Springboks ‘chase the perfect game’ as Rassie Erasmus claims there hasn’t been a ‘dramatic’ tactical change
Fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu with an inset of Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Rassie Erasmus says that the Springboks’ game-plan hasn’t changed too much over the past few matches in the Rugby Championship despite some emphatic results.
After the narrow defeat to the All Blacks at Eden Park, youth has been given its time in the spotlight with the Springboks coaches backing the likes of Damian Willemse, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Canan Moodie in the starting line-up for the matches against New Zealand and Argentina.
The ploy has paid off with the Boks handing the All Blacks their biggest-ever defeat, while Feinberg-Mngomezulu produced a man-of-the-match performance in the thumping victory over Los Pumas in Durban.
The largely changed backline has produced some wonderful attacking rugby in the back-to-back wins, with Manie Libbok shining off the bench in both matches, while Ethan Hooker has made the most of his opportunities on the wing.
Attacking freedom
Much of the Boks’ recent success has been attributed to their vastly improved attack under the tutelage of Tony Brown, who was brought into the mix following the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
While the last two games have been a success, like the other teams in the Rugby Championship, the Springboks have also suffered from inconsistent performances. They were heavily scrutinised for the defeat to Australia in Johannesburg after racing into a 22-point lead in the first half before an epic collapse.
Many blamed the defeat on the Springboks’ attack-focused approach, which is now being heralded for the victories.
Following the announcement of his team for the final round of the Rugby Championship, Erasmus was asked how much freedom the likes of Libbok, Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Willemse have been given in Brown’s attacking structures.
The head coach replied: “When we lost to Australia when we were 22-0, people thought, and it looked that way, that we were giving too much freedom.
“But we don’t just coach per department, we try to make it so that the defence complements the attack and attack the kicking game and so on.
“So it’s definitely not something that changed dramatically in the last three games. Since Tony has been with us, we are all trying to find the balance.”
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Perfect performance
Like every other team, Erasmus says that the Boks are chasing the perfect performance, which may be a fool’s errand, as he said the crushing victory over Argentina in Durban wasn’t even close.
The game was still somewhat in the balance ahead of the final quarter while Los Pumas were hit with injuries, which meant that they played out the final minutes of the game with a man down.
“We are obviously chasing the perfect game, and last Saturday wasn’t the perfect game, 60 minutes into the game, it was in the balance, but the way the set phases and defence went, eventually guys could use their individual skills within the structure,” Erasmus added.
“We definitely don’t box them in, but different players have different skill sets. When Handre is playing, we don’t tell him exactly how to play, the same as if Grant’s playing or Sacha’s playing, so I don’t think there’s a shift in that in terms of our mindset.”
