Extra skills, defence drills for Bok squad
New assistant coaches Smith and Ferreira to get to work immediately
THE SPRINGBOKS will dedicate an extra 20 minutes to improving their defence and kicking skills at every training session from now on. This is over and above what they would normally do at a daily training outing.
According to Springbok coach Allister Coetzee, defence and kicking execution are the two areas his team need to improve the most, and immediately, if they’re to show an improvement in performance on next month’s tour of Europe.
The Boks open their trip with a match against the Barbarians at Wembley on November 5 and that’s followed by Tests, against England, Italy and Wales.
The Boks go into the tour with plenty of questions being asked about their game, especially after conceding several tries in the Rugby Championship and also performing poorly with ball in hand. They were also found wanting in the kicking department.
Now Coetzee says it’s time to rectify the problems.
“We have agreed that from now on the coaches responsible for those areas will invest 20 minutes extra at training to get it right,” Coetzee said yesterday, after the squad got together in Joburg. “These will be aerial skills sessions, individual sessions for (kicking) execution, and they’ll come after the normal sessions.”
Coetzee, though, made it clear the players would also be asked to step up like never before. “This is not just about the respective coaches and the plan we have in place; getting a good skillset is also the player’s responsibility, he must want to get better and improve.
“The players have to put in the hard work as well, and hopefully we’ll see a difference in the next four weeks, but if it’s not a significant difference then there will be a change in Super Rugby next year, because the skills these guys will learn now is not just for now; they will continue with it in Super Rugby as well.”
The two additional coaches who have joined the Boks for the European tour, JP Ferreira (defence) and Franco Smith (backs play and skills), will be largely responsible for the areas spoken about by Coetzee.
“Right now we must focus on our defence; it wasn’t good in the Championship and it’s something that’s just not at the level it once was. Maybe it’s because we became obsessed with ballin-hand rugby and being expansive, but we shouldn’t neglect our defence and that’s what’s happened.
“Also, we need to improve our territorial game, and that means getting better at our kicking; our execution and chase has been poor... in the Championship we got bogged down in our own half and played there for 70 percent of the matches; that’s just too much pressure on the defence.
“The fact is we had so little territorial advantage recently we were never really a threat on the attack, and that was due to our poor positioning on the field. It’s something we have to fix immediately.”
Coetzee said the Barbarians game next Saturday at Wembley would be massive. “Firstly it’ll set the tone for the rest of the tour, so we need to start well and play well. The Baabaas go out there to play entertaining rugby; we want to win and set the pattern for the Tests to come; we can’t play one way the one week and then differently the next week.
“Also it’s an opportunity for me to see how many of the young, exciting players who performed in the Currie Cup put their hands up and force me to select them in future. They’ve shown they’re good enough in the Currie Cup and even in Super Rugby, but this is Test rugby.”
The Boks will train in Joburg this week before leaving for the UK on Friday night.