[2021 Rugby Championship] Round 5 South Africa v New Zealand (25/9/2021)

[NZbloke]

....yeah, think we're going to have to agree to disagree on that, never heard that mentioned as an issue and if anything generates front foot ball from nothing

It's fine when Smith delivers a short fast flat pass to one of our big power forwards so we can continue to build through the phases etc - it's when we get slow ball he tends to fire the ball out to the backline for us to run it, but in those situations we're really going to struggle to get the ball past our midfield, making it easy for the opposition to smash/tackle our midfielders, giving them every chance to turn our ball over... just want good common sense decision making out there.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

It's fine when Smith delivers a short fast flat pass to one of our big power forwards so we can continue to build through the phases etc - it's when we get slow ball he tends to fire the ball out to the backline for us to run it, but in those situations we're really going to struggle to get the ball past our midfield, making it easy for the opposition to smash/tackle our midfielders, giving them every chance to turn our ball over... just want good common sense decision making out there.

im not sure i agree or even really follow, its pretty common to feed the backs if your one up runners arent making progress, in which case smiths fast and accurate pass is even more of an asset as it might but the midfield an second or two more to make a play, are you saying he should keep it in the forward even if theyre struggling?

 

[NZbloke]

im not sure i agree or even really follow, its pretty common to feed the backs if your one up runners arent making progress, in which case smiths fast and accurate pass is even more of an asset as it might but the midfield an second or two more to make a play, are you saying he should keep it in the forward even if theyre struggling?

No, not saying just keep it in the forwards, I'm saying in phase play because the forwards are bigger, especially the tight-five ones they're clearly going to consistently get past the advantage line better than a back would - when we get quick recycled ball the opposition are clearly going to have less time to get back into their defensive positions, so that's the best time for Smith to use his fast flat pass so we can attack through our backline, when we get slow phase ball it allows the opposition to strangle us, so in that case we want our playmakers to read the game well, kick smartly in behind them, otherwise we're constantly running into a brick wall... so I'm basically saying play to the situation of the game.

 

[Jer1cho]

This was definitely our most complete performance since the 2019 final. Massive impact by bench, especially Marx, Elton and Steyn. We so nearly lost it, but Duane Vermeulen showed why he is arguably the best 8 we have ever had. Just immensely proud that we backed our power and skills instead of what happened last week. These two teams are seriously closely matched, almost balancing each other out but in opposite ways.

We might be sucking one massive schlong franchise wise but this core group of Boks are still a fantastic team when they want to be.

 

[ChicagoKid]

This was definitely our most complete performance since the 2019 final. Massive impact by bench, especially Marx, Elton and Steyn. We so nearly lost it, but Duane Vermeulen showed why he is arguably the best 8 we have ever had. Just immensely proud that we backed our power and skills instead of what happened last week. These two teams are seriously closely matched, almost balancing each other out but in opposite ways.

We might be sucking one massive schlong franchise wise but this core group of Boks are still a fantastic team when they want to be.

For me, Rassie's job is to get the coaching and overall structure of South African rugby to the next level. It's why I hated the "Let Rassie takeover" chat. Let Rassie put SA rugby from schoolboy to Springboks on an elite level so the Boks are competing for the #1 ranking every single year, not just once a decade.

South Africa has the player base and passion, but it needs someone like Rassie to elevate the entire structure. Let him go do it!