When [Graham] Henry Coached the Blues to a Super Rugby Title Way

“When [Graham] Henry coached the Blues to a Super Rugby title way back in 1996, he had already notched up almost 20 years of school teaching and almost 25 years as a coach.” -- Tom Vinicombe writing on RugbyPass.com Volume 19, Number 20 06 June 2019 Register to receive your own free weekly newsletter at www.rugbyrsa.co.za A Developmental Vacuum in Schools Rugby One thing that has been consistent about South The analysis is penned by Brendon Shields, African rugby is our apparent inability to convert developer of www.rugbycology.com, a Google- enough of our “world-beating” fantastic schoolboy based game-analysis system for schools and club rugby players into world-beating professional rugby rugby. It is a commercial service but the $39 once- players. Somewhere along the line, things go awry as off fee per team is not going to make anyone rich. promising talent is lost to the game. Using data collected from a variety of actual rugby Part of the reason in years gone by was that chasm matches, Shields has constructed a narrative that between school rugby and provincial rugby. Craven makes a lot of sense. And the opinion he formed is Week, FNB Varsity Cup and club rugby provided that the mismatches in our school leagues produce partial bridges for those lucky enough to get into the players who cannot think strategically or play right teams and to be noticed. But the problem runs tactically – something the pro game absolutely much deeper than just a lack of pathways from demands. schoolboy level into a provincial team and, possibly, national honours. “Too many games at school level end up with one team winning by a huge margin, and this is not good A recent Fresh Take column on AllOutRugby.com for the development of our players,” he writes. offers an insightful analysis, based on actual measured statistics, of why South Africa’s power at “There is nothing wrong with our mindset at schools schoolboy level so rarely translates into power at level to want to win games. It’s how we construct professional rugby level. those wins that sits at odds with how players are required to operate at professional level. “Pro level rugby, as a direct result of data and video analysis, has become more and more demanding because there are fewer weak links, and nowhere to hide. To win a rugby game you need 15 super-fit athletes with great skill who make few mistakes and who have the ability to strategise and make plans during game play.” It’s certainly a compelling argument and we urge you to click-through to read it in all its glory. It may give you a new perspective on the problem. KEY TOPICS IN THIS NEWSLETTER Surprises Keep Coming in Super Rugby Kenya Dodges the Relegation Bullet U20 Baby Boks Flatter to Deceive Cream Rises to the Top in the SRC 7s Series Ends With a Very Damp Squib Successful New Zealand Rugby Coaches Page 1 Surprises Keep Coming in Super Rugby The first surprise of weekend was the Bulls pulling off a draw in New Zealand when they faced the Blues in Auckland. It was a 76th minute converted try that made a draw possible - that, and a missed penalty kick by Blues flyhalf, Harry Plummer. The next surprise happened later Friday morning in Melbourne when the Rebels lost to the Waratahs from Sydney (15-20). It was the visiting side that got ahead on the scoreboard and never let their hosts back into it. On Saturday, normal service resumed when the U20 Baby Boks Flatter to Deceive Brumbies defeated the Sunwolves in Tokyo. But the This past week, Tuesday to be exact, saw the start of weekend went all topsy turvy again when the Chiefs World Rugby’s Under-20s age-group world cup trounced the Crusaders in Fiji (40-27). It was a tournament in Argentina. Unfortunately for South cracking game that shows, yet again, that the African fans, the 43-19 win over Scotland flatters the Christchurch-based competition leaders are fallible. Baby Boks. Normality was restored after that as the Jaguares Yes, they achieved a four-try bonus point, but the secured another away win by beating the Reds (23-34) unpalatable truth is that they looked anything but the in Brisbane. The bonus point victory cemented the slick, well-oiled machine of previous iterations of the Argentinians’ position on top of the Africa conference. competition. And, not to put too fine a point on it, the That was followed by another unsurprising result when opposition on Tuesday was pretty ordinary. the Hurricanes blew away the Sharks (17-30) in In the recent U20 Six Nations tournament, Scotland Durban. It was perhaps just a little perplexing that the finished dead last. They were never going to beat the 'canes were unable to secure a bonus point, but they’ll Baby Boks but they got a lot closer than they should be happy with the win, nevertheless. have because Chean Roux’ team was predictable on The final match of the weekend saw a welcome – in attack and sloppy in defence. The one move that this newsroom at least – return to form by the Lions as worked well for them, repeatedly, was the inside pass they humbled the visiting Stormers at Emirates but, against better opposition, that's unlikely to be as Airlines Park (41-22). The final score flatters the Cape successful, if at all. side because it includes two tries incorrectly awarded The next assignment for the Springbok U20s is by referee, Marius van der Westhuizen. Georgia on Saturday (15:30 on SuperSport #211) and The first non-try involved at least one forward pass after that, the toughest task yet: New Zealand next and the second was shown by replays to have been Wednesday (20:30 on SuperSport #201). We’ll know grounded short of the line. Still, the bonus point win a lot more after those games but the early signs are shot the Lions back up to second in the conference. not promising. The other U20 results this past Saturday were as follows: Australia 36-12 Italy Argentina 25-30 Wales New Zealand 45-13 Georgia England 26-42 Ireland France 36-20 Fiji Page 2 Page 3 7s Series Ends With a Very Damp Squib Kenya Dodges the Relegation Bullet For most teams on the World Rugby Sevens Series There was a fascinating sub-plot running through the circuit, the results turned in by the Blitzbokke in final event in the World Rugby Sevens Series in Paris 2018/19 would be welcomed. Despite going into the this past weekend. Three teams were battling to avoid season without seven, count them, SEVEN of the relegation from the group of fifteen core teams to be players that successfully defended the title last season, announced for next year’s season. they haven’t done too badly. The Blitzbokke ended third in Paris and fourth in the series. Along the way, they won two tournaments (Vancouver and Singapore) and their worst result was joint 7th, but they got three of those. Given that there are only ten rounds in the series each year, those results cost them. Winning the series requires a team to be consistently in the top 4. They only have five top four finishes this year and that was never going to be enough. It’s a very long way off the high standards that the team and coach Neil Powell Last year, Japan returned at the expense of Russia. set for themselves. This year, Japan, Kenya and Wales have been There’s a break of about five months now, until fighting all season to avoid relegation and going into December in Dubai, when the 2019/2020 series kicks the Paris tournament they were in 15th, 14th and 13th off. position on 25, 27 and 30 points respectively. It is likely that coach Powell won’t lose many players After the pool stages, Kenya had done enough by to fifteens this year because 2020 is an Olympic year. making it through to a Cup quarter-final against the The allure of a possible gold medal should keep his USA. Japan and Wales, meanwhile, had crashed out charges interested for at least the next 12 months. of the Cup and had to try to salvage as many points as possible in the Challenge Trophy – but it wasn’t to The important match in Paris was the Fiji versus USA be. Japan was thumped by England (52-7) and Wales semifinal. The Americans were within a whisker of had no answer for Canada (31-12). being the first northern hemisphere team ever to be World Sevens champions. That left the pair of them squabbling over a shot at 13th place and a measly three points. In the end, But, on the day, in Paris, Fiji were too strong took the Kenya secured a spot among next year’s core teams title for a fourth time. finishing in 13th on 37 points. So did Wales (14th on 31), four points ahead of the now relegated Japan. Sad for Japanese fans because it would have been perfect preparation for the Tokyo Olympics next year. The team to benefit from Japan’s demise is Ireland. And after being invited to London and Paris, the Irish did very well: finishing 6th in the British capital and, after defeating England in a pool match, finished in 10th place in Paris. And yes, there is history there: the last time England defeated Ireland in sevens was back in 2004.

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