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.
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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.
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Comments on RugbyPass
What a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
2 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
2 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
227 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
3 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
86 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
19 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
227 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
227 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to comments