Former Springboks hooker Hanyani Shimange believes that Rassie Erasmus made a mistake with his open play lineouts trick play.
South Africa debuted the tactic during the July internationals in the second Test against Italy, which the ex-front rower believed was a mistake.
While Erasmus’ charges scored two tries from the ploy in the clash against the Azzurri in Gqeberha, it has not paid dividends since, with both Australia and New Zealand being wise to the tactic.
In Cape Town, Franco Mostert went up, but none of the Wallabies bit in on him, and he played off the top with the ensuing attack bearing no fruit, while All Blacks skipper Scott Barrett spotted the trick play quickly and along with his second row partner, Tupou Vaa’i, they shut down the attack with relative ease.
The innovative play that the Springboks adopted from a viral video from Paul Roos’ u14B team may have caught the Italians by surprise, but it hasn’t been successful in the Rugby Championship, and Shimange believes that is because Erasmus showed his hand too early.
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The former Springboks forward discussed the ploy on the GBR AUNZ podcast with former All Blacks scrum-half Justin Marshall, who felt that South Africa made a poor decision about when they were going to utilise the tactic.
“When they did it, they hadn’t had great territory or a lot of the ball. So it was quite a significant time to do it,” Marshall said.
“It’s like, okay, we haven’t had much ball, the All Blacks had already scored two tries, it’s like right, ‘We need to start to get some scoreboard pressure’, and they did that at that stage, which obviously they then fumbled. Yeah. The timing of it, why do it then?”
Shimange agreed with his fellow panellist, and while he said that the ploy isn’t really new, having used a similar trick play during the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, he did feel that debuting it against the Azzurri was an error in judgment, as the All Blacks would not have been privy to it if it was first used at Eden Park.
He added that if the innovation works, Erasmus looks like a genius; if not, it leaves the coaches and players with egg on their faces.
“The South Africans love the innovation. I just thought that we didn’t have to do it against Italy, hold that move for now, so the All Blacks had never seen it before,” he explained.
“Because you could see they were prepared for it, but with innovation, if it works, you are a superstar. Last year, we had Cheslin Kolbe throwing the ball into the lineout in an All Blacks game. If he had thrown that ball in skew, everyone would have turned around and said: ‘Listen, stop trying to be a smartass. Give the ball to the hooker, let him throw.’ So if it works, everyone loves you.
“By the way, that midfield lineout was done in the 2019 World Cup in the final, but the guys didn’t jump; they stayed on the ground. The difference now is the guys get lifted. It’s nothing new.
“The big difference now is that the guys get lifted up in the four-man lineout, you go short side or you take it up, and then you come back down to the blind. The guys would stand and then hold it up and then maul it through. If they got a penalty, kick over.
“So, it’s not something that the guys aren’t used to, but you are right, Marshy, it’s the timing. But you do get it right, you look like a hero, you get it wrong, people say you’re trying too much.”
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Did the All Blacks stop it legally?
Marshall admitted that he hadn’t watched the game and tactic back since calling the match at Eden Park, but saw that there was outrage around the legalities of how the All Blacks stopped the maul from forming.
“The other thing I did hear, and I can’t recall it as I haven’t actually rewatched the game, and I didn’t see it when I was calling the match, but I heard that they might have got Etzebeth [Editor’s note: It was Ruan Nortje] early,” the former nine number added.
“There’s a bit of chat going around that they tackled him or interfered with him before he came to ground because you can’t touch him when he’s in the air.
“If he’s up in the air and his feet are off the ground, you can’t grab him or touch him or tackle him. If you bump him, touch him or grab him before his feet come back on the ground, that’s a penalty, and I think a bit of the Green Goblin chat from Saffas was that he was tackled early.”
Shimange replied: I haven’t seen the replay either, but the tricky thing is, remember Kyle Sinckler with the [2017] British and Irish Lions when he took the ball off nine, and then the pass was too high. He jumped off, then he got tackled, and it was a penalty against New Zealand. Now, how else are you supposed to stop him if he’s that close to the line?
“It was just one of those, whether he was caught in the air or not, you just knew New Zealand were ready for it.”
Still, the ex-hooker felt that, on the whole, the All Blacks were smarter on the day than the Springboks, pointing to their knowledge of the laws around the lineouts.
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Springboks outsmarted
He also hailed New Zealand’s breakdown work, which disrupted the Springboks’ aerial game as Grant Williams and Handre Pollard’s kicks were influenced by the second shove at the rucks, negating South Africa’s ability to put accurate high bombs up.
“We went over the 15 once [at the lineout], Wallace Sititi came around. So, it was a smart play from them,” he added.
“But one thing this All Black team did quite well. I thought they gave South Africa the ball on New Zealand’s terms, not on South Africa’s terms. You know, which sort of disrupts you.
“So you saw this at the base with the Springboks’ box-kicking, and New Zealand would then counter-ruck, trying to upset the base, so the aerial game doesn’t happen. So New Zealand were smart, I must say, they were clever and almost a step ahead at times.
“I keep saying it to South African supporters to break that 31-year record at Eden Park. You have to be at your best, you can’t get 12 chances and not take all of them – that’s the reality. If any team is going to win there, they have to be their best, or New Zealand has to be absolutely horrible that day.”
For Marshall, Scott Robertson’s men were hungrier and more desperate on the day, which meant that they won the small moments in the match.
“I actually thought that the All Blacks won a lot of the little micro moments within the match. Obviously, you’ve got all those big macro moments happening, but the little ones, like the ball hits the ground, the guy diving on it, they won that. A contest in the air with both guys went up, and no one got it cleanly, but the ball bounced and was protected,” he said.
“At one stage, there was a bounce of the ball, and Scott Barrett put his hand out and just slapped it back, and it went into someone’s lap. All those little parts of the game that sometimes you could fumble it, knock it on, not win the race to the ground. I thought they were really good at nailing those little moments that you sometimes don’t see.”
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