Nick Easter on how the Lions can beat the Springboks
Expert Witness’ Nick Easter, defence coach at Newcastle Falcons and former assistant coach at the Sharks, joins us to offer the British and Irish Lions some pointers ahead of the winner-takes-all clash with the Springboks in Cape Town.
Former England international Easter has worked with many of the players on view in the 2021 Lions series against world champions South Africa.
Here’s his take on three areas the Lions must improve and target if they are to have a chance of winning this weekend and thus claiming the series.
Kicking game
“If you examine the kicking game last weekend, then the key takeout is that South Africa bossed the contestable kicks in the middle of the park. Damian de Allende was absolutely exceptional in the aerial battle and he changed what should have been a 50/50 contest into something nearer 70/30 in the Boks favour,” explained Easter.
“We all know the reasons why teams are kicking – to gain big territory quickly. However, the Lions tried to exit aerially with much too short a kick game – often the exits would end up in the middle third of the pitch, and sure, you may win one or two of those, but based upon the return rate the Lions achieved, the plan lost them a lot of momentum.
“With that 70/30 ratio, and with kicks landing around the Springbok 10 metre line, they have only five metres to travel forward until they’re in a point scoring position with the boot, and at that moment, they’re backed with go-forward momentum. Our exit strategy simply fuelled that momentum as every time we kicked we had a 30% chance of regathering, so at no point did we or could we relieve pressure.
He added: “In order to change this up, the kick strategy should be based upon three considerations: kick longer and deeper, chase as a defensive line and back your stopping ability in their half. Be prepared to concede a mark if needed as that removes momentum. Secondly, work the flanks. Kicking down the tramlines means the tap back or contest has only one side to attack from and also might be tipped into touch – both removes attacking pressure. Lastly, kick green; hit low and to grass and expose the South African rush defence, one based upon one pendulum player at the back (Willie le Roux) to move them around and slow any form of kick return.
“There is of course a fourth element – contest better – but if the Lions kick as I’ve described, get the kicks deeper and get South Africa kicking from the back of their field, then the gains are much less, the momentum is slower and they need to stay legal in breakdown contests as the Lions are now in three point territory.”
Breakdown and set-piece
“Let’s be honest, the Lions were lucky to come off second best here and really were beasted in the second half in both the set-piece and the breakdown,” Easter said.
“Dealing with the collision first, we were smashed by sheer power but I don’t think we utilised the points of difference as well as we might. South Africa don’t have a ‘fetcher’ in their back-row (although Malcolm Marx fulfils that role from hooker when he comes on), whereas the Lions do – Tom Curry. On Saturday, we also have Bundee Aki who adds another great over-the-ball skill set to the Lions midfield.
“The Boks attack the breakdown powerfully and in a pack of three and they look to clear and secure, rarely to pick and drive; the Lions must look to beat them with speed, using Curry, Aki and Maro Itoje as designated stealers to get low and on the ball as quickly as possible, especially in a scramble defence situation. This is all about speed of mind to react and commitment to steal and that’s really down to skill sets.
“In the set-piece, I understand that Wyn Jones and Ken Owens have a club relationship and I assume it’s that understanding that’s got them the nod. However, Owens’ lineout is the weakest of all of the available hookers and he has a 78% return on throw on the tour. What is further concerning is that 82% of his throws have been bankers – front or middle – with only 18% going long, to extend the lineout and allow pacy attacks off nine with short passing. He really needs to execute well here and the odds are against him, with South Africa having five primary lineout options versus the Lions three plus one secondary. It certainly means we will see fewer long throws.
“In the scrum, Franco Mostert on the flank allows some real scrummaging power through his prop as we saw last weekend. In order to combat, the front-row must stay static, in a short bind, feet forward position of stability, and above all, get the scrums over and done with quickly. South Africa want as many set-pieces as possible – they want them to last as long as they can – the Lions need to inject pace into the set-piece, set up and bind as quickly as possible, and get the ball out to make the big South African scrummagers run around the pitch.
“In both areas of the set-piece, speed is essential – the Lions are faster and fitter, the Boks are more powerful and better in the air, so get pace into the lineout throw and scrum feed and get the ball into play to move these big guys around and tire them out.”
Pace and individualism
“One of the most frustrating things of the Tests on this tour is we haven’t yet seen either a definitive attacking style from the Lions, nor have we seen any moments of brilliant individualism that defines a try or an attack,” he added.
“The provincial matches were so easy for the Lions that no real shape evolved. They were running in training ground tries and tougher opposition would have paid dividends. In the Tests, the packs have stifled each other out, but in the harder Tests, the backs have looked confused and lacking cohesion, purely because they’ve hardly played together. In the forwards, you can mix and match players quite easily and make changes, but a backline needs the cohesion of playing together and to learn intuition by how they interact and react to each other.
“The only way that moment of individualism will be created is by keeping pace and tempo up. Ali Price needs to vary the game greatly at nine, using snipes, darts and inside passes to vary the point of attack. Ball retention is key – we have worked out that statistically, South Africa will concede a penalty every fourth phase, so by keeping the ball and playing with pace, pressure will mount and the moment that happens, holes will appear. But the key here is pace of foot and sharpness of thinking – if you over carry, over run, then you’ll isolate yourself and the three-man pod of ruck players will pick off a turnover like picking apples from a tree, so there’s a fine margin to play fast but not run away from support.
“My last point is about emotions. I know people have discussed owning the scoreboard, but sometimes, if you spend the game looking at a narrow lead on the board, you forget to play what’s in front of you. Forget the score, particularly at half-time, as it will remove your intensity. Instead, focus on emotional intensity of winning, playing to plan and doing it for each other. This is a Lions team that have been through a lot together – they need to raise that emotional belief to new heights, whilst retaining accuracy and pace throughout the game.
“Do that and they might very well pull off the win of the year.”
Gatland's job this week
Mark Smith and Adam Kyriacou from the Planet Rugby Show look ahead to a big week for Warren Gatland as he hopes to pick up his British and Irish Lions side after a tough second-test defeat to South Africa.
