Eddie turns to Wood for injury-hit England squad
THE Springboks will be looking at starting at “base zero” as they prepare for their endof-year tour, says assistant coach Johann van Graan. The tour features matches against the Barbarians, England, Italy and Wales.
The Boks have had a wretched year. After an unconvincing series win against Ireland in June, they endured a shambolic Rugby Championship campaign where they lost to Argentina in South America for the first time and also suffered an embarrassing record loss against the All Blacks.
But, now, Van Graan says the Boks are working towards the 2019 Rugby World Cup, and he has underlined the need for them to sharpen up on their skills and on the small detail that will aid the ball-inhand approach that they are striving for.
“The coach (Allister Coetzee) has said that he has identified close to 45 players that he wants to focus on for the 2019 World Cup and we see the start of that now. That is our mindset for this week to start at base zero. In everything we do we had to look at what we do and where we can improve,” he said yesterday.
“We’ve been focusing on the small detail, on our ball-carrying ability, our cleaning ability and the identification of space in our attacking mindset. We want to get the ball in our hands and if you want to do that, you have to uplift your skills. So we start at base zero this week. And once we get to London we will focus a bit more on the Barbarians specifically.”
However, Van Graan believes that there is some good to be taken from the Rugby Championship, with the scrum and lineout still the best out of any team in the Southern Hemisphere.
At the same time, Van Graan highlighted the need for the Boks to drastically improve their brittle defence, wayward kicking game and breathe some life into their sterile attack.
The bringing on board of Free State Cheetahs coach Franco Smith and Lions defence coach JP Ferreira will go a long way in alleviating the glaring problems that have dogged the national team this year, according to Van Graan.
“What we need to improve is our defence and our kicking game, and that is specifically where JP and Franco come in so we will need to improve on those areas. Once we get into that attacking zone we need to finish our opportunities. That comes with better skill and working from day to day,” Van Graan said. FLANK Tom Wood, whose last Test appearance came against Uruguay in the World Cup 12 months ago, was the surprise inclusion in Eddie Jones’s squad for the end-of-year internationals as the coach seeks to deal with a back-row injury crisis.
The 29-year-old Northampton man was drafted in following a series of injuries that has ruled out 10 players, including five flanks, for the games against South Africa, who England have not beaten in 10 years, Fiji, Argentina and Australia. That situation has also opened the door for Wood’s club mate Teimana Harrison, who was unceremoniously hauled off by Jones after 29 minutes of the third Test against Australia in June.
There were also recalls for wings Jonny May and Semesa Rokoduguni, powerful lock Dave Attwood and prop Joe Marler in a 33-man-squad that also included six uncapped players.
The squad will train in Portugal for a week from Monday. – Reuters