‘Methodical’ Springboks tactics hailed as Rassie Erasmus can ‘pick his poison’ to expose opponents
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus and an inset of Malcolm Marx.
The Springboks’ all-court game has been hailed by New Zealanders James Parsons and Bryn Hall following their Rugby Championship title defence.
The duo were mightily impressed by Rassie Erasmus‘ charges throughout the tournament, with Parsons stating that he has not seen a team that is so consistent in their statistics as the Boks were in 2025.
While Hall was left questioning ‘how do you stop the Springboks’ who have so many options in attack and styles at their disposal.
Springboks’ options
After praising South Africa’s scrum and the influence of loosehead prop Ox Nche, Parsons turned his attention to the accuracy and ruthlessness of the Boks once they enter the opposition’s 22.
“They are the one side who across the Rugby Championship scored a bulk of tries, five plus phases, and it’s all to do with that pick and go, just anyone next man up,” he said on the Aotearoa Rugby Podcast.
“Again, sometimes I feel like it’s a mass thing; they just dominate the collision, and they know that eventually they are going to go over.”
Hall added: “I also agree around the 22, how do you stop them? Like when it’s in the 22 and they’ve been able to have guys that are latching, they’ve got ball carriers, how do you stop them? Because it’s hard when it comes to efficiency, they get over the advantage line, two cleaners. Good luck.
“So I guess the solution is that you don’t want them to get into the entry of the 22. Try to have them in a low number because when they are in there, I don’t know, it seems like it’s unstoppable at the moment.”
Reading further into the stats, Parsons believes that South Africa were consistent from minute one to 80 during their Rugby Championship matches, which was not true for the other three nations.
Turnover attack
The Springboks have also paired their physical brutality with Tony Brown’s attacking structures, which gives the defence too much to consider, according to Parsons, who also likened their threat on turnover ball to the All Blacks under the tutelage of Wayne Smith.
“It’s their ability to play so many different ways because defenders have so much to think about, and if you look in terms of consistent themes with South Africa in the Rugby Championship, they have the most balanced scoring metrics,” he continued.
“If you look at every other team, you can see that in that 20 minutes, they are good and that 20 minutes, they struggle, but South Africa it’s balanced scoring, balanced defence, and balanced conceding across the 80 minutes.
“They are just so consistent, and then obviously when they get into the 22 they they build a lot of phases and score, but 52% of their tries come from turnover.
“When I look at those stats, all I think about is when Wayne Smith brought in that click attack, and you have 15 seconds. They have that and mass brutality in the 22. They know what they’re doing, but defence doesn’t, so you have to be wary for the cross-field kick to Kolbe, you can’t tighten up and go, ‘Okay, we’re going to take you on muscle to muscle’ because they go, ‘Okay, sweet, we’re just going to go to the edge and score.’
“They’ve just got that bag of tools that will expose you and game drivers that make really good decisions based on the pictures that the defence is giving them.
“I’ve never really seen anything like it in any team across 80 minutes across a competition to see such consistent themes in terms of points scored, points conceded.”
Picking their poison
While the Boks’ attack has evolved since Brown’s arrival, Hall pointed out that South Africa still have the tactics that won back-to-back World Cups in their arsenal.
The scrum was once again a real weapon for the Boks in the Rugby Championship, while they reverted to kick-heavy and slow poison tactics to overcome Australia in round two after a shock defeat at Ellis Park.
“Don’t underestimate that when you have a scrum like that, it doesn’t matter where you are in the game. If it’s a close game and you know that you’re going to get a penalty and you’re going to work teams from that, it’s a great advantage to have,” he added.
“We haven’t even touched on their kicking game, like if they’re able to get their execution of their box kick and their pressure game, they can go to that. So, it’s picking their poison. If they feel like they’re not getting that, the scrum is obviously a really big weapon that they’re able to use at any time.
“But they can attack, they can maul, they can go to scrum, they can kick, they can counterattack. So, you know, that’s pretty much five different ways that they’re able to score points.”
Parsons also credited South Africa’s playmakers and decision-makers for the team’s success with ball in hand.
“You’ve got to credit their decision-making like they didn’t go to the contestables. They knew that Argentina would like that, they want the turnover, the disruption; South Africa went to the cross-field, flat kicks, or they went to the territory-based kicks,” he said.
“They are very methodical in their preparation and playing to their strengths, but also exposing or not providing opportunities to the strengths of the opposition.”
