Braam van Straaten

The obsession of some South African teams with size over skills could come back to haunt them when the Super Rugby season gets underway next month.

Springbok Braam van Straaten says space and not power is the key to winning the SANZAR showpiece.

Abraham Johannes Jacobus van Straaten, who played flyhalf and centre for the Springboks in 21 Tests from 1999 to 2001, said the intent of more teams is to keep the ball in hand and shift into space.

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“Teams certainly looked at how they could develop their players to equip them to move the ball into space,” he said in a broad-ranging interview that also touched on the subject of the World Cup.

Super Rugby gets underway when the seven-time champion Crusaders host the Rebels in Christchurch on 13 February.

The first match involving a South African team is when the Lions, arguably South Africa’s most expansive outfit, host the Hurricanes in Johannesburg later the same day.

Matches most likely to have a more conservative undertone takes place the next day – when the Sharks host the Cheetahs and the Bulls are at home to the Stormers in two all-SA derbies.

“Some of the South African teams still believe bigger is better and they still prefer to run over their opponents,” Van Straaten said.

“That places an enormous demand on the players’ bodies and their ability to sustain that type of game.

“If you take that punishment week-after-week it will catch up with you somewhere along the line.”

Van Straaten, who works as a kicking coach with the Perth-based Western Force – amongst other things – said it would be interesting to see the approach of some of the SA teams.

“There are certainly a few things to look at.

“The breakdown will once again play a major role, especially the interpretation of referees.

“And the scrum is always a factor.”

Van Straaten, who is currently involved in a number of projects where he teaches technical skills to young school players, will head to Perth next week where he will be part of their pre-season build-up from 25 to 31 January.

“The Western Force are at a very good level and their kicking is of a high standard.”

Van Straaten, who previously also worked as a kicking coach with the Wallabies and as an advisor with other Australian teams like the Waratahs, will relocate from the Western Cape to the Free State next month, where he will take up a post at the Bloemfontein Academy.

Recently he was also working with underprivileged players at Kareedouw in the Eastern Cape.

While he is still travelling a lot – last year he spent 190 days on he road – the decision to relocate to Bloemfontein is partly due to family reasons – one of those being his wife’s family and his son that just started his highschool career at Grey College.