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, 13:14 pm
@mikeybrass-50: Nick was at Boland
24 Sep 2012, 13:19 pm
Eddie says this,
Eddie says that.
Well Eddie is good with WORDS.
For sure.
But as a Coach ………………………..at the Higher level.
He was craap.
He took Queensland to LAST.
Then jumped ship.
He inherited a champion Brumbies Team,
and took them nowhere.
The Wallabies were average under him at best.
As for Eddie helping SA win the Rugby WC.
A myth.
SA beat some dots on the planet so small ………………………..they cannot be seen from the moon.
They also beat Argentina…………………………………………..big deal. Arg had never beaten SA ever,
And merry old England of course.
At the time the 6th best team in the World. And the worst English Team in the history of English Rugby. EVER……………………………that’s a fact.
But you all love Eddie.
You are beguiled by his silver tongue.
And Eddie loves you Okes too.
Because you are the only ones that listen anymore.
24 Sep 2012, 13:34 pm
@52 cane
amysing… hehe
24 Sep 2012, 13:35 pm
amusing
24 Sep 2012, 13:42 pm
@willievz-51: Oops, meant Boland.
24 Sep 2012, 13:44 pm
@cane-52: The Brumbies won the Super under his coaching. As for the WC, get over it:-) You guys weren’t good enough then to make it through and we were the best.
24 Sep 2012, 13:51 pm
@cane-52:
he made it to a rwc final in 2003.
where were you guys then?
making up stories for your loss or busy perfecting the cheaters code?
24 Sep 2012, 13:55 pm
Naka Drotske on Heinrich
One mistake the Boks have made, according to Drotske, is not to pick Heinrich Brussow, and Drotske believes there is a fallacy that Drotske is a one-dimensional fetcher.
“I would always pick Heinrich. There is this fallacy that Heinrich can’t be a ball carrier and he can’t defend, and that he’s only a ball-stealer. But I think that isn’t true, Heinrich is an unbelievable ball carrier and nobody ever gets momentum on him on defence.
“In fact, he is the guy who gives us the most offensive hits week on week — because he drives players back in the tackle. I think the fallacy is there because he is smaller, and because of that people think he can’t be a ball carrier and can’t defend — but I beg to differ on that one. If you’re talking about a player who can only be a fetcher, and who suffers on defence, then I agree, but that isn’t the case with Heinrich — he can do all three well.”
24 Sep 2012, 14:00 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-57:
We had an off day.
This happens sometimes.
Us…… and Your lot, having an “off day” does not make Eddie some kind of Guru.
24 Sep 2012, 14:03 pm
@mikeybrass-56:
Correct,we were not good enough, too many injuries and playing the wrong players.
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-57:
2003,you were still suckling on titties, while your first two words were “refs fault”
No one cares what you have to say.
24 Sep 2012, 14:04 pm
@willievz-58:
drotske wishes he was a one dimensional fetcher.
he was a mediocre hooker, and thats being kind.
a fetcher he was not.
24 Sep 2012, 14:14 pm
@cane-59:
off day making a rwc final?
i’d say your lot have had rather an awful lot of those.
for us it was a case of being straeulied.
24 Sep 2012, 14:16 pm
Judas Jones’s had a 57% winning ratio with the Wallabies.
His predecessor Rod McQueen had a 79%.
John Connolly followed Eddie managed 64%.
Guru or big mouthed chump.
I’m staying with…………………………….chumpion.
24 Sep 2012, 14:17 pm
@cane-59:
agreed on ‘fast’ eddie though.
he built himself a reputation and nobody knows why.
@Hurricane-60:
i got something for you to suck right here…
and a top o the morning to you too, hurri old scum
24 Sep 2012, 14:19 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-61: Yes that was a typo from the website I copied it.
The focus should be on Heinrich.
24 Sep 2012, 14:20 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-62:
We have a 66% winning ratio of winning WC finals.
The exception was 1995.
When our team was poisoned.
While guests in your Country.
And it still took extra time for your lot to put us away.
24 Sep 2012, 14:21 pm
@cane-63: Given their resources and lack of proper rugby culture, and that they consistently play against the ABs and Boks, I’d say 60% for an Aussie coach is a good percentage.
For the Boks it should be around 75%.
For the All Blacks, it should be around 85%.
24 Sep 2012, 14:24 pm
steve erwin was one irresponsible farknut, pic of him feeding a croc while holding his infant son in the other hand.
the boy looks like a good lad though.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4553453/Steve-Irwins-son-Robert-follows-in-fathers-crocodile-feeding-footsteps.html
24 Sep 2012, 14:24 pm
@cane-66: Nope. You have a 50% winning record in WC finals.
1995
2011
24 Sep 2012, 14:24 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-64:
Eddie is great with the media.
Best there has been from a rugby perspective.
24 Sep 2012, 14:28 pm
@willievz-67:
They are a canny lot Willy. (that means they are smarter than your average rugby nation ………………….by far).
24 Sep 2012, 14:28 pm
@cane-71: No question about that!
24 Sep 2012, 14:34 pm
@willievz-65:
i know
@cane-66:
always fiddling things you kiwis.
nz in 7 apperances have only won two
sa in 5 appearances have won two.
dont make me convert the percentages.
24 Sep 2012, 14:36 pm
interesting thread, seems to be many SA fans who think the WC is the be all and end all..
wonderful, me, I prefer my team to go 14 tests without a loss, to be totally outplayed yet still win, to have ten year no loss records against places like England, to have never lost to Scotland or Ireland, ti be 4 from 4 in the RC, to have 10 3Ns titles compared to our closest competitors 3, to probably be the team that wins the INAUGURAL rugby championship, like the inaugural world cup..
thats what I want my team to be able to do, not manage a measly 47% record in 7 tests..
24 Sep 2012, 14:39 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-73:
Yes.
But WE are the current Champions of the World.
And have been the number One (1) ranked IRB Nation for so many years I cannot recall how many.
Your lot on the other hand finished 8th= in 2011.
24 Sep 2012, 14:39 pm
if only they could do it cleanly
shame
24 Sep 2012, 14:41 pm
@cane-75:
funny the reaction from around the world was muted.
24 Sep 2012, 14:41 pm
@poppa69-74:
That’s all good stuff Poppavitch…………………………………………….
but hey,
throw in a RWC.
And things a sweeter even still.
24 Sep 2012, 14:47 pm
If the ABs beat Argentina this weekend, then Soccer City may host the first time in the world that one player reaches the 100 test match wins
and it would be his 112th test..
thats an amazing stat, and explains why there is so much hatred for the man from our dumbed down cousins at the bottom or @rse end of Africa (seems fitting by the way)
24 Sep 2012, 14:49 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-77:
Mute all they like Bakkies.
It is etched in gold.
forever.
2011………….NZ.
2007………….The Republic of Eye Gougers.
2003………….Old Blighty.
1999………… The Cousins.
1995………….The Conspirators.
1991………….The Cousins.
1987………….NZ.
24 Sep 2012, 14:50 pm
a 100 wins in a 100 filthy ways….
blegh
no thank you
24 Sep 2012, 14:50 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-73: Actually, they have won 1 in 5 WC appearances.
There were mini-competitions in 1987 and 1991, where the world toyed with the idea of having many nations compete in a single tournament.
24 Sep 2012, 14:51 pm
@cane-80:
and rugby is the poorer, caner
which is sad really
24 Sep 2012, 14:52 pm
@poppa69-79: 100 test wins, in 112 tests.
That is an amazing statistic.
24 Sep 2012, 14:53 pm
@STBUR-44: Well done
24 Sep 2012, 14:53 pm
@willievz-82: hehehe if we invited you you guys would have probably tried to beat, kill and oppress the brown brothers in our and many other teams, it was your way at the time..
not our fault your knuckles were still dragging along the dirt road..
24 Sep 2012, 14:54 pm
@poppa69-86: forgot the smilie
24 Sep 2012, 14:54 pm
@willievz-82:
i mean seriously, the only remotely credible competition they had in 87 was maybe oz and france.
24 Sep 2012, 14:59 pm
@willievz-84:
nothing amazing about it, willy.
nothing amazing at all.
the level of filth they’ve gotten away with from about 2001/2 makes it pretty much a certainty.
24 Sep 2012, 15:00 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-88:
Oz and France are still the only competition we remotely have.
24 Sep 2012, 15:05 pm
@cane-90:
funny we’ve beaten you more times in the last 20 years than the two of em plus the rest of the world put together.
remotely credible indeed….
24 Sep 2012, 15:05 pm
47-33 is the only scoreline that counts, and thats been increasing too
24 Sep 2012, 15:06 pm
@willievz-84: and who said crime doesn’t pay?
Seriously, a great player. Had the pleasure of chatting to him a couple of times in the Shongololo Lounge at ORT and is a well pleasant bloke.
I he was a saffa he’d be the best on the planet (without cheating of course
)
24 Sep 2012, 15:14 pm
always fiddling things, typical….
its 35 – 47 isnt it or 34, since pe?
24 Sep 2012, 15:17 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-91:
In the last 20 years.
NZ’s winning record against:
Australia………….. 69.4%
France…………….. 65.4%
Eye Gougers……. 67.4%
The crucial factor, being the importance of the games France has won against us.
24 Sep 2012, 15:17 pm
@trupisero-93:
no, i would never have supported a filthy macaw led bok team.
i have nothing but the highest praise for john smit, an exemplary leader through and through.
24 Sep 2012, 15:18 pm
@cane-95:
And the Impotance NZ places on the Bledisloe Cup.
24 Sep 2012, 15:19 pm
@cane-97:
And the fact that France and Australia have never deliberately poisoned our team.
24 Sep 2012, 15:20 pm
@cane-66: Like they were “poisoned” after loosing the Bledisloe cup in 1994 too. Me thinks you can only cry wolf once.
24 Sep 2012, 15:23 pm
@cane-95:
we’ve beaten you 17 times since 89
how many times have oz and france together beaten you since then?
you play a mean fiddle…
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