Ken Borland

Last weekend’s South African Conference SuperRugby matches just showed that the old adage of your tight five forwards winning you games remains as true as ever. For all the work we want them to do around the field these days, the set-pieces remain what teams build on.

It seems a player in the tight five’s mindset just goes if they are going backwards and are under pressure in the set-pieces and the difference between the Stormers and the Bulls in Cape Town was basically the scrums, and it was that same scrum that won Western Province the Currie Cup final last year.

Wilco Louw played his rugby as a junior at the Bulls – how and why did they let him go?! – and he is a monster who just does not get shifted at tighthead. He is certainly number one in that position in South Africa at the moment.

To have 30 000 people in at Newlands for the derby was a real positive and the Stormers were supercharged. You could just see the emotion of Robbie Fleck in the coaches’ box, he obviously knew the importance of the game, and the way a team plays is a reflection of their coaching and the Stormers were protecting a very proud recent record against the Bulls at Newlands, having won every game between them there for the last seven years.

The pressure won’t go away for the Stormers with that impressive win, but they have given themselves a chance of qualifying for the playoffs. It will now be about replicating that performance for the rest of the competition.

You have to give credit to the Stormers for the way they played, but they need a performance like that every week now. They will be a bit disappointed not to get the bonus point, they needed that because there’s not much difference between the teams on the log. Bonus points will more than likely settle matters, they are always so vital in the middle of the table, they make all the difference.

The Bulls did really well to stick in the contest, but the game hinged when the Stormers got the kickoff back straight after the Bulls went ahead 17-12 early in the second half, and scored a try to go back into the lead.

The Bulls will take away from the game that they managed to get back into contention having really been through the mincer in the first 15 minutes.

We also need to celebrate the Sharks doing so well against the New Zealand teams and they have scored an amazing number of tries against them – six against the Blues, four versus the Hurricanes and now five against the Highlanders – so they are clearly playing really good rugby. Maybe they have discovered the secret of how to play against the Kiwis, and they are certainly outscoring them, so credit to the Sharks.

Their approach has brought them reward and now they just need to look for consistency.

Some of the Sharks tries have been absolutely superb in terms of passing and clever box-kicks and to see a lock in Ruan Botha claiming the ball as the first chaser, leading to their first try against the Highlanders in the opening minute was amazing. They also scored a great try with the bridge pass over the top and another through a sublime grubber from Robert du Preez, which are all the ways to expose the wing.

The three Du Preez brothers certainly make a massive difference to the Sharks team, with the two loose forwards monstering the gain-line and Robert really controlling the game at flyhalf. It’s great to see in terms of the Springboks with Handre Pollard also playing well too, both Handre and Robert are big flyhalves who really defend their channels.

The Lions are almost indestructible on the Highveld and in South Africa in general, they’re bulletproof playing in South Africa having not lost to another local franchise in three years, but they really need to get something out of their game against the Highlanders in Dunedin this weekend. If they do then maybe they can still get a home semi-final because the Australian teams are so far behind. The Lions will be confident they can beat anyone on the Highveld and nobody will want to travel to altitude to play them, then a final away from home can always be 50/50.

The Jaguares have really improved and are in quarterfinal contention, they have a lot of home games coming up after their amazing run of winning four games on the bounce away from home. They seem to have returned to the traditional Argentinian values of a good scrum and maul.

For the Lions, Ruan Combrinck did not have the greatest game in defence, he went way too high twice and was too easily brushed off, which really cost them, and the Lions’ defence was too narrow and the Hurricanes were able to score a try by going around them inside the 22. They need better spacing there.

The Lions have kept themselves in the race to win the Conference though and they could well be in Johannesburg for the playoffs. If they are to be at home in the knockout rounds then they have to ensure that they are more accurate in the set-pieces; they lost a lineout which led directly to the Hurricanes getting seven points.

For the Wellingtonians, Ben Lam is certainly on fire … and New Zealand have just uncovered another top-class winger!

The Springbok pack is showing great potential too.

If Steven Kitshoff, Beast Mtawarira, Wilco Louw and Trevor Nyakane can replicate their performances in SuperRugby, along with the hookers we have in Adriaan Strauss, who had a huge weight on his shoulders in 2016 and is now playing with freedom, Malcolm Marx and Bismarck du Plessis, then South Africa will have a heck of a front row.

When you add in locks Lood de Jager, RG Snyman, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Franco Mostert, and Eben Etzebeth when he is fit, then we have the makings of a really good Springbok tight five. They tick all the set-piece boxes and that is still the basis of all rugby, never mind Test rugby, for all the skills people are dazzled by.

Plus I’m sure Rassie Erasmus will want to get Vincent Koch in the mix, but will he play in June at the end of a long season in England? Maybe it would be better to give him some time off before the Rugby Championship. Heyneke Meyer had a theory that it was better to play the SuperRugby guys in June and the overseas players at the end of the year, because playing all-year-round rugby is very tough.

In terms of the back row, a combination of Duane Vermeulen, Francois Louw and Jean-Luc du Preez looks really good, and then you put Siya Kolisi in the mix as well. He was superb last June – forcing turnovers, being busy around the field, chasing down kicks and making strong carries.Congratulations to him on captaining the Stormers so well in his 100th game at his beloved Newlands.

John McFarland is the assistant coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan and was the Springbok defence coach from 2012 through to the 2015 World Cup, where they conceded the least line-breaks in the tournament and an average of just one try per game. Before that, McFarland won three SuperRugby titles (2007, 09, 10) with the Bulls and five Currie Cup crowns with the Blue Bulls. In all, he won 28 trophies during his 12 years at Loftus Versfeld.

I obviously did not foresee South Africa losing 57-0 in Albany and there’s no hiding from the fact that it was a record for the Springboks’ biggest loss ever.

But I think it’s also fair to say that it was the perfect storm and everything went right for New Zealand and everything went wrong for the Springboks. The All Blacks were obviously very good on the day and executed every small chance they got, they ruthlessly punished little things.

It started when the Springboks were playing well but gave away a penalty, with the fullback in the line because they were in their attacking shape. Aaron Smith put the chip in with his weaker left foot and it bounced perfectly for Rieko Ioane.

That’s just the first example.

Then came the intercept try when there needed to be better decision-making under pressure by Jean-Luc du Preez.

The third try came after a penalty and the All Blacks bashed the ball up before the cross-kick, which I hear Beauden Barrett practises 50 times every Friday at the captain’s run. The Springboks had cover with Francois Hougaard there, but unfortunately the ball bounced out of his hands.

The fourth try came after Elton Jantjies produced a nothing kick, it was neither contestable nor deep enough, allowing the counter-attack, and with the hooker defending in the wide channel, the wing did not know whether to come in or stay out.

So it was 31-0 at halftime and in the second half two more tries were scored from five-metre lineouts. You need a back-row forward to stand at the back of the lineout, but Siya Kolisi was in the middle. The golden rule when defending lineouts close to your line is that you don’t give the opposition ball at the back because it basically takes out seven of your players and once they get over the advantage line it becomes a difficult fight.

On the direct one-on-one try scored through the flyhalf, you want your inside centre a bit closer to help and it should be a double-hit.

Allister Coetzee is now in a difficult position when it comes to who to bring into the team. The players had done relatively well before last weekend, but it’s obvious that he will have to make changes. Test rugby magnifies everything and one weakness will be exposed in glaring fashion.

Under Heyneke Meyer, the scores were always close against the All Blacks – an average of less than seven points per game – and one of the reasons was that we often played two fetchers as well as Duane Vermeulen and Bismarck du Plessis. That meant we had four forwards who were very good over the ball.

This is vital because you need to disrupt New Zealand’s attacking shape, you need to force more of them into the rucks and not just let them play. The Springboks certainly missed Jaco Kriel in this regard, but his pace was also missed in defence. The openside flank is normally pillar number three and he leads the line-speed from just inside the flyhalf. Francois Louw has been recalled and it would be quite good if we could play two flanks that play towards the ball against New Zealand.

The Springboks scrummed well at the start, but like in the World Cup semi-final in 2015, we lost five lineouts. That’s a huge factor and it’s why they could not get any attack going. It’s something they have to sort out otherwise the backs are not able to function. It also leaves you very vulnerable because your backs are in attack formation on your own ball and not in their defensive formation, making it easy for the opposition to get over the advantage line on the turnover ball.

I watched the game with Frans Ludeke and he made a good point when he said it is not a lost cause now in the last two games of the Rugby Championship at home. He pointed out that our SuperRugby teams conceded big scores in New Zealand, but won against the Kiwi sides in South Africa. So we should not write off the Springboks just yet, we can only really judge them at the end of the Rugby Championship, but they are obviously playing for second place now.

It’s very hard playing three matches on the trot away from home, especially with the best side in the world being the last game, which is one of the reasons that in the last six years of the Rugby Championship the title race has been over before the final round.

One encouraging thing is that they did not fall away in the last 15 minutes and the All Blacks really had to work hard for their tries in the final quarter.

Before contemplating changes, we must remember that South Africa were the only unbeaten side in world rugby this year going into the game.

But there may have been a case for someone like Ruan Combrinck to come in. He has operated within the Lions’ exit system, he will be a right-footed option to back up the left feet of Andries Coetzee, who has been solid, kicked well and been good with ball in hand, and Elton Jantjies and he also brings a certain magic. He’s currently playing inside centre in Japan for Kotetsu, but he should obviously have been an option because he played well last year for the Springboks and showed he can make a difference in Tests.

Reasons for optimism for the Springboks for their next game against the All Blacks are that Australia have also managed to play better since they were 40-6 down at halftime against New Zealand and both the Stormers and Lions won against Kiwi teams in South Africa.

The Lions beat the Hurricanes convincingly and pushed the Crusaders all the way, so it is very difficult for the New Zealand players playing in South Africa as well. Plus they will be up against a very passionate crowd at Newlands and a Springbok team that will be on a mission.

John McFarland is the assistant coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan and was the Springbok defence coach from 2012 through to the 2015 World Cup, where they conceded the least line-breaks in the tournament and an average of just one try per game. Before that, McFarland won three SuperRugby titles (2007, 09, 10) with the Bulls and five Currie Cup crowns with the Blue Bulls. In all, he won 28 trophies during his 12 years at Loftus Versfeld.