Deciding which way to go

One of the messages that has come out of the South African Rugby Union headquarters this week was that one of the main reasons a national training camp has been called this week is so that the players can get together and discuss a game-plan for the end of year tour.

If that is so, then it makes sense. Clearly there is a lot for them to discuss after a Tri-Nations season where the Springboks bombed quite spectacularly and a Currie Cup season where the Sharks led the way in the league stages and up to the final playing a style of rugby which to a considerable extent mimics the high-tempo approach of the All Blacks.

During the away leg of the Tri-Nations it became evident that the Boks were caught between a rock and a hard place in that the World Cup-winning template was no longer working against New Zealand and Australian teams that exploited the new law interpretations which favour attacking teams.

The All Blacks and Wallabies found ways to limit the number of lineouts, which took away so much of the set-phase platform that the Springboks launch off, and their strong emphasis on organising their support runners and play off the ball enabled them to leave the South Africans floundering.

The ability to retain possession through countless phases is of course key to this style of rugby succeeding, as is mobility and physical fitness. It was for this reason that many South African rugby people argued against the Boks needing to radically reinvent their game, arguing instead that they just needed to refine their approach and become more accurate in their kick and chase.

That might still well be the case, for there was no denying that the Boks failed to execute as well during this past Tri-Nations season as they had the previous year. And the absent Fourie du Preez is key to the strategy that has served them for the past couple of seasons.

It may not be a coincidence that when the Blue Bulls finally floundered in a knockout game, they did it when Fourie was an absentee. Good though Francois Hougaard is, he is no Du Preez. There is after all only one Fourie du Preez, and he is a unique and extraordinarily gifted player.

But an important part of the negativity towards any Springbok playing style reinvention is the perception that the country does not have players who can play the New Zealand and Australian way. Up until recently you had to temper any praise of the quick-tempo game when employed by local teams with the acknowledgement that ball retention wasn't what it should have been.

There is no point in trying to up the pace and run the ball if you are going to be turned over after two or three phases. In the embryonic stages of the Currie Cup, the Sharks looked vulnerable for that reason, and they lost to Griquas in the opening match because of their inability to hold onto the ball.

However the Sharks have shown steady progress through the season in their ball retention, and they were quite outstanding at carrying the ball through the phases in the semifinal win over a Blue Bull team that fielded several of the Springboks who struggled in the Tri-Nations. They retained possession so well that it was quite freaky that they weren’t out of sight at half-time.

Sharks coach John Plumtree said earlier in the season that the Boks would have to adapt their approach to get closer to that of the All Blacks and the Wallabies, and that South Africans could play the quicker game. Judging from what he has done at the Lions, and how he has played it, another Kiwi in John Mitchell appears to see it the same way.

The final log positions in the Currie Cup, and the result of the semifinal, suggest that those views have at least partially been vindicated. And it is not as if Western Province, the Sharks’ opponents in the final, are employing a style that can be likened to that of the Boks either.

So some decisions need to be made, and some talking needs to be done when the squad comes together this weekend. The 39-man squad selected last week didn’t tell us much because there are just too many players for it to send out a message, but what is decided for the way forward will be telegraphed when the whittling down process is completed after the Currie Cup final.

If Patrick Lambie and Elton Jantjes, the flyhalves of the Sharks and Lions respectively, feature in the playing squads, then it could well be that the Boks are taking a bold step forward. It is hard to imagine Lambie playing it any other way than the way he does it at the Sharks.