Frequent this board, read anything that Dave says, and you'll be made to believe that rugby is much tighter these days with less tries being scored. But...

"Here is a summary of the average tries per game in test rugby by year since 2000:

2000-2016: The average tries per game in the Six Nations was 3.91. This relatively low average reflected a period when kicking strategies and territorial play were more dominant in rugby.

2017-2023: With the introduction of the bonus point system and new laws to promote attacking rugby, the average tries per game rose significantly. Since 2017, the Six Nations has seen an average of 5.12 tries per game.

2019: The Rugby World Cup and Six Nations in this year saw some of the highest averages for tries per game, with around 5.3 tries per match in the Six Nations and a similar rise in the Rugby Championship.

In summary, test rugby has seen a marked increase in tries per game over the last two decades, especially since 2017, as the sport has evolved to favor more open, attacking play."

But, but…we need Dud Allende, don’t we?

We definitely need de Allende - Am proved that again against the Argies as did Esterhuizen for the Sharks in the CC final

As for the number of tries scored it depends on the opposition and their style of play

You don’t see many tries when the top 5 sides play each other

Part of the Boks problem yesterday was not dictating the tempo of the game, we let the Argies run wild - helped by the Arendse yellow and the fact that we had a different Bok side on the field again

The Bok main side would have dictated the tempo of that game, starting with a proper 12 to keep things in check

"You don’t see many tries when the top 5 sides play each other"

I take it that this is merely an opinion?

No a fact - take recent games as an example

Boks vs Ireland

Boks vs NZ

And my point about tighter defensive structures was more about centres finding it hard to make an impression and break those defences and why a guy like DA is so important as he relies on his strength a lot to breach the advantage

My point was never about less tries being scored but more about less tries being scored from structured backline play where opportunities are created by centres

I wonder what happened to our tight defence structures on Saturday?

And it’s only because of Rassie,s gameplan and DA acting and playing like a extra loose forward, that less tries get’s scored of his 12 channel or the creation of space…. He doesn’t even try.

Same old storyline and it’s still the same as we cannot yet properly function without playing a predominantly Forwards game. Pumas matched us and we lost. If we can’t dominate with our forwards, we have nothing but scramble eggs.

Mp ................. missing Nienaber ?

Defence is a mess with no specialist 12

That game proved that Am is not a 12

Ok fine so DDA can defend a bit better, but why is he not trying more to create space to off load?

It’s quite simple, draw defenders in and then offload the ball instead of forming a ruck?

What is actually happening there in the Bok Camp with Brown? We really not seeing the effect on the field. Is Rassie blocking him?

That is why the guy is there right to add more dimension to our playing style. We should be able to adapt to a strong forward challenge, redirect our efforts and score thru our Backline with the plethora of possession we have.

It was made clear by Pakies post that in the last 15 min of the game, we had 92% possession of the ball, but we could not score 1 point…. That is so kak it’s even hard to comprehend for the so called champions of the world?? If you like it or not, there is something majorly off.

Because his role it to take contact setting up another phase, drawing defenders in, in the process

He is instructed to do that

Which test 12 runs around offloading all the time?

Tony Browns influence can be seen in how we started the test but will take time to implement

Remember that we virtually play a different Bok side every week so the players as a unit need time together in the field to execute the Brown plan - we have seen glimpses of the change but right now the emphasis is on building squad depth