Are the South African Super Rugby teams improving in 2016?; by Armand van Zyl ; the ROAR

After years of mediocre showings by the South African teams in Super Rugby, the 2016 season has been under the microscope here in the Republic and there seems to be one question hanging on everyone’s lips: Have the South African teams learned from their mistakes in 2016?

From a statistical point of view, the answer would be no. On face value, the current season for the South African teams is pretty much on par with the seasons of the recent past. You need only look at the results of all the respective teams so far; the performances against New Zealand teams in general are genuinely worrying, despite the fact that only half our teams are playing against them this year.

There are only two wins against the New Zealand teams so far – the Lions beating the highly impressive Chiefs at home in Round 2 and the Sharks beating the red carded Highlanders last week – but other than that, it’s been business as usual. The Lions lost handsomely against the Highlanders in Round 3 and then fell against an ever-improving Crusaders team at home some weeks later. The Lions look to be the best team in both of the African groups and not even they hold a winning percentage against the New Zealand Conference as of yet.

The other thing that remains business as usual is that the South African teams are still holding their own against the Australian Conference. As of yet, they have four wins out of six games against Australian teams. The only losses belong to the Cheetahs, who were thumped by both the Brumbies and the Rebels; both of whom are the top teams of their Conference.

The Bulls and the Stormers – the top two teams in Africa 1 – are unbeaten against Australian teams. The Bulls have beaten both the Reds and the Rebels handsomely at Loftus Versfeld and now face the Western Force in the first game of their tour. Meanwhile, the Stormers beat the top Australian team, the Brumbies, by 20 points at Newlands and then dismissed the Reds by 18 points at the same venue last weekend.

Now this is only halfway through the season, but those results look good. The South Africans are in prime position to emulate the 2015 season by completing a winning run against the Australian teams in terms of head-to-head encounters. That much is commendable, but the dour record against the New Zealand teams will leave many a South African supporter scratching their heads at history repeating itself.

All that said, results aren’t what this article is about. What this article is actually about is whether South African Rugby has successfully exorcised the demons of 2015 in terms of their style of play.

Let me start by first making something abundantly clear: I am in no way predicting a “golden dawn for South African teams” – that is a trap that many a Roarer has fallen into whenever there are signs of improvement.

In fact, the second point that I will stress is that we will see no improvement in results for all South African teams this year. I believe that no South African team is capable of winning this year’s edition of Super Rugby and neither do I believe that the Springboks will win The Rugby Championship – not from what I’ve seen so far.

That doesn’t mean, however, that there is nothing to be happy about. A fellow Roarer made a comment in one of the live feeds of the previous weekend saying that a certain South African team – the Stormers to be exact – have a “boring smash and bash game plan” and that no skilful team should be able to lose to them. This was against the Reds.

As a Stormers supporter, I can honestly say that my team’s performance last weekend was somewhat appalling and yet, strangely sweet. They made elementary errors in their exit strategy, and to make matters worse, they knocked the ball on like amateurs instead of catching it like professionals.

But the most satisfying aspect of this game from a Stormers supporter is the fact that – according to Vodacom Rugby Stats – they still managed more tries, metres made, passes and offloads than an improving Reds side with relatively equal stats in territory and possession. This also isn’t the first time that they’ve managed this.

One good match does not mean that they have changed their game plan, but throughout the season I have been led to believe that they, along with most other South African sides, have evolved their play; and this includes teams like the Lions and the Bulls.

Traditionally you would find the same thing with every South African team in terms of playing style. In the past it was always considered normal to see a South African team kicking the ball up the field to no end; to see a South African team strangle the opposition with penalties rather than tries; to see a South African team playing the ball to a forward five metres from every ruck; to see a South African team employing box-kick after agonising box-kick. This was the typical South African template.

I see neither happening in this year’s Super Rugby. I don’t see ridiculous amounts of kicking by any South African team, including even the Bulls, and even when they do kick it’s not box-kicks or kicking for the sake of kicking. They kick when they have to, not just because they can. They aren’t playing off nine on every occasion, they are varying the point of attack and so far only the Sharks are relying overly on penalties to win the match. We are seeing South African teams going for the line rather than posts more and more.

I’ll take the Stormers as a simple comparison from last year to this one. So far, the Stormers have kicked out of hand 199 times (Rank 4 of 18), beaten 163 defenders (Rank 6 of 18), offloaded 68 times (Rank 7 of 18), carried the ball 841 times (Rank 8 of 18), scored 22 tries (Rank 8 of 18), made 75 clean breaks (Rank 9 of 18), passed the ball 1106 times (Rank 9 of 18) and have run 3092 metres (Rank 13 of 18).

The Lions’ stats are far more impressive, and that at playing against New Zealand opposition. They have beaten 215 defenders (Rank 1 of 18), carried the ball 924 times (Rank 2 of 18), passed the ball 1216 times (Rank 3 of 18), run 3746 meters (Rank 4 of 18), scored 30 tries (Rank 5 of 18), offloaded the ball 71 times (Rank 6 of 18), made 83 clean breaks (Rank 7 of 18), and have kicked the ball 130 times from hand (Rank 12 of 18).

So the Lions, who are one of the best attacking teams in the competition lead the Stormers by these totals: kicked 69 times less, beaten 52 more defenders, offloaded the ball three times more, carried the ball 83 times more, run 654 more metres, scored eight more tries, broke the line eight times more and passed 110 times more.

The Lions are one of the best attacking teams statistically, while the Stormers range down the higher order of the middle of the table. It doesn’t seem like the Stormers have really changed much on that count, does it? No, but in comparison with their two previous seasons, they have almost doubled most of their attacking stats at the exact same point in the competition.

Now I know that they don’t face New Zealand opposition and I do know that they made quite a number of those stats against the Sunwolves, but there is still a lot of improvement. Take into account the fact that even when they faced everyone in the former format of Super Rugby, they couldn’t make any headway in attacking play even against the poorer teams in the competition.

Another interesting stat is that the Bulls are making more metres (they have made around 3100 metres so far) without passing the ball as much than they have in previous years, coupled with the fact that they make fewer kicks from hand than in the previous two seasons (they currently rank seventh out of 18 teams).

I show these statistics not to try to impress anyone. South African teams are not setting the competition ablaze with fantastic displays of attacking rugby; they are simply trotting around in the middle order. The point is not to say that they are catching up to New Zealand teams as I’ve stated previously that they are still the benchmark of the comp. The point I’m trying to make is that for the first time in years, they are trying to evolve their play.

The Lions are benefitting more than teams like the Stormers, Bulls and Sharks because they have been playing this style of rugby since Johan Ackerman took over as head coach in 2014. It did not come off for them in their first year. In fact, they tended to struggle playing that way in that season. It’s only in last year’s Currie Cup triumph that the style finally came off and they have been carrying that momentum into the new year.

The other teams are trying to strike that balance; it isn’t coming off as of yet, but the effort is shown in the numbers. That is all that we as supporters have been asking for. The only hope now is that they continue with this mind-set and not fall back on old habits when things go pear-shaped.

South Africans will also be hopeful that Allister Coetzee’s Springboks will follow on this. Personally, I wouldn’t mind bad results if there is a genuine intention to evolve and polish the game we play. That might sound like an excuse, but it is far from it.

I want South African Rugby to move forward and if the cost for that is a year of mixed results, then so be it. It can’t get any worse than Japan or Argentina at home.The 2015 Rugby World Cup was a wake-up call for South Africa and now we should be more concerned with adapting than repeating history.

New Zealand still lead the way and I wouldn’t be surprised if either the Crusaders or Chiefs win the tournament, along with the All Blacks winning The Rugby Championship. The South African teams, including the Springboks, won’t set the world on fire; but there is finally reason to believe that we may (may being the core word) be heading in the right direction.

An article for the SA posters on this site.
He makes the points that SA teams are evolving their game plan to be more like kiwi teams. The unimaginative game plan has been a long source of complaint in this board and rightly so. If this trend continues it should result in players who have better ball handling skills in forwards & backs & this should eventually show up on the Boks. We will see but it sounds promising.
Beeno, please note this South African author stats kiwi teams set the benchmark.
"The point is not to say that they are catching up to New Zealand teams as I’ve stated previously that they are still the benchmark of the comp. The point I’m trying to make is that for the first time in years, they are trying to evolve their play."

Words of wisdom that I am sure wee Beeno will acknowledge as true

 I'm in total agreement, I've said it all along, SAFFA players lack the necessary skills and nous to be an impact at higher levels. On a positive note, and again, as I've  previously stated, there is a collective effort heading in the right direction as far as style of play. On the downside I'm afraid to say there isn't a single coach in the country who has the vaguest ideas about attacking backline play as a I bunker down ahead of an onslaught from my fellow SAFFA's.

There's been a definite shift in mindset in the SA Super Rugby teams. Well balanced article.
Agree with Denny, do we have the coaches to really take the players to a high level of "running rugby" ? 
I would argue there is also a significant talent gap in the backline between NZ and SA and in the forwards if we are talking ball handling skills. When NZ teams augment their rosters with a few well placed Fijians and Tongans it makes differences even more significant. Why the deep pocket Stormers don't have a PI winger is beyond me. Zas and v/Wyk are not finishers unless there is an open line, and v/Wyk lacks for pace. Stormers had that no-name Fijian a few years ago and although he was a bit of a bungler he scored a lot of tries.
If the Lions are held up as the gold standard for this new type of play - the points they allowed against the Highlanders and Crusaders, even the Chiefs whom they beat, shows their is always a trade-off to a certain type of game plan. Its a zero sum equation when it comes to the balance of offense vs defense.

 The Lions are in their 3rd year of the new "approved" playing style, but they were still thrashed by the Highlanders and were beaten at home by the Crusaders. Does this mean around RWC 2019 we will be challenging but not quite beat the ABs?
Here's the thing NZ can reproduce the running game at the next level of physicality. So they can amp up the Chiefs running game with more imposing players at test level. The Lions have small guys like Whiteley,Kriel, Mostert, Jantjies, Faf.....are these guys really going to succeed at test level playing with new partners. I have serious doubts.

As in all things competitive you have to find your own relative competitive advantage and make it stick. For the Boks that has always been the tight forwards. But instead of building scrumming power, we became enamoured with mobile props. Never in the last 10 years have we rely, truly focused on our tight power advantage.

The new style won't work. We can't outrun NZ even in the 7s where our small fast backs have an advantage....how will we do it in the more complex15 man game?   
Of course if we want to feel good, let's play an open running game. Every now and then we will have an aesthetic victory. But if we want to really win....hone the defence, hone tight five power and have a few fast backs to exploit the wealth of turnover ball this will create. Oh yes, and have a flyhalf who can clear the decks and kick his points.

 Mozart
The story of playing 10 match rugby and donkey-kick the cover of th ball has not really ever since 2008 worked.  The proper was the change in the Rules of Rugby - which the SA coaches refused to recognise at all.  They wanted the traditional ten-man rugby donkey-kicking the ball away.   
However, the whole story is about bringing SA Rugby to a higher level and there are signs that it is happening. You go or the Lions and forgot what happened last year when no SA team was in the top 8 of the final log with the Stormers heading the SA Conference and got into the play-offs where they were disgraced - much more than the small margin by which the Crusaders beat the Lions.  The Stormers in the play-off played the mug rugby you so strongly support and they got kicked in the but.
Your tradition that you so admire has gone out of the window years ago.  The same material is available to all teams in the World and the idea that players must necessarily be donkeys who can scrum and for the rest is useless on the field of play since they waddle around the field of play because they cannot run at all - and you wa nt them in the team.   One can remember so many of the forwards you supported in the past and was useless as well - the useless Alberts and the under-strength Matfield are two examples of what to expect.  
Unless our rugby develops further we are dead in the woods.  I do not bother though - we cannot be worse than we were in 2014 and 2015.             

Hahaha....look what the cat dragged in.

 The cat dealt with rugby issues - the ignoramus dealt with BS in his comments.  The stuff you wrote are so foreign to real rugby as it is played nowadays that one has to worried about your state of mind when you write about a game you apparently do not know anything about.    

Your aren't the cat moron, you are the road kill the cat dragged in....if I want to read your dumb, conventional views of how we run to glory I  can access 22627 posts which have the same bias. Think I'll pass.

 I can find 45 000 of the same repetitive BS you have spread over the last three years.   You were a constant admirer of Meyer, Ludeke and Coetzee.  If you cannot see an improvement in the performances of the Bulls and the Stormers since the departure of Ludeke and Coetzee - who tried and used the BS form of rugby you have supported - you must be blind or stupid.  I believe the latter.     

 Hahaha what is this, a loaves and fishes trick, you are turning 15470 posts into 40000...or are you lying again you buxom old coot? I believe the latter.

I said over the last three years dolt.    However, I actually meant ten years - when the needle got stuck in the same groove.   

 You said, you meant, you lied.

There is no doubt our backline players lack basic skills like passing and catching- and that these must be improved. 
We do need to play our own game, though. 
We do not need a forward pack of 8 fetchers- like the New Zealand sides.  This works for them as they have big skillful backs that can move the ball from side to side until space or a mismatch occurs, or offload in the tackle to create space. This is great to have fetchers that are mobile to retain possession or quick offloads
We need a flyhalf that can run, kick and pass. All too often our flyhalves only have one or two of these attributes, and our inside centers are crash balls. 
We don't have to run the ball from side to side all the time- as this would just tire out our bigger forwards. We need to be able to take the right options- and diversify more so that it is not so predictable for the opposition to work out. A big pack likes to go forward- and we need a good field kicker to pin the opposition in their own half.
Super Rugby is about tries, and the backs have to get involved

 Right SB. ....play a balanced game. Keep it tight in your own half. Exctract some penalties through tight forward dominance. Run the ball in the opposition half, opening it up when the opportunity beckons....but don't get suckered into go nowhere phase play which so often is viewed as being expansive..... that usually results in turnovers.
What we need above all is a flyhalf who can make these decisions. We also need much more work on attacking play close to the goal line, more switching of sides.....cuts at speed onto wider balls. This an area we fall below par...with stampkar rugby. Convert our fair share of tries within 10 metres and we win almost every game. We bash up with the forwards far too much. A few set plays would help.
Running around like a bunch of 'me too' AB fairies will win nothing. They are better at it than us and have better resources.

 This from the fool who support players like Morne and Fransie Steyn - who are chronically incapable of reading of games and decisionmaking.  It sounds all so wonderful - kick balls away in your own half and let the opposing teams get possession and run at you.
The problem is that we had duds as coaches for years and that killed any form of passing of balls and coaching of players any form of backline play.   They were so poor that White had to get Eddie Jones on Board since the players were so poorly coached in backline play.   Since then it has gone from bad to worse.   Meyer even decided in the latest WC to use Burger and other forwards at flyhalf. 
Whenever one speaks of playing a more comprehensive and less predictable  game - one gets the same response - "running around like a bunch of 'AB' fairies".   T his must certainly be a joke of massive proportions and that psychology was so strictly applied by coaches like Meyer, Ludeke and Coetzee that teams did not score tries because of Sh!t coaching and worse game plans.          

 Ah the buxom Tokkie repeats his one thought again....when will he get a new one, next week, next year.....maybe never!

talking of repetitive postings - just read the crap you have been spawning on this board and others for years.  The fact is I change my mind from time to time and assess changes carefully - you have not changed one inch fir years - always the same story - praise of reputation players and condemning performance as a basis for selection.    Always the same - and in case something new comes up condemn it as unsuitable rubbish.  The same year in and year out - and the dolt speaks of me in the relevnt regard.  What a joke.     

 clevermike
 
Status: Hall Of Fame 
Posts: 22633RE: I think we've all...
August 23, 2012, 22:33:56

 Sasu

Let me give you something to think about in future - probably already next year.   Goosen and Jordaan are  going to be the main headaches for New Zealand Rugby.   Jordaan is now playing CC rugby and is the best center in that position by the proverbial mile.    He is going to push for selection for the end of year tour. 

•  0 Likes

 And then there is this classic from the guy who now maintains  Alberts was never any good.....the egg must flow
 
Status: Hall Of Fame 
Posts: 22633RE: Difficult loose trio poser for Meyer
September 01, 2012, 23:28:44

Sasu

I agree with ypou about the loose forward combination of Louw, Coetzee and Alberts and Vermeulen on the bench.   The other player I would select is Elstadt - 

 And this hilarious classic showing Tokkie's problem with Jake is of recent origin, most likely learned in the Natal Provincial Administration when Jake coached the Sharks. The egg must flow...
clevermike
 
Status: Hall Of Fame 
Posts: 22633RE: Will heyneke meyer be the Best Bok Coach since re-admission to Internationals
June 12, 2012, 06:39:14

He would be if he could do what Christie did in 1995 and White did in 2007.   It is a hard life out there - but Heyneke could if he sticks to his plan to play only the best and start blooding some new players with vast potential.

•  0 Likes

The SA sides are far better than they have been in years for two reasons. ....they are dominated by youthful talent and there is a vast improvement in the quality of coaching at the Lions, Bulls and Stormers.
The only let down is Gold with the Sharks 
The Lions did not get thrashed by the Highlanders that score line was as flattering as they come....intercept tries against the run of play does not constitute dominance.
It's been a pleasure watching the SA sides this comp.....Moz stop being so fucking negative man.  

 By the time players reach test level or even super rugby levels its far too late to try and imbue the whole catch-pass and other ball handling skills into them ,its somethimg that should start when they first play at the junior level .Strangely Mikey doesnt rate our forwards because they dont fit the SA mode of forwards play completely ignoring the fact we have the players we want for OUR style of play .Moz is probably right in decrying SA trying to create more mobile NZ style forwards with the ball handling skills to match ,what you get is a critter thats nether fish nor fowl.You guys need to hone your old school saffa style of play ,against all but the ABS it will probably see you grinding the opposition into the turf .Good set plays ,powerful tight 5 and that kicking you guys are famed for [ you know ,like the much maligned Morne Steyn !] will at least allow you to see off the likes of Japan and the Poms .And Jordaan who ? Did the Goose-n lay the golden egg thats now flowing err umm.. freely as Moz put it ?Just taking the p!ss ou Mikey !

Well it takes an AB supporter to understand our competitive strengths. I repeat, we get into the 22 as much as any team.....but apart from the maul we have no assured way to get the ball over the line. Narrow the problem, work on that.

Fleck seems to become a decent coach. The Stormers are scoring tries- but the defence is also solid. 
Gary Gold is, unfortunately, useless. A stampklar one trick pony
John Plumtree and Jake White are but a distant memory. 
I would expect that Gold will be dumped before the end of the season. At least the Cheetas, Lions are playing positive rugby. The Stormers also, and the Bulls ok.

 The Sharks has had a recent history of bugger-ups insofar as coaching is concerned.   In the first instance they should never have fired Plumtree - in the second instance they should never have appointed "Stampkar" White and "Stampkar" Gold.  
The problem that we are facing is that whilst being coached by a nonentity like Flerck - the Stormers is performing much better as a team than they did with Coetzee as coach.   The latter largely failed as a coach and he is now the Springbok coach - what a farce.  

 I'm unconvinced that we've improved on our backline play from that dreadful quarterfinal in Wellington year 2011 when the Boks had most of the possession and territory yet failed to deliver. Our backs simply don't know how to score tries.  Let's not confuse backline play with a team style of play. Our backline play remains intellectually bankrupt, our coaches are ignorant so how on earth can we expect better from our players? Reliance on forward domination is one thing but how often do we see the ball going through the hands with no go forward? Also think that the days of SAFFA physical dominance is toast, we're not the bullies of yesteryear, teams these days match our physicality and sometimes they even surpass our physicality.  It t ook Eddie Jones a matter of six weeks to instill nous into the Bok backline....why is it taking so long to see some results from the current coaches?

Last I checked while bringing up the Lions as an example...they beat the Canes away from home.
The SA sides are without doubt better this year with 4 sides in the hunt for honours.
Better young players and far better coaches.
As for Eddie Jones his test will come against Oz where his England side will lose. Beating an average Irish and French side is little measure.