South Africa has played like this since I started watching rugby.
Even most of the SuperRugby teams struggled to score well-worked backline tries from a structured team effort move.
The Boks are the most physical team in world rugby, have the best defence, a good first phase etc, etc- but with a limited backline attack.
Mauls are usually the best attacking movements, followed by turnovers to counterattack.
The Boks do have good runners out wide, but the inside backs struggle to create space for them.
Rarely do the Boks score from the first phase by putting the ball down the backline - even against Minnow test teams.
The Bok centres in the modern-day era are either skilful but too small, or big with limited skills.
The likes of Dewet Barry, Pieter Muller, and Delande are limited players - who would struggle to make most test teams in the world.
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One Springbok in the Dream team ….totally against precedent the Coach of the Year goes to Farrell, not Erasmus the WC winner.
We are winners again, but we have fewer fans than ever. Ugly rugby, dodgy coaching tactics and narrow wins failed to convince.
We played 4 teams at the WC who had the capacity to beat us. Ireland that did….France, England and NZ that didn’t. But NZ played 40 minutes with 14 men. The only big game I remember a team winning down a man was when the Sharks beat the Saders 10 or so years ago. The stats say 40minutes with 14 men costs 10 points.
So we beat France, who had every opportunity to win the match and England who also failed at the last hurdle. It took 100% perfect kicking from Pollard to pull off those two wins.
So unlike the last WC where our win over England was definitive, this looked more like we were at parity with the opposition and lucky to win.
That’s also an overstatement. There is a winning ethic and the Boks have that. France clearly doesn’t. Our defense can be breached but it takes a monumental effort. The depth of our pack is unmatched and our wings dominated all the other supposed best wings.
It would be so much more satisfying to have won with just some back play. A little bit of creativity….which we are quite capable of generating, witness Twickenham and the ABs. But we were so determined to win that our coaches were totally risk averse.
So we were given a deliberate snub at the awards, which is a shame because players like Kolbe who outplayed everybody don’t deserve that. I was happy when we beat France, relieved when we beat England and disappointed by our display in the final.
In some ways it takes me back to the old Bools/WP confrontations of the 60s where Province ran the ball and the Bulls kicked and kicked. We despised it then and it’s no more satisfying now.
Our coaches are competent, Erasmus was right to restore the power game, but by ignoring back line play he has done us no favors. We are winners, but our rugby is painful to watch. Not just my view, the rugby world just delivered the same verdict.