Cape Town - The buzz phrase that emerged from the SA Rugby coaching indaba is “skill-set”, and while Springbok coach Allister Coetzee reiterated the importance of handling the high ball, he wants South African players to “keep the ball in hand more”.
When Coetzee started with his tenure in April, he believed that the Bok team needed to play with greater variety on attack.
During the training camp in Stellenbosch in early June, there were a number of passing and attacking kicking drills that were practised, and some of those moves were seen in the three-match series against Ireland.
But as the pressure ramped up following three consecutive losses to Argentina, Australia and New Zealand, Coetzee crept into his shell and went to the other extreme - bringing in Morné Steyn to kick the goals and hoping that his forwards could grind out victories.
It worked against a limited Wallaby side at Loftus, but the reality of utilising the outdated “traditional” Springbok style was laid bare in the 57-15 thrashing at the hands of the All Blacks a week later in Durban.
South African rugby players and coaches, like Coetzee, tend to prefer using the “safety first” approach, but the Bok boss knows that there has to be progress made in developing players’ individual skills if they want to compete with the All Blacks.
And roping in the Super Rugby franchises is the first step in addressing the problem. “A few franchises have been playing brilliantly on attack. If you look at the Lions, they’re the team with the most line-breaks in Super Rugby, and therefore they could always create momentum and play a nice and flat attacking brand, and almost score the most tries,” Coetzee said at the end of the indaba in Newlands on Thursday.
“What we are saying - and the myth out there, and the misconception of ball-in-hand, heads-ups rugby, expansive rugby… All those terms that people chuck (around), there has got to be a balance in everything. We have to play, in a way, like that, but not to the extent where it becomes reckless and stupid, and making mistakes.
“So what we are going to take is bits and pieces of what can work, and that what will fit the profile of our players in South Africa. But the big thing where we have lagged behind is with our skill-sets, and that is what we need to develop. Then also look at the core fundamental skills, to be enhanced and develop at franchise level where those Super Rugby coaches have more time to coach and put things in place.”
Coetzee felt that there were a number of shortcomings during the Rugby Championship, and that the recruitment of Cheetahs head coach Franco Smith for the November tour to Europe will hopefully help the Boks in the short-term.
“Just on Franco, we want to - on a short-term basis - look at our skill-sets and improve our skill-sets. And he’s a coach with quite a variety of aspects in the game that he’s coached. He’s played overseas, he’s a Springbok flyhalf. He’s coached scrums, mauling in Italy, where there was no expertise and he had to do that,” Coetzee said.
“So he will add a variety of skill-sets to the coaching staff. The immediate focus is to get those guys to come in and add value. There will be a lot of young players for the Barbarians game, and hopefully some new talent can come through and fast-track where we want to be.
“What happened in the Rugby Championship in terms of the style of play - we couldn’t win the territory game, and our kicking execution was really poor. And because of that, we had to kick more and get into the right areas to use and run with the ball. So, we had a closer look at that. But definitely, we made so few passes, and we need to keep the ball in hand - definitely, we need to keep it in hand more.”
Coetzee will name two Bok squads on Saturday following the Currie Cup final for the friendly against the Barbarians (where overseas-based players are not available) and Tests against England, Italy and Wales.