“We will build it a special aquarium where it can do all its thinking. We are going to call it a ‘think-tank’”.
8 Jul 2010, 20:33 pm
@nama1(nama1)-168:
8 Jul 2010, 20:39 pm
@grant10(grant10)-154: weaknesses in the team are 12 , 15
also JPP is injured
then 9 is a big problem , fourie dup is so much more solid and dependable
he controls a game , i am sure you watched the super 14 final hehehe
anyhows its still not a bad side
8 Jul 2010, 20:41 pm
@sharks_lover(sharks_lover)-170:
under the circumstances not a bad side….agree
but can they win a test match at Eden Park??
Lets wait and see…
8 Jul 2010, 20:42 pm
cheers all
outta here
8 Jul 2010, 21:26 pm
Bok problem is not at 9 or 10 those in fact are 2 of our strongest positions,
its before 9 – i.e at 6 and 8, and after 10 i.e 12, 13, 14, 15 where our Achilles heel will be exposed.
Also 4 is heavily overrated, the going at 2, 3, and 4, is just going to be a shade too quick for these plodding huffing puffing has beens
8 Jul 2010, 21:37 pm
How emphatically stupid can you get?
A British gambler placed the biggest World Cup bet of all time on Germany to beat Spain in the World Cup semi-final – and lost.
The £417,000 wager – that’s half a million Euros – was placed with William Hill’s telephone betting service at odds of 10/11, meaning the punter would have walked off with just under £800,000 if Joachim Loew’s men had prevailed.
But Carles Puyol’s winning second-half header put paid to the punter’s dreams – and we doubt any fan in the world was screaming louder at their TV sets when the referee denied Germany a late penalty.
William Hill spokesman Graham Sharp admitted before the match that a Germany win would be a disaster, with the nation having received huge backing throughout the tournament including a £67,000 bet being placed on them before the championship at 14/1.
But Spain have also attracted the high-rollers, with one man putting £50,000 on Fernando Torres and co to lift the trophy.
8 Jul 2010, 21:58 pm
@skopskiet(yliad)-174: Well obviously the man do have some real money, for a person erning 5000p.m a bet of say R1000 gives him an adrenelinrush(I am afrikaans, exuse spellng errors)But for an billionaire to get that same feeling or actually just making the bet wortwhile he will have to bet a million for exmple. I am betting on sport for 5years now, since turned 18, loving it. And if you are an sportsfanatic, its much more fun than going to a casino or any other form of gambling, good way of making some extra money or losing only an amount that wont have an effect on your life. Did you bet on sport at sometime / are betting on sport?
8 Jul 2010, 21:58 pm
Anyone know a webssite streaming the game…?
8 Jul 2010, 22:02 pm
By the way hello everybody, I am new. Read keo for long time now, but only registered now. Can someone finally please tell me what is it allabout the “dragon thing” on a first comment of an article??
8 Jul 2010, 22:04 pm
@jocuba(jocuba)-176: just google it….
8 Jul 2010, 22:06 pm
@skopskiet(yliad)-174: In NZ punters are betting on the octopus.
8 Jul 2010, 22:25 pm
@Macgodiman(Macgodiman)-177:
welcome to the asylum
8)
8 Jul 2010, 22:30 pm
@skopskiet(yliad)-174:
At least he was a Pom.
8 Jul 2010, 22:32 pm
Octopussy dreamboat
imagine that, human sapient intelligent beings being led by the nose by some spineless underwater sea creature to forfeit their entire pickings on the whims of some bewitching tentacle?
Oh the glory of human life, how elevating and enlightening do we become with our advanced state of intelligent evolution?
Octopussy Galore – make a dem millions for the swarthy human idiots of creation.
to quote our pal Shakespeare
What a piece of work is man
How noble in reason
How infinite in faculty
In form and movement how like a God
being led by the snout by a clairvoyant Octopus
Natures advanced darling of creation sure has arrived at the pinnacle of universal intelligence
Sporting morons – nothing short of it. Idiots supreme.
8 Jul 2010, 22:36 pm
i’m tired of quotas : January, Kirchner & Chilli – hope boks lose by 20+ … w@nker PDV and his quotas… hou by die blou. Laat skopskiet en sy ounooi die mag van die blou bulle ervaar!
8 Jul 2010, 22:41 pm
@skopskiet(yliad)-182:
hi skoppie,
in my humble opinion…
your best post ever on this blog..
loved it..
look forward to chatting face to face again
8 Jul 2010, 22:41 pm
makethecirclesmaller is heading for the laager – big time – in retreat – in reverse
gather them ossewaens closer broeders hir kom die kffrs beter jou onderbroek goed onderskerm.
8 Jul 2010, 22:44 pm
howdy Charo boet, you know where to find me when next in the omgewing
not too far from the madding crowd.
see ya anon.
8 Jul 2010, 22:58 pm
I see every cockroach kiwi crawled out of the woodwork the last couple of weeks,I would just love it if the Boks can give your team another whipping
8 Jul 2010, 23:00 pm
@skopskiet(yliad)-182: Similar to throwing them bones in Africa
8 Jul 2010, 23:05 pm
@JL1(JL1)-187:
Then out comes the rat.
8 Jul 2010, 23:15 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-189: JL1 would be a ‘farking big’ rat…..I can tell you!!
8 Jul 2010, 23:21 pm
Da rat in my kitchen,hehe
Carol tell these Kiwis I make Bakkies nervous
8 Jul 2010, 23:25 pm
@JL1(JL1)-191: You look taller than Bakkies and wider than Andrew Sheridan!!
8 Jul 2010, 23:26 pm
@carol(carol)-192: I think you may be right,built for comfort not for speed
8 Jul 2010, 23:32 pm
@carol(carol)-192:
carol, stop exaggerating.
jl1 is a big soft pussycat – too nice and kind to intimidate anybody
8 Jul 2010, 23:45 pm
@JL1(JL1)-193: Oh I dunno, you seemed to put away that beer pretty quickly!!
8 Jul 2010, 23:47 pm
@charo(charo)-194: Exaggerate, me!!!
You OK Charo?
8 Jul 2010, 23:50 pm
Good evening.
8 Jul 2010, 23:53 pm
Whenever South African’s pound their chests in premature glory we lose and eat each other alive.
I feel another cannibalistic braai coming on.
My bones, brittle as they are, tell me that AB’s at Eden Park, will win by 4.
Fok.
Fok.
Fok.
But the game is played on the field and it appears that our players respect their opponents. Thanks be to the rugby gods. I am willing to sacrifice my Superbru points for a win.
8 Jul 2010, 23:55 pm
@SodaJoe(SodaJoe)-197: Hey Soda, how are you doing?
8 Jul 2010, 23:56 pm
@carol(carol)-199: I was starting to worry that I had chased you all away.
Working hard.
Traveling too much.
Licking lamposts. It’s summer, it’s hot.
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