Power and precision
11 May 2011
GAVIN RICH, writing in SA Rugby magazine, says Willem Alberts offers a lot more than physicality.
There is sometimes a tendency in South African rugby for the critics to overdo it in both directions when a new player comes on to the scene. As Nick Mallett once said, too often purple prose is wasted on praise when it is premature, and this can be more dangerous than the castigation that is a by-product of the passionate support the sport enjoys.
So it wasn’t surprising that when Willem Alberts burst on to the Springbok scene last season with two crucial tries in successive matches as a replacement, there were those who wanted to be cautious.
‘For heaven’s sake, improve your rugby knowledge, you can’t just select a guy for the starting team because he finished off two try-scoring movements,’ we said to those who were queueing up to elect the big Sharks flanker as South African rugby’s most important citizen. There was some merit in the caution, as the try against Scotland was the direct result of a poor opposition throw and all Alberts had to do was catch the ball and fall over the line.
It is true that Alberts still has it all to do as an international rugby player, and back then a healthy degree of scepticism was justified. Alberts owed his place in the Springbok match day squad to the absence of Schalk Burger, who was the target of a famous Alberts trademark thumping tackle in the Currie Cup final in Durban the week before the Boks’ departure.
Alberts may not even have been a first-choice player for the Sharks in those games were it not for the injury that ruled the impressive Jean Deysel out of the Currie Cup season and which has kept him sidelined for the past eight months.
But Alberts has followed up his end-of-year tour exploits by hitting this season running, and by round six of Super Rugby it would have been hard to name any other Sharks player – with the possible exception of Bismarck du Plessis – as the franchise’s most valuable player.
Statistics don’t tell you everything there is to know about a player, but in the loss to the Chiefs, when all about him were failing, the figures that were flashed up on the screen from Hamilton made for astounding reading – 55m covered as a ball-carrier and 17 tackles made. And that was when the game was only in its third quarter.
A studied look back at the Test against Wales, where Alberts made his international debut, will also give lie to any argument that he was fortunate to be in position to score his debut try. The reality is that the Springboks were being pounded mercilessly by the Welsh before Alberts came on to the field. It was no coincidence that there was a significant momentum shift at that point.
Alberts didn’t just feature in the try-scoring movement, he was there repeatedly as a ball-carrier, bursting seemingly from nowhere on occasions to take the pass as the Bok forward surges up-field overturned a half-time deficit and won the match.
Quiet and modest, Alberts tried to deflect attention to his team-mates after the game, and on other occasions when he was interviewed on that tour he came across as one of those humble players who doesn’t want the shouting about his exploits to reverberate across the valleys. But he did understand why he is so valuable to the Sharks.
‘The key to my game is my strength in getting over the advantage line, and getting that sort of momentum is a crucial part of the Sharks’ game plan,’ he told the media. ‘Everyone likes to carry the ball, but I’m fortunate in that my attributes make me the player who is given the role of taking the ball up. It fits into the game plan, and I’m more than happy to provide that go-forward to the team. That is my role.’
But Alberts is far more than just one of those lumbering big forwards whose only strength is his physicality. Listening to Sharks coach John Plumtree talk about him, it is possible to imagine that he is referring to a new flyhalf rather than a blindside flank, as ball-carrying ability and timing feature strongly in the Kiwi’s description of the loose forward.
‘Of course, the main reason we brought Willem to Durban was because we knew how important it was to our game plan to be able to develop momentum and go-forward,’ says Plumtree. ‘He stood out for the Lions as a physical presence, and we liked what we saw. He looked a very good ball-carrier.
‘But what impressed me the most was the skill set that he had to go along with his physical attributes. He was far more than just a freakishly big loosie; he was a provincial schools cricketer, so he has great ball skills. I felt he wasn’t reaching his potential at the Lions and I sensed that he could become a much better player with a bit of work.’
As it turned out, it wasn’t just ‘a bit of work’, it was quite a lot of work that was required, and Alberts readily admitted during the end-of-year tour that it was the work ethic of his new team-mates and the expertise of the Sharks’ conditioning staff that turned his career around and started him on the path to becoming a Springbok.
‘I didn’t realise how far behind the Lions were conditioning-wise until I moved to Durban. The Sharks’ fitness trainers Mark Steele and Jimmy Wright helped me a lot,’ he says. ‘It was also highly motivating to work with so many good players who had such a professional attitude and work ethic. Everything was positive whereas previously I had been in an environment where it was mostly negative. After that, once I had become fit, it was just about me getting an extended run so I could pick up momentum.’
Plumtree says that the need for Alberts to work hard was a big part of the discussion they had when he first met with the Sharks’ coaches to talk about a possible move.
‘He needed to understand that while we felt he had potential, he was still far from the finished product we were looking for. The problem was that before he came to us I don’t think he was even properly fit. We needed his buy-in before we would commit to him.
‘With his physical presence he has the ability to get the side across the gainline every time he touches the ball, and that makes him an amazing player to have in the team. But he needed to develop a work rate. Fortunately he delivered on his promise and worked damn hard. In Super Rugby at the moment he’s not only one of the top ball-carriers, he’s also one of the top tacklers.
‘I think that work ethic was always going to come once he moved to us because of the environment he was exposed to when he arrived. When you have other players like Bismarck du Plessis working so hard in pre-season they tend to pull the other guys along. It becomes impossible to shirk because you know if you do you will be letting your team-mates down.’
Plumtree, himself a flanker for the team that broke Natal’s Currie Cup drought back in the 1990s, is one of the foremost experts on loose-forward play in South Africa, so his opinion on what makes Alberts so effective is worth paying attention to.
‘Willem’s skill set comes from him having spent most of his early years playing flyhalf. He’ll tell you that he was a flyhalf up to about the age of 16. Those attributes that saw him play there haven’t left him.
‘But I think what is often the difference between the merely good loose forward and the great loose forward is the timing of the run on to the ball. If you are a player with good anticipation and have a natural knack for getting it right, and time your run on to the ball perfectly, then it makes you a damn difficult player for players to defend against.’
As Burger, who in many senses is the same animal when it comes to the love of physicality, discovered last October in the Currie Cup final, Alberts has something else that many of those players lauded for their skills don’t have.
‘He really likes hurting people; he puts in some massive tackles and it is great to have a player in your team with that physical edge,’ says Plumtree.
With Deysel due to return from his knee injury, it takes us back to a question that was asked before Alberts moved to Durban – why would the Sharks want a player in the Alberts mould when they already have one in Deysel? That question was partially answered by Deysel’s long absence through injury as it would probably have robbed the Sharks of any chance of winning the Currie Cup had Alberts not been on their books.
But as Plumtree explains, it was not just a case of Alberts coming to the Sharks so that he could be rotated with Deysel.
‘Jean is still struggling a bit with his knee and we aren’t expecting him back until after our first bye week [in mid-April], but when he does come back there’s nothing stopping us playing them both in the same loose trio.
‘It’s a long season and Ryan Kankowski can’t play in every game. Willem played much of his rugby for the Lions at No 8 and he likes that position. We have a nice balance to our loose forwards, with Jacques Botes and Keegan Daniel operating as the fetchers.
‘But Jean is a player who can also play in the fetcher role, he really likes attacking the ball and there could well be a role for him on the other flank in certain games.’
Regardless of where he fits in to the loose trio, or the make-up of the Sharks back row, Alberts has proved one of the most inspired buys made by the Sharks in recent years and don’t be surprised if he takes on a leadership role in the years to come.
‘He captained the Lions for a bit before he came to us and he does have natural leadership ability,’ says Plumtree. ‘We haven’t really used him in a leadership role as yet but he is one of those players who has natural onfield leading ability in that the other guys just naturally want to follow him. Bismarck is also like that, a player who sets an example that others want to follow.’
– This article first appeared in the May issue of SA Rugby magazine. The June issue will be on sale from Wednesday, 18 May.
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203 Comments
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11 May 2011, 10:02 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-95: Daniel is certainly dynamic… and Alberts is a beast with a good few skills that are not really appreciated due to his power attributes…
But Potgieter is another type of player all together. We saw glimpses of how good he can be at International level in last years tests. He is the glue to put things together and does much unappreciated work around the park… The type of player you really miss when he isn’t in the side…
11 May 2011, 10:03 am
@grant10(grant10)-90:
It crossed my mind that in pure desperation Plum brought the kid back way too early.
In saying that Lambie did pull off tackles but I think he wasn’t ready for that game. Plum is putting too much emphasis on Lambie being the ‘wonderkid’ and he needs to concentrate more on that leaky midfield.
My opinion is The Sharks give High Reece his early retirement and bring in my old classmate Sean Everitt to assist in the coaching. He’s doing something special with The Sharks second stringers.
11 May 2011, 10:03 am
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-77: you miss leya mbongolo s’bali?
hehehe kunzima ngempela masekunjalo
11 May 2011, 10:03 am
@SHARKattack(mabu)-97: I like that jersey. Now MTN must just remove that yellow block around their logo on that Lions jersey and it will also look a lot better.
11 May 2011, 10:04 am
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-96:
think you are doing what most opponents do vs him, sell him short and underrate him. Alas, the backrow of steggman,spies and potgieter keep bringing home the bacon the past few seasons? How on earth does that keep happining?
@Transformation(Transformation)-98:
addmittedly not, I’d rather spend the evening sawing off my willie with a spoon or watching the Lions.
11 May 2011, 10:04 am
@DonutDunning(DonutDunning)-99: Yeah you are right… But it does take a while for us yarpies and our “rugby principles”… (referencing PdV slaying SBW
)
11 May 2011, 10:05 am
“As Nick Mallett once said, too often purple prose is wasted on praise when it is premature, and this can be more dangerous than the castigation that is a by-product of the passionate support the sport enjoys.”
Lovely!
11 May 2011, 10:07 am
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-96:
Pretty much exaclty my thoughts in post 69.
Whats your take on the loosies that the Sharks will prob field in 2 weeks. 8 Alberts, 7 Deysel, 6 Botes.
You dont think its a little limited? I think Botes is over, hasnt done anything special for 2 seasons now.
I also worry about Alberts and Deysel playing together. Great ball carriers but if they are matched physically, they have little else to fall back on. Especially Deysel.
Adi needs to play at 13, and man I wish we had Strauss back at 12.
11 May 2011, 10:07 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-100:
You would think the strong schools like Glenwood and Michaelhouse could produce more than just the odd talent like JP Pietersen and Murray.
The Sharks so called scouts spend too much time outside the province looking to poach.
11 May 2011, 10:07 am
Please dont even think any of the Invisible Blesbools loose forwards will be in the team. I would take Danie as cover but the other 3, 1 invisible man, 2 penalty king and 3 the upright man or crying kuun no way.
I think a ot of saffa player should do a stint in Europe. Help them get their bigheads deflated somewhat and learn some new skills many of our players don get.
11 May 2011, 10:08 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-67: Peter Bills: Brian Mujati deserves World Cup chance
If ability alone were the deciding factor in the South African rugby squad for the Rugby World Cup this year, then a player most South Africans have forgotten would comfortably win a place.
Brian Mujati played for the Lions and Stormers before departing for the UK to join English Premiership club Northampton in 2009. He’d won 12 caps for the ‘Boks, admittedly ten of them as a substitute. He was seen as a decent prop, with the ability to handle the ball in broken play.
But Mujati is one of those players who needed to step out of his comfort zone. By leaving seductive Cape Town and going to England, he did just that. And the effect has been stunning.
Today, Mujati has become an integral part of the best front row in English rugby. Together with loose head prop Soane Tonga’uiha and England Test hooker Dylan Hartley, Mujati has formed a lethal combination of scrummaging power and high class technique.
In the recent Leicester v Northampton match, a meeting of first and second in the Premiership table, Mujati helped destroy a much heralded Leicester scrum on more than one occasion. His power scrummaging had the Leicester pack buckling, his strength forcing Leicester’s Argentine loose head Marcos Ayerza skywards.
Argentinian props are not used to such treatment but it didn’t come as a great surprise to Mujati’s boss, Northampton Director of Rugby Jim Mallinder.
Explaining the club’s decision to award Mujati an extended contract which will keep him at the club for at least another two years, Mallinder paid the South African a handsome compliment. “Brian has shown he has what it takes to compete at the top end of the Premiership.
“He has improved a lot as a player over the last year and his performances reflect the work he has put in off the field. But he is still a young man and we believe he has his best years in front of him.”
South Africa have not been as richly blessed for powerful tight heads in recent years as some might have expected. It is true Jannie du Plessis made a favourable impression last year and looks set for the World Cup. But the experiment of moving captain John Smit across from hooker to tight head prop reflected the Springboks’ deficiencies in that department.
BJ Botha, now with Ulster, was seen as an efficient tight head, but hardly lethal. Indeed, the ‘Boks have not had one of those for quite some time.
But selecting Mujati as a member of the squad would enormously enhance the Springboks’ scrummaging power at this year’s World Cup. And as the ‘Boks showed against England at Twickenham last November, that area remains crucial even in a modern game where faster, more open play is hugely encouraged by the new law interpretations.
At 26, Mujati has made such progress that he looks technically equipped now to make much more of a success at Test level than he ever managed before. And as Jim Mallinder says, he will almost certainly get better.
But the 1.81m, 118kgs prop has already made some very eminent British scrummaging judges sit up and take notice. It’s a shame the Springboks will almost certainly ignore the evidence before their eyes.
I find that hard to understand. Sure, De Villiers has said he wants to pick only players who are playing their domestic rugby in South Africa. But that policy is already flawed: he has chosen Frans Steyn as full-back, even though the ex-Sharks man is at Racing Metro, the Paris club.
And under an ANC Government in South Africa which is constantly grumbling at the lack of true integration in South African Test rugby sides – i.e. the limited number of black players in the Springbok team – here is one who fully stands up to scrutiny as to whether he is good enough.
You would hope for Brian Mujati’s sake that his excellence and his considerable efforts since he arrived in the UK would be recognised by his own national selectors this year. But I’m sure he isn’t holding his breath in anticipation.
11 May 2011, 10:09 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-109:
yip, if newlands was in paarls or dorp street stellenbosch. WP would be a different kettle of fish altogether.
11 May 2011, 10:10 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-109: Murray… Westville Boy… JPP originally from Witbank I think, believe it or not.
11 May 2011, 10:10 am
@Hop Hop Spinnekop(Hop Hop Spinnekop)-85: Thanks.@grant10(grant10)-82: Damn pity.
11 May 2011, 10:12 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-113: JPP Originally from Stellenbosch moved to Witbank during High school.
11 May 2011, 10:12 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-109: did JpP go to glenwood?
11 May 2011, 10:12 am
@KevinRack(KevinRack)-110:
going to be humble pie when the bulls fold your boys in a couple of weeks.
11 May 2011, 10:12 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-113:
I thought Murray was Headboy at Glenwood no?
11 May 2011, 10:13 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-116: No.
11 May 2011, 10:15 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-111: Yeah but you don’t realise that the English press are doing the hype thing with Northampton similar to the Cape based press with the Stormers… The similarities are also astounding, Northampton have won farkall too…
They haven’t won the Heineken Cup yet… Heck they haven’t even won the Premiership yet either.
Mujati has done okay… Nothing more.
11 May 2011, 10:15 am
@Sasuke(Sasuke)-119: i’m kinda confused by Great White Shark’s post, so both Murray & JpP didn’t got to either Glenwood or Michaelhouse
11 May 2011, 10:16 am
@Hop Hop Spinnekop(Hop Hop Spinnekop)-104: Really? I think the yellow block and yellow numbers sort of give them a championship feel….like gold numbers.
11 May 2011, 10:16 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-120: did Mujati not displace Euan Murray in that frontrow?
11 May 2011, 10:16 am
Westville. Yup you’re right.
Jeez where are our other homegrown players….
11 May 2011, 10:17 am
next thing you know Brock Harris will be Transie’s favorite as bok prop.
If THat happens…..I’ll just go and top myself!
11 May 2011, 10:18 am
@Sasuke(Sasuke)-115: Yup, born there… But all he knew about rugger was taught to him on the highveld… He was then refined and made into a great player in Durbs.
11 May 2011, 10:18 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-118: No.
11 May 2011, 10:18 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-121:
I’m definitely one of the 90% that knows faaarkall about rugby…;-)
11 May 2011, 10:20 am
@Dawn(Dawn)-107: Mallet sounds suspiciously like a keo headline writer.
11 May 2011, 10:20 am
Stormers team:
15. Conrad Jantjes 14. Gio Aplon 13. Jaque Fourie 12. Jean De Villiers 11. Bryan Habana 10. Peter Grant 9. Ricky Januarie 8. Duane Vermeulen 7. Francois Louw 6. Schalk Burger (C) 5. Andries Bekker 4. Rynhardt Elstadt 3. Brok Harris 2. Deon Fourie 1. Wicus Blaauw
Reserves: 16. Tiaan Liebenberg 17. Steven Kitshoff 18. De Kock Steenkamp 19. Anton Van Zyl 20. Dewaldt Duvenage 21. Lionel Cronje 22. Juan De Jongh
CJ out injured, Januarie and Duvenhage rotated.
11 May 2011, 10:22 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-123: Murray was once good… but he is long downhill… Newcastle player now.
But if you want to lap up the English press then go ahead… They believe Schalk Brits should be the Bok hooker too….
11 May 2011, 10:23 am
@Sasuke(Sasuke)-122: The numbers look good but the block around the logo is a no no.
11 May 2011, 10:27 am
If Divvy has any sense at all, he’ll start with Alberts – either at 7 or 8. And if Smith is fit, then it must be Alberts at 8. Currently I reckon it’s a toss up between Flo and Brussow at 6. Let’s see how the rest of the S15 pans out.
11 May 2011, 10:27 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-124: England, Australia, Ireland…
11 May 2011, 10:27 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-120: you mean like this article on Willem Alberts when the Sharks haven’t won the Super Rugby comp?
i get it
11 May 2011, 10:28 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-130: Elstadt to possibly make an appearance on flank this weekend. Interesting.
11 May 2011, 10:29 am
@Hop Hop Spinnekop(Hop Hop Spinnekop)-132: Agreed.
11 May 2011, 10:30 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-135: Sharks won a CC with Alberts, Alberts has played excellently for the Boks already… Very different.
It aint working…
11 May 2011, 10:30 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-124: you don’t have them, only Lambie & maybe Hargreaves, otherwise you’re poaching other high schools
11 May 2011, 10:31 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-134:
Fully.
11 May 2011, 10:31 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-138: ask Bryce_in _Oz, currie cup is kak
11 May 2011, 10:31 am
Bekker needs a rest on this tour. probably against the Brumbies or Rebels.
11 May 2011, 10:31 am
stormers bench has no looseforward cover….
Okay…Elstaht can shift across if neccessary.
anxiety attack abated a bit!
11 May 2011, 10:33 am
would Mujati be interested in playing for boks ?
11 May 2011, 10:33 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-125: Brok the Rock is soft as baby doo doo…the only loosehead Brok chows is Smit.
11 May 2011, 10:35 am
This debate about poaching is getting old. Rugby is becoming professional now, teams can buy who ever they want.
11 May 2011, 10:36 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-141: Jeez you acting like a little mamparra in a playground shouting piepieyakho to anyone who wants to listen…
Outtahere for now…
11 May 2011, 10:37 am
@grant10(grant10)-143: Means Koster is still injured. Stormers loosies also need rest, will be great if Elstadt shifts there during 2nd half.
11 May 2011, 10:38 am
Is Steven Kitshoff the Ginger Ninja?
11 May 2011, 10:39 am
@Sasuke(Sasuke)-146: Great White Shark brought it up, i don’t know maybe to brag about the quality in their schools when in fact he should be lamenting the paucity of talent…
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