Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
NZ NZ

Analysis: What makes the Springboks edge defence so hard to crack and the play that cost England in the final

By Conor Wilson
(Photos/Gettys Images)

“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near” – Sun Tzu, Making Plans – The Art of War

ADVERTISEMENT

During this uncertain and torrid time, boredom can often creep in. The mind can wander, and it’s not enough for us to keep physically fit, but to regularly stimulate and fire up our mental side as well, to prevent us from going mad in our wise, but incredibly tedious self-isolation.

When we think of rugby players and coaches, most of whom are embedded in the unrelenting routine of physical exercise and study, this can manifest itself in workaholics like Eddie Jones and Ian Foster being driven to new heights.

This is because they know they’re not world champions, and not number one, whereas the Springboks are world champions, number one, and have a defence that the rest are going to have to beat to attain this place.

What is exciting is that this defence is innovative, and therefore as we will show, teams are going to have to come up with something outside of the box to beat it.

The Fist and catch-up

Whilst the details of the ‘fist’ defence has been described, we need to show what the Boks do that makes their defence so hard to beat.

This involves exploring the dynamics of their ‘catch-up’ and how their make-up allows them to consistently snuff out wide opportunities.

ADVERTISEMENT

Like all astute defences, Jacques Nienaber has his tight five defending close to the ruck, his back row and jackals further out, and then on the edge, the backs in either a 2-3 split as seen above, or the 1-4 split as shown below.

In terms of backfield defence, they fluctuate between a 13-2 and a 12.5-2.5, with Faf de Klerk playing the ‘adjusting defender’ role that we will discuss later.

ADVERTISEMENT

This defence is incredibly effective at stopping ‘modern pattern’, with decoy pods and deep play a necessity for it to work.

This defence is just very good at covering all the likely options that structure is designed to present, with even grubber kicks accounted for. Not to mention the players South Africa have are perfectly suited for this sort of defence.

The ‘Catch-Up Defender’ (CUD)

The ‘catch-up’ portion is the dynamic the backs execute when the overlap is on.

The Bok defence on the edges is very unique. It is so successful, because it has so many accurate decision-makers within it, with de Klerk, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe and Jesse Kriel being instrumental in its efficiency.

It is a very strong ‘out-to-in’ rush, with the two edges – be it their ‘two’, ‘three’ or even ‘four’ – set starting wide and moving in in a rampant rush to push the attack back inside towards their jackals.

This doesn’t account for the backfield defender, who also comes up in standard pendulum formation.

This means the angle of the hit allows the Boks a greater chance of making the tackle and gaining dominance in the hit, as they’re not meeting it head-on, but re-diverting.

The catch-up dynamic is designed to put the first receiver under pressure, but the real pressure is placed upon the second receiver. The catch-up defender is whichever player is in line to close down the second receiver.

The second receiver assignment is the do-or-die tackle for the Boks, as executed by Jesse Kriel below.

The second receiver is a playmaking back who takes the pass behind a decoy forward pod, providing the link for the dangerous outside backs.

By cutting him off, the danger is nullified.

In each of these examples, we see the defenders in the catch up close down the second receiver, snuffing out the wide opportunities.

These defenders are often the last two in the defensive line. This is where the magnificent decision-making comes in to make it all work.

If the decoy by the attack is run wide enough, the second man in will have to bite, leaving the second receiver for the winger, Cheslin Kolbe, below.

 

As we can see here, the second man in leads up (Handre Pollard), but the man outside him (Cheslin Kolbe) stays in line with him, only moving past when the next pass is given.

Against Australia, this was shown to great effect.

They come up as a line, each player is coming on their out-to-in line and moving past the inside defender as the pass is delivered. This means each receiver fields the pass under intense pressure.

If the rush also involves the loose forwards, that means the third and even fourth receiver can come under pressure as he takes the ball, as there are more defenders to come in and pressure the pass.

The Adjusting Defender (ADJ)

The adjusting defender is a very unique concept that was responsible for holding England out in the final, and is often given to halfback Faf de Klerk.

At the start, we stated that South Africa half switch between a 13/2 and a 12.5:2.5 in terms of backfield defence.

It is the principle by which the Boks reload an undermanned edge when the opposition has the overlap on the far side.

As we know, many teams are engrained in structure. An overlap might be on, but the ‘three-pod’ off No. 9 is too well-drilled, and a team will carry instead of going wide to the space.

Here we see Jesse Kriel push Handre Pollard to move out to the opposite edge as Wales have numbers going back left.

The Welsh pod carries, buying time for this reload to complete before the ball gets wide.

Against Scotland, we see Kriel fulfil the role of the ADJ.

This overlap is down to an error on South Africa’s part.

After first phase ball, the Boks are supposed to reload their edges in a split decided by the defensive captains.

On this occasion they did not, meaning Pollard should have been on the far edge. Kriel moves over to fill the gap and join the catch-up portion.

However, he doesn’t get there in time, this means the catch-up can’t snuff out the second-third receiver link and the ball gets out wide, eventually leading to the try.

It was the result of a system error, but Scotland went wide immediately, at a good depth of alignment to get around the midfield rush in particular.

This gave them the time and allowed space that nowadays, the Springboks are too well-drilled to give them.

Rugby World Cup Final 2019

De Klerk saved South Africa on multiple occasions during this game, and his responsibilities and freedom as the ADJ meant he could make act as he saw fit – and he did.

He saved a few chances, and a try that could have swung momentum in England’s favour.

We see de Klerk here acting as the sweeper for the kick through. England’s prevalence to target the blindside meant this was a very real danger, and his placement here allowed this option to be covered.

He starts here, before England prepare to work the numbers.

The problem is that England’s alignment off No. 10 is not what it needs to be to exploit this and, more importantly, the first phase play off No. 9 is very well telegraphed, meaning de Klerk gets one hell of a head start to circle round to the opposite side.

The ball is passed to Ford who is put under severe pressure.

He chooses the right option and passes deep to Elliot Daly, who is in the best position to unlock the wingers in Jonny May and Anthony Watson.

A grubber from Daly here would’ve seen Watson potentially score, with de Klerk a slight chance to obstruct the kick lane.

A floated pass to Watson on a much flatter alignment and greater width would have put him in, but these would require difficult skill sets that are hard to execute under normal circumstances, let alone a final.

The pass is too lofted, allowing the defence to close in on Watson and force England to register a big net loss. It was a pivotal moment to prevent England from scoring a try and eventually settle for three.

However, there are ways an attack can break down this defence which will be covered in part two. To beat this regularly, there will need to be a huge focus on unusual skill sets and innovation, as well as changing the structure of an attack quite significantly.

But it is possible, and with what it’s going to take, will be very exciting for the game.

ADVERTISEMENT

Join free

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | Episode 6

Sam Warburton | The Big Jim Show | Full Episode

Japan Rugby League One | Sungoliath v Eagles | Full Match Replay

Japan Rugby League One | Spears v Wild Knights | Full Match Replay

Boks Office | Episode 10 | Six Nations Final Round Review

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | How can New Zealand rugby beat this Ireland team

Beyond 80 | Episode 5

Rugby Europe Men's Championship Final | Georgia v Portugal | Full Match Replay

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
Jon 2 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

35 Go to comments
j
john 5 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

15 Go to comments
A
Adrian 7 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 9 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
FEATURE
FEATURE Luke Cowan-Dickie: 'I didn’t feel right. I felt like I was going to pass out. Everything was going black in front of me' Luke Cowan-Dickie: 'I didn’t feel right. I felt like I was going to pass out. Everything was going black in front of me'
Search