South Africa Versus New Zealand

The game that will decide who is the number one rugby playing country in the world takes place this week-end when New Zealand plays South Africa.

The winning of this game will be determined by possession and the ramifications that extend from this.

Of prime concern is the scrum from many points of view. We may be under-estimating the strength of the Argentinian scrum from the last game along with the ability of the All Blacks to make do with some untidy ball. However, under the current Laws of the game and the way they are applied one can see these being not only used to upset the All Blacks’ possession but a source of infringement. At altitude both penalties and up and unders will be significant given Morne Steyne’s kicking ability.

I have reservations about the current scrum Law and its management and, while things ain’t going to change before Saturday, these need to be put on the table.

The first is that the Laws would seem to be there for safety reasons based on the impact of engagement. Penalties seem to be given when actions are taken to avoid an unsafe situation. One does wonder where the liability should lie but at present this is a bit of a lottery even when the ball is at the Number 8’s feet. I wonder if the Law should not be the same as the ruck with the ball having to be used in a short period of time once it has been hooked.

Other ramifications occur upon engagement. In the time between the referee calling the throw-in and this taking place the defending team just needs to back off a little and the throw in will be crooked. Secondly there is onus on the team throwing in for their hooker to strike for the ball. The same doesn’t apply for the defence, so the attack is faced with a situation in which seven are pushing against eight. I have noticed in the ITM Cup that hookers are not hooking. The contest is two eight-man scrums pushing their opponents off the ball. Should both hookers be compelled to strike?

At this level we have to decide if any means justifies the end. Does a knock on or forward pass warrant three points from a penalty milked from the scrum because one team has no desire to play with the ball. I guess the obvious response is “That’s test match rugby.”

So the scenario if South Africa manage to put pressure on at the scrum will be either a bomb or a penalty from the scrum. The bomb will arrive along with the South African cavalry who are alert enough to play off the pieces. This is the result of a good chase pattern and hard tackling.

Should a penalty be given field position, line-out strength and the rolling maul will be used to exploit the advantage apart from kicking for goal from anywhere inside the South African 10metre line.

Should the score build there will be the temptation for New Zealand to counter attack from deep inside their own territory against the chase pattern mentioned above.

Patience is often mentioned in rugby these days and, even if New Zealand are behind, discipline and patience to keep to their pattern will be essential in preventing matters getting worse. So the way I see it is to have a well ingrained pattern for altitude and play to it by doing unto them what they are trying to do to us.

With kicking and goal kicking likely to play such a large part in the game the huge range of infringements available to the ref post tackle come into play. The range of infringements is so great that the ref’s are never wrong in Law but they are often wrong in practicing consistency which is a principle of good management. It is ironic that the focus favours the ball carrier who is given time to act to retain possession. What is not realised is that, if conditions are such that there is no point in the defence contesting possession, the attack is faced with a picket fence of defenders that outnumbers them. Surely the legislators should realise that contested ball rewards the ball winning team with fewer defenders to penetrate through while ball that is won easily is easily won because the defence concedes.

These are wider issues than those around this game but what we do know  is that whatever penalties are called they could decide the game especially the closer we get to the 80th minute. And don’t think that drop kicks won’t play a part also.

So how South Africa will attempt to apply pressure is pretty obvious. The next issue is to think about how New Zealand  will respond to this.

I have mentioned discipline and patience to a pattern above but what are the elements of this pattern?

Initially it is the ability to win your own set piece ball to prevent the team getting preoccupied with this and losing focus on their attacking pattern. Secondly, the aim must be to take infringements that will concede points out of the game and to play at their end of the field. Once “down there” the opposition feels the pressure. In recent years South Africa has used outside-in defence with tackles coming from outside the ball carrier, from his “blind-side”. To over come this the attack has options close in, down the channel, around the first receiver and a pass or kick option to players in the space the defenders have moved in from. The danger with the pass option is the interception by the South African wings.

The conventional wisdom is to assume that New Zealand has pace and fitness and South Africa can be tired by moving the ball back and forth across the field. This is wrong, as the east-west movement of the ball does not force the defence to move with the ball. All they need to do is shuffle across and back while keeping in their channel and tackling when the opponent attempts to penetrate. So the solution is linear support, north: south movement, by overloading the channel at a miss match in New Zealand’s favour with greater numbers. The aim is to draw the defence in. If they don’t come in, score, if they do, move the ball to the space they have come from, and score.

As far as defence is concerned the limited attack that South Africa plays close to the opponents line is real percentage rugby. It is difficult to regain possession against pick and go with big powerful men crashing the gain line continually. Each tackle invites a penalty and these usually favour the attack. So don’t go there if you can avoid it.

Have a look at the game and see if what I have written helps you understand the game.

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