Greater freedom for flyhalf Lambie
21 Nov 2012
RYAN VREDE, in London, reports Heyneke Meyer has given Pat Lambie the directive to stand flatter and attack more with ball in hand in a bid to get the best out of him.
There were widespread cries of relief when Lambie was installed at pivot ahead of Morne Steyn for the first Test of the tour against Ireland and then given the backing of his coach through three Tests. However, it was also lamented that Lambie would have to temper his natural attacking instincts to suit the Springboks’ pragmatic method.
Lambie attempted to play that down prior to the Lansdowne Road Test, saying that there was a flawed perception of him as a running flyhalf, arguing that his game was more rounded than that. However, on the evidence of what he has produced tactically in the last fortnight, his kicking game is certainly more work in progress than it is finished article.
Lambie has proven to be potent when taking on the defensive line himself or creating opportunities for his outside backs and this is what Meyer hopes to see more of against England at Twickenham on Saturday.
‘It’s a huge ask, there’s this perception that when you put a young player like Pat in he is immediately going to be a world beater. That doesn’t happen at this level. The defences are too well organised,’ he said.
‘But I’ve had a long one on one with him and told him to play his natural game. He has always been a guy that takes on the line and plays really flat. He played too deep in Dublin and Edinburgh. I’ve said to him I want more on attack, I want him to get the backline going. Its a test for Pat going forward, but I really need a good performance from him on Saturday.’
Meyer’s instructions to Lambie and the inclusion of Elton Janjties ahead of Morne Steyn on the bench suggests the Springboks will seek to keep the ball in hand far more than they have for most of this season. Certainly privately the coaching staff feeling there are a couple of defensive vulnerabilities in the England backline, particularly at flyhalf, where Toby Flood has been exposed against elite opposition.
With the forecast for cold but clear conditions at kick-off, the Springboks will be assisted in their cause to ‘play’ more. However, it would be wrong to expect an expansive and open approach from the tourists, who will still be very cautious in their territory, taking minimal risks but then looking to be more adventurous deeper in England’s half.
It is of course a tactical path that has worked well for them at the venue in recent history, with 2008′s 42-6 win achieved in this manner. Peter de Villiers picked an abrasive pack that day and they gave a mediocre backline an excellent platform from which to test their hosts. This mirrors the situation the Springboks find themselves in at present, with a highly cohesive and powerful pack attempting to service a backline that has yet to inspire.
Perhaps it will come on Saturday, with Lambie tasked with playing a central role in any such demolition.
72 Comments
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21 Nov 2012, 19:15 pm
@STBUR-48: no clutching as meyer had jantjies & lambie idling on the bench…my point was/is meyer was in the process of f.cuking up – insisting with msteyn – to have been concerned with easing goosen into Test rugby…he had to hit his head firmly against the wall to make any sort of redress to the stuff up…
that is reactive!
21 Nov 2012, 19:31 pm
@STBUR-48:
.
“Half the people on this site were also clamouring for Johnson, Daniel and Burden.”
Please don’t exaggerate. A few suggested Johnson and only the minority, but vocal, Sharks supporters pushed Daniel and Burden.
21 Nov 2012, 19:32 pm
@David-52:
Sorry, Daniels.
21 Nov 2012, 22:00 pm
There seems to be quite a disconnect between Meyer and Lambie – and most of the backine players for that matter.
This latest quote by Meyer seems to imply that Lambie was lying deep on his own accord. I for one, would refute that completely.
Just two weeks earlier Lambie is quoted as saying that he was been working on his tactical, pragmatic approach and Meyer came out and said that his tactical kicking had improved, hence picking him. So clearly he had his instructions of what was expected from him.
If Meyer came out and said I wanted him to lie deep and play tactically and now I want him to play his natural game, that would be a far more logical and constructive statement to make, but to imply that pressure is making him stand deep is total garbage. You only have to look at how flat Lambie was on his debut flyhalf performance – with a pack that was back-pedalling big time – in 2011 in NZ. He got rave reviews in a losing cause.
21 Nov 2012, 23:23 pm
@bokfan1-43:
‘Stupidest post” ….clearly you haven’t read any of tacklers posts
its ok to be an HM apologist but his ****** record with the boks speaks for itself.
Wow an 86% kicking record for Morne in practice wow … and it didnt translate to anything on the field …well duh! if you pick a 10 who’s only saving grace is he’s ability to kick and not create play for the rest of the team ala Dan Carter /Goosen/Lambie thats exactly whats going to happen in the real game when the pressure is on. he’ll start missing all his kicks and then what ?
a coach who changes a few things is making adjustments a coach who changes everyhting hasnt a f’ing clue
21 Nov 2012, 23:40 pm
Perhaps teh context of standing flatter only relates to teh par where teh Boks are in the opposition 22 (which we have been a lot without getting points). For the rest of the game, its business as usual… and I think this would be correct.
22 Nov 2012, 01:58 am
@David-52: yeah and of the bloody 3 only Johnson deserved a look in – Daniel hasnt been able to make the step up at international level after numerous opportunities and Burden just collects splinters. Id rather have a Schalk Brits or Deon Fourie in the team than Burden if we wanted to pick a like for like player. Add to that the fact that the queue for a look in at hooker is rather long Burden is way down the pecking order at present. Johnson offers, good ball carrying with size and speed and is an all round dynamic player. Considering our lack of an outstanding number 8 an extended run for him would have been something that may have beared some fruit in the long run.
22 Nov 2012, 02:03 am
Hallelujah! Meyer seems to be making some correct decisions of late . At this rate we may end up with a decent team by the time the next Rugby Championship swings by. In one week we have gotten rid of CJ and Morne and Lambie and Juan are both getting another crack. Taute is being kept on the bench instead of being played at 13. We have a true opensider playing at 6. We have a decent eigthman playing now. Lambie has been told to play his natural game – he was definitely under a directive to play the conservative game so this is a good sign. Now we only need to draft in a decent scrummie, Get Houghaard off the wing and replaced by a proper wing, get Jean back to 13 or better yet out the team and find a decent fullback. Hope Gurtho improves his game this week. His standards have definitely slipped a bit since being over in France.
22 Nov 2012, 02:06 am
@boktillzero-10: This is a good thing mate. I have hope.
22 Nov 2012, 02:09 am
@pokkel-28: ja that is my biggets worry – someone needs to tell Jean to wake the f up. He´s the problem in our backline.
22 Nov 2012, 02:12 am
@STBUR-31: maybe the issue with the kicking is not that we kick more. Therein lies the deception. Maybe it should be said we kick more on attack cos i´ll be damned if we dont kick the ball away every time we have a go at the opposition gifting possession in the process. There is a difference and a large one at that.
22 Nov 2012, 09:28 am
O we go again; this player or that player to change the complete pattern of the Boks play. Will Lambie’s “freedom” also translate to the Boks not giving scrum penalties away? I see rugby as a multi faceted team game comprising set pieces, possession, attacke and defence but with a multitiude of complex and selectively applied rules. Meyer has to develop an extended squad that understands, is trained in and buys into all his ideas for the game and keeps developing.
Then he, and his assistants,presumably as the best available in SA, have to be able to get each player to understand where he fits in, drill his actions and improve him (previously think Habana, F Steyn, Brussouw etc). To me, this is one area where Meyer has come up short so far. The only stand out performers seem to have stood out in CC and S15 etc (Etzebeth, JPP, maybe Strauss, Alberts and Flo). Quite a few have gone backwards (Morne, Lambie, Hougaard even Pienaar and a few forwards). Players with the potential of Potgieter etc haven’t stood a chance.
We wait to see what Lambie’s “free dom” means and whether it will be enough for the same weary Boks to weather a heavyweight Pommie onslaught.
22 Nov 2012, 09:40 am
@Slumtown-61: Excellent post Slumtown.
I would also add that we only use 1 kind of kick (on attack) ie the box kick / up and under type of kick.
If we have to kick on attack so much we could at least vary our kicks with chips, grubbers etc so we are not soooooooooo predictable.
22 Nov 2012, 09:54 am
@Slumtown-60: Yep,I’ve been saying all along,Jean is the problem in the backline at the Stormers and now at the Boks,it’s obvious.
22 Nov 2012, 10:57 am
@Slumtown-57: Don’t talk KAK. When Daniel got his chance, where was he playing? By far the majority of his appearances where as FETCHER! He never has been and never will be an open side flank. Your argument is as valid as suggesting that Bismarck is rubbish if he couldn’t perform at tighthead.
22 Nov 2012, 11:19 am
@Blokkies-63: lately i have seen a few cross field kicks but yes in principle too many up n unders. Its really getting long in the tooth – especially on attack – whatever happened to the chip n chase of Habana?
22 Nov 2012, 11:20 am
@Superbru-64: yep been saying it for years. Thats why we played nominally better with him at 13 – he seems to let go of the ball a bit more and also gains a few more metres with the extra space provided taking the ball at 13.
22 Nov 2012, 11:21 am
@umfezi-65: off the scrum yes that would make a difference – what about the rest of the game? He has been average at best. Sorry man take the Sharks blinkers off.
22 Nov 2012, 13:04 pm
By: Tank Lanning 2012-11-22 10:35
Quite a surreal day yesterday as I “watched”
Heyneke Meyer announce his Springbok team to
take on the Poms via Twitter on my phone while
sitting at the press conference where Paul Treu was announcing his Blitzbokke squad for the Dubai and Port Elizabeth legs of the IRB Sevens series.
And after enjoying a truly enlightening hour long chat with Blitzbokke stalwart Paul Delport on my Front Row Grunt radio show yesterday evening, it seemed worth jotting down a few comparisons between the two codes…
While Meyer announced an unchanged run on side with Elton Jantjies replacing Morne Steyn on the bench being the only unenforced change to the match day 23, Treu was making light of losing
Seven-a-side legend Cecil Afrika while speaking
highly of new boys Kevin Luiters and Warren Whiteley.
Meyer has been open about Jaco Taute’s best position being fullback, but is not keen to give him (or others like Lwazi Mvovo or Raymond Rhule) a run for fear of making too many changes and handing out Bok caps wily nilly.
It has long been my opinion that South African XV-a-side rugby players are not as well conditioned as their peers Down Under or, swoon, even up north in the Mud Island. My thinking confirmed by both Brendan Venter and Rassie Erasmus in answer to my query as to why SA sides do not play a more expansive game that attacks the channels out wide.
This in complete contrast to the Blitzbokke, who have added some fantastically innovative drills and initiatives (like wrestling with Coenie Oosthuizen and hypoxic training with Hannelie Prinsloo) to their industrial training regime. Delport reckons it takes some time for the XV-a-side boys to come to terms with the training when they join the squad.
The lack of basic skills in our rugby players is
another bugbear of mine, with the fact that
schoolboys are playing to win and climb much
published rankings rather than entertain being a key factor.
Delport confirmed this, saying that guys come out of school or age group rugby not able to pass both ways, throw 40m skip passes, or run basic attacking lines that allow you to play off the man with ball in hand. Treu and his coaching team spend hours and hours on improving the player’s skill set as that is what seven a side rugby is all about. You simply cannot rely on physical dominance and a monster box kick!
I have been calling for a central contracting system where SARU contract either all the professional players in the country (like they do in new Zealand), or at least the broader group of Springbok players for a while now as I see it as the only way to enforce the player management needed given the ludicrously long season.
The Blitzbokke do that, and while initially paying
peanuts (less than a Vodacom Cup player), Delport says that has now changed, meaning that he can make a living as a specialist seven-a-side player.
Sure, it is on a much smaller scale, but to my mind, the shorter code is leading the XV-a-side guys in four key areas: Embracing young talent, conditioning, improving skills, and contracting.
Far from being the afterthought they once were,
perhaps it is now time for SARU to use the
Blitzbokke’s methods as a guideline for managing
the Springboks?
22 Nov 2012, 13:14 pm
@mamma_lou-69:
with the fact that schoolboys are playing to win and climb much published rankings rather than
“entertain” being a key factor.
only thing i don’t agree with as i believe its not about entertainment, but rather having a balanced attack and not just one string to your bow. if you do it well enough then it becomes entertaining
22 Nov 2012, 13:20 pm
listen to meyer school kid!
what a disaster.
22 Nov 2012, 18:13 pm
@boktillzero-55: I must apologise for my use of “stupidest” – not a nice thing to say to a fellow Bok-lover. And ja – Tackles can definitely stun with some of his chirps
Just to clarify – I am not a HM apologist at all! If anything I wanted PDiv to get another 4 years, and even before that I wanted Jake to be kept on, or Mallet to take over in 2012.
I expected more from Heyneke, as I think we all did. But I am sticking up for him on this point you brought up.
We need to support him and the team. We should praise, applaud and reward every step taken in the right direction.
And any coach would start the best kicking flyhalf when the team plays like the Boks do.
Its like PDiv in 2010 – no coach wouldve changed the team, yet when they got klapped in 3Ns everyone went crazy. Hindsight is an exact science, but the man who has to make the hard decisions in real-time as they happen, needs to be supported. Our team must be supported. And when the coach shows the realism and humility to make the necessary changes then it is certainly NOT “caving in”
BOKKE!
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