Rugby fans must move with the times
17 Oct 2012
JON CARDINELLI writes that supporters and reporters pushing for an out-and-out attacking philosophy have zero appreciation for the current laws and trends.
You cannot go to a Stormers or Western Province press conference nowadays without hearing the same questions being asked. ‘When is the ball going to get to the wings? Why aren’t we playing rugby like the great Province team of the 1980s?’
Allister Coetzee had fewer grey hairs when he first started as head coach. Every week since he’s had to listen to ignorant and misinformed reporters whining about running rugby. He’s also had to endure criticism and accusations that the Cape side play a boring brand.
Springbok and WP captain Jean de Villiers looked exhausted when he faced the media last week, and perhaps that’s what caused him to forget protocol when answering this question for the umpteenth time.
De Villiers pointed to the Super Rugby competition as an example, where the Stormers had finished top of the 16-team league. Why, De Villiers asked, would they change a game plan that allowed them to win the South African conference? Indeed, it was just a week or so before De Villiers’s return that an experimental and more attacking approach had cost WP in a Currie Cup match.
The Stormers and WP are not the only teams to be criticised in this manner.
Bok coach Heyneke Meyer’s game plan is considered by many to be overly conservative. I’ve watched Meyer closely when he’s been asked about the game plan, I’ve seen him roll his eyes. The reporters have asked him, they’ve begged him, to change tact. Why oh why, they pleaded, couldn’t the Boks play attacking rugby like the All Blacks?
These people haven’t got a clue.
The All Blacks won all six of their Rugby Championship matches, and it was before that final match at Soccer City when Meyer made special mention of the New Zealanders’ defence. Their record in this year’s tournament will show that they’re the best defensive side by some distance, having conceded just six tries. After the game at the Calabash, Meyer again paid tribute to that defence, as well as the game management of flyhalf Dan Carter.
The All Blacks may be the finest attacking team on the planet, but their defence and kicking game has been the bedrock of their success. This has allowed them to win the 2011 World Cup, as well as the 2012 Rugby Championship, and has put them into a position to break the record for the most consecutive Test victories.
The All Blacks conceded one try per game in the Rugby Championship. The tournament average was 1.83. It’s clear the All Blacks were a cut above in this department, but when you compare this stat to the averages of lesser competitions, it confirms that defences are harder to crack at the elite level.
The defence may be weaker as you drop down the tiers of competition, but the common denominator is that the best defensive teams in the respective tournaments either go on to top the log or win a trophy. It wasn’t a surprise to see the best defensive teams finishing in the top six of the Super Rugby league. The round robin phase of the Currie Cup recently concluded, and wouldn’t you know it, the teams with the best defensive records have advanced to the play-offs.
One level down, and it is the Eastern Province Kings who have topped the First Division log, their unbeaten record closely correlated with defensive stats that read 27 tries conceded in 14 matches, 19 tries fewer than the second-placed Pumas.
Coincidence? I think not.
What rugby supporters need to understand is that the current law set prescribes an outstanding defence and kicking game as the key ingredients to any title surge. There may be instances where a team doesn’t execute effectively on the day, as has been the case for a few Cape teams over the past few seasons, but that doesn’t mean that the game plan is at fault.
The fact that teams like the All Blacks and the Sharks have enjoyed such try-scoring success shouldn’t detract from their defensive strengths. The Sharks started to come right towards the end of the Super Rugby competition when they embraced a balanced approach (they altered their previous strategy which had placed too much emphasis on attack). In the 2012 Currie Cup, they have finished the league in first place, having scored the most tries and conceded the fewest.
If you can wrap your head around these trends, you will realise why the Bok game plan is not flawed. I’m not saying the Boks are exempt from criticism, but rather that they should be judged and scrutinised within this framework.
Does Meyer have the right personnel for this game plan? Are the players executing the game plan efficiently? These are the questions the intelligent rugby supporter should be asking, not when the Boks, WP or the Bulls are going to start running the ball from their own tryline.
If you don’t like the way the game is played nowadays, by all means channel your aggression into a strongly worded letter to the IRB. The world’s coaches and players develop their game plans according to the laws. If the rules were tweaked so that the breakdown wasn’t such a lottery, perhaps more teams would take more attacking risks in their own half. There would be less kicking and more running.
For now, that remains a pipe dream. As long as the rules remain as is, teams will continue to place an emphasis on kicking and defence. It’s something that rugby fans must learn to accept: that there are no prizes for losing beautifully.
Follow JC on Twitter
Follow SA Rugby magazine on Twitter
270 Comments
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 » Show All
17 Oct 2012, 05:51 am
Question:
How long has the Bok played this same game plan?
And has it paid off?
17 Oct 2012, 05:59 am
Bring back Morne, play to your strengths.
17 Oct 2012, 06:07 am
Nice article JC well written and well presented – if I read between the lines then you are pointing to the Cape media and accusing them of ignorance for hounding not AC but Heineken too. Rolling your eyeballs at them for calling for Lions rugby!
Now my only critisism is that you did not name and shame these fools. Just name them and the people will do the rest. Start up a facebook campaign called “get rid of Gavin Rich” for instance or “get rid of Ryan Vrede” or “get rid of (insert name here)”.
If this is going to make life easier for coaches and captains then just do it JC.
17 Oct 2012, 07:00 am
Breaking news…..
A Bekker and T Liebenberg out of EOYT…
Blood D Fourie Heyneke!
17 Oct 2012, 07:07 am
@grant10-4: what happened to Bekker – brokeback again?
Bring in Franco vd Merwe Heineken and recall Chilliboi.
17 Oct 2012, 07:14 am
@RL-5:
Chilli should be picked ahead of Liebenberg anyway…
If they are heading to Europe why not call on Mostert…
17 Oct 2012, 07:22 am
How much rugby has Chilli played of late?
17 Oct 2012, 07:27 am
Hey skopshyte, your nemesis The Sharks have been classed alongside The All Blacks for their style of winning rugby.
That must make your job of building longdrops that much more pleasant this morning cochise…
17 Oct 2012, 07:32 am
Since when has having a strong defence a game plan?
17 Oct 2012, 07:47 am
What is the point of this article? I cannot recall anyone demanding that we neglect good defense in the pursuit of try scoring. In fact, most people asked that the playing strengths of the Stormers be combined with more try scoring. The Boks’ pathetic defensive showing in certain situations has even lead to calls for a change in coaching personel with regards to the defense. Also the fact that people complained about AIMLESS kicking and not kicking in general seems to allude the esteemed writer.
So who exactly are these fans that must move with the times?
17 Oct 2012, 07:49 am
allude should be elude naturally.
17 Oct 2012, 08:00 am
Well Meyer can role his eyes all he wants ,what he is doing is certainly the way forward!
Under Meyer the Boks have looked disgraceful on defense .Their attitude on individuals tackles and failure to stick to some fundamentals on defense has been the hallmark of our failures. Meyer roles his eyes HAHA
People aren’t calling for a complete turnaround in Springbok philosophy ,but they are calling for some changes ,because they have recognized how potent we stand to be with some variety in our game; something PDV bought to the table.
Stormers/Wp defense (use of double tackle and defensive patterns) with Sharks attack ,is the harmony we are looking for.
17 Oct 2012, 08:01 am
@Craven-10: Exactly !
17 Oct 2012, 08:02 am
@Craven-10:
Exactly!
17 Oct 2012, 08:03 am
Its easy to defend against a kak attack like the boks’.
Nobody is saying go all out attack, what the majority is saying is stop kicking the ******* ball at every opportunity with this skop en jag kak.
Great defence coupled with a more ball in hand approach can work – we don’t need up and unders all flippen day and call it “tactical kicking”
The Sharks play the closest to this approach in SA, and is it any wonder they are the form side in SA this year?
17 Oct 2012, 08:03 am
JC missing the point.
Balance is what most fans are begging for.
Strong defence
Good tactical kicking but not overly reliant on the boot
Reliable set pieces
Awareness of space and a willingness to run through it ran than straight into opponents
Ability to offload in the tackle with a system geared towards continuity of ball movement and not just dying with the ball at the first glimpse of contact.
Skrik wakker JC, waar kyk jy jou rugby?
17 Oct 2012, 08:07 am
@wpallday-13:
He he, you share my sentiments.
17 Oct 2012, 08:08 am
read some of the filthy cheating kiwis responses regards bryce.
typical knee jerk denial, so nothing new there.
i just dont have the time to educate them, too busy.
17 Oct 2012, 08:10 am
@wpallday-12:
“something PDV bought to the table”
say what..?..
17 Oct 2012, 08:17 am
@wpstormerbok-16: @trupisero-15: @Craven-10: good posts gents
17 Oct 2012, 08:17 am
@grant10-4:
D Fourie neither strong enough in the tight nor at scrum time. Very good in the loose but AC doenst even play him at 2 for Province.
That in itself tells you something.
Besides, isnt he going overseas? HM wont blood a player who has just signed to go play 2 seasons in Europe.
17 Oct 2012, 08:18 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-18: Brycie is blaming the convict o’Neil for his downfall – said he was “influenced” by the criminal and that is why he let the real cheats get away with murder.
17 Oct 2012, 08:18 am
JC should realy have asked what the fans wanted or meant. This would save him from looking like a toss.
17 Oct 2012, 08:24 am
@Craven-10:
well said.
also, it should be said that kicking in general has been poorly executed too often. by this i mean it was badly effected and not that it was aimless.
some of pienaars kicks not only gave us no net gain per se but they were not the best possibly weighted in distance, height and time of travel so much so that the idea of kicking it into a 50/50 situation (sans possession) from which we would/could compete is actually reduced considerably as a percentage due to the kicks being poorly executed.
pienaar was not alone in how high the number of poor kicks was in total and as a percentage of all kicks.
17 Oct 2012, 08:25 am
boks to lose one, maybe two games on tour
guaranteed…
17 Oct 2012, 08:26 am
Isn”t it ironic that a few times now some strong up and coming players have decided to move overseas just as their game kicked up a notch, and have that coincide with a spate of injuries in his position, thereby opening the door up for a call up to the national squad, only to have this limited by the fact that the player is moving?
Gerhard Mostert
Francois Louw
Deon Fourie
it’s like rain on your wedding day….
17 Oct 2012, 08:27 am
@John Galt-21:
The reason AC doesn’t play Fourie at 2 is that we don’t have a fit 6, whilst we do have 2 other hookers.
17 Oct 2012, 08:27 am
this article is stupid
i dont there was one person on this site calling for an all-out attack approach?
17 Oct 2012, 08:35 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-18:
You just talk rubbish,nothing what you say about NZ is worth reading anyway.
17 Oct 2012, 08:42 am
@Hurricane-29: hehe when was it ever? hes too busy is afrikaans for the nurses are coming back so he has to get off their computer and back into the straight jacket
17 Oct 2012, 08:46 am
@RL-22:
gotta larf at these kiwis.
as if anyone actually believes any of the kak they talk on here.
well, they do have one or two local all black loverboys, and grant.
17 Oct 2012, 08:51 am
19.i_love_u_bakkiesbotha
You are nothing but a meat head. Go see your mother and get a bib to wipe up all the dribble that comes out of your mouth.
17 Oct 2012, 08:54 am
@stormersboy-26:
i thought to myself well there’s an odd old saying, ‘its like rain on your wedding day’.. because i cant say i have heard it before….
and so i googled it, and guess what.. i got a full page of responses on alanis morrisette…. sjoe!
you’re a stormers supporter, right..?..
17 Oct 2012, 08:58 am
@Hurricane-29:
then by all means boet… scroll on by….
@poppa69-30:
*whispers*
i see dirty all blacks…
17 Oct 2012, 09:00 am
Agree with some of the above comments regarding the article. No fan in his right mind is calling for total attack without a rock solid defense and kicking game. But the clue here is a TACTICAL kicking game. We are playing mostly up and under rugby or kicking poorly tactically. The other key to our gripes are when the backline have the ball they rarely ever look dangerous like the All Blacks do. So what are we supposed to do – just be happy with the drivel thats served up as SA rugby for us? You, Heyneke and AC can take a hike. Our concerns are vaild and theres nothing stupid about attacking more in a structured manner instead of always kicking possession away.
17 Oct 2012, 09:02 am
Jon, ever since rugby was played defence was/is important, just do not confuse defense with attack, surely both are important. Yes good defense, especially attacking defense, allows for more ‘free flowing’ attack. Please do not equate expansive/multi purpose (AB’s and to less extent Sharks) attacking rugby with ‘ball to the wings’ and other useless one liners that scare the hell out of conservative S.Africans. At the AB test in NZ we lost because we did not use our potent back line (what the hell are great runners like Habana/de Villiers/Hougaard doing there, making up the numbers?) when the situation required us to RUN. Twice in the 2nd half M Steyn got ball in the middle of the field ± on our 10 meter line in brocken play (±ie the good AB defense was not properly in place and there was superior Boks numbers for that fleeting moment) and he kicked both times – the result the Ab’s received the ball and hoofed it many miles down the touch line and both times our lineout was ± worse off than where Steyn kicked it from.
Did not watch much of the Stormers this year but the few games i did watch they left many potential tries on the table playing it safe including the semi vs the Sharks. The Bulls second/third Super titles they played conservatively but also attacked in multi purpose ways including using the backline often and tellingly. SA has the backs they just need to be used/trained and multi skilled, that breeds confidence and then we will without doubt match the ABs. Not to look good but to win good, tries do this check out the ABs and also the 2nd test vs the Aussies, which you lot wrote us off as winning because the Aussies were so bad. However a worse Aussie side the week later in Argentina gave them a smack, not bad for a side written off but our SA ‘experts’. Thus our multi attack/winning rugby vs the Aussies was written off as easy and not relevant as we played a ‘weak’ team – rubbish.
Brent
17 Oct 2012, 09:03 am
I actually agree with JC on this.
The AB’s have a history of racking up an insurmountable lead once they get a roll on, so keeping the game close is a key.
SA, and particularly the forwards, seem to have trouble staying with the AB’s for the full 80 minutes against the AB’s if they get any sort of a lead more than a single scoring movement, like a converted try.
Why is that?
As far as I can tell, the “basic” skill levels of SA are about the same, and the game plan has been proven it works early in the match and even deep into it, provided the score is close.
17 Oct 2012, 09:07 am
@Brads-37: So if its true then pray tell how do the All Blacks “rack up said insurmountable lead”? By keeping it close? Pfff.
17 Oct 2012, 09:07 am
@Black Power sucks white pride-32:
could you be a little less constructive..?..
17 Oct 2012, 09:10 am
Here is a great article from THE ROAR
The Ellis Park home crowd waited with anticipation for the kick off on the 15th of August 1992, when the Springboks met New Zealand for their first international encounter since the Apartheid ban.
South African greats such as Danie Gerber, Naas Botha, Uli Schmidt, Wahl Bartmann and a number of other veterans took on a game All Black side.
South Africa had 10 debutants on that fateful day when New Zealand won by 27-24, the narrowest of margins.
The South African public would have taken a lot of confidence out of that performance and would have believed that South African rugby was as strong as ever, until of course the next weekend when the then world champions Australia thrashed the Springboks 26-3 at Newlands.
Perhaps it was an omen that a new world force had risen during the self-inflicted international hiatus.
But 21 years on, has South Africa improved?
Back then provincial rivalry was staunch, understandable as the Currie Cup was the alpha and omega for South African rugby players and public, it ultimately influenced the manner in how selections were made. Internal politics, nepotism and favouritism reigned supreme.
Looking at the record of the Springboks over the past 21 years it makes for complex and contradictory reading.
Two World Cups, three Tri Nations titles, and four Super Rugby trophies does entertain the thought that there were some successes along the way, but when you delve deeper and ignore the win ratio of 63% (including a superior win record over all nations bar the Wallabies and All Blacks) then it seems little has changed.
We still face a system that discourages collective thinking, the Super Rugby franchises rarely do anything for the good of the collective, politicians interfere regarding ‘non-existing’ quotas, administrators behind closed doors make rash decisions with scant regard for the consequences and supporters are rarely being kept in the loop regarding the clandestine workings of the inner circle.
If Dr. Danie Cruyven would be able to come back for a visit, what would his opinion be about where we find ourselves 21 years later?
We still haven’t been able to evolve our game plan, we still believe in the Neanderthalic approach to ball carrying and lo and behold, the kicking fly half is still revered as the Messiah in South Africa under many supporters.
IRB player of the year (2007) Bryan Habana has learnt how to circumvent the stoic game plans and has found other methods of scoring tries, be it by intercept, individual brilliance or opportunistic chip kicks.
We score less tries per match than our two biggest foes, we have stifled great players’ instinct and vision and yet there is a strong belief among many South African supporters that we are on the right track.
It seems to me at least we are doomed to forever be contenders and never the holders of the prestigious title of best team in the world.
Is it an inherent trait of South African leaders to remain conservative and afraid of taking risks? Will we forever be the rugby nation that has all the talent in the world, but continue to waste our resources due to the inability to reach for the stars?
Will Heyeneke Meyer stick to his guns and select the young potential stars like Jantjies and Lambie now that Johan Goosen is out for the end of year tour, or we he fall back to his safety net of Morne Steyn?
It is easy to fall back to the comfort of experience, but it takes a brave leader to venture into the unknown. Will Meyer be the man who will change Springbok rugby forever, or will we wait patiently for the promised land?
17 Oct 2012, 09:10 am
The idea that all SA fans are missing the point in consideration of today’s rugby strategy is ludicrous when you view the stormers and the boks play. The chiefs won the super 15 because they had balance, between defense and attack, the ABs have been dominant for an age owing to a balance between defense, varied kicking, and attack. The issue that bok fans have with the boks is an overemphasis on one up forward runners and kicking, they more often then not won’t play the situation, therefore, they are strictly predictable to defenses. Today’s rugby rewards teams that can exploit opportunities using a composite of skills, the boks don’t. Yes defense is important but when has it not been in rugby’s history and when were the ABs ever a weak defense team?
17 Oct 2012, 09:10 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha
You are a waste of time.
17 Oct 2012, 09:13 am
@Slumtown-38:
Sorry, I don’t understand your question.
The point I made was the AB’s can, and do, run away with a match once they get a lead beyond 2 scoring movements.
The question is why can’t the Bokke game plan continue as it started?
17 Oct 2012, 09:14 am
There is only one game plan and it is …. “GIVE THE BALL TO BRYAN”
17 Oct 2012, 09:14 am
@skunk-23: Nope, not even that would.
17 Oct 2012, 09:19 am
@Stormtrooper-44:
I hope you are joking.
17 Oct 2012, 09:20 am
you cant teach an old dog new tricks..
it has to start in the junior structures for SA rugby
but it wont…
size is everything in the republic…
17 Oct 2012, 09:20 am
@Brads-37:
its simple brads, they cheat a lot and the refs dont do enough about it.
interesting to see how they adopt to the new extended tmo ammendments if its adopted at all levels as well the new rule changes.
also the big 5 priorities and when considerd that the ab’s regularly break these as a matter of course.
17 Oct 2012, 09:22 am
@Black Power-40:
That piece from Roar is quite insightful, and mirrors a lot of what I believe as an outsider looking at SA rugby.
17 Oct 2012, 09:23 am
@Black Power-42:
i want to say the feeling’s mutual but then we both would be the losers.
ag look, its not all that bad… lets atart again.
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.