Boks still in search of balance
12 Nov 2012
RYAN VREDE, in Edinburgh, writes the Springboks continue to exhibit the foundation for success with excellent defence, but are no further to curing their attacking deficiencies.
The Springboks would have looked on enviously on Sunday when the All Blacks further underlined the gulf that exists between them and other elite nations in the game. Their benchmark team excelled on attack, running in six tries in their 51-22 victory over Scotland.
They are what coach Heyneke Meyer envisions his team becoming, but while they pale in comparison from an attacking perspective (more on this shortly), defensively they compare favourably with the world champions.
Indeed only Richie McCaw’s superlative team have consistently troubled and unhinged the Springboks this season, scoring five tries against them in two Rugby Championship Tests. However, a review of the Springboks’ Dunedin defeat will show individual errors at the heart of the Blacks’ two tries.
Central to the Blacks’ success against their traditional rivals is their ability to match and often dominate them physically at the gainline. Certainly it would be remiss not to note their unmatched capacity to punish from broken-field situations, but their primary threat is rooted in their array of world-class strike runners, whose power is accompanied by intelligence and awareness in the tackle and the constant presence of support runners. They’ve tormented the Springboks in a manner no other team they’ve faced has.
England scored five tries in the three-Test series during the Springboks’ formative phase under Meyer in June, Argentina and Australia were blanked for tries at Newlands and Loftus respectively, while Argentina crossed the chalk once in Mendoza.
On Saturday in Dublin Ireland simply could not breach the Springboks’ tryline, despite completely bossing territory and possession in the first half and having a one-man advantage just before the break. Ireland huffed and puffed, but the Springboks’ house increasingly appears to be built on a solid foundation and engineered with formidable features like belligerence, physicality (at times brutality), work rate, accuracy, communication, trust and, at times, desperation.
Openside flank Francois Louw continued to underline his value to the Springboks with another strong showing at the breakdown, but it must also be noted that the team has benefitted from Duane Vermeulen and Adriaan Strauss’s contributions in this facet of play. The trio became more prominent as the collective improved their tackle fight in the second half at Lansdowne Road, each effective in slowing the recycle, which in turn regularly allowed the defensive line to set, while Louw forced crucial penalties when Ireland threatened on attack.
I’ve written before that this should be a cause for optimism for the South African rugby fraternity. The world’s best sides have built their success on defensive solidity. However, that cannot mitigate the Springboks’ continued sterility on attack. They returned to their strengths – abrasive and patient forward play – to score their only try of Saturday’s match, but were uninspiring for the bulk of the contest, as they have been for most of the season.
A lack of platform or opportunities (statistically they’ve spent more time in the opposition’s 22m than any team in the world this season) are not problems. Meyer is privately concerned about the lack of X factor in his back division but has concerns about the size of men like Juan de Jongh (among others), whom many believe has that quality. How he solves that problem remains to be seen, but it is a matter of urgency. Expect this to improve moderately should more of his first-choice players be available in 2013, but it is essentially a coaching and selection issue.
Here’s hoping this problem doesn’t become chronic. For now, much confidence can be drawn from their strength of their defensive game.
243 Comments
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12 Nov 2012, 09:09 am
pick Rory Kleinveldt … with Steyn, Morkel & Philander there, how bad can it go? And ANC will be delighted! – one more quota …. then BOOM!!!!!!
12 Nov 2012, 09:09 am
@goodstuff-94: Stick Lobbe in a team like the ABs and he’ll make read look like Warren Brosnihan.
12 Nov 2012, 09:10 am
@stormersboy-100: I don’t know. Did Leguizamon tour? He’s another world class loosie.
12 Nov 2012, 09:10 am
@Sasuke-99: He looks it.
Built like a Staffie.
12 Nov 2012, 09:10 am
@katman-86: I saw the game and Vermeulen did force a penalty by trying to steal the ball and on numerous ocassions added to slowing the ball. I believe the last 20min?
12 Nov 2012, 09:10 am
@Mongril-64: Louw played 7 for years and has many other skills besides being an out and out fetcher. With Biz, Louw and Fourie or Brussouw on the park you’d rule the breakdown. Alberts is not merely a 7, he a hybrid 4/7 similar to Andrew Venter. He has also proven to not have the puff to keep up with test rugby for 60+ minutes at 7. At the moment we have 1 quality lock in SA and an abundance of quality loose forwards. Our loose forwards need to be alot more mobile than they currently are.
12 Nov 2012, 09:10 am
@katman-86:
not treu,
he won one penalty deep in our 22, i cant remember how close to the try line but it was pretty close. and i’m sure he won at least one more in the course of the game.
12 Nov 2012, 09:12 am
@katman-102: If you say so, Lobbe is good, but Read is technically much better and I believe stronger and faster.
Lobbe just has more heart and passion than any sonofbith playing the game, that is for sure, also I think he is an amazing leader.
#1 Read
#2 Lobbe
12 Nov 2012, 09:13 am
Take New Zealand out of the equation – who are in a different league to any other team in the world right now – and we are probably the top team amongst the remaining Tier 1 nations at the moment.
The challenge is to work towards closing the gap with the Kiwis over the next couple of years.
12 Nov 2012, 09:13 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-107: Yup, Katman just bias.
12 Nov 2012, 09:13 am
@katman-103: I can’t remember, we’ve had so much Rugby this year it’s becoming a blur.
There was some controversy about one of them not wanting to tour here.
Eish the brain she’s not yet awake.
12 Nov 2012, 09:14 am
@Tacitus-109: I don’t know, the Frenchies look pretty good at the moment.
Michalak has been transformed by his time at the sharks. Played a blinder against the Deans bragade.
12 Nov 2012, 09:15 am
@stormersboy-100: Refused to play for his national team?
12 Nov 2012, 09:15 am
Interestingly our winning margins against Ireland has never been what most expects it to be. We have had a quite a number of tight ones but Saturday we got out of jail. had the Irish been able to field a full strength team we would’ve been slaughtered.
Katman I agree with your sentiments on DV. Watched him specifically and I cannot see what the so called experts see. Taute at centre…..still to impress me. Not working imo. I liked the 4 and 5 combo we fielded on Saturday. Made a lot more sense than Parkiepiel with Etzebeth.
Lambie had a average game but solid enough barring his kicking that let him down now and again but the pitch was not the greatest either but I reckon HM should give him another shot.
12 Nov 2012, 09:15 am
@Slartibartfast-31: I was under the impression that Jdup was injured. Ruan is also not the answer at 9. With the team I have proposed with players to plan an extremely quick paced game with mobile forwards and attacking backs, Hougaard would be an entirely different prospect. The best thing he could do for his career would be to go play for the Freestate as they would suite his natural style.
12 Nov 2012, 09:16 am
@WP-Forever-84:
its only 9:15, i’m sure you’ll get it out eventually.
12 Nov 2012, 09:16 am
@garth-115: I agree (and have always maintained) with you on Ruan at 9. He’s way too static, doesn’t impress me at all.
12 Nov 2012, 09:17 am
@Sasuke-113: Yes, too tired to go look it up to be honest.
12 Nov 2012, 09:18 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE-114:
I couldn’t watch the game, so on Sunday morning I only watched the 2nd half on the recorded version.
Frankly, we completely dominated that half. So if you aren’t influenced by the disappiontment that the poor first half clearly was, and look at the 2nd half as the true state of our team at the moment, then we look much better than the Irish.
If we take the 2nd half form into the Scotland game, I would fancy a 20 point win against them.
And if we can build some cohesiveness in that game, we can take the English on with confidence as well.
12 Nov 2012, 09:19 am
@stormersboy-111: Here as in S.A. I know Leguizamon was injured for a few games.
12 Nov 2012, 09:19 am
@Tacitus-119:
“I couldn’t watch the game, so on Sunday morning I only watched the 2nd half on the recorded version.”
How convenient.
12 Nov 2012, 09:20 am
@Tacitus-119: That explains a lot.
12 Nov 2012, 09:20 am
@WP-Forever-121:
What’s that supposed to mean?
12 Nov 2012, 09:21 am
What did you guys think of Lambie?Should he get another shot?
12 Nov 2012, 09:21 am
@Tacitus-123:
You’re an intelligent person (with two Masters degrees, I believe it is you told us).
I’m sure you can figure out what I’m trying to say.
12 Nov 2012, 09:21 am
@stormersboy-122:
As I said, take the Kiwis out of the equation. They are in a different league.
You think our guys struggled to motivate themselves for this game? Look at how motivated the Aussies were. The fact that we managed to get it together for the second half is a hall of a lot more than the Aussies managed to do in their 33-6 whipping, or whatever the score was.
12 Nov 2012, 09:22 am
@The Beast-124: For sure
12 Nov 2012, 09:22 am
@WP-Forever-125:
Are you implying that I’m lying about not seeing the first half? Or what. Spell it out for me.
12 Nov 2012, 09:22 am
@Tacitus-126:
hall = hell.
12 Nov 2012, 09:25 am
@Tacitus-128:
No.
I’m saying it’s convenient for you not to have seen the first half, which explains your bullish attitude about the current Springbok coach and gameplan.
Nobody is as blind as he who does not want to see.
12 Nov 2012, 09:25 am
We are giving Australia unneccesary momentum here.
12 Nov 2012, 09:27 am
@Sasuke-113: @stormersboy-118: The French have been guilty of refusing to let their foreign players go to play internationals, even after the IRB told them they had to. Might have been an Argie in the french league? I see they claimed one of the Fijian props was injured and couldn’t play against England, and then he ran out for his club (Castres?) on the weekend. Now the IRB have told the club he’s not allowed to play for the duration of the NH internationals.
12 Nov 2012, 09:27 am
@The Beast-124: Yes he should he played well. Jantjies should also get some game time this weekend and Rhule. Maybe 10 or 20 minutes.
12 Nov 2012, 09:30 am
@WP-Forever-130:
So you’re saying that the first half is a true measure of what this team is capable of? Therefore the second half should not be considered?
It seems to me, then, that you are on the lookout for signs of how bad this team could be, whereas I’m looking at how good we could potentially be.
That’s a strange way of thinking, my friend.
12 Nov 2012, 09:30 am
So when we were losing in the first half it was all Meyer’s fault and when we turned it around in the second it was all down to the players?
Where have I heard that before?
12 Nov 2012, 09:31 am
@katman-132: Damn frenchies. So the Rugby Championship clashes with the Domestic European league? This might see some Argentinian players plying their trade in Super Rugby. I wont mind that guy that scored the first or second try against Wales, I think it was Imhoff, great step to leave halfpenny for dead.
12 Nov 2012, 09:31 am
@Tacitus-119: “I couldn’t watch the game, so on Sunday morning I only watched the 2nd half on the recorded version.”
you are such a bullshitter!
now games are cut ‘n paste in to “ignore the 1st half and only concentrate on the 2nd half” bwahahahahahahahaha
how low is your esteem for our coach and team? yoh
12 Nov 2012, 09:32 am
@gunther-135: P Divvy era
12 Nov 2012, 09:33 am
Taute is looking sluggish at 13. You can see he isnt enjoying himself there.
Getting stepped and rounded by everyone because he’s not used to the defensive technicalities of the position.
Put him at 15, JdJ at 13 and put Hougaard on the bench. Those would be the only changes I would make.
Along with Beast returning next week obviously.
12 Nov 2012, 09:35 am
A key factor in performance in rugby in the modern game is not necessarily the amount of possession, but the appropriate use of possession.
Effective play by a team like New Zealand is based on being capable of stringing together complex sequences of play from whatever point of origin of possession. The most effective play in terms of tries scored or penalties obtained is achieved on a team puts together at least two or three phases together.
The All Blacks score most of their points from possession gained on turnovers at the breakdown or from the ruck/maul, or in broken play i.e. counter-attacking from opposition errors, than they do from set-pieces. Defense at set-pieces is much better organised, it is much more likely to score during the second or third or later phases from a set-piece.
The All Blacks approach the game as follows:
- they engage in less ruck/maul situations, but when they do form them, they commit numbers effectively and always produce quick ball.
- when the initial set play produces penetration of the opposition defence, it is more likely that a complex sequence of play will produce effective continuity.
- kicking on attack can either be very effective or extremely ineffective (kicking away possession), if the ball is recovered after the kick, a try is scored approximately 90% of the time (just look at Julian Savea’s second try against the Scots).
The New Zealand coaches always have as a first preoccupation to make the players as effective as possible in broken play. Their players understand the game of movement so that they can understand each other when it comes to tactical decision-making. New Zealand produces players able to adapt their game to the reality of the opposition, with skills, enabling them to assume any role in either attack or defence.
In short, their players are empowered to make their own decisions and play the situation and what is in front of them.
Under Heyneke Meyer, the Springboks do exactly the opposite.
12 Nov 2012, 09:36 am
@Sasuke-136: Ja, both Imhoff and Camacho were in great form.
Saw a feature on Rugbydump about Wales training at the Olympic training centre in Poland – out in the sticks in a forest, with plenty of snow. Very high tec facilities, including these freeze chambers where the players spend 3 and a half minutes at temperatures of minus 170 degrees. God knows how much they spent on their preparation for these internationals, only to get thumped by the Argies.
12 Nov 2012, 09:37 am
@WP-Forever-140:
Most of that comes from a seminal paper by Pierre Villepreux in 1993 called “Decision Making in Rugby”.
12 Nov 2012, 09:37 am
@katman-132: Might have had something to do with that, those Frenchies do have the habit of being a little “annerste”.
12 Nov 2012, 09:38 am
@Transformation-137:
You can go back to the game thread, where I asked guys to keep me posted of events as I wasn’t able to watch the game.
When I heard how events played out, I didn’t feel like sitting through 40 minutes of agony the next morning, so skipped to the second half where by all accounts we actually played pretty well. Which was indeed the case.
Not sure what the bullsh*t is in the above.
12 Nov 2012, 09:39 am
@Tacitus-126: But we shouldn’t be taking them out of the equation, that’s the point. We should be measuring ourselves against them, in all aspects, including motivation.
Let’s not get into the habit of playing for 2nd here.
12 Nov 2012, 09:43 am
@stormersboy-111: leguizamon didn’t play in Cape Town and in Mendoza if i recall correctly…he started only against the All Blacks in Wellington.
12 Nov 2012, 09:44 am
@gunther-135: Got that same kak here yesterday as well. Down the lines of “under JdV the situation was rescued”
Funny how the same dose will not give JdV stick when things are going kak.
Klomp werfetters
12 Nov 2012, 09:44 am
Here’s some more:
“The forwards must first and foremost play like forwards, but also be able to handle and run like backs; conversely, the backs must also be able to drive into the opposition like forwards and guarantee winning or maintaining possession.
Practise
There are three types of practices:
· Technical approach: focus on individual skills
· Fun approach: play from a very individual perspective
· Tactical approach: developing players in a game situation
Technical approach
A technical approach, based on the practice and development of technical
individual, unit and team skills (passing, catching, rucking, mauling, line-out,
scrum, etcetera), leaving the players to discover how these skills are linked
together to produce dynamic play, through the games they play in.
Pleasure
Playing for the pleasure of playing, for example at school in recreation time when there is no direct coaching input: there are no scrums or line outs, just play with the simplest of rules; in this case, individual initiative is very important, but this kind of game will only help the player to develop as an individual, and will do little or nothing to create a total team performance.
Tactical
A tactical approach – the one we are proposing – which requires that the players learn how to play effectively in practice by playing the game itself, both at the level of the beginner and of the high performance player. At all levels, the game in opposition is used to develop the player and the team simultaneously, including both technical and tactical skill development. The technical skill is in fact the outcome of a clear understanding and acceptance of the demands of the game.
Technical skill by itself is of little use, if it is not used at the right time, in the right place and in the right way in the sequence of the game. This tactical and
technical work could be done with a lot of different practices, for example:
The complexity of the exercises is a function of the level of the players’ ability.
The coach creates the initial situation and the problem to be solved; the players respond positively or negatively, and according to his/her perception of how the players perform. The coach must change the level of difficulty of the practice, to make it more or less difficult and complex.
Game situations are related to the:
· Team
· Unit
· Individual
Interpretations of the problems by the players can result in positive or negative actions. The coach gives feedback at this time.
Practices are carried out either just as in the game, or through controlled practices; the objective of these practices is to develop decision-making among the players (ACT-REACT-ADAPT). They include the forms 15 v 15 (with much reduced numbers at the beginner level), forwards against forwards, backs against backs, etcetera, taking into the account that at the beginner level, there no are forwards or backs, just players.
This does not mean that it is not necessary to work to develop the game from set play, but, at this moment, we enter into the area of strategy, which is not the subject of this presentation.”
12 Nov 2012, 09:44 am
@Transformation-146: Thanks. Those Argies all look the same to me.
Like villains from a bad Cheech and Chong movie
12 Nov 2012, 09:46 am
@stormersboy-145: Very true. Show me a happy loser and I’ll show a born loser. Tweede tel fokkol, vra maar n bokser.
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