The structures set up by the South African Rugby Union in recent times earned some high praise this weekend, with Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett waxing lyrical about the strides forwards that SA Rugby has made as a whole.
Hammett, whose side had just been demolished 48-14 by the Bulls, was clearly impressed by the defence of the Bulls, but noted that he had seen a significant improvement across the board of all the South African teams since he had become coach of the Wellington side.
Hammett went as far as calling it “the best defensive systems in the competition” and said his side had little option but to try and counter South African teams with tempo. When it worked, it worked, but the risk was that it could come horribly unstuck against an organised defence, as it did at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.(As deduced by that rugby sage beeno who said baclines coul db enullified, That the filed was smaller and tha tnetball rugby was problematic if your forwards are getting beaten - all amounting to writing on the wall stuff- some oaks may be getting a glimmer re Beeno's very advanced insights by now? )
While there has been significant advances in the way the Vodacom Super Rugby franchises have defended over the past few years’, Hammett’s observations are interesting, especially in the light of Rassie Erasmus’s mobile coaching unit and the good work done by the Springbok assistant coaches, who have travelled across the country to work with the various franchises. (When it comes to a bit of brain work surfacing its hardly surprising one finds Rassie's name mentioned.)
In particular, Bok defence coach John McFarland’s work has paid off, and the tweaks also made by teams such as the Toyota Cheetahs have been excellent, while the Stormers still have the best defensive systems in the country.
“South African teams at the moment have probably got the best defensive systems at the moment,” Hammett said.
“I don’t always think they have the best defensive players – one on one – but their systems are very very good. Now you see them populated across the board and they are hard to break down. They do offer certain opportunities at certain places but I think it suits South African teams rather than going hard, to muscle up and not give a lot of gaps. The only way you can stop that is to play tempo, to play quickly and use turnover ball quickly at the back. It can be broken down, but it is a big positive about South African rugby at the moment.” (Not easy with Saffa packs putting kiwis on back foot)
Hammett added that New Zealand teams needed to go back to school to learn how to stop the rolling maul, a particular tactic that is both popular and used well by South Africans at the moment. While he wouldn’t advocate getting rid of it, he believes Kiwi teams need to adapt. (Hammut we saffas here are also trying to school your kiwis but on a broader curriculum!! )
“South Africans have mastered it. Their size assists with that as well. If we had it our way, we’d say let’s get rid of it, but the fact is, it is part of the game. It has been part of the game for a long time. We just need to get better at learning how to stop that. (Expect the rolling maul to disappear?)
I think the big issue is that it has made the game boring, but I don’t think the game is boring because of it,” he added. (Tpicl nonsese from kiwis. Crowds get more worked up tre rolling maul than anything else. Expect kiwi campaign to do away with rolling maul - an art form says Justin Marshall. Only trouble is that it results in buckled and bent kiwis requiring services of chiropractors after the match - )
The Hurricanes coach conceded that South Africa had become a much tougher place to tour for overseas teams than in the past and that that was massively positive for the local game.
“What we are seeing is a wee bit like New Zealand (Plagiarism by Hammut). You don’t come out here now and have an easy team to play. The Africans come to New Zealand and its tough. When I was playing you could look at the schedule and there were a couple of teams that were guaranteed five points. You don’t have that now and that’s a credit to the organisations and how they are driving that management,” Hammett explained.
The Hurricanes will finish their short visit to the country against the Cheetahs this Friday in Bloemfontein.
What is MASKING THE TRUE STATE OF AFFAIRS is the injury/ref induced postion on the log of the Stormers and Sharks. Two top sides. We should have 4 in the top 8?
