Well this was much better. The Springboks were innovative and clearly made some adjustments to how they play the game. Probably because of the change in game plan, most of the players played well. A few played exceptionally well like Frans Steyn, Danie Rossouw, Schalk Burger, Heinrich Brussow, Gurthro Steenkamp and Bismarck du Plessis, when he came on.

Danie ‘Pakslae’ Rossouw was outstanding in everything he did and maintained a high work rate on defence and on attack. Out wide he showed some deft touches, good decision making and a surprising turn of speed.

The most pleasing aspect of the whole match was the fact that they kept the ball in hand.

For the first time in a long time the ball was actually spread to the wing. It was however the manner in which they did it that was most impressive, for me. There were decoy runners and constant variation between taking it wide and attacking channels 1 and 2. Danie Rossouw in particular came charging into those channels with fearless abundance, but it was the way in which they altered between attacking channels 1 and 2 and taking it wide that had the Fijians totally perplexed.

During the latter stages of the match the gaps opened up for our backline players in the inside channels, notably the break that Morné Steyn made, because the Fijians didn’t know where to defend anymore.

Strategically there were about 9 major changes I detected:

1. The chargers into channels 1 and 2 came from depth and with speed but most importantly they ran into space and did not try and run over the defenders.
2. The support runners were supporting from depth as compared to being flat or lateral with the ball carrier. The consequence of this is that the springboks could off-load better and that the support at the breakdowns were quicker in line with the ‘gate’, and therefore more effective.
3. The Springboks kept the ball in hand and stayed upright as they hit contact, using off-loads to supporting runners sitting deep, allowing the Springboks to move the ball away from the contact area. This is a major shift away from trying to smash through defenders.
4. The Springboks counter-rucked at the breakdowns with aggression in that golden first two seconds after the ruck had formed.
5. The Springboks had numbers at the ruck entering with low body positions and with speed.
6. They spread the ball to the wings using decoy runners.
7. The Springboks used the maul as a decoy for some other planned starter moves, at the back of the lineout. The fact that they actually had starter moves is a big step forward.
8. They tackled the big guys around the ankles and avoided going into a chest tussle with Fiji, for the ball. Hitting the Fijian runners on the knees took them down and made it hard for Fiji to offload.
9. The Springboks didn’t go into defensive mode after they took the lead, like they did against Wales but kept the ball alive and actually ran with the damn thing.

The Springboks always had good backline players. The only reason why they don’t run the ball is because it was never really necessary due to the fact that they could dominate most teams upfront.

There is risk in running with the ball and why take the risk if you can win matches playing 10-man rugby.

However, the new rule interpretations have changed the ball game and in the modern game it is the team that keep the ball in hand who win matches.

The Springboks biggest problem has always been that they lost the ball after going to ground with it. This new approach of staying upright and shifting the ball away from the contact point with off-loads to supportive runners, supporting from deep and not lateral, is therefore a brilliant adjustment which suddenly allow the Springboks to play the expansive game.

A last word on Frans Steyn. This guy was a revelation at No 12 and maybe it is on instruction, but he was the man who got the ball wide with outstanding distribution skills.

I have been complaining about the Springbok No 12’s and in particular Jean de Villiers’ and Juan de Jongh’s inability to get the ball wide, on previous articles. Frans Steyn was therefore a breath of fresh air in this regard, but so effective in doing that because of the new way in which the Springboks approached the game.

The off-loads at the collisions gave the Springbok backline more space, allowing them to take the ball wide.