Analysis: The curious case of Jesse Kriel
On the surface, Jesse Kriel looks unstoppable.
His bulging, muscular frame is popping out of his skin yet at 95kg he is lean enough to retain top-level speed. The utility back looks like he has all of the physical tools to dominate.
However, after three seasons of Super Rugby and international rugby, the 24-year-old monster has yet to really reach the potential that seems within his ability.
Granted, the Bulls haven’t been the team they once were. They have been inconsistent since he debuted and their indecisiveness over what position Kriel should settle on has hurt his ability to go to the next level – he started last season at fullback, was moved to the wing and finished the year at centre.
With the start of the 2018 season underway, are there any indications that he is about to breakthrough to become the kind of beast expected of him?
We dissected the Bulls upset 21-19 victory over the Hurricanes to find out if this is going to be the year for Jesse Kriel at outside centre.
Defence
In this match, he came up against two of the premier attacking midfielders in the competition last year in Ngani Laumape and Vince Aso.
He was more than adequate in shutting down his opposite Aso and played a big part in limiting Aso to just 21 running metres despite never tackling him.
Kriel aligned with Aso eight times during the match, pressuring him four times and forcing two poor passes and two errors. The Bulls made a notable effort to close space on Aso, generating decent line speed through the whole match to apply pressure. Kriel rushed 53 percent of the time on whoever carried opposite him, unsettling his opponent often creating ‘static’ ball and rushed decisions.
Kriel made fantastic defensive reads during the match, never losing his man or making a bad read once. He consistently predicted the back-door option and pressured accordingly.
His ability to stay connected with his inside defenders was also crucial in limiting the effectiveness of Aso and Laumape.
On this midfield scrum, Ihaia West does a successful job of getting outside the 9 and engaging Handre Pollard (10) into contact. The Bulls need to employ a slide defence to cover man-for-man all the Hurricanes players to that side. Pollard breaks ranks and engages with West – his original assignment is pushing out to cover Ngani Laumape (12).
Kriel is aware of Pollard’s adjustment and makes the same decision, staying connected and sliding back to take Laumape. His awareness and quick decision making saved a big play.
(This is the same play the Hurricanes used last year to great effect to open up Beauden Barrett’s running game we studied here).
At times, his wingers let him down by not staying in sync. Wes Goosen’s 65-metre chip and chase try came after Kriel’s line speed forced an awful pass that hit the ground and was put behind Goosen. Goosen wasn’t pressured, he was able to recover and manufactured a brilliant individual try.
His only missed tackle of the match was when Aso hit the 12-13 channel on a nice short ball on phase play inside the five. He made the correct read but Aso burst through his inside shoulder.
Other than that short lapse, our defensive analysis showed a solid defensive performance. He brought pressure on 53 percent of his alignments with the ball carrier and completed 86 percent of his tackles, of which 42 percent were dominant.
His consistent line speed forced three turnovers and his excellent kick chase and tackle of Ardie Savea was the catalyst for the Bulls’ match-winning try.
Defensively, he gives the Bulls a reliable rock to hold down the backline in the midfield.
Attack
On the other side of the ball is where the case of Jesse Kriel gets curious. His ability burst through early in this match but was left wanting in the second half.
His first touch in the game was a sublime one hand flick pass to free up his winger after getting to the outside of Julian Savea on a stutter step. Ihaia West was sucked in from the wing and Kriel created a 2-on-1 to craft a try out of nothing.
His second touch was a cutout ball to set his right-winger away before backing up inside on a support line.
Two touches. Two line break assists and one try assist.
His fifth touch was a line break off a scrum move and his sixth touch was another line break on counter-attack.
This was an explosion of attacking prowess in the first thirty minutes, with nearly every touch paying dividends. The problem is this would be all of it.
His second half was limited to two touches in phase play on the left wing cramped against the sideline, and one messy touch off a lineout on the back foot and the rest were spent securing loose possession.
There seems to be a distinct lack of enterprise by the Bulls when it comes to utilising Kriel as a weapon in attack. He was only used in any capacity on 30 percent of set-piece back plays, and 66 percent of these resulted in a line break for the team.
The vast majority (80 percent) of back plays used a crash runner targeting the 9-10 channel in close using John-Ben Kotze (11) or Burger Odendaal (12) as a blunt force runner. Often Kriel is tacked-on to the end of the play as a delayed option runner, never the primary focal point and rarely receives the ball.
The sole play used with Kriel as a flat option outside 12 resulted in Kriel getting a mismatch on the flyhalf West, shaking him off and making a clean break.
If Kriel is to become one of the best centres in Super Rugby the Bulls will need to find more ways to get the ball in his hands. From set-piece where the backs have much more space is a prime time to use Kriel’s power running at the line. To run only one play with Kriel as the primary option is astounding.
That they did not find ways to use him more in a tight contest where he was showing flashes of dominance could have proved costly.
It is widely known that in order to beat the New Zealand sides you need to score bucket loads of points. Finding more ways to integrate Kriel into the gameplan will help the Bulls become more potent in attack, especially with young flyhalf Handre Pollard back from injury, the two could form a formidable combination for the side.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
1 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
13 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
1 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
16 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
16 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
16 Go to comments