>> Probyn: Give Sinckler proper scrum tuition
“Their performance dipped in the second half with Jones not using his bench as well as he should have”
As England’s South African odyssey begins and Eddie Jones attempts to reboot his World Cup plan, I have to wonder if this was the best place to
experiment?
new look England taking on a desperate South Africa, with new coach Rassie Erasmus trying to make a better fist of the enforced quota system than his predecessor Allister Coetzee, is hardly the place to make World Cup decisions.
Erasmus has grasped a poisoned chalice if ever there was one, given that rugby was a game really played only by the white population until very recently. This has led to the forced choice of a number of players not up to international standard and the decline in South African rugby now ranked seventh in the world by World Rugby as was evident by the number of empty seats in Ellis Park yesterday.
Eddie Jones comparing the 1995 Springboks with the current squad is at best a joke or simply an attempt to make England’s task of winning this series seem a harder proposition than it really should be.
In 1995 the Boks had only recently rejoined the rugby world having been closed to all but a few nations for about a decade, and excluded from the first two World Cups. During this time their home competition was in all but name a professional game, giving them an edge on the rest of the Tier 1 nations who only embraced the professional game after the 95 World Cup.
Sport in South Africa has always been divided on racial lines with soccer a black sport and rugby a white sport but only rugby has been forced to adopt a quota system. As there were only a few clubs, mainly in the Cape area, that had black/mixed race players, it has been difficult in the short time since the introduction of the quota system was adopted, to find sufficient numbers of quality international level players to fill the quota.
As more black/mixed race players are taking up the sport, it will not be too much longer before the forced quota system will not be needed – but that is still some distance in the future.
As a second rate Wales team showed last week, South Africa are still very much a work in progress with a good pack but little or no proper organisation in the backs, although that was not the team that England faced yesterday.
New captain, Siya Kolisi, is one of the new breed of Springboks chosen on their ability (not colour) but until the quota system is removed there will always be a doubt over the players whenever the Boks lose, and an over reaction when they win, like yesterday.
One area that has surprised me about England’s preparations is the choice to stay in Durban, a wonderful city but at sea level, particularly when the first two Tests are at altitude and although there are many myths about playing at altitude, playing at the highest international rugby ground (1,810 metres) in the world does impact on players, no matter how fit they are.
Watching yesterday’s game despite England’s electric start, I felt their performance dipped in the second half as fatigue became a factor with Jones not using his bench as well as he should have.
Much of the game was very unstructured with poor defence from both sides, and a lack of strategic play, particularly by England who only kicked for territory in the final quarter when the game had been lost.
In England’s scrum Kyle Sinckler looked under pressure and conceded the vital penalty that took South Africa beyond the magic two score margin as he buckled and gave way. Replacement Harry Williams seemed to steady the scrum better.
England scrum coach Neil Hatley, should take a look at Sinckler’s technique as he stands on his toes, only using his front studs to lock the scrum, making it easy for the opposition to force him to take a step back and putting pressure on his hooker.
As both teams now look to next week’s Test in Bloemfontein, South Africa must not get swept away by what was in many ways a fortuitous result. England need to find the leadership they lacked at the vital point in the game when they lost focus allowing South Africa back.
Warren Gatland’s spat with the Premiership over player release is a little pointless, as there is no way the Premiership will allow early release of players for an international team other than England.
If they did, it would as Premiership chief Mark McCafferty said “be suicide” because it would take away the reason for the RFU to pay the millions of pounds for early player release.
Even if the clubs could be persuaded to release the English contingent of a Lions party by the RFU as part of funding deal, it is unlikely they would agree to release players from other nations without some form a of payment.
The funds the RFU provide for player release are fundamental to the financial survival of the Premiership, so Warren or any Lions coach will have to make do with what time they have.