Padova – He was thrilled with Cobus Reinach’s touchdown against England, but Springbok backline coach Ricardo Loubscher wants his team to be ruthless when they have try-scoring opportunities in Saturday’s Test against Italy.
Reinach’s five-pointer was a thing of beauty as it involved a delicate chip over the English defence by flyhalf Patrick Lambie, and then Willie le Roux caught the ball and drew two defenders before producing an amazing offload in the tackle, with two defenders closing in on him, to Reinach, who went over untouched.
But the fact that England were still in the game until the very end was partly due to the fact that the Boks weren’t efficient enough when inside the English half. The Boks’ other two tries came from a Jan Serfontein intercept and Schalk Burger breaking away from a maul to barge over.
Poor finishing was the main reason why the Boks lost the tour opener to Ireland, as they were camped inside the opposition 22 for most of the game, but didn’t put the Irish away. It cost them the game, and it will again in future against better teams.
So, while there was a bit more energy in the Boks’ attacking play against England, Loubscher wants to see better results against Italy on Saturday. “If you look at that try (by Reinach), it was just pure brilliance from Pat. We spoke in the week about the identification of space, and mismatches, and I thought if you look at Cobus, just his support on the inside – right time, right place,” he said.
“Willie will always look for opportunities on attack, and on Saturday it was just the right timing, right place. If you look at Cobus, he was also spot-on in terms of his decision-making, and we are quite happy because we spoke early in the week about the need to take opportunities, and that was one that we really finished well.
“We spoke about taking all our opportunities, and I thought once or twice against England there were a few chances we didn’t take. I think it’s more the mindset – it’s all about identifying the space and the mismatches, and everyone being on the same page. Obviously it comes down to the conditions as well. On Saturday, it was wet and I thought we handled that well. The most important thing is to make sure that when we create those opportunities, we finish them. That will be a focus point for us (against Italy).”
Perhaps part of the reason for the poor return is the fact that the wings have not touched the ball much in both Tests. The ball may be wet at this time of the year in Europe, which discourages long passes being thrown out wide, but that doesn’t mean that the wings should be reduced to just chasing kicks and making tackles.
There is a reason why Bryan Habana is the record Springbok try-scorer with 56 in his 105 Tests, which places him fourth on the world list behind Japan’s Daisuke Ohata (69 in 58 Tests), Australian maestro David Campese (64 in 101) and Wales star Shane Williams (60 in 91).
He is a supreme finisher, while Cornal Hendricks and JP Pietersen are also deadly when they are close to the line. They are the men who have the speed and guile to break the defence lines.
So, while it may be difficult to spread the ball wide in slippery conditions, the Boks need to find a way to involve their wings on attack, even if it means using them from the blindside or up the middle, instead of the centres or loose forwards hogging all the possession.
Simply put, if the Boks want to finish better, they should give the ball to the finishers.
When asked if the wings will be utilised a bit more against Italy, Loubscher said: “Of course. We want to play to our strengths, but also adapt to the conditions. Sometimes in the conditions it’s difficult because it’s wet and we have a slippery ball. Then your focus (as a wing) shifts to your work-rate off the ball, and if you look at our chasing lines, we did that well (against England).
“Then it’s about the work-rate off the nine and 10, and hopefully we can do that on the weekend.
“Our game plan is focused on decision-making, and it’s all about playing the situation. Hopefully if it’s dry on Saturday, we can do that. If it’s wet, we need to adapt like we did against England.”
But the Bok attack could be without one of their main protagonists against Italy, with fullback Willie le Roux taking a knock to his cheek against England. Team doctor Craig Roberts said yesterday that Le Roux’s cheek had swelled up after the game, but a scan has revealed there is no fracture, making him available for the match. He may, however, still sit out the game; Johan Goosen or Patrick Lambie set to play at fullback on Saturday.
Tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis will definitely not feature against Italy due to knee and hamstring problems, with Coenie Oosthuizen set to start at No 3.
l Schalk Burger, man of the match against England, has returned to South Africa as coach Heyneke Meyer wants to have a look at other loose-forward options against Italy, while he is unavailable for the Wales Test week as it falls outside the official IRB Test window, and overseas-based players are forbidden by their clubs to play in such games. - The Star