South Africa fell between chairs with their tactics in the early stages of Saturday’s defeat to the Barbarians, but that does not have to be a concern ahead of next year’s World Cup.

Article from Sport24

“South Africa will take the game against England with them to the World Cup, not the game against the Barbarians,” said Baabaas coach Nick Mallett after his team’s 26-20 win at Twickenham.

“I think the way South Africa played against England is what we can expect from the Boks at the World Cup.

“They will pick big and athletic forwards. South Africa are very good at set-piece and will drive the ball up until they get momentum and then give the ball to the backs when there are no defenders left.”

Mallett believes Saturday’s game was one of contrasting halves, with his team outstanding in the first and then forced to defend in the second once South Africa started playing to their strengths.

“I take my hat off to my players for their performance in the first 30 minutes. It was some of the best rugby I have seen in the last month’s internationals. We got good ball and the backs used it very well,” he said.

“South Africa later started putting us under pressure in the scrums and we lost Rodney So’oialo and our No 8 (Colin Bourke) with injuries. We lost some physicality at the breakdown and started struggling at set-piece.

“The team defended really well and made South Africa work hard for those two tries at the end. They were good tries and typically South African. They had driven the ball up strongly and attacked the blind side when we had no-one left. Well done to them.”

Mallett believes the Boks struggled in the first half because they did not play to their strengths. He also pointed out that a number of injured players still had to return for South Africa.

“They moved away from their driving game and tried to play Ryan Kankowski into space and use one-off runners out wide. When South Africa do that they are not well organised at the breakdowns. We won some vital turnover possession,” he said.

“But look at who was not there. Fourie du Preez is one of the best scrumhalves in the world, Morné Steyn is a match-winner, there are two huge centres in Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie, as well as Bryan Habana, JP Pietersen and Frans Steyn. South Africa have hundreds of good players.”

As far as emerging talent is concerned, Mallett has been impressed by Patrick Lambie and Lwazi Mvovo.

“Lambie played an excellent Currie Cup and it will be exciting if he can carry that into Super rugby. Mvovo took his try against England very well and was brave in the way he competed in the air for the ball against Adam Ashley-Cooper. He looks a very good player.”

8 Responses to Mallett: Boks have RWC plan

  • 1

    ek sien snor se in die volksblad dat die jaar was n reuse sukses!is die man stupid of sarkasties?ons was laaste in die tri nations en wat van die nederlaag teen skotland?dit was een van die swakste jare vir bok rugby.

  • 2

    Just read what Mallett says between the lines…

    1. He says that the BaaBaas bliksemmed the FlenterBokke in the 1st 30 minutes
    2. The BaaBaas had the majority of possession in the first half due to correct ground-ball and breakdown application against incorrect FlenterBokke ground-ball and breakdown application
    3. They knew to be patient, they knew the defence would crack and break
    4. The game evened out when vital Barbarians got injured and had to be replaced
    5. The Bokke played the wrong Game Plan, then reverted to a more pragmatic approach which suited the Bokke
    6. Mallett says the Bokke are strong up front and in set pieces… but says nothing about the backs, so we deduce they are kak in the backline… which is true
    7. He says we miss our stars, therefore that our second choices are not good enough

    This has been the pattern this year, since the Tri-Nations…. going down in the 1st 30 minutes, then having to come back.

    It has been a pattern that our forwards are OK but our backline is shitty

    It has been a pattern not to respect possession

  • 3

    1@ Piet visagie:
    Vergewe maar vir Snorrie, hy en Tricky Dicky issie baie slim nie…

  • 4

    Mr Mallet, “having a plan” counts for absolutely bugger all if a) the players can’t / won’t play to it, or b) the plan is flawed in it’s basic concepts.

    It seems almost as if our coaching staff are incapable of analysing opposition and then formulating any game plan capable of winning against a particular opposition.

    The seeming inability to change the game plan “on the field” when circumstances dictate is also very disturbing.

    Professional people should be able to work as such, not like a disjointed bunch of schoolkids thrown together for a Sunday afternoon throw around.

  • 5

    van news 24 springbok coach pieter de villiers his players were tired and he doesnt mind conceding defeat to a barbarian side packed with international stars today we lost the game but we won a lot in other respects. was die aussies en all blacks in die barbarian span nie ook moeg nie?watse respects praat hy van?die wereld lag vir ons!dink hy ons rugby nasie is so stupid en glo die snert?

  • 6

    ek hoor puke watson kom terug hy gaan by puke snr speel,nou wonder ek waar kry die op so baie geld by watter organiesasie se bankrekeninge sal mens uit kom as jy die spoor volg.of gee puke vir sy pa spesiale afslag.

  • 7

    Go read this article and the comments on the article. i found it interesting. A bit off the non stop bashing of our game plan and Peter de Villiers.

    The abandoned blueprint

    http://www.ruggaworld.com/2010/12/06/the-abandoned-blueprint/

  • 8

    luke moet tog net wegbly by wp want sy ego veroorsaak net probleme.

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