Eddie Jones thinks that the Springboks may have \u2018peaked\u2019 too soon ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup and believes a law adjustment could depower one of their biggest strengths.<\/p>\n
Following the 2023 World Cup success in France, Rassie Erasmus has returned to the head coaching position and has overseen back-to-back Rugby Championship title victories.<\/p>\n
The Boks have also gone unbeaten on their last two November tours and remain at the top of the World Rugby rankings.<\/p>\n
Springboks\u2019 decline is coming<\/p>\n
With a full year of international<\/a> rugby ahead of them before entering the World Cup year, Jones believes that the Springboks<\/a> may have peaked too soon, as two years is too long to be at the top of your game.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got a theory on South Africa that maybe they\u2019re hitting their peak right now,\u201d the Japan head coach said on the DSPN podcast with Martin Devlin<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd is the timing right? Because two years to retain a peak is a long time. So, they\u2019ve been playing some sensational rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n South Africa have hugely benefited from the outlawing of escorts, which would form a glove around a receiving catcher when the opposition hoisted an up and under or box kick. Despite being smaller wingers, Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse have thrived in the now more contested facet of the game.<\/p>\n Their ability to capitalise on the loose ball after the competition for possession has also played in their favour, as has the adjustment in the way the scrum is being officiated. However, the experienced coach warns that if World Rugby<\/a> adopt another rugby league law, it will depower South Africa\u2019s strength under the high ball.<\/p>\n Eddie Jones predicts \u2018crackdown\u2019 and calls on World Rugby to \u2018show leadership\u2019 after France denied Ireland a contest<\/a><\/p>\n Law redress<\/p>\n He hopes that the game\u2019s governing body will tweak the law to read that a player makes a \u2018genuine attempt\u2019 to catch the ball instead of slapping it or disrupting the catcher.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything in the game suits them at the moment,\u201d Jones says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe disruption with the high ball, they got guys like Cheslin Kolbe, it\u2019s interesting that they got two of the smallest wingers in the world, but they are one of the best teams in the world at regaining the ball kicking wise, and then they\u2019ve got backs who can open up quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you just think, right, they got a couple of key players, Kolisi hasn\u2019t played a lot lately. Can they get to the next World Cup? They got a bit of ageing there. I think at some stage, World Rugby is going to have to bring in the disruption law in the high ball that, unless you\u2019re making a genuine attempt to catch the ball, you\u2019re going to penalise them, because otherwise we\u2019re just going to encourage high ball kicking too much.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is what I love about rugby league, they had this problem of disruption, where they\u2019re just jumping through, putting their hands through, and it becomes an absolute s\u2013t fight, which we\u2019ve got at the moment \u2013 less than 30% of kicks are being caught by the defending team now clean.<\/p>\n World Rugby meeting agenda details revealed including Bomb Squads, scrum cards and TMO verdicts<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cSo every time you put up a high kick now, you generally have a 70% chance of getting the ball back. Those are pretty high odds, aren\u2019t they? You\u2019d take those any day. So, what does it encourage you to do? High balls. So, people can\u2019t complain about it. But we need to change it because we just don\u2019t want a high ball game. So, they\u2019re going to have to bring in disruption law. And when they bring that in, then there might be a bit of a change in the game again.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones believes that the disruption law will bring more balance to the contest which is too heavily favoured for attacking now and the defence previously.<\/p>\n \u201cThe attacking team has every advantage now. Whereas the advantage used to be all with the catcher, when we had the escort law, and now the advantage is all with the team kicking the ball,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I think there needs to be a sort of redress of that law, and that\u2019ll be interesting, whether World Rugby looks at that.\u201d<\/p>\n Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n