Springbok transformation . . .

No, this isn't a post about skin colour, quotas or any of that political crap, it's a post about the possible and exciting transformation of the Springboks playing style.

First and foremost, I don't believe we'd even be considering changing our traditional playing style if it was still working for us. The Springboks conservative style with the emphasis on forward domination served us well for many decades when we had the forwards to dominate opposition teams and especially when we had kicking geniuses like Bennie Osler, Keith Oxlee and Naas Botha to exploit that forward dominance. However, teams have caught up with us. Our rugby stagnated during isolation and we no longer have the great size advantage we had back in the amateur era which gave our forward pack that dominance. We haven't had a kicking general in the mould of Naas Botha since those amateur days either.

Ever since our readmission we've been playing catch up to the All Blacks. I know a lot of South Africans hate to admit it - and some like Baboon-ou will simply bury their heads in the sand and pretend it isn't happening - but the facts don't lie . . . before isolation the Springboks had a superior head-to-head score with every rugby playing country on the planet including New Zealand, and since isolation the All Blacks are thrashing us 36 wins to a paltry 15. Those defeats have been bad enough but it's the style in which they've hammered us that makes it even harder to swallow. While they have retained possession and run in tries, we've kicked the ball away and tried to accumulate points through penalties and drop kicks.

The Springboks attempted a ball-in-hand philosophy during Nick Mallett's reign and it paid off for us big time with that amazing 17 match winning streak. However, we all know that Mallet got a bit big-headed after that and he made several poor decisions that broke up his winning team. The retirement of Henry Honiball was also a huge blow to the Springbok running game.

Until the last two home tests in this year's RC, I can only remember one attempt after 1998 to revert to the more expansive running game and that was Harry Viljoen's first test in charge of the Springboks. It was against Argentina on the way to our EOYT in November 2000 and it was a watershed test match. Harry benched Braam van Straaten, started Percy Montgomery at flyhalf and instructed Percy not to kick. I remember the Springbok backs were brilliant that day and we looked fantastic with ball in hand but, tragically (and I don't use the word lightly), we botched a few scoring opportunities and made a few defensive blunders meaning that despite scoring 5 tries, the result was still in the balance going into the last few minutes and we started to kick again. We won that test but Harry didn't have the guts to persist with the running game and we ended up that tour playing old-fashioned Springbok rugby with Braam van Straaten kicking away just about every ball he received.

Here we are, 14 years later and it's looking like the Springboks are ready to try the running game again. Who would have thought that a dyed-in-the-wool Blue Bull proponent like Heyneke Meyer would be the person to transform the Springbok game plan from the sterile low-risk 10 man style to the attractive ball-in-hand running game we saw a few weeks back? Few will argue that we looked better in the last two tests against the Wallabies and the All Blacks than we've looked since Nick Mallett's amazing sequence of 17 wins.

This EOYT is going to be absolutely crucial for Springbok rugby and it could determine our style of rugby for years to come. I sincerely hope that we are a bit more patient this time and don't abandon a more retention based game because of one or two bad results. We are becoming the dinosaurs of rugby and we need to adapt if we're ever going to regain our rightful position as the world's greatest rugby nation!

Come on Bokke! Swing it!

We’ve been listening to coaches speak about playing complete rugby for years now but sadly that’s where it ends.

The Lions have adopted a running style of play and it’s paid dividends. With a team of nobodies we’ve managed our best super rugby season ever and now find ourselves competing for the Currie Cup trophy in the final.  That must surely say something.

The kicking game will always be an integral part of good tactical play however needs to be done properly and only when an advantage can be obtained and pressure be placed on the opposition.

This kicking everything away as a game plan is outdated and should have been cast aside many moons back.

Meyer has finally seen the light. 

To add to the title of this thread, we have a few exciting players of colour coming through. Guys like Sithole, Senatla, Kolbe , Coleman, Mnisi and Carr are all excellent prospects.

On top of that we now finally have a 10 that looks the complete package. It’s been a long time coming.

Proper selection, starting with our front row, and we could very well dominate for years to come.

 It is all about balance, we still need set phases to be strong, we need forwards to hit the contact area hard, either to slow opposition ball or steal it, or to secure quick, clean ball.

the emphasis is quick ball, we need a flyhalf that stands flat in attack and doesn't hesitate to attack the line.

kicking must never be the first option, it must only be an option if nothing else is on, and even then, the goal of the kick must be for a positive outcome.

chip kicks, grubber kicks can all be used to kick behind the defence into space, and variation of passing, running and kicking must be able to create doubt in the defence.

it was clear as daylight that Pollard by attacking flat generated a passive defence from New Zealand as they weren't sure where the ball would be, so they sat back to buy more time in defence.

if players are aware of the situation on the field, can make the right decisions and play for a positive outcome in every play, whether it be by supporting or looking for the supporting player we need not be fancy, just balanced to know when to attack and when to play the percentage play.

That's all I want.

If we t hen lose, well then we lost to a better team.

The All Blacks kick the ball almost as much as we have in the last few years....but they don't kick it automatically. Our kicking grates because it seems mindless....preprogrammed.

But to run the ball you have to beat tackles.....if not you have stale phase play and inevitably turnovers which gives the opponent dangerous ball. We don't beat enough tackles, nor are our forwards slick enough handlers of the ball to open gaps.....our breaks are still mostly coming from turnovers, not programmed play.

Here's what is going to happen. the ABs and Oz will work out Pollard. He will still be effective but not like Ellis Park. And the RWC will dominate next year's thinking....RWCs are always tighter than a drum. RWC 2015 will be no exception.

So by the RC next year we will be back worrying about our kicking game. It's not an either or....you need to beat tackles and you need to be able to put pressure on through clever tactical kicking. The rest is a mirage.

No, I haven't but with SARU you never know, if you look at the history of our Bok coaches they never go past their original term.

I will be happy to see it, but seeing is believing.