Le box kick relegated to the cheap seats...

...where it belongs by the French flag bearers today.

Lucu started kicking a little more as Bordeaux gained ascendancy in the second half and started pushing for territory, but the killer blows came from playing the situation with an eye for the opportunity and an appetite for the risk. It wasn't always a pretty game of rugby, it was often frantic, but it was pure entertainment throughout.

After having to watch Calamity George boot the ball into the air time and again as soon as Sale made their way to the opposition 22 yesterday until I just gave up on the game, not to mention how our own teams will kick the synthetic materials right off the ball, the French being willing to have an honest go all the time was glorious. I'm willing to overlook a lot of little errors born from pushing too hard in the name of putting the thrill back into the game we love.

Jellybear bossed the backline, his probing lateral runs keeping the defense guessing while the subsequent pass more often than not found the man in space or the half gap. Bless players like this who keep seeking the opportunity, not the easy copout of a kick down the opposition's throat when an acre of space doesn't immediately open in front of them.

Loved this game in all its imperfect glory. Hopefully a few SA coaches were paying attention.

...and now think back to when the Boks were murdering Ireland on the try line in the scrum, having a two man advantage, and not sending the ball wide once.

And after all of that, Ireland weren't a million miles away from making it back into the game towards the end.

If either of those teams were in that position today and played it like the Boks played it against Ireland, those French fans would have rioted.

njm

vbn

let me know if any are blocked on thataside.

...and now think back to when the Boks were murdering Ireland on the try line in the scrum, having a two man advantage, and not sending the ball wide once.

Thankfully I don't think we'll ever see that nonsense of 8 or 9 minutes of scrumming on the same spot ever again. If we do I won't mind World Rugby banning scrums from free kicks or penalties. There is such a thing as taking something too far, and the Boks did in that game.

The other thing they can do to help the game along is ban the stupid ruck caterpillar used to protect the box kick, where two or three blokes can bind behind each other to give the scrummie more room to kick the ball. Los daai kak, if he wants to kick he needs to have a real threat of someone charging him down all the time. You can't talk about trying to make the game more spectator friendly and then allow stuff like this.

Yeah, the refs calling "use it" is supposed to speed things up but the seven centuries it takes to form the shongalolo is ignored.

The box kick…a twenty meter gain with a 30% chance of success and a 70% chance of a possession change. A deep long kick with return kick to touch probably nets you 15 metres way more than 30% of the time. The wild card is Moody gathers the box kick and scores. And that happens once in a blue moon.

It’s the tactic of a bankrupt offense….a team that doesn’t want to play with ball in hand. In the WC the Boks decided they had a better chance with their defense forcing turnovers than gaining that ground ball in hand. It worked, just, primarily because every scrum we forced was a penalty opportunity.

How many threads involving SA teams have we had recently where just about all we called was "nice take, nice take" and little else. Our backs are barely used as anything other than kick chasers. I hope World Rugby finds a way to neuter this nonsense in their quest to make the game more appealing. The box is way too easy to execute right now. It should be a high risk option where the #9 knows he is a split second away from having a #5 thunder into him at all times, not something that can be done at the ass end of a 5m ruck caterpillar.

Yep …I like the removing of the caterpillar idea.

"It’s the tactic of a bankrupt offense….a team that doesn’t want to play with ball in hand. In the WC the Boks decided they had a better chance with their defense forcing turnovers than gaining that ground ball in hand. It worked, just, primarily because every scrum we forced was a penalty opportunity."

...meaning the moment there is parity at scrum time we're in deep kak.

Becs came onto the Bordeaux match thread and was like "Boring match".

Which kinda tells you how starved SA fans are of actual backline play. There me and Pakie were in almost rugby heaven and she's like "meh".

Ha ha ha !

Don't laugh, Rebecca!

Instead, feel sorry for us. We need all the love we can get.

Forgive me, Plum……obviously I send my love to you all ;)

Send Pakie a signed poster of a topless Slade an all will be forgiven, Becs.

Man, I'm not removing a single one of my Jeandré Rudolph posters to make way for the Sladester, damn.

MP might be interested though.

Hollie told me all your secrets, Paks.

It's no use pretending.

Hollie should stick to tripping the power in your pool house.

She brings her own batteries.

Das'ie tyd vir charg'ie papa!

If I could get one of those posters, I reckon my Mum would want first dibs !!

Don't worry Becs, I got you. Dream come true, right?

Oh God, yes !

I knew it :)

You know me so well !

4unohoo

g