Newly appointed Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer says one of his greatest challenges will be to have the country’s Super Rugby franchises on the same page.
Sport24
Meyer said on Monday that his ultimate aim would be for all the teams in South Africa to adopt a similar style of rugby.
“In future I would like to install a national style of play and defence and all the attributes that go with it, and everybody should buy in,” Meyer said.
“I am realistic and know you can’t force people to play the same, but there should at least be a common goal and places where you can touch base.”
Meyer said it would be imperative to use the Super Rugby coaches as a sounding board as they worked with the players on a day-to-day basis.
He added that communication will be key in sustaining a good relationship with the coaches.
“I would have loved to have started with an extensive planning session where we could put in a national strategy with the way we want to play, but at this stage it is a little bit late,” he said.
“My main aim is to set a great working relationship with them because they see the players much more than I do, and that is why I want to go around and spend time and see what they are doing at the franchises.”
A good grasp of the basics, Meyer said, would always be important in rugby, but he warned that South Africa needed to adapt to the law changes and new styles of play or be left behind.
“One thing that will definitely change is the conditioning of the players,” he said.
“It is a longer season and there are more games, and the games are quicker and the ball is longer in play.
“I am very concerned with conditioning and that is the main thing I will focus on.”
While the increase in work load and the dangers of fatigue were an issue, Meyer was more concerned about players’ mental toughness.
“The squads are getting bigger and I think you need to rotate players better at Super Rugby level,” he said.
“Then again I am a big believer in mental toughness and sometimes where we get it wrong – the more we talk about players being burnt out, the more they believe it.
“I want my players to be mentally tough and if you put the jersey on there shouldn’t be excuses about their conditioning.
“We need to plan better. There is a lot about rehabilitation we need to do and manage the players better.”
Meyer also gave a clear indication of how he would handle the contentious issue of overseas-based players representing the Boks.
“Heineken Cup and competitions there [Europe] are also tough and those guys are conditioned well, it is just a matter that they peak at different times,” he said.
“I’ve thought about a few things, how we can work around it, and you also need the overseas-based players to buy in.
“I have a few ideas I want to discuss with them and their clubs and see if we can get to a win-win solution.”
He emphasised that he was committed to transformation in rugby but cautioned that it needed to be a priority at all levels of the sport.
“We all need to work together and I am committed to transformation and, like Mr Roux [SARU CEO Jurie Roux] said, there also needs to be transformation in the hearts and minds of people.”
It would certainly be a good thing if one could achieve a UNIFIED STYLE of play but just how feasable it is in the South African context still has to be answered.
For centuries now already, South africans like to go their own way and do their own thing, bugger what the others wants to do. It is as much part of our culture as is the 11 Official Languages!
To insist on doing your own thing is as South African as Biltong & Braai… or as South African as Castle & Klippies & Coke.
As long as the common style is not kick and chase. The new Zeland teams specialize at winning the contest at the breakdown. The SA teams need to step-up in that department but I think SA teams should focus on driving/mauling from the lineout and scrums. The rolling mauls what happened to them?
Our backline play also need some adjustment. NZ play the ball wide to the wing and attack with the back three. They also use a lot of decoy runners and back passes. These sort of play is totally absent in our backline play.
Look at this NZ try. I would like to see more of this in SA backline play. Look at the doubling back and decoy runners.
Let me try again. Hre is the link once more to the backline play:
Maybe it is not only England who must listen to what Sir Graham Henry says.
”At national level and at club level English teams are far too worried about securing possession. They are obsessed with sealing off the ball carrier. The English teams are paranoid that an opponent might steal the ball and so everyone jams on the brakes and seals off possession. It is fearful and often illegal.”
”They have to smash the Scottish forwards past the ball instead of conservatively stopping at the tackled player in order to secure possession.
”We want quick ball in New Zealand and so we concentrate on dominating the space beyond the ball carrier. We want our supporting players to get under the opposition and to move them backwards. We flood past the ball to create good possession for our strike runners.
Look at how Australia set-up this try by driving with speed from the line-out. I would like to see more of this in SA line-out play.
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