Boks striving hard for cutting edge
14 Nov 2012
RYAN VREDE, in Edinburgh, reports Springbok forwards coach and technical analyst Johann van Graan says the evolution of their attacking game will take time and is dependent on a range of factors.
The Springboks’ attacking method has been widely lamented as being overly pragmatic and bordering on conservative. Their focus on gaining territory through tactical kicking has, however, reaped considerable reward. Their time spent in the opposition’s 22m compares favourably with the All Blacks, the difference being how clinical the world champions have been once there.
On Monday Heyneke Meyer lamented the ‘unacceptable’ return of tries considering their opportunities in what he described as the ‘goal zone’. ‘The top teams in the world get points when they get in there,’ he said. ‘It may be a coaching or inexperience thing, but it has to improve. We get in the right areas and we get clean ball, but we don’t convert.’
I’ve maintained that the the focus of the criticism of the Springboks has been wrong. How they get into the opposition’s 22m has been targeted, but what they do with possession while there is the real problem.
It would be remiss not to note the affect injuries, (particularly among the back division) have had on the team’s attacking potency. There has never been a settled combination, while three different flyhalves have started, with Elton Jantjies coming on as an early replacement at Soccer City.
However, how they resolve this deficiency should be a matter of great concern. They’ve desperately lacked imagination, flair, unpredictability and precision when shifting the ball wide. Van Graan, who is also involved in the attacking play, said they had a vision of a preferable outcome, but stressed that there are prerequisites for them to get there.
‘You don’t get the end result immediately, its a process. As soon as you get into a winning habit, combinations settle and you gain experience as a team, you can start evolving,’ he said. ‘There have been some massive moments in our game development, with Bryan Habana’s try in Soweto being a prime example of where we want to go with our game. But game development is about tweaking the small things and surprising the opposition like that.’
The Springboks have relied heavily on their rolling maul as an attacking weapon. However, denied the territory they covet against Ireland in the first half on Saturday, they looked impotent and rudderless. They recovered well and were able to hurt Ireland with their rolling maul. But Van Graan warned that this facet of play will come under stern examination against Scotland at Murrayfield once more.
‘It is a big part of the our game. Our base is so vital and the tight five work hard to keep that base up. Once it is then they can’t sack you. From there it’s technique and synergy. It’s when we use it and where you use it,’ he said.
‘You also have to show respect to the opposition, most of the northern hemisphere teams stop the maul quite well by blocking off your middle and back options, and give you the front ball. They hit and sack you there. So you have to be clever and perhaps take a risk.’
He also noted the Scots’ focus on stifling the recycle at the breakdown. They succeeded in patches early in the game in this regard against the All Blacks, before the tourists stepped up their tackle fight and consistently got over the gainline to deny them a crack at the contest.
Van Graan continued, extolling their hosts’ other strengths.
‘They’ve shown that once they get into the 22m, it doesn’t matter how good the defence is, they can keep the ball. They did that quite well against the All Blacks. They’ve also got some big runners in the backline and their mauling and lineout is one of their big strengths. We’ll have to be clever in countering that,’ he noted.
167 Comments
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13 Nov 2012, 23:34 pm
HuggyTree
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:35 pm
“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind.
Some come from ahead and some come from behind.
But I’ve bought a big bat. I’m all ready you see.
Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”
13 Nov 2012, 23:36 pm
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…”
13 Nov 2012, 23:36 pm
For the fighters and haters.
“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:37 pm
“Think left and think right and think low and think high.
Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!”
13 Nov 2012, 23:37 pm
“From there to here, from here to there,
funny things are everywhere!”
13 Nov 2012, 23:38 pm
“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”
13 Nov 2012, 23:39 pm
“I meant what I said and I said what I meant.
An elephant’s faithful one-hundred percent!”
13 Nov 2012, 23:39 pm
“You’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So… get on your way!”
13 Nov 2012, 23:40 pm
“So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact.
And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed)
Kid, you’ll move mountains.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:41 pm
“You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:41 pm
“We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:42 pm
“When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles
and the bottle’s on a poodle and the poodle’s eating noodles…
…they call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle
bottle paddle battle.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:43 pm
“You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:44 pm
“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs,
is making a chore for the reader who reads.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:45 pm
“I know, up on top you are seeing great sights,
but down here at the bottom we, too, should have rights.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:45 pm
“He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:46 pm
“The storm starts, when the drops start dropping
When the drops stop dropping then the storm starts stopping.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:46 pm
“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:46 pm
“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”
13 Nov 2012, 23:47 pm
“Christmas doesn’t come from a store,
maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more….”
13 Nov 2012, 23:47 pm
“And the turtles, of course…all the turtles are free,
as turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:49 pm
“It’s opener, out there, in the wide, open air.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:50 pm
“Today you are You, that is truer than true.
There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:51 pm
“You are you. Now, isn’t that pleasant?”
13 Nov 2012, 23:52 pm
“Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:52 pm
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:52 pm
“Being crazy isn’t enough.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:53 pm
“I’m glad we had the times together just to laugh and sing a song,
seems like we just got started and then before you know it, the times we had together were gone.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:54 pm
“Remember me and smile, for it’s better to forget than to remember me and cry.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:55 pm
“Think and wonder, wonder and think.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:55 pm
“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.
I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues.”
13 Nov 2012, 23:57 pm
(Acknowledgements to fairfax.news.nz….)
” It was only Scotland.
That statement will have been repeated around New Zealand since the All Blacks started their end of year European tour with a stylish 51-22 win at Murrayfield.
This week the final word in that phrase will change to Italy, but the sentiment will be the same.
Though there may be an element of truth, it’s a tad unfair to a team that continues to set the standard in world rugby.
If anyone is wondering, the Scots were no walk in the park for the touring squad.
They were immensely big men, pumped with the adrenaline of 67,000 locals and the will to honour their war dead with a courageous performance.
Victor Vito said after the test that he was unsure if he’d played against a bigger or more physical forward pack other than the Springboks.
And yesterday, as the team boarded its charter flight for Rome, the toll taken on the bodies of those who played was evident.
Tamati Ellison could barely walk because of a suspected broken toe, while Ben Smith’s swollen eye socket seemed to get blacker and bigger with every hour.
In Italy another sizeable forward pack awaits. “Every test match there are sore bodies and the Scottish were exactly the same,” lock Sam Whitelock said. “We made a number of tackles for extended periods so there’s definitely some sore bodies, necks and shoulders.”
Yes, the All Blacks are more skilful across the park, more capable of seeing space and of playing what’s in front of them. No, that does not mean their tasks in Scotland and Italy are easy.
Two years ago the Scots bounced back from a 49-3 loss to the All Blacks by beating the Springboks the following week.”
Deja vu on its way, perhaps?
13 Nov 2012, 23:58 pm
“Through three cheese trees three free fleas flew.
While these fleas flew, freezy breeze blew.
Freezy breeze made these three trees freeze.
Freezy trees made these trees’ cheese freeze.
That’s what made these three free fleas sneeze.”
14 Nov 2012, 00:00 am
“When you’re in a Slump,
you’re not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.”
14 Nov 2012, 00:00 am
“Don’t grumble! Don’t stew!
Some critters are much-much,
Oh, ever so much-much
So muchly much-much more unlucky than you!”
14 Nov 2012, 00:01 am
“Don’t give up. I believe in you all.”
14 Nov 2012, 00:03 am
“You ought to be thankful a hole heaping lot,
for the places and people you’re lucky you’re not!”
14 Nov 2012, 00:03 am
“To the world you may be one person;
but to one person you may be the world.”
14 Nov 2012, 00:08 am
“It’s not about what it is, it’s about what it can become.”
14 Nov 2012, 00:10 am
“Poor empty pants
with nobody inside them.”
14 Nov 2012, 00:11 am
“I’m afraid that sometimes you’ll play lonely games too.
Games you can’t win ’cause you’ll play against you.”
14 Nov 2012, 00:12 am
“They say I’m old-fashioned, and live in the past,
but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast!”
14 Nov 2012, 06:51 am
bwahahaaaa
Wiliban … not Taliban (aka Make Love not War):
***-scandal-terrorist-act-collapse-our-military-budget/" rel="nofollow">http://jobvoucherplan.com/2012/11/13/will-a-***-scandal-terrorist-act-collapse-our-military-budget/
14 Nov 2012, 06:59 am
Seems the loonies have taken over!
14 Nov 2012, 07:02 am
@Angostura-144: hmmm
looking at that link (***), I see s_e_x is a banned word
this a mutha grundy site? Jannie Kruger the web master?
anyway, in that link, *** = s_e_x (sans the underscores, of course)
14 Nov 2012, 07:13 am
Mark, Roy, who-the-heck-ever-cares…
Using my mobile because i can’t login online… Keep getting malware warnings… Followed the warning link and seems you have been polluted by two other sites: bcozindia.com and 61.19.251.0.
Sort this out guys… will not be chatting on Keo again till you fix this and post that you have fixed it… pretty sure anyone else who values their computers information security will be reluctant to chat on Keo too.
Dont be typically arrogant and ignore this… Let us know when it is sorted.
14 Nov 2012, 08:04 am
@pie eater-73:
Cheers
I enjoyed the smile
14 Nov 2012, 08:22 am
@ufo-147:
I think the malware monster ate them all…
I blame Ryan for accessing those s e x sites from his hotel room in Edinburgh. That is what happens when you let certain people roam around unsupervised!
14 Nov 2012, 09:08 am
“‘There have been some massive moments in our game development, with Bryan Habana’s try in Soweto being a prime example of where we want to go with our game. ”
I agree that was a great try but it did involve bobbled ball which was touched on the fly by McCaw and possibly another AB, so it’s execution was far from clinical.
Also the final pass to Habana was well forward which I assume Meyer will want to work on that as well.
So as good as the try was, it was hardly what I would single out as THE “where we want to go with our game” moment.
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