For some time now, South African teams at both national and Super Rugby level have been trying to rekindle the glory years of domination between 2007 and 2010 when Heyneke Meyer’s Bulls – playing a brand of rugby not wholly dissimilar to White’s Boks – and John Smit’s national team of 2009 were also winning silverware.
Yet, in many ways, SA has been going backwards ever since. Sharks fans will look at the Super Rugby table and tell me I’m crazy, but anyone who has watched South African derbies from a neutral perspective in recent years – and the last two weekends of Super Rugby are prime examples – will tell you that there is either a prevalent rugby mentality that suffocates positive endeavour or there is a serious lack of skills.
I would say it’s a little bit of both, and they feed each other, in a vicious circle. The less a gameplan requires handling skills, the less those skills are developed. And as skill levels drop, so playing ‘heads-up’ rugby becomes less of an option. Coaches at schools imitate teams at the top. Round and round we go in a downward spiral.
At the centre of the circle you’ll find South Africa’s obsession with beating the All Blacks and winning the World Cup. Beyond those two things, as far as rugby is concerned, not much else really matters.
