Boks will get Sevens injection of skills, spirit, energy
THE Springboks will be better off going into the Rugby Championship with the Sevens experience of Juan de Jongh and Francois Hougaard, according to assistant coach and former Sevens star Mzwandile Stick.
De Jongh and Hougaard could find themselves playing starring roles in the Springbok ambition of playing running rugby after both players were cast into the wilderness under the previous regime of coach Heyneke Meyer.
Stick, himself a former captain of the national Sevens team, believes the skill and experience that the duo bring will be of value to the team during the championship and they could very well be the surprise package needed to ignite the Springboks into playing the expansive game that many fans have been calling for.
However, the Springboks will have to wait until Sunday for the Sevens duo, who are still at the Rio Olympic Games, to join the squad. Stick looked excited at the prospect of spicing up the Springboks’ game with the skill and experience De Jongh and Hougaard have gained in the past few months of playing the shorter version of the game.
“From someone who has been involved with Sevens, one thing you can’t question about them is that they will bring energy,” he said.
“They will bring discipline, which is something you learn from Sevens because you only have seven guys on the field. Those guys are always switched on because they know that if you make one mistake then you will be punished.
“That is something we want to instil in our players in the 15-man game. We need to get 15 players working hard, bringing in the skill and positive energy like we have in guys like Warren Whiteley, who has played Sevens as well.
“I think the coach did a great thing in bringing back Juan de Jongh and Francois Hougaard. Those are the guys we talk about when (we’re discussing) running rugby.
“If you talk about playing running rugby, you need the right tools and those guys will bring in exactly what we need,” said Stick.
Besides the Sevens pair, Stick is pinning his hopes on the energy that the nine Lions brought into the camp yesterday as a springboard to making players believe the running game is well within the Springboks’ grasp. Stick complimented the Lions coaching staff of Johan Ackermann and assistant Swys de Bruin, and believes that more consultation with franchise coaches will make it easy for everyone to sing from the same song sheet when it comes to the running game becoming part of South African rugby’s DNA.
“I think step by step it is closing. If you look at the Lions – the way they were playing and the intensity they were playing with – it means we’ve got what it takes and we are getting there. But it is not going to change overnight, it will take time.
“From us as the coaches, we need to make sure we invest in the players.”