Eddie Jones is stirring the pot again, folks. This time, he's questioning if the Springboks, under Rassie Erasmus’s stewardship, have blown their best form too early as we head towards the 2027 World Cup. With a string of Rugby Championship titles and unbeaten tours since their 2023 triumph, they’re sitting pretty at the top of the world rankings. But Eddie reckons maintaining this zenith for another two years might just be a bridge too far. "I’ve got a theory on South Africa that maybe they’re hitting their peak right now," Jones quipped on the DSPN podcast with Martin Devlin.
It's not just their win column that's impressive; the Boks have turned the aerial game into an art form. The banning of escorts around the catcher has seen pint-sized dynamos like Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse become masters of the skies. According to Jones, who’s now coaching Japan, this edge has gotten a tad excessive, and he’s betting on World Rugby to even the odds soon.
"Everything in the game suits them at the moment,"
Jones observed.
"The disruption with the high ball, they got guys like Cheslin Kolbe, it’s interesting that they got two of the smallest wingers in the world, but they are one of the best teams in the world at regaining the ball kicking wise, and then they’ve got backs who can open up quickly."
He didn’t stop there. Jones predicts a major rule shake-up to curb the high-ball frenzy, drawing parallels with rugby league’s past woes. "I think at some stage, World Rugby is going to have to bring in the disruption law in the high ball that, unless you’re making a genuine attempt to catch the ball, you’re going to penalise them, because otherwise we’re just going to encourage high ball kicking too much," he explained, noting the current chaotic scenes where less than 30% of kicks are cleanly caught by the defending team.
With these potential changes, could we see the Springboks’ dominance in the skies clipped? Or will they adapt and continue to soar? Only time will tell, but for now, Eddie Jones has certainly given us plenty to chew on. And as the rugby world keeps its eyes peeled on the Boks’ next move, remember, where there’s controversy, there’s Eddie, always ready to stir the pot.
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Eddie Jones is stirring the pot again, folks. This time, he's questioning if the Springboks, under Rassie Erasmus’s stewardship, have blown their best form too early as we head towards the 2027 World Cup. With a string of Rugby Championship titles and unbeaten tours since their 2023 triumph, they’re sitting pretty at the top of the world rankings. But Eddie reckons maintaining this zenith for another two years might just be a bridge too far. "I’ve got a theory on South Africa that maybe they’re hitting their peak right now," Jones quipped on the DSPN podcast with Martin Devlin.
It's not just their win column that's impressive; the Boks have turned the aerial game into an art form. The banning of escorts around the catcher has seen pint-sized dynamos like Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse become masters of the skies. According to Jones, who’s now coaching Japan, this edge has gotten a tad excessive, and he’s betting on World Rugby to even the odds soon.
"Everything in the game suits them at the moment,"
Jones observed."The disruption with the high ball, they got guys like Cheslin Kolbe, it’s interesting that they got two of the smallest wingers in the world, but they are one of the best teams in the world at regaining the ball kicking wise, and then they’ve got backs who can open up quickly."
He didn’t stop there. Jones predicts a major rule shake-up to curb the high-ball frenzy, drawing parallels with rugby league’s past woes. "I think at some stage, World Rugby is going to have to bring in the disruption law in the high ball that, unless you’re making a genuine attempt to catch the ball, you’re going to penalise them, because otherwise we’re just going to encourage high ball kicking too much," he explained, noting the current chaotic scenes where less than 30% of kicks are cleanly caught by the defending team.
With these potential changes, could we see the Springboks’ dominance in the skies clipped? Or will they adapt and continue to soar? Only time will tell, but for now, Eddie Jones has certainly given us plenty to chew on. And as the rugby world keeps its eyes peeled on the Boks’ next move, remember, where there’s controversy, there’s Eddie, always ready to stir the pot.