The Golden Rule of a Passing Game

When I was in school many years ago - we had a teacher who coached the rugby team.   He was in love with Bacchus and was rarely sober while coaching us.   He always carred cane and was not adverse to using it liberally when he thought we did the wrong things or transgressed his "golden rules".

On of his golden rules was YOU NEVER PASS A BALL TO A PLAYER IN A WORST POSITION THAN YOU ARE.     Basically it meant that if you have space in front of you and your own player has no space and opposing players virtually on top of him - you NEVER pass a ball to that teammate.  He used to call such passes HOSPITAL PASSES and the cane would work overtime in such cases.   He must have been onto something - because from a matric class of only 25 boys three went on to play CC games for various provinces.

What is your opinion - do you think that that rule still applies?   I really believe it is still the case and am asking this question - because  my friend Saffex went on the rampage when I said that Taute made that mistake twice in the Wallaby test and I said his option-taking was to my mind not sound.    

This is also his stance when we said in the past that Jantjies - by standing extremely deep in the pocket and running a few steps towards the center before he passes the ball - is guilty of the same thing and people say he specializes in hospiyal passes.

Please can I get your comments on this one.

Mike your problem is that you are still stuck in the dark ages with your old coach. For a start the players Taute passed to were not in a worse position than him - fact is he was playing the distribution role and getting the ball out wide having taken it into contact on three previous occasions, its called varying his play

Earl Jantjies Hospital pass goes wrong- dummies himself. (see in on YouTube)

Shock, shock Taute is at 13 in that game!!

Nothing like a good hospital pass to see who yr team mates are lol ...but this year i would prefer to see your Sharkies stringing a few more passes together not so clever mike as they did towards the end of last Super XV. If only the Bulls could take a leaf out of yr book ,stop kicking the ball away and actually run with it they might get somewhere.

 Visionary players like Aaron Cruden have a great repetoire and would have to be one of the best exponents of the passing game there is . Often setting up tries with his cut out passes not to mention his short passes putting players through gaps at will with his impeccably timing.

Then there is his kicking game that assisted him in becoming last years top points scorer but i digress..

Just saying you might want to watch and learn or should i say watch and weep...

Saffex

You must be kidding here - that was not the issue a all.   When in space ANY GOOD PLAYER WILL HAVE TO DECIDE HOW HE CAN MAKE THAT SPACE BEST - EARLY PASSING IS NOY ALWAYS THE ANSWER.   Draw in defenders and leave the pass till they are occupied with you and not the ball reipients is an answer - not the only one.   You call it clecver play and clever is not applicable when a reciipient cannot do anything with the ball passed to him.

In both the passes the recipient was covered by defenders and in the seconfd case it resulted in a turnover.   A clever player would try and make alternative decisions and try and make a line break himself - for instance.

Your idea about backline play is not old-fashioned - it is mechanoical and deadly predictable.   That would get no team anywhere.   Sorry - Taute remains a full back with virtually no center experience since 2009 and his decision-making in those two cases confirms that beyond a shadow of doubt. 

Mike try catch a wake up these lads are not playing U13 rugby. If Taute in those situations had tried to draw the defender, he would have either sold his wing or squeezed him into touch.

Mike so you wanted Taute to try make a line break when the defensive line was in place - are you stupid? Or better still you wanted him to kick, fuck me - do you know anything about rugby, this is a genuine question for I have never read so much shit in all my life.

Do you have any idea what you are talking about. Taute had a good debut against Oz, three mini breaks setting up 2nd phase ball in traffic and 2 distributions down the line, thereby varying his player and his defence was great as was his take of the high ball.

Your take on Taute is just a lie as you are hell bent on being anti Taute at 13, its pathetic. An objective assessment of his display will have concluded that he did well on the day and did everything expected of him. No other 13 in those circumstances would have done any better, in fact many could have been worse given they might have taken direct contact instead of executing the inside step to challenge the defender

Mike you know nothing

Saffex

Really you need glasses or seen by a shrink - you are imagining things that never happened.   Taute made no mini-breaks at all - he was tackled by the first defender in two case where you said he made mini-breks and beat one defender in th case of the third effort - but was tackled by the next player making a further meter progress.   Mini-breaks - my ass - nothing of the sort of creative description would help.

Insofar as play is concerned I said Taute did what was expected from an average player at 13 - but he could have done better and your generalization on the issue is rubbish.

I don't really know why we are discussing Taute as a center anymore.   He will play at full back in future and his center experiment is finished.   I am not anti - Taute at all - I am anti playing him in a position where his real talents are wasted.

Mike you dimwit, when you step and get past the initial defender, its called a mini break, get with the times - do you coach rugby?

Well you said Taute could have done something different, like try break or kick the ball - how bloody stupid, only an ignorant observer would be stupid enough to suggest that. Imagine if Taute had taken contact or tried to be the hero all 5 times he got the ball on debut - do you know how stupid you sound.

Some advice, you are out of your depth, give it up

Saffex

Ok - if you could call that ONE occassion a mini-break - lets accept that.   On all other occassions he was tackled by the first tackler and in one case he conceded a penalty because he hung on.

Your take is bullshit insofar as 13 play is concerned - Taute could hav done much better than the passes he gave - passes need to be timed correctly and early or late passes do not poduce results - in the two cases highlighted he passed early to players with defenders on top of the recipients - not very clever that one.

Forget about Taute - he is a full back that was played on an experimental basis at center - and the experiment did not work out as envisaged.   His real talents were consquently wasted and we will see how really good he is when he plays at full back this year.   No chance of Meyer making another mistake by selecting him at center again.

As I said you know stuff all about rugby. He stepped inside beating the initial defender either wholely or partially on three occassions, setting up 2nd phase ball effectively in the process. He could have taken it in directly and been smashed backwards thereby conceding possession in the process, but you are way out of your depth when it comes to the intricacies of the finer arts of the game. All you see is Taute taking it directly into contact when in fact there was a step to catch the defender off balance to facilitate the breach of the advantage line and continue forward momentum. All of this happening in a split second, where space is minimum and traffic abounds.

For you rugby is still that simple game, its black or white, the fact that centres operate in minimum space these days, that defences are well structured does not register with you.

When Taute did pass, there was nothing wrong with his timing or direction, it was spot on and the simple execution of distributing the ball down the line to get it wide. He also executed a switch pass which found a support player which provides the variety you are after.

Fact is Taute did well with ball in hand given most of the ball he received was in traffic and the alternatives you suggested were so out of touch with reality, its laughable. To be naive enough to suggest he should have possibly kicked the ball smacks of rugby ignorance - case closed as they say.

Mike with all due respect, I suggest you watch alot more rugby with a view to possibly mastering the finer art. You will then find you will possibly be better equipped to pass comment on matters pertaining to rugby. As I keep hinting, you are out of your depth

Saffex

Thanks for the advice on watching rugby more often and the lack of understanding of the concept of timing of passes.   There are two issues you quietly forget about in your desciption of Taute's performance and that is one where he knocked on a ball early in the game and the second one was where he hung onto a ball in a maul following his 0crashballing giving away a penalty. 

Nothing has convinced me yet that Taute was anything but average in the Australia game - so all critics are correct - he needs to play at full back and is wasted at center.   Lets wish him well at full back for the Stormers this year. 

Taute himself would like to forget his sojourn at center as a bad dream that came his way.  

Mike I said in my post above that the timing and direction of his passes were fine. He knocked on the first ball he received, I acknowledged that ages ago - it happens, its rugby, Taute is not perfect.

Taute had a damn solid debut, better than anything else we saw from de Jongh and Jean at 13 in 2012.

Did Taute tell you himself that he wants to forget his sojourn at centre or are you just bullshitting?

Saffex

Maybe I should have put that statement differently.   From what he said as published in the media - I have a feeling that he regrets it since he did not really perform up to his high standards in the new position of center,   I should have rather put it that way.

I am sure he was more than happy with his performance given his good outings against Oz and Ireland. He will be pissed off he missed Dagg in that NZ test, but he would have taken comfort from the fact that experienced campaigners like Jean and Habana also missed tackles.

Taute had a solid enough start to his test career in the tough position of centre, where it is difficult to make a noticeable impression - ask all current test centres who hardly get noticed these days

Saffex

If Taute himself insists in two interviews with the media that he wants to play at full back in future - is that an indication that he felt he was a successful center?    If I feel I was successful in anything - would I want to change my approach drastically about issues - that would be illogical and wishful thinking.

Taute wants to play at full back with a reason - and he gave plenty of reasons in his two interviews.   Those reasons were acceptable to Meyer and Coetzee - end of story.

Mike you are like a stuck record. Taute has said he wants to be considered at fullback for the Stormers as he wants to make the starting 15. He has NEVER express any objection to playing centre at all.

I am sure he is proud of his performances at centre for the Boks, with Meyer going on record saying he was very good against Ireland

Saffex

In his first interview he said he prefers to play at full back - and never added your own words "as he wants to make the starting 15".  He said he will play at 13 if they want him to - in other words he will play at 13 if forced to do so.   No preference for 13 at all.

The seond interview was much more precise and he effectively said nothing about center play and was very enthusiastic about being used at full back.   

Taute is no fool - he realises that he performs much better at full back than at center and he wants to secure a lasting career in that position and not stuck in a position where his performances can be questioned and his career endangered.

Capice? 

Bullshit that is a lie. He said he wanted to be considered at fullback for the Stormers as he saw that as his only real chance of making the starting 15, quoting the presence of Jean and de Jongh as the Stormers centres that would stand in his way.

He said he did not want to warm the bench at the Stormers, he wanted to progress his game by being involved in the starting 15.

He has never said he does not want to play centre. He will play wherever selected and was wise enough to express his desire to be considered at 15 for the Stormers knowing he stood little chance of making it at centre given Jean and de Jongh are the incumbents, plus there are quality back-ups in de Allende, Howard and JP du Plessis

Saffex

Real Super Bullshit.   He never used the words ascribed to him by you as quoted above.    Here we have a Springbok Center - who thinks that he would not make the team because he has to compete for selecion against one of the poorest 13's in SA.  What a load of crap.   And then you seemingly insult Taute by implying that the back up centers (De Allende, Du Plessis and Howard) would keep him out of the no 13 Jersey as well   Come now - get real.   There are clear indications that Taute signed that loan agreement on the undestanding that he would play at full back.

Dir you read his second statement at all?   He was much clearer on the whole issue ad everyone thought he took the wind out of your sails completely.    Normal Saffex strategy though - if one of his favoured  players makes mistakes - ascribe it as glorious successes.   Ignore everything that makes sense to others in the hope it would vanish without trace. 

Mike I don't lie, the words used in the original article was that Taute asked to be considered at fullback because of the centre situation - FACT

I am not insulting Taute at all, if I was the Stormers coach, Taute would be my 13, with Howard on the bench as back-up