Imposing ball carriers......the shocking truth

If you read the fake SA rugby media and indeed the views of some on this Board, you will get impression that the Bok forward ball carriers rolled over the Blossoms. Nothing could be further from the truth. No Bok forward made a clean break all game....and only one forward beat a tackle in 40 runs by forwards, Fatty Malherbe.

One  tackle beaten in 40 runs, Savea beat 4 Irish defenders in  8 runs. Hell the Japanese starting forwards beat 8 tackles. There was no imposing ball carrying by our pack.....locks don't make great hard yards ball carriers, outhouse shaped guys like Vunipola do.

Moz, it looks like you are looking for negatives...what were the positives?

The maul, defense, lineouts.

Our carriers are still struggling with the art of attacking the space between two defenders instead of just charging straight into the tackler. A little less show of force, a little more smarts is called for.

Yes have to say the poor Blossoms took a battering from the collisions and were out on their feet by the end of the game - as Rassie planned.

Our direct physical style has that effect on the opposition. 

That said a Kriel type at 6 would offer some variety and add a dimension to our attack. 

The problem is this.

Better teams will score more against us. Obviously. And the game we are playing isn't one that is conducive to making a comeback in the final 30. Up and unders don't get you three tries against good oposition late in the game. They just catch it and send you back to your 22.

We have three backs that can unlock defenses. 

Faf -  but he is being ordered to kick.

Pollard - but he hardly gets the ball because of the above and so when he does get it, he tends to favor the safe option.

Kolbe - but he feeds off scrap

This results in tons of forward dominance with very little to show for it.

And it also begs the question...Are the Boks confident that they can kick all day and that Wales won't break the line?

What happens if they go into half time with a 10 or 20 point deficit? Still gonna kick the hell out of the ball and hope that Wales fumble? Or worse, kick poor up and unders and allow Wales to peg us back in our own half...And then try to run the ball in the last ten minutes?

The Boks would be better off playing the long kicking game if they are intent on kicking. But then, Kolbe, Mapimpi and Willie aren't known for their kicking range so that option is a non-starter.

It's a shame. The Boks look more one dimensional than ever despite the evidence showing that when the ball does go from wing to wing they tend to benefit more.

All of this in a WC with a very easy road to the final and where the team have had ample time to get their running lines fine tuned. Hell, every game leading to the final has practically been a practice match. 

Finally starting to doubt Rassie.

When Mozart starts a thread one must always accept that it relates to utter BS manufacturing.   Here is another example of just that,    

Not looking for negatives Draad, looking for false positives. And the biggest of those is that our forward running game inflicts damage.

Pakie and Plum sum things up nicely. And if some posters on here can see things in perspective, why can't our sycophantic rugby press? Hold on....I guess because they are sycophantic.

I think we are justifiably favored against Wales. But this team could be so much more if we had a functioning backline......and this could hurt us if we fall behind,

I have to agree with Mozart on this one, but then again, I think most teams ball carriers got caught behind the advantage line.

The only team that seem to be effective at is the All Blacks, every ball carrier got over the advantage line and I think that is down to how they carry the ball and the angle they run. They all seem to be low and leaning forward, making sure that the tackler can't go low, and even if they do get tackled, they at least 2 meter over the advantage line. 

They always run onto the ball, never standing still, where our players always seem to stationary when catching the ball

Then they also swerve when running, to make the tackler move rather getting hit straight up

Combine this with several phases and they have sucked in defenders and eaten up at least 20 meters. 

We don't seem to be able to create any space

England also die that well by passing flat and getting their runners to come in on the angle

We seem to drift, which is a chronic symptom of SA rugby

We have never played more boring rugby.

????????????

The most boring rugby was played with Meyer as coach and especially with Morne at flyhalf when try-scoring was an extremely rare occurrence.

It was so boring that the spectators boo-ed the team,   Never saw or heard that before or since the departure of Meyer and Coetzee.    

Pakie, Plum and mozart you guys have summed up the Springbok performance perfectly.

The truth will be obvious to all SA rugby supporters over the next two games.

Sure we have had some flattering scores against lower level teams but never been explosive except for the first 20 minutes of game #1 and then we reverted to "Op en Onder" and got blow way.

There are exciting players in the WC squad that are being sidelined to accommodate out of form players who have tarnished their reputations with non performing games this WC.

The other team will always come out tops if you allow them toooooo.

Just hope the final games over the next two weeks are winning and classic games for the Springbok.

Vasbyt.

We are not playing more boring or less boring rugby than 4 or 8 years ago. We are playing Bok Rugby and are slowly building towards our historic strength that had us at the top of the pile for many years. We even had a positive winning record against New Zealand back then...and have now narrowed the gap drastically over the past couple of seasons. 

Yes, there are lots of room for improvement, but we are competitive at least. Anyone denying that is deliberately negative and should go and sit with Clean Cut on his ash heap dump site...my glass is half full...and there are more cold beers in the fridge.

What a load of crud. The game against the poor battered blossoms is NOT representative of the rugby the Boks have played this year. The tactics on Saturday were tailored to the Blossoms.. Hence there is no certainty the same tactics will be used against Wales.

Another point, the whole plan was to kick away possession. How would ball carriers shine in a game like that.

The oaks are jumping o conclusions prematurely. Lets see what tactics are used on Saturday and the result.

.

Draad....when JdV was at centre and Habana on wing we played exciting rugby. We have never in my memory, even with F du Preez at scrummie, kicked so many up and unders.

It seems we now only run the ball on turnover ball within  40 metres of the opponents line.

As a poster who consistently called for us to play Bok rugby, when so many were on the expansive kick, I find myself once again on the other side of the argument. Bok rugby was always based on possession and territory. But not on programmed kicking.

We need to have a way to convert good possession into points....the rolling maul, our only programmed weapon, is boring and rarely effective against top 5 teams. Yet that a nd box kicks are what we do. I fear it wont  be enough.

In any case the rugby we are playing now would never have produced Mannetjies, Englebrecht, Gainesford, Mordt, the du Plessis brothers, Gerber, Marius Joubert, Habana or JdV. So if it  is Bok rugby, it's a very unambitious version.

Moz, the rugby we are playing now produced Kolbe en Nkosi, Eben and Marx. Sometimes we are so stuck on looking for the new Carel, we might miss a Kolbe.

I'm not saying Cheslin will be the next world beater, but lingering in the past isn't the answer either. 

And the 2015 FdP to Burger, take contact and recycle ad infinitum  was just as boring. Atleast we have a solid platform to build on. We are looking much better than 2 years ago and we are still improving.

The difference being the team worked to set up Habana....whereas Kolbe has lived on scraps. But hopefully  you chaps are right and there is more there than we saw against Japan.