Why Handre Pollard isn't in the conversation as the world's best flyhalf
The ability of Handre Pollard is unquestioned, he has been the anointed heir as South Africa’s 10 for a long time, based on a stellar under-20 career where the flyhalf showcased rare gifts for such a young man across three junior World Championships.
However, at the Bulls his development has stalled. Amidst an organisation in decline, his Super Rugby career in South Africa has never reached great heights.
This has had an undoubted flow-on effect at the international level. He is not the finished product nor has he reached his full potential. The ace goal-kicker is just that: a sniper off the tee but not an assassin with ball-in-hand.
His responsibility and role within in the team has to be considered when deciding the world’s best 10, and Pollard’s role is nowhere near as integral to the Springboks as Barrett is to the All Blacks or Sexton is to Ireland.
His ball-playing and playmaking is nearly non-existent, as he takes a back seat to other more established players, playing a distributing role to allow Faf de Klerk to make the decisions and direct play, and Willie le Roux to make the plays on the edge.
In the Springboks game plan, Pollard is a cog but not a vital one.
Continue reading below…
Who handles the exit plays? Faf de Klerk with contested box kicks.
Where do the midfield out-of-hand kicks come from? Mainly De Klerk, sometimes Pollard and sometimes Le Roux.
Who dictates play around the field? Faf de Klerk. As a carry-heavy team, the Boks rely on phase play off nine far more than from the flyhalf.
Who takes over the play inside the 22-strike zone? Faf de Klerk.
Who is the set-piece attack built around? Strong first phase carries from Damian de Allende.
The bulk of Springbok tries that flow through the backline are heavily influenced by either Faf de Klerk or Willie le Roux, not Handre Pollard. This is clear in all of the last three All Blacks’ clashes where the team put up 36, 32 and 16 points respectively.
In the first Wellington thriller in 2018, the Springboks’ first try was a combined effort stemming from the work of a number of players.
To begin with, Marx carried from the back of the lineout.
The next three phases were carries off De Klerk the same way to the left, thinning out the right-side All Blacks’ defence.
On the fourth phase with 20-metres of width remaining, De Klerk played out the back to Marx behind a dummy runner, who then gets Le Roux away down the edge. As the designated killer, Le Roux fixes Jordie Barrett and puts Aphiwe Dyantyi in untouched.
Pollard does not touch the ball once. In fact, none of the Springboks tries on that night have the fingerprints of Pollard on them.
It’s more of the same in the Pretoria re-match. Jesse Kriel’s try early in the first half comes after a Wille le Roux linebreak and quick hands the same way through a couple of tight five forwards.
De Allende’s try comes off pure power-running from Siya Kolisi and an offload around the corner to the open midfielder running in support.
The third try to Kolbe in the corner follows almost the exact same pattern as the opening Dyantyi try in Wellington – three phases the same way playing flat off De Klerk following a scrum, before a release to Le Roux on the edge to put the winger in.
In all three tries, Pollard plays as a distributor early on in the play or on the phase before and the try is created by someone else.
To see what happens to the Springboks with just Pollard, look no further than the November tests last year where they lost to England, Wales and just pulled through against Scotland.
Against England at Twickenham, they did not have either De Klerk or Le Roux and managed just 11 points against a side that a few months earlier they beat 2-1 across a three-match series at home, averaging 25 points. When De Klerk and Le Roux were both starting in that series, they went 2-0 and averaged 32.5 points a game with the two playmakers opening up England’s defence.
With key controller Le Roux back in the line-up against Wales in Cardiff, but without their key driver De Klerk, they were outclassed 20-11.
The only Springboks’ try of the night came after eight phases off the scrumhalf before a smart ‘face’ ball from Le Roux found Jesse Kriel open in the corner. Again, there was no handling involved from Pollard in the movement.
A man-of-the-match performance by Pollard at Murrayfield helped South Africa scrape by for a 26-20 win over Scotland, however when using this as weight for the argument of best 10 in the world, you will need more. Scotland are a good team on their day but themselves are not in the conversation as the world’s best. The same goes for Argentina who were dismantled by South Africa in the final round of The Rugby Championship.
In every aspect of the Boks’ game, Pollard isn’t the primary playmaker, game driver or decision-maker. To say he is in the same tier as Beauden Barrett, Owen Farrell or Jonathan Sexton is illogical, thoughtless and just plain wrong.
Does Pollard have the potential to get into the conversation? Yes, he does.
In order to do so, he will need to take over the reins of running the Springboks from de Klerk and le Roux, make the big plays and control the game against the best opposition, which currently he does not do, at least nowhere near to the extent of the others in the conversation.
The Springboks have every chance to win this World Cup and it may be the clutch boot of Pollard that gets them over the line in crucial games. However, kicking the goals is just the icing on top and without the direction of Faf de Klerk or silky ball-handling of Le Roux, it’s hard to see them doing it. Injuries to either of those two would seriously put their campaign in jeopardy, as without both of them on the field, the Springboks haven’t looked as convincing over the last 18 months.
Pollard is a very good player with plenty of untapped potential left, but reserve the talk of being the world’s best 10 until he at least becomes the main guy in his own team, equally responsible for driving his team around the park and making the big plays.
Rugby World Cup memories – Neil Back:
Comments on RugbyPass
Super rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
8 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
8 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
16 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
16 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
8 Go to comments