Nick Mallett
Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett has highlighted the difference between local coaches compared to their New Zealand counterparts.
Mallett was speaking in the SuperSport studio on Saturday night following a dismal weekend for South African teams in Super Rugby.
All 4 teams competing lost, with the Vodacom Bulls going down to the Blues in Auckland (23 / 18), the Cell C Sharks losing to the Waratahs in Sydney (33 / 18), the Emirates Lions undone by the Brumbies in Johannesburg (30 / 20) and the Toyota Cheetahs thumped by the Highlanders in Bloemfontein (45 / 24).
Mallett said: “At halftime we heard Naka (Drotske, Cheetahs coach) say it’s back to basics. So for the 1st 10 minutes of the 2nd half we saw driving mauls and up-and-unders. And it was strange that they were kicking up-and-unders on Patrick Osborne because he’s a very big guy.
“The coaching that you get in New Zealand is very different from what you get here. At practice they will put players into situations that they’ll face in game. They will play attack against defence. The attack is faced with varying types of defence – a press defence, a shift defence, a slow defence, a staggered defence, a tight defence or a wide defence. And they get the attack to choose the right option in relation to the defence they’re confronted with.
“South African coaches have a tendency to say, ‘From this lineout we’re going to do this move. We’re going to play the centre on a crash-ball. We’ll play the same direction with forwards off No 9, then we’ll bring it back the other way with a pod of forwards off No 9 and if we get momentum then we’ll play it wide”.
“But it’s all pre-programmed and it’s easy to telegraph, whereas what the New Zealand teams do is give the No 10 the power to make those decisions on the field of play. He will direct during phase play who needs to get the ball. And that’s why they read the situation so much better than us.”
Sport24
Training the way the New Zealanders do places them light years ahead… but that is not where it ends!
Their little chaps at the schools apparently play to an extent in weight classes, having the result that a kid with early growth spurts is not unfairly advantaged, like is the case here in SA, where the big okie gets all the chances and those who grow later are shunned and left behind.
In NZ it’s the skill of the chappie which gets him his spot, not his size!
Apart from that and training on defence the way the New Zealandders do, they are also more skilled with the ball… they look for opportunities, not for structure.
We clearly also saw the same type of thing yesterday with the Blitzbokke vs Fiji in the London Sevens Quarter-final, the way the Fijians run with a ball in one hand, or popping a pass with one hand over a defensive player… and the natural skill sets they have been taught since they were knee high to a grasshopper!
Radical change will have to happen in the way we teach our youngsters in SA… and then we will have to work upwards all the way to the top regarding the philosophy of coaching, training, skills… the whole bang shoot.
@ grootblousmile:
“like is the case here in SA, where the big okie gets all the chances and those who grow later are shunned and left behind.”
I completely agree.
“In NZ it’s the skill of the chappie which gets him his spot, not his size!”
I differ because there it is his skill AND size.
@ MacroPolo:
Amen (Again)
I’d prefer to express a slightly different way. We are not neccessarily larger that New Zealanders but we are apparently more physical. Which is another way of saying that we play domkrag rugby as opposed to thinking rugby. Crashball when playing into the gaps and working the space works better. Its quite frustrating to watch sometimes because the guys are seemingly going nowhere most of the time and eventually losing the ball in the tackle. One wants to blame the coaches but, as Mallett implies by his generalisation, its probably a lot deeper than that. Its a culture.
Anyone who has seen a kiwi team train will see that they are light years ahead their sessions are shorter and much higher intensity. Their drills are more focussed. Their fitness training is tends towards aerobic rather than the anaerobic which is obvious if you’ve ever watched a test match between the all blacks and the boks.
Seeing as “we” are so obsessed with size, I am curious as to the average size of the New Zealand back three’s this weekend compared to the South African teams.
@ MacroPolo:
The only “sizable” thing we have in our rugby that eclipses the other countries is our huge arrogance that we are bigger and stronger than the opponents.
The days of farm stock laaities being bred with natural strength is long gone….gym and supplement strength is what all players have lately, and there are no clear advantages there.
We gush about Alberts and Duane, yet how often will you see them run through opponents willy nilly because they are big.
They are big on defense, but that is more due to them having good technique than anything else.
We may have many players, but quantity doesn’t necessarily mean better than quality.
We are too quick to believe that we have the most and best juniors, if that were the case we would be winning the junior WC much more than we currently are.
We don’t have the biggest, best and most skillful players, results show that on an annual basis.
We are above average and on a good day can probably beat most sides, whereas NZ can beat most sides even if they have an off day
@ gunther:
@ 5
I would have thought that during the in-season the emphasis would be more on anaerobic fitness training while aerobic training would be more important during the pre-season… interesting to hear the kiwi’s do it different… it certainly works for them as u said.
@ nortie:
@ 7
Yip, you hit the nail on it’s head…. the other teams also love to tell us how they fear our so physicality and strength… and in the process they succeed in making us even more arrogant about it… playing right into their hands of course
@ nortie:
Personally I think we are more liberal in selecting smaller players compared to New Zealand, if you think guys like Adie Jacobs and Aplon were springboks, I find it very hard to believe that those guys would have had such long careers at NZ franchises, Cheslin Kolbe might not even play club rugby there and even Mvovu is below average in size. The smallest NZ backline player i can think of is Tim Nanai Williams, and he basically gave up on his All Black dream last year by playing for Samoa. The only exception in NZ is scrumhalves.
The only SA forward that really loses out because of size and is often at the center of the argument of skill vs size, it is often pointed out that NZ selects skill over size, BUT in comparing to NZ it is also worth noting that in recent years all three loose forwards are line out options in New Zealand.
The only SA forward, Heinrich Brussouw
robzim wrote:
Every time we tour NZ they talk up our scrum (all our franchises), and we more often than not come second.
as ek n tweerand stuk hier kan ingooi…..hoeveel van ons huidige springbokke kan die bal offload in n tackle? op die meeste vier spelers,die res sal kontak maak grond toe en nog n fase,daai ding werk laaaaaankal nie meer nie, die bal moet lewendig gehou word,want die bal sal altyd die speler klop….
13 @ smallies:
Quite right smallies I appreciate this philosophy and it is how I like to see the game played, the problem is that approach requires a heck of a lot of fitness to persist with throughout a game. Also think that it would need to be applied with some variety otherwise it becomes a bit predictable and easier to align defence against so think you want to keep the opponents guessing as to when you are going to keep it alive and let the ball do the work and when your ball carriers are going to bash it up. Just like I prefer to see a scrumhalf varying his play not just always being a distributor but in between launching some kicks and trying to run it back as well. Some folk like the flyhalf to be the main playmaker and so want the scrumhalf to always give him or her the ball but if all the scrumhalf is doing is passing the defending team can just focus on rushing up on the flyhalf.
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