Raig Lewis comes to the party....the Boks should play their own game

The Springboks should take cognizance cognisance of Western Province’s precise and powerful playoff performance in Saturday’s Currie Cup final, writes CRAIG LEWIS. In the Boks’ final Rugby Championship clash in Cape Town, they came within a couple of points of causing a massive upset against the All Blacks. That surprise performance was predominantly built on a belligerent ball-carrying approach from the hosts, who dominated the gainline battle. At domestic level, the Sharks’ successful run to a home final was based around coach Robert du Preez’s belief that the team needed to stick to its traditional strengths of a powerful pack and a strong kicking game. Yet they were ultimately outplayed in the final by a Province team that opted to revert to a more ‘conservative’, but highly effective approach based on an appreciation of possession and an irrepressible scrummaging effort, while possessing the talented backs who could make the most of this front-foot ball. After such results, do we really need more proof of just what makes our domestic and national sides most successful? Surely not. It’s also an approach that defies any expectation that attack and try-scoring prevalence will be sacrificed at the altar of a measured game revolving around accurate kicking, strong defence, dominant forward play and gainline ascendancy. After all, the Boks scored three superb tries at Newlands, the Sharks averaged four tries a game in the Currie Cup, while Province outscored their opponents four tries to two in the final. At the end of the day, it’s simply about playing with purpose. By dominating the set pieces and establishing ascendancy at the gainline, Province created the sort of pressure that enabled exciting backs such as Robert du Preez, Huw Jones and Damian Willemse to terrorise the opposition. OPINION: Province scrum powers title triumph When Du Preez put boot to ball, it was done with purpose and an astute understanding of the game management required, while Province reaped immense reward by simply refusing to sacrifice possession throughout the second half. WP deserve plenty of plaudits for the manner in which they went back to harnessing the strengths that make most South African sides successful. It was what the Sharks did successfully for so much of the season, while it was also the high-percentage approach the Boks embraced in Cape Town. Focus will now shift back to the Boks as they get set to head into action on a four-Test end-of-year tour, starting with a clash against Ireland on 11 November. It’s now less than two years until the 2019 World Cup in Japan, and this tour represents the ideal opportunity for the Springboks to fine-tune a template of rugby that must be about both brains and brawn. Now is the time for the Boks to start becoming the sort of team that is feared and revered for their ability to bully teams into submission. There’s no shame in that. Allow Wilco Louw to unleash his scrumming prowess on northern hemisphere opponents. Let’s see the likes of Eben Etzebeth, Malcolm Marx and Pieter-Steph du Toit go into beast mode as they did against the All Blacks. At the same time, let’s encourage flyhalves Elton Jantjies and Handré Pollard to attack the gainline with front-foot ball, but let’s also celebrate when they kick with purpose and a plan. The Boks have a young and still unproven backline. With this in mind, there’s every reason to continue harnessing the strengths of a pack that can compete with the best in the world, while beginning to embrace a brand of rugby that can yield success at the next World Cup. On Saturday, Province didn’t receive overwhelming plaudits for ball-in-hand brilliance, but make no mistake, that scrumming performance and display of composed game management was just as much a thing of beauty. Now let’s hope we can similarly celebrate a Springbok display of substance over style over the four Tests in Europe. I’d take results over running rugby any day of the week.

 Yet the Springboks stlll lost in the AB test and the reason was two=-fold - the AB's dominated the scrums and the backline was toothless and poor in defense.
The above facts are totally warped in the above article.   Then there is another question?  Which players scored tries in the CC final?   Basically a center (2) and a top cl ass young loosie.   How did they score the tries?   By playing ball-in-hand rugby.
Any team trying to play being dominant up front  and then just handing over possession to opposing teams by aimless kicking is bound to lose games constantly.   All-round competitiveness is all that counts.
By the way remember Japan in 2015 - the Springboks on the day was dominant up front - yet the Boks lost because those selfsame forwards buggered up the game completely.   Same happened all the tme in 2015 - so lets rather make sure the game played is comprehensive with the whole team playing comprehensive rugby.  
    

Mike, from my point of view you have missed the point of the article. Executing forward domination, accurate tactical kicking and strong defense needn't come at the expense of scoring tries. What I took from Moz's article is that if those areas of the game are executed properly, the tries will follow. Yes our defense has been iffy lately, especially with guys like Ruhle in the team, but it was an improved defensive performance at Newlands, and that was a big part of our overall improvement . Obviously the backs need to be able to perform their roles effectively, and that is an area of huge concern for the Boks, but even with a relatively poor backline, due to the improved performance in the areas of the game noted above, the Boks were still able to compete with the best team in the world. 

 Bluebok
In a way I was not clear in my response.   I was stating what Kobus Wiese said on the Super Rugby program on Monday.   He said that if the Tight 5 cause forward movement the backline can perform better - that is a fact as well.
However, for years we have never looe4d to take competitiveness up front to a stage where a our backlines are also competitive.   Unless  this deficiency is corrected the Springboks will continuously "suck the hind tit"
Now as to the kicking game the problem developed that the kicking game is all that counts - irrespective of how poor execution and aimless kicking is more the norm than the exception.   Our half-backs are far too often handing over  ball possession of hard-won balls in the most stupid manner imaginable.   This problem ran like a thread through SA teams for years now and has not been solved as yet.  
Far too often we see how turn-over ball being kicked away aimlessly and the advantage lost - it ha ppens far too often that penalty line kicks do not find touch.
I say always strategic kicking is central to rugby performance - but how many kicks in games in which the Springboks play are in fact strategic?   If it is 20% of the kicks - I will go and buy a hat and eat it.             
 

Moffie has been exposed as a liar and a coward and he is destroying every thread that proves it.
He boasted about editing his post that wrecked Baboon-ou's thread and exposing my margin-wrecking post and I challenged him to go ahead and now he's either realised he has egg all over his fat face or he went ahead and did the edit and has now realised he has egg all over his fat face so he's destroying every post that mentions this most humiliating of incidents.
LMAO!
Sssssssssschplotttttttttt!

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