De Kock: Time for Elton Jantjies to be the rocket man for Springboks
Reflecting on the 2021 Rugby Championship, it was a strange tournament from a South African perspective.
The reality is that the Springboks could and should have won three out of four matches in Australia, but they ended with a solitary victory and would have been disappointed to finish third.
However, having been locked up in a bio-bubble since July 2 with players and management living an unnatural existence, the fact that all their tour matches, except one, were on a knife’s edge speaks volumes.
To conclude the tournament with a win over the All Blacks on the Gold Coast was impressive in light of many people predicting that the floodgates were going to open up in the last test.
It underlines the mentality and resilience within the current Springbok squad. They dug their heels in and were determined to get a positive result.
In the first test – the centenary test – the Springboks did everything right in terms of creating enough pressure and putting the All Blacks in positions they didn’t want to be in. In the 101st test, the Boks made the switch by taking their opportunities on attack.
As far as the kicking game is concerned, I don’t think the whip was being held over the Springbok players’ backs in terms of execution.
Any coach that is running a professional team needs the buy-in from players, and every week that the Springboks play, there will be a mass buy-in from the players in terms of Jacques Nienaber’s tactical methods.
Even if there is a bit of resistance from players, the large majority will buy in and the minority will go with the game plan. By all accounts, a coach is dead and buried if he doesn’t have buy-in from his squad.
If you aim to lead professional players and want them to execute the plan, you need them to believe that what they’re going to do will work. There’s no doubt in my mind that, between Jacques and Rassie Erasmus, it’s done on a weekly basis.
The Springboks’ next assignment is a three-test tour to the northern hemisphere to face Wales, Scotland and England in November.
I don’t think there will be massive changes from the Springboks on a tactical front. However, it goes without saying what weather conditions the Springboks are likely to face in the UK this time of the year.
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The Boks will stick to what they did well in the Rugby Championship even though it frustrated many people. It’s about the Boks layering their game and taking those opportunities that are on offer.
If Faf de Klerk has to undergo hip surgery and is ruled out of the year-end tour, it will be interesting to see who is entrusted to launch the Bok game plan.
Cobus Reinach has put his hand up every time he has played for the Springboks and the fact that he is based up north adds credence to his selection. He is a great athlete and I think we might see more of him.
Herschel Jantjies will also be in the mix but, given Reinach’s European experience, the latter might just get the nod.
Handre Pollard is still my man to play at No 10. A brief hiatus after a gruelling four months will do him good. He will be champing at the bit to get back out there and to the level that he usually plays at.
I wouldn’t necessarily look to replace him at flyhalf, but this may just be the tour for someone like Elton Jantjies to also have a run out and take responsibility.
There has been talk of Jantjies at 10, with Pollard shifting to 12 but it’s safe to say that South Africa’s midfield partnership of Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am is pretty solid. I don’t see them moving away from that.
When looking back at Springbok history, I believe they will go down as one of the best Bok centre pairings. The more they play together, the more effective they become as they feed off each other.
Between the two of them, they have a bit of everything so I wouldn’t fix what isn’t broken, but we may see Pollard shift to 12 and Jantjies come on at 10 depending on what the game requires.
In terms of Erasmus, who will have his World Rugby misconduct hearing on 30-31 October, for the Springboks’ sake, I’m hopeful that he receives a fine of some sort and a warning not to transgress again rather than a ban so he can join the team on tour.
Japan coach Jamie Joseph has named 10 uncapped players in his 37-man squad for internationals against Australia, Ireland, Portugal and Scotland.https://t.co/JJJdNOzNXv
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Some people are suggesting he needs to be dragged over the coals, while others are saying it’s making a mountain out of a molehill.
I don’t believe that what Erasmus did is massively punishable and I would like to think that he will travel with the touring party next month.
In this day and age, you can certainly operate remotely but I feel it would be beneficial for the squad to have him there in person.
Rassie’s presence in camp is always welcomed by the side and he adds an extra five percent in terms of what the team wants to achieve.
Following an 11-year career with Saracens, which saw him earn 264 caps, Neil de Kock now works in the rugby division at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport in South Africa. De Kock, who featured in 10 test matches for the Springboks, provides RugbyPass with expert opinion and insight focusing on the southern hemisphere sides.
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Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
26 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
26 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
26 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
26 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
26 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments