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Four weeks after our local competition, we must take stock of where we are and where we must improve so that our Springboks world champions remain as such next year, he writes JAMES DALTON.
Yes, we are under-done and a couple of months behind the rest of the rugby world, but we must accept this and assess where we are from a similar perspective.
We’ve been in our national competition for four weeks and when you look at the rugby shown in New Zealand in comparison, it’s day and night. Not because we are not that good, but because there are structural elements of our game that are being overlooked.
For me, the Vodacom Bulls, under the leadership of Jake White, have been the only South African team so far this year to do well. I’ve been critical of Jake, but I have to give him credit for empowering his coaching staff and getting back to basics, showing the value of old-school clinical rugby.
The Bulls, especially against the Stormers last weekend, made use of their dominance in possession and proved that you need the ball to play rugby. The Stormers, on the other hand, were favored with territory but were hit by five attempts. This is indicative of a problem that runs through all of South African rugby at the moment: aimlessly kicking and, more often, kicking the ball down the middle.
By doing this, you give the opponent a large angle of return for the kick, where they can either kick you to touch you or kick you against an advancing defense. We need to kick effectively and for territory, and it was a relief to see the Bulls implement possession and territory effectively.
Another concern is the structuring of our attack, which is a twofold problem that begins with the speed of cleaning and serving in the ruck, and extends to the inability to create width and keep the ball alive. We seem to have forgotten the basic rule of blowing the ruck quickly.
Failure to do so causes turnovers or causes the carrier to award a penalty. This also translates into slow service from the scrumhalves, who have not been as fast as they should be anyway. In turn, the groups of forwards that are set keep the ball stationary and run in a realigned defense, where they should run into a retreating defense if they receive quick service.
These groups of forwards are also being exhausted and unable to create width, due to the inclination to keep playing to the side, back and forth on the field.
Forwards need to get up and retreat, but not always to the ball, because that eliminates the blind side option, which the All Blacks showed the value of against Australia by hitting the blind side with their hooker, loosies and blind wing against the run. to play and against a fractured defense.
Again, I thought the Bulls on Saturday were good in this department, changing the point of contact, jumping players and being more dynamic in attack, which allowed them to keep the ball alive. I’ve always said: keeping the ball alive is key to winning games, because as soon as that ball falls to the ground, an opportunity is created for the defense to not only restructure but compete for possession of the ball.
The positive is the resurgence of a strong left and right shoulder in the scrum, which saved the Stormers against the Pumas. However, they were unable to adapt when the Bulls canceled their scrum, but this points to more issues that exist within the Stormers setup currently.
There are a lot of things we’re doing right, especially when you look at Jake’s old-school approach to the Bulls and the overall success of our teams on set, but we need to clear up the basics of quick ruck cleanup and quickness. serve from him, creating opportunities to the left and right of the contact point, kicking with purpose and across territory and, most importantly, keeping the ball alive.
Photo: Gordon Arons / Gallo Images
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