Tale of two approaches

We have used the Tale of Two Cities theme once before, so this one has to be the tale of two different approaches.

You won’t be getting a farm in Adderley Street from me for guessing that the comparison is between the Stormers and the Lions. They are good teams to compare not just because of last weekend, where one built a victory around a stupendous defensive effort and the other had no defence at all, but because of the roads they have travelled to get to this point.

The Lions played a Friday night game against the Chiefs, and I predicted it would see a lot of tries scored. It wasn’t rocket science, for Dick Muir is now coaching the Lions, and one of his signature statements when there is confusion about strategy in the teams he is involved with is known to be “Let’s just play footy”.

It would be wrong to suggest Muir is completely against the structured approach, but in an interview done with him before he took up the Springbok assistant coaching job he was honest in saying that he leaned far more to the “heads up” approach. He likes his players to express themselves, he likes attacking rugby.

Springbok captain John Smit has played a lot under Muir at different levels and he summed up Muir’s attitude to the game before a Test against Scotland in Edinburgh at the end of 2008. Smit was told that Muir was talking about running it even though inclement weather was expected the following day, and Smit’s response was: “Dick would look to run the ball even if we were playing in Iceland”.

Why last Friday’s high scoring was written in the stars beforehand was because the Chiefs are like-minded. Last year they were involved in a similar big scoring game, I think against the Blues, and former All Black skipper Sean Fitzpatrick afterwards slammed it for not being rugby.

Similar thoughts went through my mind when I watched a tape of the Coca Cola Park match. Yes, there were lots of tries, but it wasn’t particularly aesthetically pleasing, with little structure and almost no defence.

Some Lions people are sure to be pleased that their side scored 65 points, but it means nothing if the opposition scored 72. And they had that 72 long before the end, where-after they were tripped up by yellow cards and the knowledge that the five points were securely wrapped up in the old kit bag and there was no need to dig particularly deep when the altitude took effect.

There will be those who will point to the lack of a defence coach in the Lions set-up, but by my reckoning the fault is in the whole approach. Most coaches will tell you that a defensive system is much easier to set up if your whole approach is structured. It’s one of the reasons some refer to structure as a safety net.

Western Province used to do what the Lions did on Friday when they were playing under Carel du Plessis. When Carel was in charge, you got the impression that the attitude was one of “Don’t worry how many tries the opposition score, we will just have to score more”.

That is good in theory, only it doesn’t work if the opposition care about their defensive system and prevent your team from taking advantage when the ball does come your way.

Nick Mallett, when he took over as WP director of rugby, started to change the WP and Stormers mind-set, but it was only once Rassie Erasmus moved down from the Cheetahs, and the Stormers became ultra-organised, that the Stormers play without the ball really improved.

The Stormers were unsure of what to do with the ball when they had it last year, and there was a continual debate between protagonists of the kicking and running game. But they would have been in a lot worse trouble in 2008 were it not for their outstanding defence.

Now that they are working out what to do with the ball when they have it, the Stormers’ sound defensive system looks set to make them a damn difficult team to beat. After all, even if you dominate possession, the opposition usually get to see at least 30% to 40% of the ball, and if you neglect your defence, that is enough ball for the other team to win the game.

Over the past two weeks many of the games have been won by the teams that have made the most tackles. It makes you think. Perhaps the Lions should get their defensive game right as a top priority, and worry about the attacking aspects later.