More grey matter at gainline
24 Sep 2012
Eddie Jones says Springbok players have the intellectual and technical skills to generate a quick turnaround of their sterile attacking play but stressed their tactics, particularly at the gainline, have to improve.
There has been widespread dismay at the Springboks’ perceived attacking conservatism. The bulk of the criticism has been aimed at predictable forward punches at the gainline and a heavy focus on tactical kicking.
There certainly hasn’t been a lack of time spent in the opposition’s 22m, but their play in that zone has largely been uninspiring and lacking a clear plan or consistently good option taking.
There is virtually no chance of the Springboks winning the Rugby Championship title, but there have to be significant improvements across the board, with their attack a focal point.
Jones speaks with authority on this subject given his success in his role as an attack consultant with the World Cup winning Springboks of 2007.
The team were the top try scorers at the tournament in France, winning many admirers with the fluent and potent style. There wasn’t a dramatic departure from their traditional strengths, but Jones refined and added subtle dimensions to their attacking play. The two combined to be a potent cocktail which the former Australia head coach believes this generation of Springboks can rediscover if they make some changes.
‘The basic problem at the moment is a lack of [a discernible] attacking philosophy in terms of how they want to play,’ Jones, now Japan head coach, told keo.co.za. ‘Their play at the moment is early 2000 Bulls forward attack – one-off runners that rely on brute strength to win the gainline.’
Meyer’s early Bulls teams (to whom Jones refers) were predictable and struggled as a result, losing heavily in their formative years. They gradually improved their attacking repertoire and became one of Super Rugby’s most prolific try-scorers, particularly in their three championship-winning campaigns.
Time, however, is not a commodity Meyer has in abundance. His team have lost two and drawn two of their seven Tests, testing the faith of even Meyer’s most ardent supporters. Jones, however, is optimistic. The improvements he was the catalyst for happened off the back of only a couple of weeks with the team. He said there has to be a purposeful shift towards adding greater variation though.
‘South African players are skilful and good learners, so a quick turnaround is there. [But] they need to get a cohesive attacking philosophy based on approaching and hitting the gainline with options. [If they do] the team’s attack will improve considerably.’
By Ryan Vrede
164 Comments
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24 Sep 2012, 06:32 am
How to train your dragon.
24 Sep 2012, 07:33 am
‘[But] they need to get a cohesive attacking philosophy based on approaching and hitting the gainline with options. [If they do] the team’s attack will improve considerably.’
I dont think Loubscher has the credentials and experience to achieve this….
His appointment is becoming more and more ridiculous! The boks deserve the best. SARU is mostly to blame… HM couldnt really sign anybody else. But surely they should have handed Loubscher a ‘caretaker’/short term contract, until the right and best possible backs coach becomes available…
24 Sep 2012, 07:57 am
didnt eddy get a 96 pointvbutt drilled into him by heyneke
24 Sep 2012, 08:16 am
“Eddie Jones says Springboks players have the intellectual and technical skills to generate a quick turnaround of their sterile attacking play”
Don’t think he is talking about Morne and Kirchner.
24 Sep 2012, 08:27 am
@Jeez-2: Ja nuh? Single out the coloured guy. Loubscher might be the backline coach but van Graan doubles as the forward and attack coach. Which makes the highlighted qoute squarely van Graan’s baby. i don’t think van Graan has the credentials or experience to achieve this. Nor does Loubscher but that’s besides the point that it’s not his job to come up with the attacking philosophy. Back to the article tho, most of our problem actualy stems from continuing to let 9 make the decisions ala the FdP days. Pick a guy like Goosen, let him make the decisions which leave Ruan or Hougie to provide variation. Alberts and the rest of our ball carriers can still line-up the crash ball but that would/should be Goosen’s decision mainly. And all of a sudden the defense is asked a lot more questions from all sorts of angles, meaning the times Alberts and co do get the ball they will find getting over the adv line that much easier. And a Bokteam getting over the adv line with regularity is a different beast altogether. My take anyway…
24 Sep 2012, 08:28 am
“He said there has to be a purposeful shift towards adding greater variation though. ”
Here is the statement where Eddie hits the nail on the head. Once in awhile the forward runner should look to pass, just that slight variation will open up the holes.
24 Sep 2012, 08:56 am
@UptheGuts-5:
What does the colour of his skin got to do with anything? He just hasnt got the credentials you would expect a bok backline coach should have. He can be from Mars for all I care, its just an obvious assessment that the boks dont have a guy with decades of experience and proven success….even though it should be a no brainer when appointing a backs coach.
Van Graan covers the lineouts and forwards coaching and Van Graan was never the sole backline coach at the bulls. So the responsibility lies on Loubscher’s shoulders…
Perhaps a more creative and attacking flyhalf could have painted a different picture regarding their coaching… but even MS cant take all the blame… their skills dont seem too sharp and JDV isnt a threatening outside center…
Jones mentioned that things can be rectified pretty quickly, but you would expect that a bok backline coach with a fresh contract should not need a wakeup call or help to sort out the backs after a few games…
24 Sep 2012, 09:00 am
@UptheGuts-5:
I do agree its not up to him to lay down the attacking philosophy…
24 Sep 2012, 09:10 am
Ricardo Loubscher is utterly uselss, Morne Steyn is rubbish and so is Zane Kircher, I have no faith in Meyer, going to be another 4 years of mediocrity.
24 Sep 2012, 09:23 am
After watching the Boks underachieve for MANY years ….apart from those two good but somehat lucky RWC wins………I am of the opinion that SA players CANNOT change.
Such is the deep seated conservatism of South African rugby culture, dominated by Afrikaner philosophy, that new ideas and innovative ways of play are ultimately viewed with suspicion and abandoned.
SA has the greatest playing resources of any county and a fanatical support of rugby and a sound commercial base for the sport, but coaches and rugby thinking in general are hopelessly old fashioned.
For example:
-Players are taught to run at the man, not into space
- There is an absolute obsession for big players so much so that players like George Smith and Phil Waugh would never have played at a top level in SA, they would have been considered too small
- Individualism is shunned
- old as the hills stereotypes like “a good big man is better than a good small man’ are commonly used
- many coaches still distrust the openside flanking system used with such good effect in almost every other major rugby playing nation.
It must be incredibly frustrating to be an SA fan with nous, seeing the huge potential of the Boks being so poorly managed year after year.
24 Sep 2012, 09:26 am
@Jeez-2: That was always going to be the problem from the start. As soon as Meyer selected that all Bulls coaching staff including Van Graan, Koen, the fitness coach, McFarland the writing was on the wall. What a waste of our great player depth, especially with our RC rivals looking so out of sorts, apart from Argentina.
24 Sep 2012, 09:29 am
Well, as David Campese
24 Sep 2012, 09:39 am
It always fascinates me to see people critisize Ricardo Loubsher. He did not pick himself, Meyer did. If Heyneke asked me today to coach the backline you bet your *** I’ll pack my bags. If he is not qualified, that lies on Meyer. Meyer wanted people who will not challenge his philosophy. David Campese highlighted that a guy like Paul Treu is teaching kids to run into gaps at sevens level, yet he wasn’t considered.
24 Sep 2012, 09:40 am
@Delki-10: Great post. Coaching is our achilles heal, especially at the Boks. We could achieve so much with the right mix of professional, worldly and visionary rugby coaches. As it stands we just seem to be permanently bottle-necked . One ordinary coach follows another and our game stutters along carried exclusively by the talented players we produce.
24 Sep 2012, 09:48 am
@RugbyStudent-13:
Keep in mind that HM did not have the luxury to pick as he wanted (apart from all the other BB coaches)… His appointment was dragged out for far too long, by then no decent coach was available… SARU should take some of the blame…
Treu was considered but he decided to stay 7s coach due to the next Olympics…
Thats why I would question the appointment, it could have been short term. And HM is quoted as selecting only the best…What a load of ****.
24 Sep 2012, 09:50 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-3:
Dont know.
But its the same Eddie that saved JW a$$ in 2007.
24 Sep 2012, 09:54 am
It angers me whenever we have a 2 or three man overlap only for a player like JDV to crowd them out and to see another Bok attack to be wasted. Or using FS (the only starting Bok with a rugga brain) as a crash ball to set up first phase. It brings my piss to a boil. I agree a change of coaching personnel is need but a change of player personnel is also in order for us to be effective attacking team.
24 Sep 2012, 10:06 am
16….that,s right, heyneke drilled eddy a new butt at the reds who then canned eddy so jake could hire him.
This heyneke meyer really is genius,innit.
24 Sep 2012, 10:13 am
Be fantastic if Eddie was bought into the coaching mix – but don’t think he will gell with Meyer: the things is … if Morne had kicked like Morne the tactics would have been vindicated: the strategy relies on the kicker to put them over.
On that point still can’t understand why someone so accurate as Frans Steyn doesn’t do ALL the kicking.
24 Sep 2012, 10:13 am
Can’t wait for Saturday.
If Goosen starts…… (fark, please) we will finally get a glimpse of the future of Bok rugby.
It may sound a bit over dramatic but IMO Saturday’s game is probably the most import game for the Boks in the professional era.
Most might say the 1995 and 2007 finals were import games but these games were once off “against the run of play” games.
If we want to dominate rugby for the next decade it starts at Loftus on Saturday.
24 Sep 2012, 10:14 am
We all know what the problem is, yet there seems an unwilligness to change .. there is nothing to lose for the Boks now. May as well instruct them NO KICKING against Oz … if they lose then we can glean some experience.
Play Goosen and Taute now, there is no time to waste ..
24 Sep 2012, 10:21 am
@Doughnut-21: Well if Rassie says that HM will be tweaking the gameplan, especially if the Goose starts things just might look a bit more balanced…
24 Sep 2012, 10:23 am
Goosen will be playing under instruction no doubt. I don’t think the gameplan will change, I think Goosen may just execute better than Morne.
24 Sep 2012, 10:27 am
On form right now, I think the best scrumhalves are playing Currie Cup:
Louis Schroeder (WP)
Nic Groom (WP)
Cobus Reinach (Sharks)
The reason they are shining is becuase they haven’t been overcoached.
24 Sep 2012, 10:36 am
@RugbyStudent-23: Imo it will change dramatically in some ways… Goosen wont be as deep in the pocket and will have more options every time he receives the ball… He’ll probably kick most of the time in his own half…
24 Sep 2012, 10:37 am
23…what utter rubbish.
Goosen said the other day when interviewed himself that the coach encourages players to have a gowhen it is on.
24 Sep 2012, 10:38 am
Again, what shite, best scrumhalf on display this past weekend was vermaak.
24 Sep 2012, 10:39 am
@Jeez-22: I suspect HM knows that Goosen will use his instincts rightly or wrongly as the game goes on ..which scares him. There is a shift required and as we all guess its our coaches not our players who are holding back ..
Morne and to and extent Kirch are beyond help with heads up rugby, JdV has also lost his accumen .. boy do we miss JFourie these days !!
24 Sep 2012, 10:41 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-26:
If you think that high strung radio spitter sitting in the box will allow Goosen to start running from outside his 22, you’re mistaken. Heyneke has never admitted the gameplan’s wrong. All he said was the execution was off.
24 Sep 2012, 10:41 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-26: Have we seen any player barring Habs have a go yet ? even FH has been quiet ..
I suspect Goosen is looking after his coach as I dont beleive for one minute they play any unscripted moves .. as evidence by mindless kicks when the patterns are not set.
24 Sep 2012, 10:41 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-26: In which case Meyer simply isn’t selecting the players who can execute properly.
24 Sep 2012, 10:41 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-27:
Of course…
24 Sep 2012, 10:57 am
30, you are talking about a coach who historically has selected ettienne botha, an unknown brian habana,etc…
He rates players with x factor who can do the uncoachable, that is well documented.
29. And who the hell would wantnyour flyhalf to start running from their own 22.
Lions do is all the time and that is why they are not playing superrugby next year.
24 Sep 2012, 11:01 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-33: You can run from your 22 when it is on. What you want is a flyhalf who can sum up the situation correctly and not automatically put boot to ball even when there is an overlap.
24 Sep 2012, 11:02 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-33: Habana was known at the time he was snapped up by the Bulls. He signed after White plucked him from the Lions for the Boks.
24 Sep 2012, 11:02 am
@Doughnut-28:
Agreed, HM is letting himself down. He’s got everything going for him. The talent and ability is there…although he believes we are behind in the skills department- rubbish.
Selections and gameplan determines success… HM is getting it wrong so far… And he’s not a fast learner and thats worrying. He’s proving that we have a real problem with coaching… If you cant pick some of the best players on the planet (and you can still balance youth with experience) and coach them to play to win… Its a shame and disgrace to waste such talent.
The sad thing is its not just the SA supporters who complains about the utter waste of an opportunity to dominate… Super rugby shows all the world that we have unbelievably talented players than can adapt to an attacking/balanced gameplan… The boks are becoming a laughing stock all over again because the boks arent really playing to their full potencial…
One example to highlight the stupidity in SA coaching mindset:
For the first time EVER, SA has not only one but 3 talented young flyhalves, yet we select a has been out of form 10 ahead of them. That just doesnt make rugby sense… HM says he will support Steyn and help him to get back to his best… Why not guide the next 2/3 best youngsters to become the new elite at 10? Especially if they are more rounded players and will get him better results?
Blame the selections and gameplan, blame the coach.
24 Sep 2012, 11:03 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-33:
By implication, you said what Goosen said was if the opportunity is on even from outside his 22, he would run it. You just confirmed that he won’t. Conservative style.
Ettiene Botha and Bryan Habana were already scoring tries an creating havoc for Falcons and Lions respectively. The Bulls have the biggest budget of all the franchises and if they cannot get the best out of players, they are underperforming as is this case with their bottom of the table scrap in the Currie Cup.
24 Sep 2012, 11:06 am
@Jeez-36:
That’s what I don’t get. You don’t help a player buy giving him more pressure when he is off form. You take him aside and give him a rest, help to refine his shortcomings and see how he reacts. Heyeneke is doing Morne no favours. No player picks himself and Morne will try his best every game but if his game is off, someone needs to take him aside.
24 Sep 2012, 11:15 am
33, So why are the lions watching the telly next superrugby.
I see elton largely to blame for this as one of the chiefs decision makers on the field.
But at least it is entertaining,right.
24 Sep 2012, 11:18 am
Who needs 14 other men on a field if one has Elton, by the Brigs’ reasoning.
24 Sep 2012, 11:18 am
@J.B. Cowper-19: yeah Jones would want his side to use the ball, Meyer wants his to kick it
24 Sep 2012, 11:19 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-39: So when the Bulls ran from their 22 sometimes in 2010 they were doing the wrong thing?
24 Sep 2012, 11:20 am
@Big Hit-41: Meyer needs to do what White did after White’s 49-0 thrashing and effect a clean-out. The result was a return thrashing of the Aussies.
24 Sep 2012, 11:31 am
@Delki-10:
Afrikaner mentality? So how does that gel with the very entertaining running rugby we see with Griquas and Cheetahs? Or the huge number of tries that the Bulls scored when they were doing well in the Super 14?
Would I be racist if I said that corruption in SA is due to the Black mentality? What does that make you?
Go f* yourself, bro. Hypocrits should be shot.
24 Sep 2012, 11:40 am
44. Youcannot apply any grown up logic to this blog, just do the ***-for-tat thing like the rest of us.
As for my opinion on this specific issue..as an english speaking whitey…..i see the kulerts and blecks being dumber on average than the afrikaaner boers who are only dumb sometimes.
Like willy the leeu for example.
24 Sep 2012, 12:04 pm
Any news on the Lions new tournament they are trying organise? It will be a pity if this group of players, who are playing brilliant rugby, gets scattered due to their super rugby relegation…
24 Sep 2012, 12:17 pm
Twice the Terror,
Double the D’s.
And here was me thinking they meant D Cups.
What on earth possessed me.
24 Sep 2012, 13:01 pm
Delki – The biggest problem in SA is that no former Provincial coach has ever been succesfull as a Bok coach, Du Plessis, Strauli and now Meyer, who may change that trend!!!
They eventually all go back to what they know when trouble hits, which is to get the Boks to play like the coaches respective provinces.
Christie, Mallet and White were not provincial coaches and were our best ocaches.
I belive think White was our best coach as i never saw the Boks play so well before or after. White showed SA what professionalism is all about and brought in outside help, eye to eye co-rd and then his masterstroke with Eddie Jones. We can all see White’s worth with the Brumbies turn around with virtually all unknown players, amazing coach!!
The jury is still out on Meyer, but his next 2 games will be the most important of his coaching career!!
24 Sep 2012, 13:08 pm
@race of tan-48: Christie coached Transvaal, and his Bok team was laden with Transvaal players.
24 Sep 2012, 13:11 pm
@race of tan-48: Neilie Smith (OFS), Cecil Moss (WP), Nick Mallet (Border) and Kitch Christie (Transvaal), just for starters.
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