Why cant our inside backs pass properly?

Our scrum halfs can pass really well so why cant the other backline players pass well.

Too many times backs throw the ball like it is net ball instead of passing, or slow down when running to make a telegraphed pass. 

Some backs only seem to be able to pass properly in one direction, and the quality of passes quickly deteriorate the longer the pass.

Our wings often get starved from possesion because of the poor creativity amonst the backs. I wonder why this is not something that gets worked on.

Less gym training and more skills training should be the order of the day.

Some times it seems our loose forwards are better at passing than our centers.

Peter Grants passing in the semi-final was terribale. How can a team be in the semi final with such poor passing. 

 the natural instinct is to hog the ball and not pass it!

Sharkbok the passing skills are lamatable. So often the pass goes high above the head or even behind the player!!. There is a vast amount of improvement needed re passing and this is indeed a vital area.

....backs coaching and skill coaching....that is were our SA teams lack

Beeno

There is a very good reason for the terrible passing problems.   Read my comments on Morne Steyn and you will undestand the problem better.   Passing is NOT part of the game plan - so it is never practiced/coached  properly'   The players do not know how to pass - neither how to off-load in a tackle situation.   This is due to poor coaching - but nothing will be done about it - since the game plan does not allow for passing and training is consequently inadequate.   A better back line coach may make a difference - but it is highly unlikely that it would happen.

that 10 12 channel has been a cancer in SA sides for years on attack. the generally bunch up so much that it does them to attack much wider than a few meters on attack. so most cases they get caught by either there opposing number and get caught with the ball in the hands. our backline players generally dont have the speed and width of passed that there ab and wallies counterparts have.

it can be coached and learned. its not impossible to overcome. just need proper coaches to understand the problem and attend to it

 It all starts at school level. Now I grew up and was schooled in Durban from birth until 23 and now I live in NZL and have done for the past 2 years. I have played 1st XV rugby at school for 3 years and can honestly say from what I have seen here, the level of coaching at school level here is far superior. They actually let the players express themselves and fine tune natural talent instead of drill a game plan into them and the biggest guys play 1st team irrespective of skill. Crash boom bang rugby is the way in SA. The amount of talent kiwi schools backs have makes our school boys look below par. They are just as big as well. Grey Bloem in SA is the only school in SA that can throw the ball around like these boys and its no coincidence that they are by far our most successfull school team in SA. They are leagues above the rest. This is probably why the Cheetahs are SA's best attacking team with ball in hand. Skill to burn. It filters through from Grey Bloem..More of those SA school teams need to learn from Grey Bloem and move away from big, low skill players and start teaching the boys from young that the ball can do way more work than an individual. Play smarter not harder!! The way these kiwi boys move the ball into space and run onto it is incredible. Even though they often play in adverse conditions, it is always last resort to kick possession away and thats how it should be. You dont score without the ball. We need to make our own luck and not rely on other teams mistakes to counter attack to score points. Our backs are taught that the flyhalf kicks, the inside crashes up, the fullback puts up an up and under and so on so they dont move away from that. Our guys can all pass well enough, that is for sure but for so long they are taught 1 dimensional rugby. A fullback should always look to open the game up if its on and not be programmed into kicking...When our schoolboys are confident in their ability to run with the ball and beat defenders with ball in hand or by passing into space, that is when we have the AB's worried again!

Very intresting thread Sharkie.

Reminds me of Clyde Rathbone.

Does anyone remember, after he left for the Brumbies, no one heard of him for the next 18 months.

He then came out and said that the Brumbies coaching staff had put him on an intensive passing regime to assist with his passing.

They said it was a weakness in his game.

Now had Clyde stayed in SA, we would have just rushed him into the Sharks and Bok side without correcting his poor passing.

One wonders how many current Boks would have / should have been put on the same passing course as Rathbone.

 It all starts at school level. Now I grew up and was schooled in Durban from birth until 23 and now I live in NZL and have done for the past 2 years. I have played 1st XV rugby at school for 3 years and can honestly say from what I have seen here, the level of coaching at school level here is far superior. They actually let the players express themselves and fine tune natural talent instead of drill a game plan into them and the biggest guys play 1st team irrespective of skill. Crash boom bang rugby is the way in SA. The amount of talent kiwi schools backs have makes our school boys look below par. They are just as big as well. Grey Bloem in SA is the only school in SA that can throw the ball around like these boys and its no coincidence that they are by far our most successfull school team in SA. They are leagues above the rest. This is probably why the Cheetahs are SA's best attacking team with ball in hand. Skill to burn. It filters through from Grey Bloem..More of those SA school teams need to learn from Grey Bloem and move away from big, low skill players and start teaching the boys from young that the ball can do way more work than an individual. Play smarter not harder!! The way these kiwi boys move the ball into space and run onto it is incredible. Even though they often play in adverse conditions, it is always last resort to kick possession away and thats how it should be. You dont score without the ball. We need to make our own luck and not rely on other teams mistakes to counter attack to score points. Our backs are taught that the flyhalf kicks, the inside crashes up, the fullback puts up an up and under and so on so they dont move away from that. Our guys can all pass well enough, that is for sure but for so long they are taught 1 dimensional rugby. A fullback should always look to open the game up if its on and not be programmed into kicking...When our schoolboys are confident in their ability to run with the ball and beat defenders with ball in hand or by passing into space, that is when we have the AB's worried again!

Thank You!!!

when i was at the murray mexted school for a seminar they echoed the same sentiments. south africa has the worse skills development due to our forward obsessed game plans and lack of coaching. we have the players but lack coaching skills and the programs to correct this. i would say until school level we are ok but from there to seniors we are really lacking behind and i do mean lacking way behind. just something stupid like a pass can affect so much in backline play. one can just look at cooper on the amount of speed and width he generates and how his backline feeds of that extra width he gets them. same can be said for carter and co. in south africa they are only hell bend on getting kicking coaches and letting BEEE window dressers as the backline coaches without the proper skills and knowledge to make our teams world class

I still cant believe Jake White was sacked after the world cup. He is a rugby genius and no matter what anyone says, any country would have him on their radar to coach their national team. He brought in Eddie Jones and that is why our backline looked good in the WC 2007. We were throwing inside balls and running great lines. You dont just smash England 36 - 0. JP Pietersen looked incredible and we showed the type of skill we have and that we were not just kick chasers. Things were really looking good for Bok rugby and then, like any true SA rugby boss, they went and fked it all up for greed.. We went straight back to our conservative, boring rugby. Jake White should have been offered the next 10 years at the helm. No need to change a man thats brain ticks over rugby!! Under Jake, we could have been the dominant force of world rugby and he would have made sure our backline coach was quality. The question is not, "Why can our inside backs not pass!" The question is, "Why do our backs get coached out of passing!" Its so simple to see that our current gameplans are not cutting it against NZL opposition....

Jake was certainly robbed of at least another term and the way he was treated just made us all boil with anger. You need only see his class in how he was able to take a ver weak Brumbies team and get them so close to the final 6.

What I liked about Jake is that he wasn't readable and wanted change in the Bok team culture and how the team operated on the field. Nonetheless the issue here is about why cant our players pass to which I think is not an issue at all with the style of rugby that SA plays

I am of the opinion that you dont stay at the very top of world rugby if you cant do the basic fundamentals well like passing. What we fail to do is play the style of rugby that encourages our players to be that little more explosive than our counter parts such as the AB's and Wallabies.

We have some very good solid players and maybe the fear to pass fast, lob, behind, long and with the confidence is what we probably do lack.

its not just the passing its the running off the ball the abilty to size up a match situation ext ext. this all can coached or rather not coached like our coaches like to over coach every aspect of the the game.

they to fear a wide pass because they dont have the skill set and confidence to pull it of on a consitent basis. the coaching staff in most cases dont encourage it either leaving there players no being able to think.

south africa coaches coaches players to be robotic and not to think on there feet. if one has a look at the quality of the schools and club rugby then one can see players expressing themselves and playing a more open style that trulty develops all aspects of there skills. total rugby is winning rugby

on the point of jake...yes one thing jake is and that is a free thinker. when he asked eddie to come and assist that was a revolution of how SA coaches approaches the game. our gameplan changed and with the help of the sheryl cylder (sorry for the spelling) we have players that had there hand eye cordination also at a very high level. this all was a first for us but since then nobody has either tried to keep that personal and systems in place. rather going for the lets start from scratch approach

until our mindset changes we wont be a force in world rugby. if we dont play a more attacking brand of rugby even the likes of whales can roll us over