Morreys Corner No 2

It seems Saturdays result in the rugby has sparked off some hot debates around the world. We get the next installment fresh from the great mans mind.

Enjoy Morreys Corner No: 2

Before you can play “wide” or “expansive” rugby, you must play direct rugby. Before you can go around a team, you must go through them.

At school boy level you can go around a side or create on overlap from first phase on a consistent basis without having to break tackles. At test level you need to beat a defence, get in behind them and then exploit the space. I feel bad for last week – now, retrospectively of course. I am never a negative person. In fact usually optimistic to a fault when it comes to the Boks… Before I had criticised the coach last week, I might have asked the question: How does PDV define “expansive” rugby. It is in his definition that the answer to the next and all important question lies. If he meant hit rucks at 100 miles an hour, produce quick ball on a platter, bust through defences with wave after wave of assault, including deft little off loads. And only then play to space, execute with incredible accuracy and finish almost every half chance presented. Perhaps had we understood that to be his doctrine of expansive rugby, we would have been less critical?

What happened on the weekend? How did we go from a confused bunch that couldn’t clear a ruck to save ourselves, to this clinical machine that thrashed the Wallabies into oblivion? Did we revert back to direct Bok rugby of old? Or is this the expansive game that PDV spoke of? Did the penny drop or did we go back to what we know?

Securing possession, kicking the corners, forcing line outs, chasing effectively, off loading to supporters in depth to create continuity, making very few errors (that the ref saw anyway), counter attacking with confidence, showing patience, out enthusing the opposition… That was all it took. Easy. So, is Pieter De Villiers a visionary? Did the senior players say bugger this new way, let’s do what we are good at? Does anyone know, I would love someone’s opinion? I’m at a loss. I heard a story via someone via Phil Kearns via via, that a senior Bok had told Kearns that the Boks had decided to take it into their own hands and ignore the coach. I don’t know what to think. What I do know is that after the RWC07 I remember thinking that this Bok side will peak in 2 years. That we hadn’t yet seen the best of this group of players. This year we beat NZ in NZ, thrashed Argentina and Australia by 60 and 50 respectively. We have also played 2 awful test matches and 2 average games. Where are we really? What is the prognosis for the next 2 seasons?

Were the Wallabies as woeful as they appeared to be or were we just so good that we blew them off the park?