Running illusion
26 Aug 2010
JON CARDINELLI writes the All Blacks showed why a strong kicking game is still needed to win the Tri-Nations.
The Springboks won the 2009 tournament by using a tactical game that forced opposition errors. While the All Blacks have employed a more complete approach in 2010, a strong kicking game has undoubtedly contributed to their recapturing of the Sanzar crown.
Some have labelled the All Blacks an expansive unit and believe their ability to adapt to the new law interpretations has allowed them to dominate. This is partially true when you consider they’ve averaged 14 linebreaks and four tries a game in the 2010 Tri-Nations, but their success is largely based on superior decision making and a preference to play deep in opposition territory.
It could be argued that great ball retention has allowed them to vary their play, but even when the Wallabies have dominated in the Bledisloe Cup possession stakes, clever kicking has got them out of jail. The Wallabies’ style is utilised by the Reds in the Super 14, and while keeping possession and running from all corners may produce an attractive brand, the stats confirm that this style has its limitations against a good defensive team like the All Blacks.
Dan Carter has averaged nine kicks a game while the Boks’ Morne Steyn is a close second with seven. Be it Quade Cooper or Matt Giteau at flyhalf, the Wallabies have run more than kicked. Between Giteau and Cooper, they’ve averaged just two kicks a game.
The Wallabies enjoyed success against the Boks in Brisbane, making 17 linebreaks and romping to a comfortable win. Their halfbacks made just four tactical kicks between them. Up against a very shaky Bok defensive line, there was no need to kick possession away.
The Boks have improved their defence since Brisbane but remain vulnerable in those crucial periods before half-time and the final whistle. It will be interesting to see whether the Wallabies back themselves to penetrate the Boks again, or make use of the altitude as the All Blacks did in the second half at Soccer City.
Francois Hougaard and Morne Steyn employed the kick-chase strategy, with the former producing a particularly accurate showing. This kicking duo will be further boosted by the return of Frans Steyn. According to Racing Metro coach Pierre Berbezier, Steyn is unfit, but if this week’s training sessions are anything to go by, he’s lost none of his formidable kicking power.
I’m not advocating a kick, kick and kick some more approach, but rather stressing the need for good tactical decision making. As the All Blacks have showed, winning begins with securing possession and playing from the right areas of the field. They have varied their play even though they’re falsely touted as a predominately expansive team.
The Boks lacked intensity Down Under and were badly beaten at the collisions. At Soccer City, some poor defence in the dying stages of either half cost them rather than a conservative kick-chase approach. While the loose forwards were better, the Boks still missed a genuine fetcher capable of winning the ruck ball back after those high-hanging bombs.
Peter de Villiers has omitted Francois Louw from his squad for Saturday, and the bench selection of Ryan Kankowski suggests the Boks will use the same approach that proved so flawed in Brisbane. They need to keep the Aussies pinned in their own half through good tactical kicks, and then build their attack from there. Running from all corners may make for a spectacle, but won’t win them the Test.
Follow SA Rugby mag on Twitter
98 Comments
Pages: « 1 [2] Show All
26 Aug 2010, 15:13 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-33: you’re at the wrong place dawn!
26 Aug 2010, 15:18 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-43: Indeed squire, hence the silence, quite deafening.
26 Aug 2010, 15:22 pm
@UnbeataBULL(UnbeataBULL)-49:
Yes, it is getting more points that wins the game but then a try is worth 5 and a penalty 3.
And yes, the missed tackle cost us the game but which one?
If you’re refering to JS then one could equally say that JdV lost the game by being turned over.
Then there was the absence of any second defensive line e.g a fullback.
One could also add that the substitutes cost us the game. 2 penalties one each against CJ and Flo – not to mention another cap for the Michelin Man.
Too many variables and to blame the outcome on one missed tackle isn’t exactly statistically relevant.
IMHO it was the subs that lost the game.
26 Aug 2010, 15:23 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-50: thanks george
26 Aug 2010, 15:25 pm
@OCO(OCO)-53:
As another qualification, if the Boks were 10 points up at that stage it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.
26 Aug 2010, 15:28 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-54: Its rare to see transformation take a rational, principled stand….
Don’t mention it
26 Aug 2010, 15:32 pm
@OCO(OCO)-53: Eish, good comment highlighting the faults of that blonde WePee donkey, JdV…
26 Aug 2010, 15:37 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-56: it’s rare to see heavens game not acting like an utter doooooooooooos.don’t mention it!
26 Aug 2010, 15:37 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-57:
Hi HG,
I’m trying to be rational. The game was lost on original selections, game plan and on the substitutes.
I would blame Snor and his cohorts for the loss. The players played as best they could, they just weren’t good enough.
I think this week’s team are better structured and more able. The only changes I would have made would be:
Butch for MS
Kanko for Spies
and
De Jong for JdV (assuming either he or JF could play 12).
The latter one, though, is more speculative.
26 Aug 2010, 15:45 pm
@OCO(OCO)-59: Hi Oco yono. Can agree with your selections except with Butch for MS…
JdJ for 12, Mossie 13 – centres sorted with Frans Steyn coming on from the bench…
He is in no condition for a full test apparently, according to his club coach.
Aplon did not deserve to be dropped…
26 Aug 2010, 15:46 pm
@bluejay(bluejay)-58: Mosquitos buzz… slap…
26 Aug 2010, 15:50 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-60:
Yes I agree, dropping Aplon from any height would cause serious damage. Then again, maybe he’d float to the ground like a leaf?
I think the ‘seniors’ complained about playing with juniors in their ranks hence he din’t make the bench.
Sorry, don’t rate Aplon at all at international level.
Problem with MS is that his distribution is non existent. The bets kicker no doubt but as a distributor and/or defender he gains no points.
26 Aug 2010, 16:06 pm
@OCO(OCO)-62: Correction: “Problem with MS is that his distribution is non existent”… in a Bok jersey.
Aplon – not everyone scores trys like he did on debut. It is hard for Saffas to understand such a creative but admittedly small player… Remember Russell?
26 Aug 2010, 16:16 pm
Eish, those stats suggest nothing at all. Compare the number of times each flyhalf kicked with the number of times they received the ball. That is the only way that you can determine who is the kicking flyhalf.
NZ tend to play off their flyhalf – he is the decision maker in the team. I would venture to say that Carter receives more passes to him than Steyn does. The scrumhalf kicks much more in our team and the forwards receive much more ball at stand off in the flyhalf channel.
Saying that Carter kicked on average 9 times is misleading because he probably kicked 9 times out of 25 passes received while Morne Steyn kicked 7 out of 15 passes received.
There is no such thing as running rugby; just as there is no such thing as a kicking game. You cannot, for the life of all that is sacred to rugby, run onto a field with a preconceived idea of how you are going to utilize possession. The AB’s did it last year with their run at all cost approach and look where that got them. The Boks this year want to employ the kick-chase game and look where that has landed them.
The best rugby teams are those who play the percentages. Run when it is on – no matter where you are on the field, and kick when there is space and you can apply pressure. The AB’s are turning into a team who are perfecting the “think on your feet” strategy. Saying that they kick so much or run so much is futile because everything that they did was dictated by the circumstances.
The frightening thing is that this is a new approach for them and they will get better at it. Unless we cotton on to this and we start playing in the same vein, the AB’s will dominate rugby – including the WC – for the next while.
26 Aug 2010, 16:24 pm
Jeez, okes, whats happening, over 50 posts, all related to rugby, fark me!!!
26 Aug 2010, 16:28 pm
Steyn: I’m here to play rugby
29 minutes ago
Pretoria – Frans Steyn says he is ready to
give his best for the Springboks when they
face the Wallabies in a Vodacom Tri-Nations
Test at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Addressing a press conference at the team
hotel in Pretoria on Thursday Steyn said: “It
is great to be back in the squad and I am
looking forward to playing for the
Springboks again. ”
The fullback has been at the centre of
media attention recently after injury
prevented him from attending the
Springbok training camp and ruled him out
for the Test against the All Blacks.
Responding to questions in the regard,
Steyn said: “That is irrelevant now. What is
important for me is that I am here to play
rugby. I am determined to help the team do
well at the weekend. ”
Steyn also clarified the delay in his release
to play for the Boks saying that there were
certain French Rugby Federation (FFR)
regulations that had to be followed.
He also dismissed speculation that his
relationship with the Springbok coach Peter
de Villiers was strained.
“There is nothing wrong. There may have
been a minor breakdown in
communication but we respect each other
and are both focused on getting a result
against Australia at the weekend ”.
Steyn said preparations for the weekend’s
Test had gone well.
“It is always an honour to play for the
Springboks, I have enjoyed the week and
look forward to the game. There was an
improvement in the team ’s performance
last week and hopefully we can go one
step further this weekend ”.
He added that he did not foresee any
problems playing at fullback after featuring
at flyhalf and centre for Racing Metro.
“I don’t pick myself and I must play where I
am selected. I am ready to give it my best
wherever I play. I am confortable playing
at fullback and I am lucky to have
experienced wings like Bryan (Habana) and
JP (Pietseren) to support me, ” Steyn said.
26 Aug 2010, 16:31 pm
@UnbeataBULL(UnbeataBULL)-49:
That ‘Lack of fitness’ was the result of the ABs game plan, watch the test recording, they went into quick rucks started by their backs across the lines, the Boks midget backline could not contest so the loose forwards had to cover, by the time the Boks heavies reached the action, the ABs already moved to another spot, the idea was to retain the ball as long as they can and it takes a great skills to do that, any bunch of forwards will get tired after 60 minutes under these conditions
It will be MUCH better at Loftus though, the Wallabies are worse than the Boks and FS, JF are both world class and big, mark my words
26 Aug 2010, 16:39 pm
@Couchcoach(GI POT)-64:
FYI: it was much worse than you thought!
Scrumhalves:
Jimmy Cowan: 37 passes
François Hougaard: 41 passes
Piri Weepu: 40 passes
Ricky Januarie: 1 pass. !!!! (in 18 minutes on the field)
Scrumhalf totals:
New Zealand 77 passes
South Africa: 42 passes
Flyhalves:
Daniel Carter: 36 passes
Morné Steyn: 11 passes
Centres:
Ma’a Nonu: 12 passes
Jean de Villiers: 3 passes !!!!!!!
Conrad Smith 16 passes
Juan de Jongh: 2 passes!!!!!!!
26 Aug 2010, 17:30 pm
@Hondo(Hondo)-68: wow thanks for that. great stat
26 Aug 2010, 18:57 pm
@Hondo(Hondo)-68:
Well firstly I do not know where you get your stats but this is from Verusco…
January handled the ball twice and passed twice…
Morne Steyn handled the ball 25 times, passed 11 times, kicked 10 times (some of which would have been penalties), took the ball up 3 times on his own.
Jean de Villiers only handled the ball 10 times in which he made 3 passes, and took the ball up 6 times himself.
De Jongh only handled the ball 4 times, two of which he passed, one of them being an off-load and carrying it up 3 times.
And this is why stats in the hands of some people are dangerous…
Given the amount of balls they had to play with, their ‘passing’ game was not that bad after-all.
I mean just as an example, although Nonu made 12 passes, he handled the ball 21 times compared to Jean’s 10…
Carter handled the ball 55 times compared to Steyn’s 25 with Steyn only making two more kicks than Carter…
Conrad Smith handled the ball 27 times compared to De Jongh’s 4…
26 Aug 2010, 18:59 pm
@Hondo(Hondo)-68: Now you talking p0p0
26 Aug 2010, 19:01 pm
JC mjita, do you have a crush on this Francois Louw chap? He’s very average, deal with it.
And weren’t you one of the biggest critics of the PDV’s running game in 2008? Awazi lutho ngalomdlalo baba.
26 Aug 2010, 20:05 pm
@Qudeni(Qudeni)-28:
It seems that he means he wants the Boks that face the All Blacks to be All Whites.
26 Aug 2010, 21:00 pm
I think all this **** about having a specialist fetcher is bs. Why on earth would you want any other flankers than SB and JS. Yes heinrich was good last year but he is a freak. I’d like to see Potgieter get a real go off the bench, he’s got 2 S14′s behind his belt!!
27 Aug 2010, 00:43 am
I can understand kicking to get out of our own half- but it makes me want to PUKE when I see Morne kicking on good attacking ball in their half!! What a HUGE waste.
You have a 50/50 chance of getting that ball back in better territory. But by holding it, and with decent suupport play, you have a 70% chance of getting it back with better territory by keeping ball in hand. Our tactics are reducing our chances statistically.
Also our kick chasers have been slow and lazy, our kicks bad and innaccurate, and the following Bok defensive line (if they do field their kick properly) has been RUBBISH, allowing them a great opportunity to counter attack from OUR kicks!! How many AB counters did we see from their fielding of our attacking kicks? Clearly they understand that by having a kick chaser runningup, that means there is an overlap in the defensive line backing it up. they have worked out the chinks our armour, and are exploiting it fully.
27 Aug 2010, 01:30 am
This is all about marketing.
The Abs kick the most. 2008 the aussies talked up their running game but stats showed they kicked more than both 3nations partners.
We ase loosing the marketing game and have become branded dirty. Look at the weekdend’s game: Flip had a huge head gash from a knee to the head, both Smittie and Flip had scratch marks under their eyes.
Its about time the Boks started getting smart. Oops if we cannot get it right on the field no wonder we are kak at the off field stuff. Just dreaming…
27 Aug 2010, 01:37 am
@SjamBok(SjamBok)-75: Exactly! Couldn’t have said it better myself. Spot on Dragon (I know Im 74 posts too late for a ‘dragon’ but what the hell)
27 Aug 2010, 02:29 am
South Africans don’t do backline manoeuvres.
A bit of bash and bosh and a lot of kick and chase, but they don’t try to beat the defence with guile or speed.
27 Aug 2010, 02:47 am
@Auntie Mavis(Auntie Mavis)-78: agree, well the Boks anyway, I don’t understand this approah. I think a 2nd 5/8th system could revolutionise the way they play.
27 Aug 2010, 02:48 am
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-79: *approach
27 Aug 2010, 05:02 am
@Auntie Mavis(Auntie Mavis)-78:
Another classic case of generalising. Who were the top try scorers in the past S14?
Yes the Bok team at present appears to be following a dated game plan, but that would be on instructions from a clown.
Some great trys were scored by the Bulls and Stormers (and Sharks when they got their A into G)
I suppose only the AB’s have guile and speed?? Arrogant hey?
27 Aug 2010, 05:22 am
@whatever(whatever)-81:
Shooting from the hip i see.
Just cos a team scored alot of tries in the Super 14 does not mean they did it through the backs does it.
Maybe Auntie should have said the Boks but i took it as the Boks team. You took it as every South African in the world.
27 Aug 2010, 05:37 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-82:
Always shoot from the hip Boet, you should know that after all these years
I took it as “South Africans” in general…..??
Mate, in the S14 the SA boys scored some classic backline tries…Juan de Jong springs to mind………nah f u k it mate, just getting tired on the constant put downs……
You blokes better win next year….if you don’t I doubt we will ever see a Kiwi blogger back here on Keo!!
27 Aug 2010, 05:40 am
“South Africans don’t do backline manoeuvres”
I’m trying hard not to see a generalisation in that!!
27 Aug 2010, 05:54 am
@whatever(whatever)-84: How much are North harbour going to lose to BOP by? ha ha
27 Aug 2010, 06:39 am
@Waster(Waster)-85:
hehe, yeah they looking verrry average……… how’s poor old otago?? The Lions of the ITM Cup
27 Aug 2010, 09:41 am
@whatever(whatever)-83:
lol
You wont get rid of me whatever,will not that easy. As Arnie would say “Ill be Back”
27 Aug 2010, 14:03 pm
It’s clear the IRB has for a long time been all for the ball-in-hand game. It’s exciting to watch and sells the game. Definitely NZ and Aus see this as the only way to play. South Africans have always been the ultimate pragmatists, doing just what is needed to get a result, even if it meant winning ugly more often than not. While we’ve been applauded our successes in recent times, the powers that be have quietly kept changing the laws, effectively closing the loop-holes we tend to exploit to give us short-lived supremacy.
This suggests the secret to long term success is to embrace the running game. Of course, this will always need to be complemented by an intelligent kicking game.
But when one sees the shear delight a telling touch-finder or drop kick is greeted by at Loftus, one realizes we will never fully embrace the ball-in-hand approach.
When PdV tried to go the route he was criticized by all and sundry when it failed. The obvious problem he was unable to face at the time was that his personnel were never really capable of playing that game. After all, the bulk of his squad and probably most of the fringe players had been brought up on a strict diet of 10-man bash and kick-and-chase. A bit like a soccer coach trying to get England to play like Brazil.
The running game is considered a “romantic” notion by SA commentators and well it may be as it would almost require a cultural shift at the grass-roots level.
No that sounds like too much work, better to find a new “Naas” to kick drop goals with our 10% ball possession while the rest of the drones tackle the opposition into the ground…
27 Aug 2010, 14:07 pm
@rocco(rocco)-88: You make some good points but I actually think it’s just a matter of selection. Pick a creative flyhalf with a couple of centres who can actually pass and you’re half-way there. Re. the IRB, it’s not so much them as it is NZ and Aus trying to exert influence over them, the NH/SA and Arg hated all the ELV law changes, so who wanted the changes?
27 Aug 2010, 14:35 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-89:
Rugby is a 15 man team sport, not a 10 man game.
Long overdue for SA to start using the other 5 players on the field.
27 Aug 2010, 14:45 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-89: same old NZ and Aus wanting rule changes so of course they happened…
we all know the IRB is controlled by the old boys club up north, perhaps you should redirect it towards them? or at least, implement ALL the changes and try them before discarding them… like the ELVs..
27 Aug 2010, 14:48 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-89: Thought I had posted on a “dead-thread”. What you’re saying is true. But when you understand that the ideal fly-half, in South African eyes is another Naas Botha. At Loftus, they still await his second coming. The type of player that can almost single-handedly win matches with team creativity limited to how efficiently they can get the ball to him to do what he does best. Then you’ll see that creativity in terms of the team dynamic is not a priority.
Then most of our centres simply do not pass. I’ve been so frustrated watching a J de Villiers or J Fourie making a clean break only to put the ball under the arm and get tackled to ground. It’s a cultural thing, with the player’s priority being to either score himself and if not hold onto the ball in the tackle. Over the years I’ve watched the top AB and Aus centres and always got the impression their number 1 priority after making a break was to see where their support runners were by continuously looking one side and the other so that when the tackle came, they were fully capable of making the telling offload. Perhaps SA teams simply do not support line-breakers all that well, but to me it seems the line-breaker does not even look for support.
When the “ideal” Bok fly-half/centre blueprint is so ingrained in the collective South African psyche and without compromising our greatest value for defensive ability, the list of such creative players is short..
27 Aug 2010, 14:50 pm
@rocco(rocco)-92: ala England 2003… without Wilkinson to kick kick kick they were ordinary!!
27 Aug 2010, 18:04 pm
“Dan Carter has averaged nine kicks a game while the Boks’ Morne Steyn is a close second with seven. Be it Quade Cooper or Matt Giteau at flyhalf, the Wallabies have run more than kicked. Between Giteau and Cooper, they’ve averaged just two kicks a game.”
JC, those stats in isolation make up a pointless rhetoric.
One needs to view it in holistic manner.
A start would be to express the kicks as a percentage of total possession.
28 Aug 2010, 03:26 am
@rocco(rocco)-92: spot on re. the centres, but the ironic thing is south africa have had centres who can pass over the years, they just refuse to pick them. Until they do then their backplay will always be second best to NZ/Aus even if their forwards are better. It hasn’t always been doom and gloom to be fair, the Bok backs played some great attacking rugby in 2007 with Eddie Jones influence but since then and before then…nada.
@poppa69(poppa69)-93: popular myth, youtube.com/watch?v=CbN5-yW_KnE
28 Aug 2010, 03:56 am
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-95: Yes, but there are good running and passing centres already in the mix. That’s not the problem.
I don’t doubt the Bokke want to play contemporary rugby; they are just awful at the moment given their talent. You can play boring 10 man rugby when things aren’t quite right…good risk management.
Surely the solution is to focus in on generalship and how the team behaves under pressure. That’s harder to tackle. Naas Botha was a pain in the arse, but a very good director.
Somebody has to take charge and it can’t be a tight 5 oke. It has to be 9 or 10…a leader.
Postscript…watch out that you don’t argue for rugby to become like rugby league…as it is, it rewards the wide diversity of physical attributes…we could end up with “scrums” instead of bone-jarring tests of techniqie and strength…and that’s from a pretty boy back!
28 Aug 2010, 04:37 am
@thambolenje(thambolenje)-96: ‘Yes, but there are good running and passing centres already in the mix. That’s not the problem.’
Who? JDJ was dropped, Olivier/Fourie/JDV are boshers who more often than not refuse to pass and die with the ball.
Also, having creative backs in RU doesn’t mean it turns into RL.
28 Aug 2010, 12:23 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-95: love the slow mo of all that kicking lol .. some good ries scored, but one or 2 years out of 100 isnt much to be too happy about really BH
check this one out..
youtube.com/watch?v=yvR8CsGcwyQ
Pages: « 1 [2] Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.