Defence bedrock of future success
22 Aug 2012
RYAN VREDE writes the Springboks’ defensive excellence against Argentina is a greater cause for optimism than their failure to score a bonus point is cause for concern.
Personally I don’t understand the near-hysteria around the Springboks’ inability to secure five points at Newlands on Saturday. I would have deeper concerns if the Springboks had looked completely impotent and not got themselves in scoring positions.
But they did, and how they got themselves there – largely through a kick-chase method – doesn’t vex me either. It is a method that has worked for South Africa’s most successful Super Rugby franchises of recent years, the Bulls and (more recently) the Stormers. My position has always been that when in those positions there needs to be composure, invention and precision about the attacking play.
Just because the Springboks’ attacking play lacked those qualities in the final quarter shouldn’t be seen as a precursor to chronic attacking struggles, which was terminal to the Stormers’ semi-final effort against the Sharks. Meyer’s limited time with his squad was reflected in their lack of attacking synergy. This will improve with time and the addition of personnel who have been injured. Indeed a defining characteristic of Meyer’s championship-winning Bulls sides was their try-scoring ability. This should stir confidence.
I was always more keen to see how they defended, especially against an Argentinean pack that was renowned for their ability to set a good attacking platform for their backs. To blunt them in the manner they did was inspiring. Attitude, power, work rate and accuracy are the cornerstones of defensive success and the Springboks ticked all those boxes, repelling the Pumas with an immense effort from the collective. Flyhalf Juan Martin Hernandez commanded much attention from the media prior to the Test, but he was largely rendered a non-factor.
Springbok defence coach John McFarland lauded that defensive effort, attributing the impotency of Hernandez and co to their work in this facet of play. ‘I think their backs were dangerous. They moved the ball well and got the odd bit of momentum. But we scrambled well, got into position and got our line set and moving forward at them again,’ he said.
‘I think they put us under pressure but we were well prepared for them and managed to dominate them in the collisions. Certainly they did cause us a few problems with their high ball game but I thought our back three dealt exceptionally well with that.’
Their ability to stifle the Pumas’ challenge extended to their defence of the rolling maul, their success here built on excellent competing from Andries Bekker. ‘It is a strength in their game. We don’t want to give them opportunities to build momentum. If your lineout competing is functioning well they shouldn’t be able to get that go-forward,’ McFarland said when asked about this in Mendoza on Wednesday.
McFarland said the Pumas would pose a greater attacking threat on Saturday and also praised advances they have made in other areas of their attacking play. ‘Every game is a different challenge. Here they will be passionate and try and execute what they’ve been doing over the past two or three weeks. I think Argentina are playing very different rugby to what they have in the past. Certainly they are prepared to use their backs more, attack a little wider and get to the edge of the field. But to me their biggest improvement has been in their counter-attack. In the past they would just launch high balls in return, now they’re prepared to give the ball a bit of air. It’s up to us to nullify their strengths and impose ours on them.’
The best sides in the game have achieved a balance between punishing defence and dynamic attack (the former often facilitating the latter). The Springboks don’t have that balance yet and they cannot cling to mitigating factors for this for too long. But the attacking problems they have are relatively easily addressed. We should be hoping they build on their defensive solidarity and the discipline that accompanied that. It will be the foundation for any future success.
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202 Comments
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22 Aug 2012, 14:22 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-40: you missed the point completely in your zealousness to accuse kiwis of cheating, can you please youtube the israel dagg 1st PHASE try over the weekend and point out the blocking in that move.
22 Aug 2012, 14:26 pm
@Transformation-51:
Don’t expect a reply anytime soon.
22 Aug 2012, 14:33 pm
@richardmarais-33: oh rich, ask grant10 how i was screaming for a 1st phase set piece from our “attacking” scrum in the argie 22 only to see either steyn or coetzee CRASHBALL into three argie defenfers and have our ball slowed down!
22 Aug 2012, 14:34 pm
The Boks don’t score enough tries….simple! They prefer “the bash em, smash em and take the 3 points approach. Rugby has changed, successful teams score tries. Problem with the Boks is that they don’t score enough. NZ beat us 60% of the time and we ask ourselves why? Check out rugby stats to confirm %. If you can’t score, head for the door!
22 Aug 2012, 14:35 pm
good grief transie, are you saying on the basis of ONE 1st phase try which (judging from the camera angle
) does not seem to comprise a great deal of blocking, this is evidence that the ab’s do not score a lot of 1st phase (and any phase) tries off illegal blocking / obstructing / forwards passes / holding defending players back / and so on ad nauseum..?…
22 Aug 2012, 14:36 pm
Stormers rugby the bedrock of future sucess!
The biggest problem is Morne Stain!!!!
Cant get his backline going!
Useless!
22 Aug 2012, 14:37 pm
@Tacitus-23: more real world observations and analysis…
cobus visagie”
The most outstanding observation from my point of view was the All Blacks’ ability to penetrate the Wallaby defence from first-phase moves, specifically from scrums. Strike moves have become a forgotten art in the modern game and like most things if you start to believe – and even if you coach players – that the first-phase play is just to set up the next phase, they will never believe they can utilise all the available space to get behind enemy lines. The overriding consideration when coaches plan moves these days are the numbers and running lines of support players that will be available to support the ball carrier at the first breakdown. The difference with the All Blacks is that they trust firstly the ball carrier to break the defensive line to go beyond the advantage line and that the player will be strong and intelligent enough to negotiate the defensive threats until his support arrives.
South Africa can learn a lot from this mind set, because I believe they have the same platform available from the scrum which can provide predictable right shoulders to launch multiple attacking options from the back of the scrum
currently our BOKS don’t do this, meyer, loubscher &
van graan are failing us.
“
22 Aug 2012, 14:38 pm
Man of the Match my ***!
But what do you expect from the stampstootbollie from the Bulls!
Having a forwards coach doubling as an Attack guru!
Bwahahahahaha!
22 Aug 2012, 14:39 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-55: no, but your assertion that they DO all the time is bullshit too, no?
22 Aug 2012, 14:39 pm
well i’ve got news for you walter cronkite….
22 Aug 2012, 14:40 pm
@Tacitus-23: more real world observations:
However in recent history Pierre Spies have become extremely predictable and utterly ineffectual with his breaks from the back and no enterprise has been shown from consecutive coaches to explore interplay options with his 9 or 12. I was hoping that this would be an area where Heyneke Meyer would inspire some change, but it has not been the case and unfortunately Keegan Daniel did not manage to impress either at number eight.
22 Aug 2012, 14:42 pm
@greegs-54: meyer said he wants to play winning rugby, so if we win by drop goals or penalties he could care less.
22 Aug 2012, 14:42 pm
Just look at Oz: Robbie Deans acts a Backline coach and nada happens to the Wallaby backs!
Defensive midfield; Barnes Faainga (mcCabe), Horne,
Thus kaka rugby!
What do you expect from a Provincial fowards coach?!
Wont ever see proper first-phase move from the Boks!
22 Aug 2012, 14:45 pm
@pompies2-43: And the fact that rugby has become professional whilst our administration of the game has remained amateur. Its no secret that when the game was still amateur a number of our players were treated as semi pro’s and that gave us a little edge on the playing field in my opinion and the confidence to play the way PA suggested the old players approached the game. Everyone else has now caught up as a result of the professional era in physicality and skills and more so have improved their administration except perhaps for France and England (other 6 nation teams have too low a player base). This is primarily why we cannot develop the huge player base we have to a dominant level and I agree that a change in mindset at junior rugby levels would have alleviated the problem a little in developing skills (awareness and peripheral vision skills etc) at an early stage but these skills can also be taught at senior level- otherwise demonstrated by Sheryl Calder with England rugby, Dutch Hockey etc.
22 Aug 2012, 14:46 pm
22 Aug 2012, 14:47 pm
Heyneke should bring Lance Sherrell back!
Sherrell will get that backline going
He did played for the Bulls!
22 Aug 2012, 14:47 pm
@Transformation-59:
its the exception that proves the rule, transie… the exception that proves the rule…
the fact they DO it once in blue moon is evidence that what they DO almost all of the time is score illegal tries, ja?
22 Aug 2012, 14:47 pm
@Transformation-57: Tell me something.
If van Graan is the attack coach and forwards coach, what does Ricardo Laubscher do?
22 Aug 2012, 14:47 pm
@Transformation-57: Eina. WillieVZ and I have been saying for a while that the importance of multi-phase is over-hyped.
And why does Cobus Visagie dis his Heyneke-ness like that. Geen respek
22 Aug 2012, 14:49 pm
@willievz-68: backline
22 Aug 2012, 14:49 pm
@willievz-68: As I understand, Johan van Graan is the forwards coach. Loubsher is the backs coach.
22 Aug 2012, 14:50 pm
@Transformation-62:
on the basis of your statement should one then infer that meyer is not and does not want to coach the boks to score tries, let alone 1st phase tries..?…
(how do i do the rolling eyes smiley? seriously)
22 Aug 2012, 14:50 pm
@cane-52:
no, i can come quickly if needs be
22 Aug 2012, 14:50 pm
@willievz-68:
To assist the backline with defence!
No tries were scored against Boks
Thus, 10/10 for Loupie
22 Aug 2012, 14:53 pm
@Transformation-70: @pompies2-71: Yes I know, but what does the backline coach do at current?
22 Aug 2012, 14:54 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-67:
Truth is you are an idiot.
Every thread on here you are complaining about refs and Kiwis cheating.
I have never seen someone as annoying as you. Its the truth. I cant recall anyone that moans about other teams but yet does not want to comment on his own teams offsides and obstruction at maul time.
It just does not happen.
Bakkies you are the joke of keo.
22 Aug 2012, 14:54 pm
@Transformation-70:
as in back of the line
22 Aug 2012, 14:56 pm
Defence been the bedrock of Bok rugby for years with +/- 55% win ratio. Whether that can be defined as sucess, depends
22 Aug 2012, 14:56 pm
@willievz-75: Ummm…….um…… um………Can’t you answer that? I think he is at all the training sessions, so he has to do something.
22 Aug 2012, 14:57 pm
@willievz-68:
He handles the press.
22 Aug 2012, 15:13 pm
@Hurricane-76:
i was specifically commenting on a question relating to why the boks do not score off 1st phase in the way the ab’s do. thus my response regarding ab illegality..OK…
that you are kiwi and transie is infatuated with you ‘style’ of play is no farken problem of mine, OK
i have opinions just like you,OK
all blacks are cheats so just get over it OK
but my point was not to highlight cheating by the ab’s but to explain to richardmarais why it is we do not score off 1st phase as much as the ab’s do, OK
but as i said earlier, feel free to scroll on by.
22 Aug 2012, 15:17 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-72: eish, nowhere has our coach mentioned skills, just skills.
Boks need to ‘toughen up’ – Meyer
August 22 2012 at 12:11pm
By Craig Lewis
Peter Heeger/Gallo Images
The Springboks need to mentally toughen up ahead of Saturdays Test against Argentina, says coach Heyneke Meyer.
The Springboks need to mentally “toughen up”. This was the strong message from coach Heyneke Meyer as the team prepare to face Argentina in their first-ever Test in Mendoza this Saturday.
Although the Pumas will only arrive in Mendoza tomorrow – a region famous for its wine production – the Boks have settled in since Monday, with their training taking place at the Chacras Rugby Club on the outskirts of the city, which lies not far from some of the snow-capped peaks of the Andes Mountains.
The Boks have been warmly received by the people of Mendoza, with more than 1000 locals turning up to watch their first training session, but Meyer temporarily put pleasantries aside as he looked ahead to Saturday’s all-important encounter.
“I’ve been repeating myself, but I want the players to be more mentally tough. Without disrespect to the previous coaches, we need to toughen up in that regard. It will be an honour for us to play here in Mendoza and we just need to step up wherever we play, but I really want the guys to be more mentally tough and perform at any time and place in the world. That’s what we’re concentrating on.”
Meyer repeated his mantra of “no excuses” when asked by a member of the travelling South African media about the expected difference of playing Argentina at home compared to last Saturday’s opening encounter in Cape Town.
“It’s my first away game for the Boks, so that in itself is a big challenge. We have three in a row now away from home. It’s always difficult playing away, but I really want to get mental toughness into the side.
“Argentina will be very passionate, particularly at home, where they’ve proven over the last few years that they are very difficult to beat. Especially playing here in Mendoza where they are taking the game to the people, it will be much more of a challenge for us. We weren’t all that happy with our performance last weekend and we know we are in for a massive game.”
With the Bok team announcement set to be made this evening (5.30pm SA time), a decision will need to be made on the availability of Bryan Habana and Andries Bekker, both of whom went over on their ankle last Saturday.
Meyer said that a new-look pack would need to continue fronting up one way or another.
“I’ve said we want to be a team that doesn’t make excuses but, to put things into perspective, if you look at last year’s World Cup starting front row, there’s only Jannie du Plessis available at the moment. Three locks have left or retired since then as well, and six loose-forwards are injured, so it’s a completely new pack. We’ve lost Pierre (Spies) and Bismarck (du Plessis) to injury, so it’s a very inexperienced pack going up against Argentina, who have always proven themselves to be a formidable unit up front.”
he says he doesn’t want to make excuses then he goes ahead and makes one
go Bokke!
22 Aug 2012, 15:19 pm
@willievz-75: he is doing what AC used to do for jake…
organise bibs and place cones on the field…work on the team’s alignment before every kick & chase.
22 Aug 2012, 15:30 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-81: “my point was not to highlight cheating by the ab’s but to explain to richardmarais why it is we do not score off 1st phase as much as the ab’s do”
“thay (sic) score off first phase because they farken cheat”
thet fact that the boks never seem to run any moves is not the reason for the dearth of 1st phase tries, ok
22 Aug 2012, 15:38 pm
Meyers biggest delusion is that he BELIEVES that SARU and the SA public will allow him to build a team over 4-8 years.
Forget it.
Jake survived by winning the 2004 3N and taking us from 6th to 1st in the world.
PDV survived because of the 2009 3N and the B&I Lions tour.
If Meyer wins NOTHING this year, or next year, he’s gone.
22 Aug 2012, 15:42 pm
@Transformation-82:
Yep, Meyer still has very good players at his dispposal.
In fact, besides for the team that PDV took over, it’s the best we’ve had since 92.
No excuses.
22 Aug 2012, 15:52 pm
@londonshark-85:
The mistake you’re making is seeing trophies as the only sign of success at test level.
If Meyer wins zero trophies, but wins 75% of his tests (I believe he will win 80%, by the way), he will never be fired.
If we end second in the Tri Nations for the next 4 years, but win 80% of our tests while doing so, Meyer will have achieved more than any coach to date.
Because that could mean that we are better than everyone except NZ, and that we could still beating NZ regularly in South Africa, just with smaller margins than they’re beating us when playing in NZ.
If we achieve a 50/50 win ratio with NZ over the next 4 years, that would be a magnificent achievement for Bok rugby. Even if we win zero trophies.
22 Aug 2012, 15:54 pm
@Transformation-82:
hehehe
talk about seeing what you want to see, transie
@Transformation-84:
“thet (sic) fact that the boks never seem to run any moves is not the reason for the dearth of 1st phase tries, ok ”
well, the fact that the boks never seem to run as many ‘kiwi’ moves is perhaps the reason for the dearth of 1st phase tries, ok
hehe
22 Aug 2012, 15:55 pm
@Tacitus-87:
In that case the Stormers were the top SA team in the S15, with a far superior win percentage than the Sharks.
22 Aug 2012, 15:58 pm
@David-89:
Note that I am referring to test rugby, which is a completely different universe to provincial rugby.
At test level, win ratios count. Nothing else, as far as I’m concerned. Because every test is an historical occassion. And our overal win ratio against the All Blacks is of far more concern to me than the number of World Cups each team has won.
22 Aug 2012, 15:59 pm
@David-89: touche’
22 Aug 2012, 16:00 pm
@Tacitus-87:
Hey hey, I agree. I’m just saying what the public think and how SARU work.
If we can win 75% of all games, I’ll be pretty dam happy. I think a Grand Slam is also needed though. Then he’ll be okay.
But he needs that win %, at the very least, else it’s curtains.
22 Aug 2012, 16:02 pm
@londonshark-92: He won’t get a Grand Slam this year as we are not playing Wales.
22 Aug 2012, 16:02 pm
@londonshark-92:
In order to win 75% of his games, without winning a Tri Nations trophy, it pretty much means that all Non Tri Nations games are won. If he reaches 80%, then that will almost definitely be the case.
22 Aug 2012, 16:02 pm
@Transformation-91:
enjoy your time in the sun, transie
next season the smileys will be few and far between
22 Aug 2012, 16:03 pm
@willievz-93:
Grandslam means nothing to me. Beating England, France, Ireland and Wales is a far greater achievement than beating the 4 Home Unions.
These trophies are meaningless. Win ratio is what counts.
22 Aug 2012, 16:03 pm
@Tacitus-90:
Luckily we still lead the ABs in terms of WC trophies proper, by 2 to 1. Contrary to what the Kiwis will tell you.
1987 does not count.
22 Aug 2012, 16:04 pm
@Tacitus-90:
True true, but if you are winning 80% of your games, there should be some silverware coming your way anyway.
Another thing, the introduction of the Argies might skew that win ratio. It’s the wins agains the other Top 4 nations that count (as you pointed out with NZL).
If we fail to beat NZL at home, that’s a train smash in my book.
22 Aug 2012, 16:05 pm
@willievz-97:
Iin that case its 2 to 0
22 Aug 2012, 16:05 pm
@Tacitus-96: Agree with that.
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