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Springboks expected to 'revert to type' against All Blacks
By Ned Lester
A new era of Springbok rugby is upon us, one with a more ambitious style of play with the ball in hand, however, when push comes to shove, it’s expected pragmatism will still reign supreme for the world champs.
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A proven world-beating recipe of set-piece dominance and aggressive line speed has seen the South Africans crowned back-to-back world champions, but with this new World Cup cycle has come new assistants under charismatic head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Notably, former All Black Tony Brown has assumed the reigns as attack coach, lending a more liberal voice to what is one of rugby’s more conservative, territory-based attacking philosophies.
That hasn’t gone unnoticed by Kiwi analysts, including former Stormers and Chiefs assistant coach Paul Feeney, who offered his thoughts on how the Springboks might look to play against the All Blacks.
“I’ve seen that South Africa’s keen to attack, I still question under the pump whether they’ll revert to type,” he told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
“I know Rassie’s a very smart man and he’s just going to bring it in slowly, so, over the next three years. Once they hit the World Cup they’ll be up and running and good to go because he obviously realises that they’ve got to do a little bit more than they have to win the last two World Cups.
“Game one against Australia, I saw the intent to move the ball in places they wouldn’t previously; around halfway for example. At least when they see they’ve got a five-on-three just playing heads-up football and calling for the ball out the back of the pod and looking to have a bit of a crack, whereas previously they’d just look to kick for territory and play their territory/pressure game.
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“So there were two or three instances I saw they are looking to use the ball where possible. They’d do it obviously after they win scrum penalties or when they dominate a set-piece.”
While the Tests in Australia offered the defending world champs one challenge, hosting the All Blacks in Johannesburg offers something very different.
“I think at Ellis Park, at altitude, with the team that Rassie can put on the park, they’ll just look to bash the All Blacks,” Feeney added.
“They’re going to first and foremost revert back to their set-piece, their pressure game with territory and their harsh line speed which the All Blacks have always struggled to play against.
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“I think we’ll definitely see that and if they get one or two opportunities, if the All Blacks get a bit tight defensively defending the big boys, trying to get some doubles, I’m sure under Tony Brown the Springboks will be looking for a few opportunities to play where possible.”
The first Irish match at Loftus was the template: for what South Africa won't do.
The expansive game that they employed with PSDT and Kolisi often steaming down the tramlines put Ireland majorly on the back foot initially. But at altititude SAs big players were goosed by half time. At 65mins the match was only 13-8 and SA were extremely vulnerable.
As a result of these lessons and lessons since: SA will keep it tight and tough, contestable kicks, talking opportunities as they arrive but giving NZ nothing and no room to breathe. It wont be unlike the RWC final except with SA less fatigued, far more dominant and being more expansive when its on.
what a load of rubbish you always seem to put out there about the Bok big players being goosed. The irish forwards were just as big and I think a few kilos heavier than the Boks. Altitude is a myth. Glasgow and Munster both beat the Bulls in Pretoria. Most of the Bok players live at the coast. Preparation by team doctors is what gets players through. I suppose next time the Boks play in mud and wet conditions you are going to say the playing fields were levelled and the Boks were goosed
South Africa have not changed that much, they are just using the front foot ball they generate alot better and have just worked on their decision making, option taking, attacking shape with more players running in the trams, passing more, building more rucks and also constantly trying to exploit counterattacking opportunities. Oh wait that is a lot of change.
The Boks will surprise everyone and come out with all guns blazing. Run, run and run. If wheels come off then bomb squad will just subdue. Going to be a cracker.
It's not a matter of "reverting to type". They have not changed their type, just added a better offloading game to what they were doing.
They will not over-emphasize that offloading game early in the match, and they will generally steer away from some of the more speculative offloads that we have seen to date. The ABs are good at punishing errors and loose ball in open play.
But the Bok game will of course be rooted in physicality, aggressive defense, and abrasive forward play. That's not reverting to type. It's just doing what they always do.
I wonder who these people are that write these editorials, it’s like they do not watch the game or even understand the game.
I’m just going to book mark Nic Bishop’s bio so that when I open the link all I see is quality. I’m tired of the rugbypass trolls masquerading as writers and the worthless opinion writers.