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The loss that showed Pollard why the Boks will always dominate World Cups
By Josh Raisey
Leicester Tigers were taught a sobering lesson in January when they travelled to the Stade Marcel Deflandre to take on reigning Investec Champions Cup winners La Rochelle, returning home 45-12 losers after being pulverised physically.
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For fly-half Handre Pollard, who started on the bench that day, he experienced what it was like to be bullied “into the ground”, rather than usually being part of a South Africa team that inflict the punishment.
The loss also provided the 29-year-old an opportunity to teach the next generation a vital lesson- that rugby will always come down to “brute force and physicality”.
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Up against a La Rochelle pack containing the 145kg tighthead Uini Atonio and his fellow 145kg teammate Will Skelton, Pollard explained on RugbyPass TV’s The Big Jim Show recently that his teammates were in awe of the size of the Australian.
The double World Cup winner added that he was asked what they could have done differently against the European champions, but explained that La Rochelle have the same approach as South Africa, which comes down to brute force, and has led to the Boks winning more World Cups than any other nation.
On top of that, he said that rugby will always come down to physicality despite the changes coaches make to the game between World Cups, and that it always will.
“We are used to playing with big people but he is massive,” the 69-cap Springbok said.
“So many of our guys have never been to La Rochelle, never played against him, some of the younger guys just couldn’t believe their eyes. It’s a big man, it’s a massive pack of forwards and that’s what they do to teams there, they just bully you into the ground and it’s wave after wave and that’s why they’ve won the Champions Cup two years in a row. It’s big, big human beings, it’s tough, especially there.
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“Some of the guys asked me after the game what we could have done differently and I said ‘How do you think South Africa win a lot of rugby games?’ It’s just brute force and physicality.
“It’s a part of the game that everybody tries to reinvent it every four years and we’re going into the next four-year cycle now and I’m sure a lot of coaches will try and reinvent the game and make it more appealing to the eye and all that – I get it, I get that completely – but it’s going to come down to physicality always and it always will.”
Forwards determine who wins the game and backs determine by how much. If any part of your team is not functioning at peak level you will struggle in the high stakes games particularly the ones the World Cup likes to produce. Defense and physicality have traditionally always been the key of a team winning. After ‘87 the All Blacks I think seemed to forget that. And then by 2011 they figured that out and then went on to win two World Cups in a row. Strangely enough I don't recall people getting upset then. But now the Springboks have done suddenly people are upset and crying for blood and whatnot. What's changed except the title holders?
What rubbish!
NZ didnt use ‘brute’ force in 2015 over Australia, actually got out muscled in 2011 v France BUT snuck the win and brute force didnt kick the narrowest of margins winning penalties v France and England last year not to mention NZ playing with 14 players and Barrett missing his game winning penalty in the last few minutes of the final.
Brute force as a dominant match winning feature needs to be seeing score-lines matching the rhetoric Handre and winning score-lines by 1 or 2 points is not dominant by any stretch.
you are talking the rubbish. ANY best AB side has ALWAYS had dominating forwards. Please just go and do your homework. If your forward pack was dominating Barrett would have had the confidence of getting the ball between the posts and the rest will take care of itself.
And how many world cups have you won? And Pollard?
I think I will more likely stick with the guy who has won two World Cups in a row, if you don't mind. Oh you do? Well it doesn't matter
This man has won the last two world cups. If he says physicality is the most important factor in rugby, I'm not going to disagree with him.
Of course there are other aspects of rugby which are important and a very clever, fast side can beat a bigger one, just like Japan did when they toppled the Boks.. but it's tough to do that consistently, you're fighting an uphill battle. Most of the time the bigger side will win. The ABs have bucked the trend but they have been an exception and yet in recent years they too have started to struggle against bigger, more physical teams.
AB’s haven’t beaten France since 2018 and at U20 level since 2017, so what would NZ know about what it takes to beat any current French team?
Show us your world cup medals mate?
2011/15 teams had guys like Jerome Kaino, Richie mcaw, retali k etc. big pack of forwards. And 1999 who will forget Owen Finegan. Teams with strong pack of forwards and skills in the backline, always win you world cups. Fact
While physicality is important and has won many world cups so is quality, talent and skill and the Boks have plenty of that. If they didn’t they would just be Samoa or Tonga in a green and gold shirt. Also physicality isn’t always the defining characteristic of a winning team. In 1999, 2011 and 2015 the world cup winners clinched the title with skill and running rugby that was penetrative and entertaining. They had an edge because not only did they have those skills and that quality but also because they could match the physicality of other teams. So physicality is important but skill and quality is transformative.
PHYSICALLY will always win if you have decent backs. The last 2 world cups showed that. Pure and simple.
Good for a moment there we were obsessed with the All Blacks style of play, we have a big pack so we should play to OUR strength and forget what everyone else says
Pollard won them that world cup, until then their kicker couldn’t hit the side of a barn. Pollard didn’t miss a kick during the knockout stages, whereas the team itself could only score one try in three games, and couldn’t cross the chalk against a 14 man side.
No Pollard, and they go home against France. Long as he’s there, they’ll always be a factor.
4 tries to France 3 reputed to be the favourites. Played the whole 5 nations over that period. Enough said, your comment is dumb.
Scored 3 tries against France, 1 against Ireland, 1 against England. Kurtley Arendse lost a ball by fingertips across the line in the final, Kolisi was inches from scoring as well. Sounds like sour grapes 🍇 😜
What’s your point?
What a brilliant, honest interview!…seems such a likeable, calm individual. Credit to the Springboks and the game as a whole.