Boks need licence to attack

The Springboks’ wall of Wellington must be backed up by a five star attacking game

IT WAS FORMER Orlando Pirates coach, Serbian Kostadin Papic, who famously screamed “attack, attack, attack” in galvanizing the tsunami of attacking waves that his team became famous for in the mid-2000s.

It would be prudent if incumbent Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus took a page out of Papic’s playbook in an effort to enhance his team’s playing style and winning culture ahead of their clash against the All Blacks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Papic never really believed in the art of defence, rather relying on his attacking style of play to sort that area of the game out. Erasmus and his troops have mastered the art of keeping the opposition at bay.

While many will want the Springboks to stick to their winning ploy of tackling the life out of the All Blacks in a similar manner in which they engineered the win in Wellington, it won’t be enough this time around to see the Springboks through.

Yes, the Springboks must defend with all of their might and heart and replicate, if not better, the statistics of Wellington, but they will need to back it up with a five star performance with ball in hand.

Nobody can take anything away from the courage and character the Springboks showed, particularly in the dying moments and with their try-line under siege in Wellington, however the All Blacks still managed to breach their line six times.

And so it will be important the Springboks sharpen their attack and make sure that they don’t only thwart the All Blacks attack but put through a dagger into their heart by scoring more tries than them as well.

The Springboks have shown some creativity with ball in hand under Rassie Erasmus and have scored some spectacular tries, more so in the series win against England. wanting when it comes to offloading, it is his hard running and ability to punch holes in the opposition defence that the Boks will rely on, while his understanding with Kriel on defence has ensured that little goes through them.

“That’s one of his (Williams’) big skills (offloading) and it is something we are aware of,” said Kriel.

“But we’ve got a guy like Damian who also brings something to the table. It is different styles and players but we’ll be looking to focus on what we need to do well and not on what they are going to do.

“Damian is a world class player and what he brings to the table is really special. He has a great skill set, great feet and he can take guys on and is really strong in defence. Damian coming back Blacks have ball in hand.

With devastating speed, anticipation and a natural flair for the game out wide in Aphiwe Dyantyi and Cheslin Kolbe, the Springboks’ inside backs should be creating and finding more space and time for the duo to do their thing.

At the same time, the forwards, especially the likes of Malcolm Marx, Eben Etzebeth and even props Frans Malherbe and Steven Kitshoff, would in, I’ve played with him before, we are comfortable on attack and defence with each other, and with Handre (Pollard) on the inside, we’ve played together from 2015. It is nice to have him back”

The Boks go into Saturday’s encounter with loads of confidence, more so with their defence being the star of their performances and victories of late.

But Kriel says they will need to be better at Loftus against an All Blacks side baying for blood and redemption.

“It’s going to be a huge Test match and we are going to have to get up for this Test and be better. They are going to be a lot more clinical, they are the number one team in the world so they are going to come here wanting to win” be crucial in creating that space by being deployed as dummy runners and additional hands in the backline in the same way the All Blacks have used them to draw the attention of defenders.

Add to this the barnstorming runs out wide of Siya Kolisi, PieterSteph du Toit and Sikhumbuzo Notshe and the Springboks will find acres of space to unlock even the steeliest of defences.