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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”.
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.
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.
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.
What a brilliant, honest interview!…seems such a likeable, calm individual. Credit to the Springboks and the game as a whole.