Defence will win trophy – Pienaar
CRUSADERS SHOWED WAY LAST SEASON Home team got their system spot on against Stormers.
While it’s unlikely that Super Rugby will suddenly become boring tackle fests, the looming World Cup will place new emphasis on defence.
As most observers will point out, world rugby’s showpiece tournament is won by the teams who mark the best.
Intensity on defence was one of the features of last weekend’s opening round, with the South African teams impressing too.
Even the Bulls, criticised heavily for some wayward tackling under John Mitchell, turned a new leaf in a superb 40-3 demolition of the Stormers.
“The Crusaders already showed the way last season. Yes, they scored the most tries, but they also boasted the best defence in the competition,” Pine Pienaar, the Bulls’ defence guru, said yesterday.
“Your defence is going to have to adapt to and complement your attack this season. It’s a World Cup year and everyone – the Kiwis, Aussies, Argentina and European sides – are very much aware that defence wins you the trophy.
“We’ll definitely see most of the teams being on the same page in this competition and make it a priority to fine-tune their system as quickly as possible.”
There had initially been precious little evidence in the pre-season that the Bulls would shrug off their inconsistent tackling, particularly during the freewheeling Superhero Sunday tournament in Cape Town about three weeks ago.
Yet the transformation last weekend was notable.
“If you look at the score, you can probably say we got things spot on,” said Pienaar.
“But there are definitely fundamentals we can still work hard on. That’s the biggest issue still for us. We definitely played for each other and the physicality was excellent, but in certain other areas we were still put under some pressure.
“There was a calmness to the defensive effort. That was down to the players. They’ve taken responsibility. If they make the right decisions at the right time, it helps the system a lot.”
The match was also a bit of triumph for Pienaar personally, who was one of the men chopped in 2017’s restructuring at the union. But there are no hard feelings. “There was never a point to prove,” he said with a chuckle.
“It’s just about making a difference.”