Etzebeth the key to beating the ABs

 So I'm not suggesting one player's performance can beat a talented team. But one players's impact on his fellow players can have that effect. When Habana was on the field in 2005 the Boks knew they had the fastest man in rugby in their ranks.....getting the ball to Habana in space galvanized the team. Likewise in  2009 forcing the lineout was a clear tactic because of Matfield's superiority.

Fast forward to the RC. The Boks are going to be very physical this year. The back row is comprised of very big, powerful men....and the reason to believe, as they say in marketing, is the presence of the strongest guy in the game. After Oz was thrashed last week AB hubris is at a peak. But the Boks have their own weapons, and building confidence after 7 straight wins. - This year it's all about the RC, the RWC is still a ways away...it's going to be epic.

Redsman: Mozart & the rest of us finally agree with your previous endless drivel about "no one in oz cares" about oz rugby. We don't care About it either & simply overlook it. It's just a warm up game for the real big boys. ;)

oz should play argues there they will find the level of comp they will be comfortable with. Schedule it after the knitting contest so people can watch the excitement back to back.

Mozart, fair comment about the motavation that Eben brings to the rest of the team but there are huge gaps.

As you correctly point out our loosies are really immobile. Then why on earth would the coach want to have a kick and chase strategy and play Morne ? Our loosies cannot chase, they are immobile. That whole plan is flawed.

Eben is going to go missing some time soon and it wont be his doing. He will be demororalised and will find giving inspiration to other members hard going all the time. What we need is for him to have some mates on his side. PSDT, Lappies, Reinach, Coenie, Siya, Lambie, Serfontien to name but a few. Straus to captain with an eye on the RWC.

The day cannot come fast enough when we have Goosen back and i really liked the look of the German Blodie from the Sharks. 

@mozter,

"Etzebeth 2013 is a much more complete player than the 2012 model."
i love that line, LMAO, :o)
and i agree with everything u said leading up to it, though the Boks having lightning quick habana on the field in 05 didnt stop the All Blacks from taking out the TriNats, :oP

i think that ezebeth is improving in leaps and bounds, he does look a lot better then he did this time last year, but the reality is how can u not look good when playing against the pumas, samoa, italy and a lionless scotland team???
add to that lady elizabeths zero impact vs the All Blacks in the sowetto, and i get the feeling hes going to be alittle nervous this time round, especially as he was so easily negated by the All Blacks.

its also a mistake to put all the Boks egg in the physicality basket, after all how has that worked out for u so far???
the All Blacks are more then capable of absorbing any of the physical stuff the Boks can thro their way, but the All Blacks speed and mobility is going too much for ur boys to handle.

i honestly beleive the wallabies are a better team then the Boks on paper, even though the form from their last three tests suggest otherwise.
as redsneck correctly pointed out, suncorp is a real fortress for the wallys and IMO the Boks will struggle there, after all the Boks are IMO the worst travelling team of the three SANZAR nations.

as for the All Blacks so called hubris, i bet u wont find article or quote from the All Blacks talking down their opponents after smashing the wallys last week, the fans are a different stroy but not the All Blacks. in fact, all the talk from the All Blacks camp has been how the wallabies have been unlucky and will be harder then ever.
i doubt that the Boks are worried about the All blacks at the moment either, and if they are then they are up poo creek without a paddle, cos they still have two tests to go before worrying about the undisputed No1 rugby team in the universe, :o)

Etzebth spearheads the physicality of the boks, and combined with the backrow we have the most physical pack in the world

For the Springboks it is about implementing our game plan which is firstly dominating the physicality collisions- and then getting quick ball for our strong carriers to run onto over and over again.

This pull in opposition defenders and creates space through the middle or out wide, and also tires the opposition out being pulled into tacking our runners at full speed.

This goes back long before Meyer took over the reins.

The key to achieving this is controlling our own possesion at the rucks, as well as applying pressure on opposition ball.

If we can't do this then the most physical pack in world rugby will get blunted and be ineffective.

We have seen when playing against some teams especially Scotland and the All Blacks,  that when the boks allow the opposition to constantly interfere at the rucks we fall apart.

Scotlands is not a great team but they are good at the rucks, and they especially know how to stop the Springbok juggernaught pack from getting momentum.

Meyer has identified that the rucking of the boks is not up to standard. 

Recently a rucking specialist from Scotland has joined the coaching team. 

This should help to stop Mccaw & Co from jumping all over the ball and the ground. 

England were the most effective team at blunting the All Blacks at the rucks last year.

The All Blacks defence showed it was not that strong when teams gain parity at the rucks, or even dominate them. 

The Boks could choose more mobile looseforwards, but then our pack would not have the same ball carriers to dominate the line of advantage.

It is a case of having these carriers but still being able to recycle our own possesion quickly. 

We have seen an improvement of where our ruck play was for much of least year. Given that backline attack is also much better, we shall see an improved performance.

Argentina were not great, but the scoreline by the boks was much better in the same game at this time last year. 

The All Blacks play their own game plan. It is about getting the ball wide as quick as possibale and using the passing skills of their backs to move the ball from side to side until an overlap happens or a mismatch occurs- like a wing runnning at a prop. 

The All Blacks then have most of their forwards as fetchers rather than carriers. 

Carriers are about dominating the line of advantage, and fetchers are about ball retention.

The boks have more carriers than fetchers, so we like to dominate in the forwards before going straight through or wide when overlaps arise.

The All Blacks have a pack of fetchers that are smaller and more mobile so they can get to the ball first on their own possesion when the backs put it wide from side to side, and then also to get turnovers on opposition ball to counter attack from the backs.

This is driven by having a backline that has the best passing skills in the world.

If the boks play our game plan is about having more carriers that are not as mobile but stronger to dominate the advantage line.

We dont spread the ball from side to side with the backs non stop- Instead we first do multiple pick and carries in the forwards, and as long as we recycle quick ball we will dominate the line of advantage.

This will lead to recieving penalties which will lead to further domination of territory, and also gaps straight through or out wide for our speedy backs to run onto.

As long as we can retain possesion quickly at the rucks we do not need to go wide until an overlap happens as we can dominate the advantage line.

This allow our stronger carriers to keep running onto ball at full speed.

We then batter the opposition until a gap appears in the middle or out wide and then we spread the ball. 

 We do not need a pack of small fetchers becuase we do not pass it out to the backs right away to pass the ball from side to side of the field non stop.

It is only when the Boks are poor at the rucks that we cant implement our game plan. 

Our backs on attack and in defence are much better than a year ago, and our rucking has also improved. 

I'm surprised Beeno isn't already gushing over this blog :)

 Although it would be good to have one back up fetcher on the bench- either Brussouw or Deon Fourie just in case.

In 2009 with Brussouw in top form, this meant we performed well at the rucks- and our forward carriers therefore dominated proceedings. 

Brussouw had much more impact than Matfield in 2009. 

As in 2009, 2013 I think our rucking performance is more important than Ezebeth.

Coenie, Bismaark, Vermuelen and Francois Louw are all effective at the breakdown, but strong carriers as well.

 Ai Baas Mike jy praat baaaie kak.  Why do you have to waffle so much?  Saffex is just as delusional but he manages to talk the same amount of kak in three sentenses. 

Oh, has no one ever told you that quoting statistical points out of context is just plain silly.  If, for some reason, you do not quite understand statistica you should stay the fuck away from quoting individual stats.

No one game can be compared equally to another unless the exact same conditions on the same field with the same players and the same officials are used.  If you quote a player's stats for one game and an opposing player's stats for another game you are already comparing shit with chocolats.  Djys dom my larnie, baie dom, hou liewe jou smoel styf toe, nê

One swallow does not make a summer but one swallow is all that is needed to inspire the flock to get going.  There have been ample examples in history.  The All Blacks are clearly a better inspired team with MacCaw in the mix.  They are even better when him and Carter are both there.  See how Fdu P lifted the spirit in the bok game.  Sure, we all know the whoohoo, the Argies were already beaten lalalala.  Netso, nê

Great post, Moz but I still think defence will play a huge factor in beating the AB's. We don't have their skill, neither do we possess their attacking flair but if we can counter balance those deficiences with great set pieces and with agressive defence then I think we'll have more than half a chance of beating them.

Thanks denny, but the post isn't looking so great today. The Bargies more than matched our physicality and  Morne saved our bacon. Yep defence is huge, as we saw today in the Oz/AB match. Those NZ tries were just too easy.....against a quality team like OZ.

 Pieter Steph du Toit and Lappies would bring some more mobility. They are also both effective at the ruck and strong carriers as well- so we need to find a place for them asap.

I would say that Alberts has been the loose forward that has not contribued much so far this season- although his tackle stats are amongst the highest. 

Vermulen has been solid. 

Flouw has not been effective at the breakdown. We need a backup fetcher on the bench. 

Deon Fourie seems to be the only option we have as he is effective at the breakdown. (Brussouw is now eating suchi so way out of the picture).

Or we need to retread Laberschage into an openside flanker. 

We do not produce many openside flankers because it is not in our nature to steal possesion and cheat at the rucks

@mzoter,

if lady elizabeth is the key to the Boks beating the All Blacks, then the pumas just locked ur key in the car, LMAO, :oD
lady elizabteh was pretty invisible, a mirror image performance of him vs the All Blacks last year, but i have to say the way he handled senotare when the puma mistakend lady elizabeth for a sandwhich got a nod of approval from me, before then i would have wagered on lady elizabeth throwing another headbutt with more fist cuffs.
given the Boks were under the pump, that level of composure was a big plus. pity he did nothing else though.

@sharkbok,
All Blacks only have two known fetchers in their forwards and not the whole froward pack as u imply, hore and McCaw and McCaw doesnt even major in pilfering anymore, in fact he hasnt done so since 2008, so wrong analysis there regarding the ABs, but i hope meyer makes the same assumptions, will make the wins coming our way that much easier.

still dont know why the Bok fans are so "its all about the pilfer" every player who plays in the forwards can contest the ball, and thats the key, contesting, this means forwards getting of their asses and hitting those rucks for the whole 80mins, and not for 45mins before hoping they get their podgy puffing asses subbed off for a break.

i cant stop LMAO regarding how fickle u fans are, last year louw was this and that, this year its time for someone new, lolz.

deon fourie would be a good inclusion, but why would u want to play him against the All Blacks or wallabies when hes untested??? the window of opprtunity that the pumas provided is now gone for that relasitic option to be a reality, but then again ive seen meyer do dumber things.

lappies is in the same boat, but his mobility and spXV form would be worth the gamble IMO.

bringing bizzy in might be a good option, consdiering he excels with turnovers at the breakdown, but i would still pcik strauss over him easy, IMO strauss offers more round the feild and also has the better form.

my forward pack
1 beast, 2 bizzy, 3 c oosthuizen, 4 e ezebeth, 5 j kruger, 6 f louw, 7 l labushcange, 8 d vermeulen
16 a strauss, 17 s kitshoff, 18 j du plessis, 19 f van der mewe, 20 m coetzee
enough power and grunt to get the work done and more importantly, do it for the whole 80mins.

All 15 players should be pilferers. If you arrive at the breakdown early enough, by all means, pilfer away. Tends to result in a penalty anyway. Counter rucking is the way possession is usually won