Having watched a fair bit of all the games this weekend, my advice to all my fellow SA rugby fans is to brace yourselves for some traumatic times.
Its still very early days, and the intensity of the Super 14, coupled with the rustiness of most sides, means that the log is susceptible to significant change before the play-offs. However, its very hard not to conclude that all the SA teams are going to struggle this season; both because of the ELVs and the return to full-strength of the New Zealand teams.
Probably the best SA team on display this weekend was the Cheetahs; not because they played particularly well, but because they seemed the SA side to adapt best to the ELVs, and much like the Sharks, should have closed out the game by the third quarter.
Again, its very early days, but what I noted so far is that the teams that have been successful under the new laws are teams that have several key characteristics; characteristics that are mostly missing from SA teams.
Firstly, they have strong tight fives – something which remains non-negotiable. I don’t think you have to destroy the opposition scrum at every turn, but you have to have the stable platform from which to attack – especially as it seems that the increase in free-kicks will result in the scrum replacing the lineout as the key attacking set-phase. No longer will a soaring Victor Matfield be the set-piece kingpin, but perhaps the less glamorous BJ Botha or Heinke van der Merwe will replace him; as teams look to exploit that extra space around the scrum.
Secondly, the loose trio is probably going to become more and more a set of three specialists rather than the kind of trio that Jake White was fond of – with three guys doing similar things (as will be seen later, the concept of a utility back could also change).
The kind of pace that the game is currently being played with; coupled with the fact that the ball is moving through phases very quickly means that firstly, a designated fetcher is very much on the cards. In defending, you have to have a guy whose sole job is to slow the ball down, and on attack, speed it up. While this was the subject of some debate under the previous rules, it seems to me that it’s a requirement now.
Another member of the loose trio will probably have to be a really dynamic, hard-runner, who can suck in defenders and also stay on his feet long enough to off-load; off the back of the scrum, with a bit of space to build up some steam, or even in the loose, to punch holes and drag in defenders who will then have no chance to get out with the quicker ball. Again, this is not a new concept, but it seems to have become an essential item under the new rules – whether it is Lauaki, Williams, Palu or perhaps Danie PK, you need a guy whose job it is to just run straight and hard until he is brought down or scores. Coupled with the fetcher to provide the quick ball, and the increased space created by the new laws, this provides brilliant attacking opportunities.
The other big requirement I see is for an old-school srcummy whose job is to provide direction and quick ball. I don’t see a Ruan Pienaar or even Joost van der Westhuizen thriving under the kind of laws that make a prevaricating scrum-half, caught between passing, kicking or trying to break, a liability. What is best is a guy whose first instinct is to give the backs or standing-off forwards quick ball – that has got to be his first instinct. A guy like Ruan, who likes the occasional meandering break into space without support, is just gonna waste time, and find that the speed of the game means that very often the fat boys are not there to clean up when he gets tackled, or to protect him at the base when he is at the ball– he must make do on his own.
Now more than ever, the backlines HAVE to be innovative on attack. Quicker ball also means that players don’t have the luxury of deciding their next move on the cuff, and SA players and fans who believe in this weird concept of the player “playing the situation in front of him” need to wipe the sleep from their eyes.
Try-scoring backlines like the Crusaders, Blues and Waratahs do not play by ear – they have lots of planned and practiced moves which they can use on various phases. The cut-backs and acute lines that they are running are not by fluke or the result of a player making a whimsical call, and under the new rules defending teams will have scrambling defence a lot of the time, so a runner running away from an outward fanning defence, or attacking the defender’s inside arm will be that much more effective, and must therefore be used more often.
There are of course a whole host of other changes and implications as well, but for me these are some of those which are most significant, and most ominous, for SA teams. I’m not a great fan of the new rules, and if things continue in this vein, my opinion of them will have good reason to fall even lower.
As for my own team, the Sharks, they have the abovementioned issue in the loose trio (AJ in particular is looking more and more like a bedraggled, ageing King Lear wandering forlornly in the rain), at scrumhalf, and with the backline moves. Only once in the entire game did we see an innovative move – an inside pass from Barritt to a flying Ndungane, while the rest of the backs seemed to be caught in the headlights every time Michalak threw an inside pass or looked to put a runner into space.
Considering that we have runners of the calibre of JP Pietersen (it was a great duel between him and Chavanga, and he showed some real wheels), Murray and Kankowski, one has to question the fact that they only seem to get opportunities in broken play. It is noteworthy that although we were far from dominated in any facet of the game, we hesitated to give the backs the ball, until Rory Kockott came on and basically forced the backs to grab the pill and try to do something.
In addition, guys like Pienaar and Frans Steyn need to decide quicker, and most of all, be less selfish with the ball. A very good point made to me by Charlie is that with the pace of the new game you can less afford players tackled out of a move, and that the best thing to do is to get the ball to the next guy before being taken out, where possible. Add to that that players need to know when wrong-footing one player instead of two or three is enough, and then you will find that even a few of the SA star players need to change their games.
All in all, a very dismal weekend for SA fans, and unless we are just really ring-rusty, some very troubling times ahead
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I have said it before and I will say it now…..SA should never have fallen in with the S14…should have held out for the S12….neither SA or Aust. have the depth of players to field the required no. teams without importing a number of overseas players…New Zealand use the island players…and its too late for us to use the Argentinians, as their best players are plying their trade North of the Equator & for a lot more money ❗ 🙁 but true ❗
Man….SA are just tooooooooo negative towards the new LAWS…..they need to embrace it and play it else they just gonna make asses of themselves….
agree, Hmmmm. They’re not going to go away. We just need to use the muscles between our ears more often.
“Quicker ball also means that players don’t have the luxury of deciding their next move on the cuff”
This is not something that anyone else has picked up on yet. I’m still trying to play this through in my (alcohol-fuddled) mind to decide whether I agree or not
TG! You looked a bit tense last night, boet… 😉
I still think its too early to decide how things will be one way or another. To be fair there are strong indicators, however some teams and players will naturally adapt quicker than others, and so for me this just shows which teams (and players) have a higher degree of adaptability, and not necessarily which teams will be the best under the ELVS.
Rob, I tell you I was. For a moment I was living the quote, “Rugby is not a matter of life or death, it is more important than that.”
I have been reminding myself today that although it means everything to me, it is just a game. 🙂
Good lesson for me, so early in the season.
Hey TG
Good to see you out and about.
TG
I was typing at that precise moment and therefor did not see, but Kette tells me you had a VERY slight grin on your face after Kockott took us into the lead?
I remember a line from an instructional video we watched at school. “A paradigm shift resets everyone to zero”… In a year’s time, everyone will be up to speed, but right now, the “pioneer species” of the game have a distinct advantage
TG, to me, last night the value of the really mentally tough guys came through. Rocket just seems to have his own value well worked out in his own mind, so he just gets on with the job. Another guy that is impressing me with his maturity is Albert van den Berg.
This team has character. It knows how to win the close ones, so now the next step is just to fire earlier – whilst moving up a gear. The thought of that is definetly worth a slight grin.
KSA, good to be here.
Rob
A lot of guys are putting up their hands – its great to see.
Any news on Ruan P, TG? It looked serious
TG – yeah, I know you blog here under the condition that you ain’t going to “name names”, so apologies if it seemed like I was fishing 😉
The Ruan question is genuine, of course, but if you don’t feel you can answer it, then tell me to get knotted 😉
I saw on All Out Rugby that 74% of the voters their voted against teh new laws….
Jinne but South Africans can be such crybabies some times…but let Aus and Eng piss about something we get at them like they woman with a resemblance of a well you know….
But just listen to us…..pissing and pissing….
The teams must just come right….and maybe they should add a 7’s practice session for broken play….with a forward/backs chop and changing the combo’s….cozz with fast ball you don’t have the luxury of your usual partner…and you need to be able to play and be effective with anyone next to you…
On Defense and attack….
🙂
TG
I have a question for you. It is well within the boundaries that you set out for us a few weeks ago when we appluaded your appointment to the Sharks squad.
Can i ask?
Rob, its not for me to say. (even if you email me)
🙂
KSA, if I can answer I will.
TG
I (as a layman) have always thought of your job as something that gets done during the week and hey maybe even the morning before the game.
BUT your CLOSE involvement during the game opens up a WHOLE new train of thought to me.
Do you actually “work” with the guys DURING the game as well?
TG, that’s cool. I have covered my bases by asking a number of your colleagues as well 😉 Let’s see if any of them are easier to crack.
(even if you email me)
24.02.08 21:57:40 – TG Edit
That’s the polite way of saying “Please don’t stalk me?”
There is more rugby…and less waiting…that is better for us spectators…and had our teams been winning we be loving it too….
KSA, I think it’s pretty interesting to note where TG sits during the game… I was quite surprised to see that. I assume that it may well happen that Ruan Fourie might take a “TG-inspired” message onto the field, from time to time. Just speculation on my part, of course… 🙂
KSA – my stalking victims eventually learn to be far more blatant than that 😉
Besides not enjoying watching their teams playing badly…..the SA spectators are doing it with wet pants too….must be crappy…
Hmmmm – I agree. More ball in play time means a better spectacle. Now if they would only realise that the dumb kicking is counter-productive.
The majority of my work is during ‘office hours’, for me it is not useful to come and impose myself on what is a slick match day programme – and slick team for that matter, with every minute accounted for – when I know that this team is a successful team. Clearly what they do works, if they topped the log last year. The temptation as a newbee is to ‘stamp’ my authority on things, which is not my style at all. I am more interested in watching and listening to understand what specifically makes things work or not work – and then go from there.
I am not one to speak to hear my own voice, however now that I have got more a of feel for how everything fits together and how everyone responds to things, I am more comfortable ‘working’ on match day, in whatever form that may be.
And if I could have 1 minute with the Lions and or Loffie…boi would I give them a piece of my mind…
Thanks TG.
I suppose it could also be very helpful being right there when a player comes off injured or subbed to get a better feel for his reactions etc.
Thanks for answering
robd…but at least they don’t kick out and play goes on…
Hmmmm – don’t suppose you fancy writing us a match report on the Lions game?
I might just be use words that need editing….LoL
Robd I can give it a shot….by when would you need it?
he he… tomorrow?
Seriously, any time before Tuesday is good. Be as vocal as you like – we’re a fan site, after all
Hmmm
i would say anytime in the next hour or so would be fine. If you are a little busy then anytime by 8am tomorrow would be fine. 😉
Nah anytime tomorrow, even late afternoon would be fine.
Damn rob got his reply in before mine. 😉
But we all know you a lil on the slow side KSA
LoL
🙂 😳
That’s why Robd is leading you with most comments…
I am gonna doze off now as I need ot be at work at 6 am and gonna have a hectic day tomorrow…..but will do it tomorrow night…after work..
Should I mail it to you guys?
Night guys.
approaching midnight here and i need to get to sleep.
Will leave you with this thought provoking comment. This guy raises a few interesting questions.
Hoekom kan die Sharks vir beide BJ Botha en Jannie du Plessis bekostig, maar ons moet ouens soos Rassie van Vuuren en Werner Kruger invoer?
Hoekom bring die Sharks vir Michalak in, maar ons het nie eers 1 ordentlike senter nie?
Hoekom het ons vir Kirchner as ons nr. 1 heelagter, maar ‘n man soos Hennie Daniller speel kookwater rugby vir die Cheetahs, wat bokkerol geld het?
Hoekom hoor ons altyd die Sharks maak groot offers vir manne soos Bakkies, Olivier en Habana, maar die Bulle maak nooit offers vir Frans Steyn of Johan Muller nie?
Ons sit met 20 000 belowende O/19 en O/21 spelers, maar dit beteken niks vir ons senior span nie. Daai outjies word nou op ons onkoste ontwikkel, net om vir die Cheetahs en WP te gaan speel as hulle 22 word.
Waar is ons diepte op slot, stut, senter en heelagter?
Daar is geen diepte in daardie posisies om van te praat nie. Hoe het ons by hierdie punt uitgekom?
Posted by Shannow
My initial response is that a select FEW at the Bulls are getting the big bucks.
But there aren’t that many of them (big buck players) so that cannot be the reason, unless there are players who threatended to leave and then got huge Bulls salaries and are now not shaping up to the salaries. As an example Wynand Olivier must be on a huge salary after having turned down the Sharks offer for more money at the Bulls.
guess the BBRC is paying its shareholders huge dividends 🙂
Hmmmm – by email tomorrow night would be great, thanks oom!
Bulls fans bitching because other provinces steal their players – bwahahahaha.
Tell me shannow – where is liefling, lobberts and habana from?
Don’t think they’re bitching about poaching Vinnie…
More so an enquiry as to why the Bulls pay mega bucks for a certain handful of players (who then go & sign for Toulon), & bugger the rest in terms of signing a few quality players for depth…
We simply don’t have the depth in quality backs to match the speed and skills of the Kiwi islanders with 5 teams in the S14… add to that crap coaching and dwindling resources as more youngsters move OS… something has got to give soon…
Quinny. 🙂
Yeah that’s right they’re not bitching about poaching.
Vinnie.
I will translate the post for those of us who are liguisticly challenged 😉
Why can the Sharks afford both BJ Botha and Jannie du Plessis, but we have to import guys like Rassie van Vuuren and Werner Kruger?
Why do the Sharks bring Michalak in but we don’t even have 1 decent center?
Why do we have Kirchner as our no. 1 fullback, but a man like Hennie Daniller is playing terrific rugby for the Cheetahs, who have bugger all money?
Why do we always hear about the Sharks making big offers for guys like bakkies, Olivier and Habana, but the Bulls never make offers for Frans Steyn or Johan Muller?
We have 20 000 promising u/19 & u/21 players, but this means nothing to the senior team. Those guys are being developed at our cost only to go and play for the the Cheetahs and WP when they turn 22.
Where is our depth at lock, prop, center and fullback?
There is no depth, to talk of, in those positions. How did we get into this situation?
Gepos deur Shannow (Translated by KSA) 😉
Big Fish,
Great article, thanx for the mention
i posted this on the sharks website and think it fits this argument well:
after watching performances on saturday and looking at weaknesses in the sharks lineup here is my revised sharks team.
1. Beast-Deserves his spot as he has played excellently
2. Bis-He stays as he is by far the best no.2 in sa
3. BJ/Jannie-Hard to call, but they both get game time so it doesn’t matter.
4. Muller-Excellent except a captain needs to talk to referees more and not get involved in petty squabbles.
5. Ackers-Last game so he deserves this swansong. Sykes needs to wake up before next week though as he was poor against the pumas.
6. Jacques-Excellent, but needs support as he is often caught by himself and is pinned for holding on to the ball.
7. AJ- keeps his spot solely on his experience. he needs to shift his game up a gear or two.
8. Ryan-I am leaning towards burden becoming an eigthman if ryan cannot sort out his handling, so much skill wasted by his hands.
9. Rory- His distribution is far superior to ruan’s.
10. Fred- He will improve a lot with better ball. Needs to take tackles though. It is predictable that he will offload before he gets tackled and defenses will pick this up.
11. JP- Just holds his spot, although stopping before even reaching your tackler has to stop. Wings run until they are caught. Needs a bit of a wake up.
12. Frans-I give up. Frans is wasting his skill, so lets give him what he wants to get him playing properly again.
13. Barritt-His direct play cannot be left out the game. He’ll still have his trusty partner on his outside.
14. Murray-He battles to offload so give him wing where he doesn’t have to. His defence is needed though.
15. Ruan/Odwa: Ruan has the boot and the speed to make this position his own. Odwa may be needed for numbers though.
Superboys
16. Burden/Skipper
17. Jannie/BJ
18. Deon
19. Albert
20. Deysel
21. Stefan
22. Adi
My Priceless moment from the weekend….. Wynand made to look like the pathetic player he is.
IMO keep Francois Steyn @ 15, does not help much if you play him at inside centre, surely does keep the ball to himself or do useless kicking, the Crusaders and Blues success are due to the fact that they let the ball go through the hands instead of running over the first defender infront of them, actually all the South African teams are guilty on doing this… 😥
I am surprised there is no headline on this site like “Wynand the Crusader’s Hat Trick Man!” Or “Wynand on the Crusaders Payroll?”, because he alone put his team on the back foot by gifting the Crusaders 3 tries.
En nogal highly rated by Jake White … 🙄
Charlie, one of Frans skills that is being wasted at fullback is his ability to clear out ball in rucks. It is a toss up though, if he can take that extra second to line up drop goals, his position at full back can be vindicated, but his current game play of rushing kicks and crash balling is putting the sharks under pressure.
Frans Steyn could solve our problems at 7…
Hey lads.
Charlie, a lot of what you said made me write this piece.
I’m not saying that we should reject the laws out of hand, nor do I believe that we cant adapt; but I do feel that the game was fine as it was, and so the old maxim of dont fix it if it aint broke applies.
Still very early days, but i think that teams will have to change certain approaches and players to thrive under the ELVs.
very good piece, Fish… thanks for this
Shot dude.
Big Fish,
The new laws surely produced some attractive tries for Crusaders & Blues, why not for our SA franchises, are we a bit slow to adept to the situation 🙄
Charlie, I think its cos we lack behind in the coaching department in a big way, and our rugby philosophy is somewhat outdated.
I dont believe that we cant match the Polynesian athletes, as some argue, but we need to make more scientific selections; based on what we need each player to do.
As an example, Jacques Botes repeatedly tried to run the ball at the Stormers big boys and repeatedly got murdered.
Let designate Beast, Bismark or AJ to do that, and rather let Jacques use his undoubted speed to run into the gaps created, or even better, to follow that ball and get it out to our best runners.
Let AJ run the social committee…
Big Fish,
Hell, so are we a bit slow to adept to the situation 💡
Looks that way Charlie – might also be a case of us not wanting to adapt either.
Stampkar rugby has worked so far, so why change? 🙄
Big Fish, you a Baldur’s Gate fan?
Hi Waz! Welcome to the site.
Sorry – forgot my manners. Good morning everyone. 😳
hello Nessa 😉
RD – had such a busy morning. Quickly popped on to the site to see what is potting. Haven’t had a chance to read the articles yet – but I will.
be sure to…. some good stuff
25.02.08 11:44:10 – Waz
Shhhhhh! 😉
Fish – I’m clearly not cleva enough to understand the title of this article…
Never got into Baldur’s gate, but wasted a few years of my life playing Diablo 2 obsessive-compulsively.
No Rob, you are not very clevah hey.
Waz is referring to my avatar.
The title is that of a song by ’90’s rapper PM Dawn – not a favourite song, but it does carry the point that we need to face a harsh reality in this Super 14.
oh – right.
I use to really like that band… HUGE-ass black dude with dreads like Odwa, not so?
Das da one.
Some nice stuff – mostly dreamy music.
Diablo II was good – Neverwinter Nights rocked.
I have Dungeon Siege II at the moment, but dont have much time to play. I still putter away at me old Rugby 2001 – I rock at that game. 😆
I am trying so hard not to get back into any sort of computer game. Those things just EAT your time
Never a truer word spoken!
Had a buddy over for 4 days in December while I was on leave.
Lan connection and formed a party on DSII.
We spent the entire day playing unless we needed food or ablution facilities.
Those 4 days just disappeared…
Games rock. 🙂 I recently finished Assassins Creed and hell it’s excellent. I have cut back a lot, and these days I’m trying to read more (although I’ve always been a big reader).
For the record, a few months ago I stopped my 1.5 year love affair with World of Warcraft. It has been the single most time consuming game I’ve ever played. In fact, during that time, I played no other games at all. Total time logged for my main character is something like 698 hours. Just insane. 😯
And I can vouch for that! Waz stayed with me for 3 weeks and I can’t say he spent more than 10 minutes in the lounge. As BF says, food, ablutions, that’s it.
Waz – not married, I take it?
RD – he has 2 little ones. Remember little Mia in the Sharks baby competition?
He does all his playing after the babies are sleeping.
I enjoy a variety of games.
Enjoy RPG’s, the Need for Speed series, Rugby, Battlefield 1942, Max Payne, True Crimes and similar FPSs.
Usually, if I am not racing it, I wanna be shooting it. 😛
He does all his playing after the babies are sleeping.
25.02.08 14:06:57 – Nessa Edit
So do I, doesn’t impress Kette to much though. (PS2) I am more into motor racing games though. (Less buttons to push)
Hi KSA!
My husband isn’t impressed with all the time I spent blogging this weekend. Says I am ignoring him. Hence the lack of blogging yesterday.
get hubby to come and blog with you… then yo can win a prize for the best-represented family here on SW 😉
🙂 Those hours were put in whilst burning the midnight oil between kiddie duties. Weekends spent mostly with my kids.
Still, it’s a crazy amount of time to spend on a computer game, and I’d be considered a fairly casual player compared to most of the people I played with.
Also enjoy various types of games Fish: FPS, Strat, RPG, Adventure, you name it. Next on the list is Bioshock. They have a few second hand copies at Greenstone mall for nearly 1/2 price of a new copy. 😀
RD – that’s a plan. If you can’t beat them, join them! That’s what I say.
I spend my spare time writing stories for Sharksworld 😉
Actually, not true. At this stage, I spend my spare time doing my day job 😉
Waz has always wanted to write a book – maybe now with the kiddies sleeping a bit better – he can concentrate on that.
My little one has actually slept through the last two nights! Shock
My grandson was a year old before he slept through for the first time. Prior to that he used to wake up 2 to 3 times a night. It was a nightmare!
How old is your little one now Rob?
she is nearly 3, Ness! And still doesn’t sleep properly
Oh yes, I remember now, she was the same age as Mia. Mia is 3 on 10 June. Wasn’t your little girl’s name Caitlin?
My husband isn’t impressed with all the time I spent blogging this weekend. Says I am ignoring him. Hence the lack of blogging yesterday.
25.02.08 14:14:15 – Nessa Edit
Tell him getting into the top 5 is the hard part now that you are almost there it will be a little easier. 😉
I know – and it is even harder when nobody wants to talk to me! 😥
Caitlin, that’s right. She’ll be 3 on 16 May
Waz’s two are just over a year apart – and that’s hard work. Until recently, both in nappies and both drinking bottles! Now that Mia is no longer in nappies it is a lot easier. They are both sleeping through now and that also helps.
well, we’re still desperately trying to get number 2 going after some (heartbreaking) false starts over the last year. Going to have a bigger gap than I anticipated, but you have to take what life gives you
we’re in deep shit, sharks are our last hope.
bulls need to see pakslae and habana to sharks.
JW to return in 2009 and win a second RWC in 2011.
RD – I know, remember you telling me about it the other day. Never mind, I have a 5 and a half year gap. Waz is only a year younger than you (boy now I feel old) and my daughter will be 24 in April.
cab – got it all sorted, have you? That Lions result must have damn near killed you, bud. Condolences
JW to return in 2009 and win a second RWC in 2011.
25.02.08 15:15:00 – cab Edit
I take it you have consulted with Skopskiet on this and he is in total agreement provided Eddy Jones is involved?
rob,
the beauty of being a lions supporter is the rollercoaster ride involved, we’re either great or shit, never inbetween…but ja thought we’d get a slapping.
KSA,
SS is in firm agreement, he realises the folly of his ways and says only JW is reqd.
cab – you’re dreaming, son 😉