Province’s defence needs to be updated – Treu story

South Africa won the tournament for the first time since 1998. Wales also adopted this strategy in the 2008 Six Nations, and they ended up winning the Grand Slam.

But teams soon found ways to get past the system with clever kicks and skip passes to beat the tacklers who would rush up from the outside-in and not the traditional inside-out. And it slowly faded away, with most teams around the world favouring a more orthodox way of defending.

However, it has been noticeable this year in Super Rugby and during the Rugby Championship that teams are increasing their line speed on defence again.

The Brumbies put the Stormers under massive pressure with this tactic in the play-offs at Newlands this year. And because they played a lot of the game on the front foot, fetcher David Pocock had a field day at the breakdown, as their tacklers came over the deep lying Stormers backline like a tidal wave.

The Wallabies employed the rush defence against the All Blacks on Saturday. It worked in the first quarter of the match, as they forced the New Zealanders to kick many aimless punts up-field. But they just couldn’t sustain that sort of intensity on defence, and the dam wall eventually cracked when Quade Cooper was yellow-carded in the second half.

New Western Province and Stormers defence coach Paul Treu has been tasked to freshen up the union’s outdated defensive strategy this season.

The Stormers’ defence was awesome a few years back, as they mixed discipline with brutal hits to great effect.

However, this strategy didn’t fill the trophy cabinet, instead leading to greater numbers on the injury list.

The Stormers made a lot less tackles this year in Super Rugby, and their injury list was a lot shorter too. While former coach Allister Coetzee didn’t see a connection, there may be some sort of pattern there.

Treu, who officially began his job at the start of the Currie Cup, doesn’t just want to radically change the Stormers’ defensive system. In fact, he wants to use it as a base to evolve it.

In the modern game, defending isn’t just about stopping players scoring tries, but also about creating turnovers to attack from.

What Treu is working on is the decision-making on defence – when to rush up, when to hold back, or when drift in or out.

Province will be properly tested on defence for the first time this season when they take on the new, expansive Blue Bulls in a Currie Cup match at Loftus on Saturday (kick-off 7.10pm).

It may give an insight into the future as far as the Stormers’ defensive strategy for next year is concerned. But Treu admitted for this system to fire on all cylinders, it will take patience and hard work.

“What is key for us is to be smart in that line, understanding when to take the line up or hold back, and when to give space,” Treu said.

“How effective we are going to be in applying that decisionmaking is going to be important. But that will take some time before the players get it 100percent right.

“We have seen the quick line speed in Super Rugby and on the international stage. Even a team like Griquas, and what they bring in terms of line speed, is incredible.

“All the teams are evolving towards that, and for us it’s just about being smart on that line to be effective in whatever we do. We want to take it up all the time, but it’s not always possible.”