It’s time for the South Africans to adopt the approach again of playing on the line of what’s right and what’s not. It will help them greatly in the future, especially against sides like Ireland who have mastered that type of play, writes Leighton Koopman.
It’s time for the Springboks to become masters of the “dark arts” of rugby again.
This past series against Ireland showed it, with the tactics the visitors employed, especially at the breakdown, almost completely throwing the Boks off their game in that department.
Irish captain Caelan Doris was the chief destroyer of the South Africans in the tackle area and was magnificent in the way he was bordering on offside at almost every ruck. Sometimes he was standing next to the breakdown just waiting for the scrumhalf, whether it was Faf de Klerk or Grant Williams, to get on the ball and then he would try to stick a hand in there to trip them or to catch them off guard.
This, in turn, prevented the Springboks from getting good, clean ball possession to launch attacks from, and it was happening constantly, especially in the second Test in Durban that the Boks lost 25-24.
How the Irish leader stopped the ball from being recycled when Kwagga Smith broke free and was brought down just before the tryline was borderline criminal, with nothing happening to him.
Doris entered the tackle from the side and latched onto the ball, ripping it away in the process for the referee to call it a knock-on. Smith was absolutely baffled by the call, and how the Irish got away with it.
And then there was the attempted charge down of the drop goal at the death by the Springboks’ patron saint of lost causes, Cheslin Kolbe, where Doris just moved into his running path (not illegally) and shifted slightly to the left to throw Kolbe off the run. Kolbe slipped and that drop goal sailed through the posts to clinch the game
It was those small things – small margins, as it’s called – that was the difference between the sides and at any given moment with another referee, those calls could have gone the way of the Boks.
That’s why it’s time for the South Africans to adopt the approach again of playing on the line of what’s right and what’s not. It will help them greatly in the future, especially against sides like Ireland who have mastered that type of play.
Doris almost reminded one of the great Richie McCaw, who always managed to find himself in the perfect position – whether legal or not – to thwart quick possession or turn the ball over at a ruck without the referee spotting him (or with them turning a blind eye).
The Boks need a player or two who dabble in the dark arts to keep their opponents honest. They need a Bakkies Botha or Danie Rossouw type of player, one who will remind the scrumhalf or whoever is behind the ruck to pick the ball up with one eye on what’s in front of them – a player that will forcefully clear out any opponent trying to spoil the ball.
Ireland did not have any of the problems at the breakdown that South Africa had and this should be a valuable a lesson for the Boks, a lesson that could be important during the Rugby Championship when they face Australia and the original masters of the dark arts, New Zealand.
