Victor Martfield is encouraged to see the Springboks experiment with attack but believes set-pieces are in the world champions’ DNA.
The Boks’ strengths lie in their physicality and rugged style, which has made them back-to-back world champions. But in Saturday’s win over Ireland at Loftus Versfeld, the South Africans opted for a more expansive, off-road strategy.
Lassie Erasmus’s side barely managed to get a goal back with the help of the bomb squad, before converting a crucial 78th-minute penalty try from a five-metre scrum.
Talking about the latest episode Sky Sports NZ‘The Breakdown’, featuring All Blacks icons John Kirwan, Geoff Wilson and former Boake Martfield alumnus Mills Muliaina, covers the World Rugby law changes coming into effect from 2024 and highlights the influence of Kiwi Tony Brown as part of Erasmus’ backroom staff.
“With Tony Brown coming in, it’s definitely given us more width in our game and attack and allowed us to be more proactive in our own half,” said the 127-Test World Cup winner.
“I thought we overplayed it a little bit right after halftime. We were up by five points, so we probably should have been a little more conservative. We probably threw the ball to their 22-yard line and tried to get a turnover.
“It’s definitely something new and that’s the good thing about it. Rassie is very open about it. I think we started very conservatively in 2018, 2019 before the World Cup.
“Then, just before the (2023) World Cup, someone like Mani Reebok came in and we played a little bit differently, and now that Tony Brown has come in as attack coach, there’s definitely something different at the Boks. We’re continuing to develop our game.”
The decision to no longer allow teams to take free kicks and scrums has been interpreted as an attempt to limit the impact of scrums in international matches, especially after Vokes used set pieces as a weapon in South Africa’s successful defence of their World Cup title last year.
“If you look at the rules, I think there are two things that have a big impact. One is you can’t go to a scrum for a free kick. There are only about one or two instances per game where you can’t go to a scrum and want to tap it out quickly,” Matfield added.
“But again, if you have a big, strong ball carrier who can get over the favorable line, you can use that too.
“We’re not really a long-kick team, we kick most of the players who can compete, so anything I do with the players who can’t get going… doesn’t play a big part in South African rugby. It’s the French who like the long-kick game.
“We’re more focused on being competitive, we like that, and we want to capitalize on that turnover. So I don’t think the law will make a huge difference.
“I saw again (on Saturday) that the fans love a big brawl and a big brawl. The biggest cheer was when we got a penalty try in a big brawl.
“That’s the style we like, it’s our DNA, and I don’t think we’ll ever stray from it.”
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
