Well it is now time for reflection and hopefully the emotions have settled down a little. I thought it would be interesting to look at the match statistics and see what can be taken from them.
These statistics courtesy of scrum.com
Kicks from hand, SA 27, NZ 17 Passes, SA 75, NZ 170
Runs SA 69, NZ 114
Meters ran, SA 217, NZ 592
Clean breaks, SA 2, NZ 0
Defenders beaten, SA 8, NZ 5
Offloads, SA 4, NZ 11
Rucks, SA 64, NZ 90
Turnovers conceded, SA 11, NZ 13
Tackles made, SA 134, NZ 68
Tackles missed SA 5, NZ 8
Scrums, SA won 8, lost 1, NZ won 7
Line outs, SA won 5 lost 2, NZ won 7 lost 2.
Penalties conceded, SA 9, NZ 10
Statistics of the South African half back pairing.
From the base of the ruck, Hougaardt played the ball 53 teams kicking 10, passing 38 times and running 5 times. Morne Steyn handled the ball 23 times and kicked 10, passed 11 and ran twice. Januarie came on late in the second half and only made one tackle, not sure how correct that is.
So in total the South African half back pairing handled the ball 76 times between them, kicking 20 passing 49 times and running 7 times.
Statistics of the All Black half back pairing.
Cowan handled the ball 41 times, kicking 2, passing 36 and running 3 times Carter handled the ball 45 times, kicking 7 times, passing 30 times and running 8 times. Weepu who came on in the second half handled the ball 46 times, kicking 3 times, passing 39 times and running 4 times.
So overall the NZ halfback pairings handled the ball 132 times, kicking 12 times, passing 105 times and running 15 times.
What me must take in consideration is that territory belonged to the All Blacks and there were very few defensive kicks on their side, whereas the South Africans spent quite a bit of time in their own 22, albeit not with much ball in hand.
Overall the SA halfback pairings kicked 26% of their possession and the All Blacks a mere 9% of their possession.
This is a statistic I am not too unhappy about, it did show some improvement in variation from the South Africans and percentage wise 26% is not all that much if you take in consideration they were camped in their half quite often. It does show to me that there were much more intent on running the ball as to previous tests and with more possession and field position they can be dangerous.
What does concern me however, is still the lack of ball out wide, the Springbok back line excluding the half backs only handled the ball 30 times, whereas the All Black back line handled the ball 101 times.
The South African forwards handled the ball 60 times, that is twice as many times as the backs. The All Black forwards on the other hand handled the ball 65 times.
So looking at the balance of play, SA apart from their half backs play the ball with their forwards 66% of the time and the All Black forwards play the ball 40% of the time.
The problem I see with this statistic is that the close encounter attacks with your forwards will mainly set up rucks and little go forward ball but this is where defences are traditionally strongest and to find the gaps, create angled running etc, you need your back line.
Things are improving, but there is still ways to go for SA, they need their backline to get at least 50% of the ball, and allow them some room to create. Juan de Jongh and Gio Aplon has played a strong defensive match, but with no ball in hand, they cannot create play as we believe they should.
The fact is Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers, Jaque Fourie, Bryan Habana, JP Pietersen and Gio Aplon is not the worst back line players out there, but they need ball to prove it.
Question is, if you bring Frans Steyn back, will he just add to the kicking or will he bring creativity?
Lastly I was impressed with the passion and verocity that the South Africans tackled, yes at the end we missed tackles and lost the game, but for 75 minutes it was a great spectacle and gives me hope after the disappointment of the Antipodes.
@ 4man:
4man, Yes I recall one instance when Morne Steyn had a clear overlap outside him & elected to kick rather than pass. Does he lack peripheral vision? Or are the other players not communicating properly? At this level one would expect better communication. With the ABs I can’t tell whether it’s better communication or instinctive. You can only really figure that out on the actual field.
I understand your point about the emphasis on forwards for SA but rugby is a full team sport. You can’t afford to play this game with only half a team. My point is that you have talented players. JDV & Fourie is a great combination, which most teams would die for. But when they have played before how often do they see the ball? I think this is part of Habana’s problem, he’s getting bored out there on the wing without seeing the ball. Then he starts getting distracted & doing stupid things like seeking an intercept when it’s not there.
@ JimT: Steyn is not our best running flyhalf, he is adequate. Like I said the focus was on the forwards and keeping the ball, he had an off game. The combo you talk about we havent seen yet this year….and thats exactly what I’m talking about, combinations. JDV will be freed up to become more of a playmaker. Our problems arent insurmountable and they will be solved. NZ is playing inordinately well at the moment and when your tail is up then your risks seem to pay off, when you’re under the cosh, instead of being nervous one should adopt the attitude “well I dont care, its only a game”, but as an observer it is easy for me to say. We still dont get our fair share of the ball, we should be contesting set pieces, which means the ball must be kicked out…and then our breakdown situation is still on the wrong side of even. Dont worry we’ll be there next year and we wont be a pushover. Habana needs a rest you dont go from being the player of the world cup to villain in a couple of years, he is still young and strong and needs to work on his skills and on his mind and he’ll be back, of that I’m confident.
I’m not so sure about Steyn starting the game, I think that is wrong…Aplon has drawn a short straw and simply because the WP/Bulls combo is not working 100% yet. On Saturday the Boks probably would have whipped any other team in the world…the All Blacks are on top of their game, but they are beatable, thats for sure.
@ superBul:
Superbul, you misunderstand me. I don’t enjoy my rugby only when tries are scored. One can see lots of enjoyable running, cut & thrust rugby when tries are not scored. I’m all for the win first, it’s the point of the game after all. But SA has talented running players & you don’t use them. You can perform so much better.
SA won the last RWC, good on you. But you didn’t have serious competition. Now that’s not the fault of the team, you can only play what’s in front of you. But in the final having whacked England earlier in the competition there was no reason why SA could not have run rampant & put up a big score in the process. Can you expect in next year’s RWC to avoid Australia, NZ & France again? Probably not. I think your current tactics will not let you pull off another win. But on the other hand if you let your players play then I rate your chances very high. Use the talent when you have it should be every coach’s philosophy. It’s the basis of winning rugby.
@ 4man:
Every team is beatable, France proved that in the last RWC & then England proved it again in the semis. It’s the nature of rugby. My frustration lies with your inability or unwillingness to unleash the back line talent you have. Morne is a puzzle for a coach. He’s lethal on the field due to his goal kicking, therefore indispensable. But he poses no offensive threat. I would slot him somewhere else, probably full back & try other options at #10. Butch may be past his sell by date in the long run & he can also be a liability by being a “head hunter”. I dunno I don’t watch enough S14 or CC rugby to see who else you have but I bet they are out there.
Your point about not getting your share of the ball. If your game is a forward game then you should dominate possession. But of course if your half backs kick away the ball then you will lose possession. Maybe it will all come right when FDP comes back, but he kicks too, perhaps more accurately than Morne.
@ superBul:
Interesting. He should know. It’s a gamble by PDV that’s for sure.
64@ JimT:
Jimmy The Prop, you admit that you have seen very little Super 14 rugby… well here’s a tit-bit of news for you. Morné Steyn was lethal on attack personally as well as putting his backline away in the whole Super 14, bar possibly 1 match in New Zealand and 1 match against the Reds in Ozzie.
He scored tries and the Bulls backline scored a heap of tries with him at pivot.
Now suddenly he is supposedly average in distributing the ball and according to you offers nothing on attack…. where is the problem… with him or the game plan imposed on him…. you tell me.
@ grootblousmile:
GBS, I have suggested before that the problem might not lie with the player but rather the coaching strategy. But I think you would agree that there is a huge difference between S14 & test rugby. Some players are unable to raise their game to that next level. The fact remains that for whatever reason he has not proven to be a threat on attack at the test level. One way or the other it needs to be sorted out. If you are right you would think that Matfield, as a senior player & team mate on the Bulls, would have a say in this. I would keep Steyn on the team but at full back. You would think the player himself would rebel if he is being restricted by the coaching staff.
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