Rassie's plan - a drastic change of direction to save Springbok rugby
The rejuvenation of a traditional power in World Rugby, two-time World Cup champions South Africa, is well underway after a host of ground-breaking changes were made by SARU.
Rassie Erasmus is a man with a vision, prepared to advocate for bold changes in order to right the path of the Springboks and save them from their plight. The early changes have been refreshing, given how rugby is often held back by amateurism and lack of long-term strategic sight.
South African Rugby have realised they cannot win the financial war, so they have changed tact, working with the tide instead of against it and perhaps in the process have set a framework for a stronger playing base in the future.
Overseas clubs will be the ones to pay top dollar to their top players, while they will redirect those high salaries to secure a wider, more youthful playing base. Admirably, they won’t prevent those players that are taking the money from representing the Springboks either, officially scrapping the ‘money or country’ eligibility rules.
There might be fears that this would accelerate a player exodus however this is impractical thought. There are only so many foreign-player quotas around the world, and typically clubs paying for high-profile stars need the resume to match the paycheck. The natural supply and demand of the international player market will determine how many will go, not just how many may want to go.
If SARU can lock in the younger talent for longer and cheaper they will strengthen their system, while the national side will still benefit from the availability of superstars earning offshore.
The global leagues that are run by private owners, the English Premiership and France’s Top 14, conceivably will only continue to grow their product value or their wallets funding it. Being the first major Southern Hemisphere tier one union to concede defeat on the financial front is actually going to position South Africa in a better place for the next 10 years.
While Rugby Australia is exhausting its already-stressed budget to retain the Hooper’s, Pocock’s and Folau’s, South Africa will be working on the foundations of the next generation while overseas billionaires fit the bill for the stars. This is a Moneyball play – pay only what they are worth or less and let others ‘without a business model’ overpay.
Not lost on Erasmus is also the fact that European Rugby is closer to test match quality, meaning he has a direct finger on the pulse on their ability to perform for the Springboks if selected.
The other global club competitions run by national Unions, Super Rugby and Pro 14, have struggled with parity and are stuck protecting national interests over ensuring the overall product is growing in value, experiencing dwindling crowds and competitive imbalance. They have tried expansion as a means to add value, but like ‘quantitative easing’ you end up devaluing the existing currency. The sugar-hit wears off quickly and that tactic becomes less effective over time, destroying value not adding it in the long run.
This conflict will continue to play out with Union-run leagues, conspiring to harm the growth of them. If the private leagues continue to grow, so will the offers to top international talent. It’s a smart move now to position the Springboks to stay ahead of the curve and deal with it before the others do.
There are other unique issues that South African Rugby has to deal with that no other nation does – namely transformation. It appears that Erasmus has his eye on improving the balance of not only the player base but also the coaching base. This looks to be the greatest challenge, as it requires enforcement at the grassroots level to ensure the talent pool feeding the pro level is equally proportioned.
Although he is moving into the Director of Rugby role after this season, hopefully, the blueprint for Springbok rugby will be embedded by the time he finds his successor. Already we have seen a much-improved Bok side, very capable of winning a third World Cup in Japan, but they still need to make leaps in 2019 with little time at hand.
The win over the All Blacks in Wellington was a watershed moment, however, this wasn’t the most impressive showing. Although they rightfully won the match, it felt like a great escape and the All Blacks equally ‘lost’ it in a back-and-forth affair full of twists and turns.
The first 60-minutes of the second test in Pretoria was as dominate display as there has been over the All Blacks in the last 10 years. It felt as if they were well and truly defeated, having no control and unable to deal with the Springbok onslaught.
What was 6-all at halftime quickly became 30-13 before the visitors rose from the dead to snatch an all-time great comeback win. Lost in the post-mortem of that match was how powerless the All Blacks were in dealing with the Boks in the first three quarters.
Tactically, the Springboks figured out how their kicking game could win field position and find the grass against the All Blacks two-fullback system, using the likes of Willie Le Roux and others in the wider channels, instead of just and Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard.
Spreading the ball towards the edge forces one of the fullbacks to come up in anticipation of taking the last man, creating the window required to plug the corners. Le Roux is only two-or-three men in from the edge and possesses a lethal passing game, so every time he has the ball Barrett or Smith has to rush up, as you cannot give Aphiwe Dyantyi or Cheslin Kolbe a head start.
They also used the set-piece, or a phase or two after, to kick for territory when Barrett defends in the front line leaving Smith as the only man deep.
The All Blacks never got into the game in the first half as the Springboks controlled 75% of the territory and the few attacking opportunities they did get were spoiled by turnovers.
The Springboks broke the wall early and often in the second half, getting ahead 23-6 before trading tries to lead 30-13 with a quarter to go. Had Erasmus not emptied the bench and lost key leaders on the field, the Springboks likely close that game out and a different narrative is written.
Under Erasmus, the Springboks can beat the All Blacks but they can just as likely lose to any other of the top five nations. To win the World Cup you need to beat three tier-one countries on the trot, and South Africa haven’t shown the consistency required to do so yet.
They are capable of doing so, but they must reach that level within the next 6-months. It does help that their Super Rugby sides are playing a noticeably different style of rugby in 2019, something that Erasmus himself stated he is enjoying watching.
“If you don’t start accepting that mindset, and how important are penalties, discipline, kicking game, defence — and by all means attack — but if all of a sudden you want to instill that at Test match level it’s too late. The players understand that,” Erasmus explained at his press conference.
“World Cups have never been won by eight tries.
“It’s always been high-pressure games and the end of the game it’s a penalty here or a drop goal there.
“This game isn’t all about X-factor, all about a brilliant moment; it’s almost like the [South African Super Rugby] teams are trying tactically to squeeze results out of each other, and to be honest I’m enjoying that.”
Rassie has a plan on and off the field to save Springbok rugby and the wheels are in motion. It might not bring the ultimate result in 2019, but down the line, South African rugby will be in a better place by 2023 after taking proactive and bold measures to return to power today.
The Short Ball discuss the Nations Championship:
Comments on RugbyPass
It was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to comments