Winds of change blow in Bok camp
New Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has given a glimpse of the new style of rugby he would like to see South Africa play.
New Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has given a glimpse of the new style of rugby he would like to see South Africa play.
De Villiers intends to move away from the heavily-structured conservative approach that has traditionally characterised the Springbok game in favour of a more open running style.
“It's a new culture for this team,” De Villiers told Super Rugby after the national squad's training session in Stellenbosch on Monday.
“Some players are still caught in the habit of going to ground when they break through. That's not how we want to play.
“We want to play on our feet and try to run everyone off their feet without abandoning the basics.”
“The biggest challenge is to get the players to understand the “when, how and why?”
De Villiers isn't ready to throw structure out of the window completely however, but is using the camp to change the culture of conservative rugby in the national squad.
“We should have much more structure on the field than we had today, but it looked good,” he added.
John Smit's arrival at the camp has had an immediate impact with the Springbok captain joining the camp shortly after arriving in Cape Town on Monday morning. He joined the rest of the forwards, who split form the backs to concentrate on scrummaging for part of the day.
The squad also worked on line-outs and representatives from the news media were asked not to take photographs. The set piece has always been a strength of the South African game and although De Villiers will almost certainly use the line-out as a vital part of his game plan, it seems likely that players will be given more freedom to utilise their skills.
One of the stand out performers for the Stormers in the Super 14, tighthead prop Brian Mujati, looks set to be rewarded for his form with a place in the 30 man squad to be announced on Wednesday.
Two players who will not be involved after being overlooked for the training squad are Sharks scrum-half Rory Kockott and prop Jannie du Plessis. Kockott can feel a little unlucky for not getting the nod after being one of the better performing scrum-halves in the Super 14 and wit his ability as a place kicker, an aspect none of the scrum-halves in the Springbok camp can claim to have in their game. Du Plessis seems to be a victim of Mujati's success.
“Jannie was not in the Sharks' starting line-up,” De Villiers explained.
“There are guys such as Mujati, who really proved he was one of the best, and you also have BJ Botha and CJ van der Linde, who are not bad.
“I would have liked to have everyone here. By not having Jannie, we're not saying he is not good enough or that we're not interested in him.
“It's simply a matter of other players who have shown good Super 14 form and we want to reward that.”
De Villiers is now faced with the task of cutting down his 47-man training squad to the 30 who will face Wales and Italy in June. The first Test is against Wales on June 7 in Bloemfontein.