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Springboks must improve tactics or they'll lose to England
South Africa booked their place in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final against England with an attritional win over Wales on Sunday, but it was a performance that has garnered mixed reactions.
The Springboks got over the line 19-16, in the end, thanks to a late penalty from Handré Pollard, but it was a game that could have gone either way. The match was dominated by kicks from hand, with 73 in total between the two teams, as neither side played with a lot of ambition in attack.
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South Africa’s game is largely built upon kicking for territory and playing the game in the opposition’s half. A powerful pack and solid defence will then manage to eke out penalties, which was the case in Yokohama. They can play in other ways, but that was their tactic against Wales on Sunday.
Head coach Rassie Erasmus will not change his approach before the final of the RWC, and has even said that the RWC will not be won by a “very expansive gameplan and wonderful tries.” In spite of that, fans on social media do feel that the Springboks must sharpen their game if they are to overcome England on Saturday.
It would be unfair to say that Faf de Klerk’s kicking was poor in the semi-final, as he was able to find space or put Wales under pressure on occasions. But that is inevitable when he made 19 kicks himself in the game.
There were equally kicks that were not as dangerous. Ironically, some of the scrumhalf’s poorest kicks went in his team’s favour as they were so short that Wales’ players in the backfield were too deep, and therefore struggled to claim kicks that barely went 10 metres. He cannot expect to be as fortuitous against England.
Even in attack, the Springboks often looked to grubber kicks from Pollard, Damian de Allende or Willie le Roux as a way of breaching Wales’ defence. It was only when they had a penalty advantage in the second-half that de Allende opted to make a charge on his own towards the line in the wider channels, and was rewarded with a try.
"Did you catch the Wales game Fordy? Yeah, neither did the Boks" #ENGvRSA #RWC2019 #RSAvENG #RWCFinal pic.twitter.com/rY4HuFJ7RC
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 28, 2019
While there are those on social media that are demanding South Africa to kick less, many others are simply calling for an improvement. The frenzied speight of charge downs in the second-half was a microcosm of the entire match in Yokohama, as both teams engaged in a kicking war with varying degrees of success.
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Although Wales were sucked into that approach, they grew from strength to strength as the game went on, as the Springboks continued to spill the ball in the backfield. If they are to engage in such a game against England, an improvement is a necessity.
This is what has been said:
https://twitter.com/EkilErif/status/1188413175324168195?s=20
https://twitter.com/sharkk95/status/1188411034517852161?s=20
https://twitter.com/WihannK/status/1188484541163421696?s=20
https://twitter.com/_Fire_Rabbit_/status/1188492649889751040?s=20
https://twitter.com/stevehughlee/status/1188425777785778177?s=20
https://twitter.com/kellan_nkundla/status/1188432629860843521?s=20
https://twitter.com/Rooikat2u/status/1188499982820827142?s=20
We urgently need to replace Willie Le Roux and Faf de Klerk!
Why do we have a player like Kobus Reinach but he does'nt play?
When he did, scored 3 tries in record time!
He will increase the flow of the game with better service behind the forwards!
Not to mention,less poor kicks!— JHP BREEDT (@JHPBREEDT) October 27, 2019
It was this tactic that was the downfall of the Springboks against the All Blacks in the pool stages at the beginning of the RWC, as they failed to put Steve Hansen’s side under any pressure under the high ball.
They have improved as the tournament has progressed, but would have been rueing such an approach had Wales managed to sneak a win against them, which was a possibility.
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Comments on RugbyPass
In the fine tradition of Irish rugby, Leinster cheat well and for some reason only known to whoever referees them, they are allowed to get away with it every single game. If teams have not got the physicality up front to stop them getting the ball, they will win every single game. They take out players beyond the ruck and often hold them on the ground. Those that are beyond the ruck and therefore offside, hover there to cause distraction but also to join the next ruck from the side thereby stopping the jackal. The lineout prior to the second try on Saturday. 3 Leinster players left the lineout before the ball was thrown and were driving the maul as soon as the player hit the ground and thereby getting that valuable momentum. They scrummage illegally, with the looshead turning in to stop the opposing tighthead from pushing straight and making it uncomfortable for the hooker. The tighthead takes a step and tries to get his opposite loosehead to drop the bind. Flankers often ‘move up’ and actually bind on the prop and not remain bound to the second row. It does cause chaos and is done quickly and efficiently so that referees are blinded by the illegal tactics. I am surprised opposition coaches when they meet referees before games don’t mention it. I am also surprised that they do not go to the referees group and ask them to look at the tactics used and referee them properly. If they are the better team and win, fair play but a lot of their momentum is gained illegally and therefore it is not a level playing field.
1 Go to commentsI’d be fascinated to see what other candidates you all might have for the Lions captaincy role. Let me know, below 👍
1 Go to comments“ planning for the next cycle….” Sigh ill-advised language Elton old juice bean. Ppersonally glad you self-eliminated yourself, there were better players in the position around you.
3 Go to commentsRegardless of best in world etc. Lawes was outstanding against Leinster and has been all season. Looked like three try saving turnovers. His turnovers also contributed to NH scores. Immense performance.
2 Go to commentsDickson now considered the top ref in England it appears. Good that these series are getting one NH and one SH ref.
2 Go to commentsI don’t think any coach or selector would ever rely on Blackadder being available for selection. I didn’t think it would be possible but he has easily eclipsed Ennor as they most injured player of all time. IMO a symptom of today’s game where players are required to carry at least 10kg of extra mass from when they first hit the scene in their early 20s. Some players respond well to this, maybe due to genetics allowing them to recover faster, or not having reached their peak natural weight yet, but for others the constant training to maintain their weight eats away at recovery time and they spend most of their careers injured.
4 Go to commentsThanks for the lesson Nick! I presume that targeting gaps is situational because if a ball carrier straightens the line they can't be allowed a gap to run into? It feels like you need depth if you're going to pass it wide and plenty of variety - straight running, kicks just in behind, cross kicks etc. BTW what an incredible bench Toulouse had this week. People complain about Leinster being stacked but they need to be at the very highest level.
19 Go to comments2015 was by far the best team. They have had many good backlines over the years but the 2015 team was one of the few to have an absolute world class forward pack - all of them international quality. 6 ABs, 1 future English player, and one that would have gone on to ABs had he not been forced to retire due to concussion. This current team doesn’t have the same size and experience at lock, but providing they can keep this many talented young players (who have all significantly increased their profile this year) together for another 2 years they could eclipse the 2015 team.
2 Go to commentsAnd I’ve just seen RA has topped up the offer to Paisami and extended it beyond 3 years and he’s signed. Great news
78 Go to commentsInteresting watching Amaua starting to fire. No idea why he was pulled so early against the Reds.
4 Go to commentsNice to read something positive about Vunivalu; it doesn’t happen often. I despair for rugby in Oz. Unless some form of compensation for the teams producing players is devised, there is no obvious way for us to combat poachers coming to grab players in their prime with bigger pay cheques. A return to the SR crowds we were getting in 2010-2014 and a quadrupling of the TV deal would be a start but I don’t see how those things happen. Perhaps the government could be encouraged to deliver tax breaks like in Ireland?
78 Go to commentsI wasn’t aware that the blitz targeted space so, as usual, something learned from reading one of your articles, Nick. Watching the game live I attributed the Saints’ inaccuracy to their own mistakes and nerves. Perhaps some credit to the Leinster D.
19 Go to commentsGotta give it to you Graham, you support your players and team to the hilt. There may be strains of exaggeration laced throughout but gotta love the passionate parochialism.
2 Go to commentsNice one Nick. No doubt Vunivalu’s involvements and work rate are improving this year in attack, but I still think he is too raw on the defensive and backfield part of his game to be considered as a starter. Wales would just kick and run it to his side all night as the brumbies have done to good effect in the past. But, his size/power will keep him in the convo with Mark N leaving and Petaia’s injury record. Hunter definitely enjoying an injury-free run this season and being given the keys by Kiss - I have always been a fan of his. All I’d say is that his triple threat has been evident since 2020/21. I remember him making a grubber for a petaia try after the siren to beat the Brumbies in Canberra after the 80th minute in 2021. Lastly, Jock Campbell, who I know isn’t at the top of your list, I thought had alot of positive involvements in the saders game including both of Tim ryan’s tries and Mcreights
78 Go to commentsAg please, Pieter Stef Du Toit has played circles around this clown.
2 Go to commentsJust celebrating the Bok’s 1648th consecutive day as RWC champions. They are also the Qatar Airways Cup winners, which I know BennieBoy cares about a lot.
2 Go to commentsGood to here positive stories towards Aus Rugby. Although that might be the case, and highers up are right about Jordie, I wouldn’t stress trying to retain him. What I have seen of him in recent times is that he’s not using that something special. I feel there a better ‘something special’ options coming through that they won’t have to compete with league for, hell even in Kerevi and Paisami (isn’t it great to finally see his ability getting recognized, probably taking this article in isolation too much here).
78 Go to commentsgreat article! I wonder whether we will we see Ireland adopt the Nienaber blitz? All the teams who have tried it so far (SA included) have gone through significant teething problems in the first season; Ireland could possibly be in the unique position of being able to switch to a hard blitz in season 2 of a world cup cycle and already have so many players used to the system that it can be implemented seamlessly.
19 Go to commentsThey probably left another 20 on the field to be fair. Also - the officiating was… ordinary.
1 Go to commentsblackadder isnt a key player at all you cant say hes been the best player or a key all black when hes injured every week
4 Go to comments