The Stormers and Sharks are reaping the rewards of the emphasis placed on skills development during the pre-season, and it’s a culture of excellence that Brendan Venter can foster with the Springboks, writes CRAIG LEWIS.
South African players just don’t have the same level of skills as those from New Zealand. How often have we heard it?
It’s certainly not entirely inaccurate, but in the build-up to this Super Rugby season, both the Stormers and Sharks had one thing in common: they took the decision to place a large emphasis on 'up-skilling' their players.
At the Stormers, director of rugby Gert Smal has always been an advocate of bringing in overseas coaches to add new ideas and fresh perspective. It was the reason behind the inspired recruitment of Eddie Jones; a masterful move that was only scuppered when England came knocking.
Nevertheless, during this past off-season, the Stormers brought in Kiwi skills coach Paul Feeney, who complemented the views of ambitious and attack-minded head coach Robie Fleck, and the results have been clear to see.
In many regards, the Stormers have bucked the traditional South African trend of abrasive, direct rugby, based predominantly on a powerful pack, strong kicking game and resolute defence. By no means have the Cape-based side neglected these aspects of the game, but they’ve also added to their attacking arsenal.
Not only have players had the backing and freedom to attack space and keep ball in hand when opportunities arose to have a go, but some of the skills on show have been simply world class.
In particular, the Stormers’ offloading game has been a feature of their play in the opening six rounds, in which they have gone unbeaten while racking up 29 tries. As a perfect case in point, well-travelled fullback SP Marais has begun to play the best rugby of his life.
Just over a year ago, Marais found himself in the rugby wilderness after being omitted from the Kings’ squad. However, the Stormers offered him a career lifeline, gave him the backing to play his natural attacking game, and the outcome has been remarkable.
Marais has emerged as the form fullback in South Africa – with his offloading in contact matching anything dished up by our flashy friends from New Zealand – and don’t bet against him completing a remarkable rise to the national set-up.
And while the Stormers have blazed an impressive trail this season, the Sharks haven’t been far behind. Last year, the Sharks progressed to the playoffs, but predominantly played a brand of rugby that was heavily reliant on their defence, and which won few fans.
Yet, during the off-season, coach Robert du Preez and new CEO Gary Teichmann began to put plans in place to enforce a shared vision of improving the skills of their squad.
In a recent interview with SA Rugby magazine, Teichmann summed it up perfectly: ‘We need to develop our players into more than just big, physical specimens. We now need to spend more time on our other skills … For example, a guy like Beast [Mtawarira], how much stronger can he really get? We need to ensure he maintains his strength, but it’s just as important that we work with him to add extra skills like ball handling, passing and so on. Once our players have a certain base skill set, then you can decide what style of rugby you want to play. That’s why we’ve brought in a kicking coach like Braam [van Straaten] and a specialist skills coach in AB Zondagh.'
During the opening few rounds, the improvements the Sharks have made on attack and some of the skills their players have demonstrated have been quite remarkable when one considers how far they’ve come from last year.
All the while, besides the attack and skills development that have quickly taken effect at the Stormers and Sharks, the Lions continue to lead the way with their all-encompassing brand of high-tempo rugby that has been refined over the past few years.
Franco Smith has embraced a similarly-minded approach at the Cheetahs, while the Kings have made vast improvements from last year. Even at the Bulls, they’ve looked to an evolution towards attack, albeit with limited success up to this point.
Having said that, the Bulls have at least sought to bolster their coaching input by bringing in highly-regarded New Zealand coaches Wayne Smith and Dave Rennie to conduct information sessions with the current coaching staff.
At franchise level, it’s clear to see that steps are being taken in the right direction to begin to transform the way South African players approach the game, and make no mistake; this is something that will be encouraged by new Bok coaching consultant Brendan Venter.
Yes, Venter has officially come on board as a defence and exit play strategist, but there is no doubt he will bring innovative ways of thinking and playing that will influence the Boks’ all-round play.
Venter is a close friend of Allister Coetzee, and his ideas will be held in the highest regard, just as they were when his suggestion saw Italy employ an inventive ‘ruckless’ strategy that caught England completely off guard in the Six Nations.
Beyond the fresh perspective of an innovator such as Venter, the Boks will also have an additional focus on skills provided by Smith, who is another new full-time member of the coaching staff.
The Springboks cannot be expected to play like the All Blacks. They have to embrace their own identity, which was sorely lacking last year, but there is no reason why they can’t add skills and ambition to what they do, just as the Stormers and Sharks have done.
Photo: Carl Fourie/Gallo Images
