"Kitshoff’s freakish strength – epitomised by scrummaging that is guaranteed to locate an opposing tighthead prop’s reverse gear..." - Simnikiwe Xabanisa, writing on All Out Rugby (see page 4) Volume 1, Number 12 25 October 2018 Register to receive your own free weekly newsletter at www.leopardnewsletters.co.za Missing the transformation plot It’s a bit dated in that it was published at the end of August but that doesn’t detract from the messages conveyed in the article by Antoinette Muller on The Daily Maverick. She is still spot on in her analysis that politicians and administrators are still missing the transformation plot, in my estimation by at least a country mile. Muller reports on the recent appearance of the South African Rugby Union before a parliamentary committee. The purpose was to explain the dire state Leaving aside the problems created perpetuated by of the organisation’s finances and, naturally, to the broadcasting monopoly, the sparsely populated answer questions about its progress with stadia during provincial games, even – or perhaps transformation. especially – for Super Rugby, don't help. As is usually the case in parliamentary committee Perhaps, it's simplistic but using massive stadia when meetings, the occasion provided politicians with a only a few people come to matches seems dumb. I perfect opportunity to put their ignorance on public recall a PRO14 game in Port Elizabeth this season display – and many took full advantage. You can when the Southern Kings used a local university read all the gory details in Muller’s piece. stadium against the Glasgow Warriors. In a packed stadium, the Kings scored their first win of the season No need for me to repeat what she wrote but the (second story). committee meeting did stumble upon one of the big problems for rugby in SA: half-empty stadia. We could also change booking systems for large stadia for these games. Sell seats block by block, “From the start of the question session, it was clear only opening up the next block once the previous one that there would be a big focus on transformation. is at 80% capacity. The same for the upper tier, it DA member Darren Bergman equated the financial opens when the lower tiers are at 80%. woes, at least in part, to some of the country’s crowds being ‘too white’.” It would certainly help the optics on television, which may attract more bums on seats for the next game. They probably haven't noticed that the stadia are also And with increased numbers, the crowd diversity frequently empty. may improve too. KEY TOPICS IN THIS NEWSLETTER REGULAR FEATURES Faf absence good for Boks Examining the Laws of the Game How the All Blacks have changed South Africans playing overseas A Contender for “Try of the Year”? Weekend Rugby Action Page 1 Faf absence good for Boks If we learned one thing from the Rugby Championship it is that we lack depth on the bench, particularly at scrumhalf. This was made abundantly clear in the last 10 minutes of the game in which the Boks squandered a 17 point lead to lose by two. The brutal truth is that Faf de Klerk has developed so far and so fast that he has left the competition far behind him. So what should the coach be doing about it? Writing for All Out Rugby, Joshua Brown reckons the only solution is Cobus Reinach. He spells out And while I do agree that Embrose Papier was why he thinks none of the others Rassie has tried as pushed in far too soon and given only limited understudy worked and puts a case that the opportunity, I also think he is the future – or at least, Northampton Saints scrummie is the solution. one version of the future. I’m not so sure. At 30, Francois Hougaard is hardly Rassie just has to decide how best to bring him along over the hill and with his experience he may be a to be ready for the World Cup next year. perfect stop-gap solution. How the All Blacks have changed In an intriguing analysis posted on RugbyPass, Ben Smith (@bensmithrugby, not the All Black, the kiwi rugby scribe) has examined how the All Blacks game plans have changed since the 2015 World Cup. It’s a reasonably lengthy thesis but replete with pictorial illustration and it reminds us what it takes to stay at the pinnacle of the global game. He writes: “The rate of change in the modern game is rapid, so much so that watching footage from the All Blacks 2011 World "In 2015 the All Blacks were still dining off turnovers, Cup campaign is almost unrecognisable. The 2015 one scoring long-range dazzling tries on counter-attack is becoming just as outdated. and showing off world-class skills. So, what has changed for the All Blacks since they last held aloft “Tweaks to ruck laws and tackle interpretations have the William Webb Ellis trophy?” had a butterfly effect across the game, forcing teams to adjust and spurring innovation in the process. Modes of From there he delves into an analysis of specific areas operation have evolved and refined as teams search for in which these rules changes have brought about efficiency.” changes to the All Black patterns of play. Page 2 Page 3 A Contender for “Try of the Year”? Firstly, a hat-tip goes to RugbyPass for bringing this to my attention. The match doesn’t seem to have been televised but the clip was Tweeted by @GoldCupRugby along an unequivocal exhortation: “TRY OF THE YEAR? Outrageous skills from @RosesUnitedRFC in their Boland Grand Challenge quarterfinal win over Protea in Wellington. If you haven’t watched a club game recently, this is what “Playing in the Boland Grand Challenge you’re missing on a weekly basis at community fields quarterfinals, the South African club side scored this across the country!” 80 meter scorcher to secure their place in the semi- finals. Putting together nine perfect passes off first Indeed. You can find the clip here. RugbyPass called phase, including an outrageous behind the back pass, it “One of the most spectacular tries you'll see this this try by inside centre Tyrone Abelse had the crowd season” and described it perfectly: in raptures.” A Sudden Loosehead Deficit? A couple of weeks ago we highlighted that peculiar South African habit of constantly converting good looseheads to tighthead. But now, with the Beast out with a neck injury, questions are being asked about looseheads to back up Mtawarira and Steven Kitshoff. This is the thesis of Simnikiwe Xabanisa, writing on All Out Rugby and to solve it he suggests switching Trevor Nyakane back to his favoured position. Specifically, he writes: “…the shift he put in against the destructive Louw in the Currie Cup semi between the Blue Bulls and Western Province on Saturday emphatically suggested he be the first cab out of the taxi rank to Jacques van Rooyen (Bath) is playing in the English replace Mtawarira.” Premiership while JC Janse van Rensburg (Grenoble) is in the French Top14. Fair enough, Trevor is a class act, no doubt. But currently plying their trade overseas are at least two On top of that, there's a plethora of other quality pretty damn classy looseheads with a few years left loosehead props - some of them still relatively in them yet. young - plying their trade in Europe and elsewhere. Page 4 Page 5 Examining the Laws of the Game Long Road Back for Gerbrandt Grobler Over the past eleven weeks we have selected areas for which to briefly, interrogate the laws of the game. While it is true that are only nineteen basic laws in the simplified Laws of the Game of Rugby Union handbook, the complexity to be found therein makes some of them difficult to grasp. However, if you wish to better understand the sometimes perplexing decisions of referees, you need a working knowledge of the rules of the game. There are three ways for you to obtain your copy: Just over two-and-a-half years ago WP Rugby Read them on the website confirmed that then 23-year old lock Gerbrandt Download the PDF Grobler had tested positive for a banned substance Install the app on your Android device, iPhone during the 2014 Currie Cup. or iPad What followed was a the two-year ban, as a result of which, he missed the 2015 and 2016 seasons but stayed in shape enough to join Racing 92 in France for the 2016–2017 season. The following year he moved to Munster on a one-year contract and then joined Gloucester for the current English season. At only 26, there is still time for him to resurrect his aspirations of playing international rugby but it probably won’t be for the Springboks. Rassie has such an embarrassment of riches in that position that he’s using locks as loose forwards. England is one possibility and he recently told The Guardian’s Gerard Meagher that he wouldn’t turn it down if Eddie Jones called. And if you prefer tabloid Presumably, it is possible to order a hardcopy but we journalism, he had an interview (video clip available) were unable to find that link. All of the above allow the other day with the Daily Mail in which he spoke you to read the Laws, watch video examples and about his fall from grace and the long road back. animations to improve your clarity and understanding of how the Laws are applied on the field.