RWC 2011 #01 Plenty of Positives from Springboks v All Blacks

18 days to go...

From now on my rugby union musings will carry the RWC 2011 #xx markers so you know whether or not to bother!! Being a tired old bloke after a long week I waited to watch the replay this weekend rather than stay up for the SA v NZ match from Port Elizabeth.

The 'All Blacks' did what all the sides are this year and chose a 'B' team to have a look at World Cup squad players... that said the match was informative and scary...

Watch for the Springboks attempts to kick themselves to a World Cup, with plenty of physical aggression thrown in... they did the work to win, if helped by a poor referee decision and a let dropped ball.

What impressed me with this mixed All Black combination was the shape of their attack when they went wide with the ball. The try in the 37th minute saw a backline move where the flat wide ball allowed 2-3 players to straighten inside and hold defenders... then the ball went wide but was switched back inside to a straight runner who went through a gap and the support play allowed a terrific try from there to Richard Kahui.

It was used a few times from so called 'set pieces', in this case a lineout which went long and created speed and questions.

What you do is try this 2 or 3 times a game BUT the players play who/what is in front of them and pass to a different player depending on how the defence reacts... pass to one of those inside runners, do what they did or keep going wide as needed...

The other thing they did well was to pass two wide of the ruck and have 2 or 3 forwards queue-ing up to drive him forward in the tackle and make sure they secure the bal and make metres... this is where they beat us in Auckland...

So, what does all this jargon mean... despite the loss, watch out for the 'All Blacks' and watch for the Springboks to implode over tactics and selections!!

Footnote:

Looks like brand O'Connor has been a little tarnished over a 'no-show' at the team announcement this week but hopefully Beale and others cop a serve for being out late too... they just had a louder alarm clock apparently...