Bok Block To Free-Flowing Rugby?

Are South Africans Against Running Rugby?

And why should they? The Bulls are the champions after all and the public murmurings we’ve heard coming out of New Zealand and Australia over the past couple of weeks sound more like a desire to see the game played the Anzac way rather than the Sanzar way.

Should South Africa be bullied into adopting a new style when they managed to set the standards last year both in Super rugby and the Tri-Nations?

Let’s get things straight to start with. These aren’t new laws we are talking about. They are supposed new interpretations.

It’s up to the referees to try to implement them but whether there is consistency in that department and whether teams actually buy into this noble attitude remains to be seen.

South Africa enjoyed playing the rules their way last year because that’s the way they have traditionally played them. You have a big pack, you have a dynamic kicker at No 10, you have swift chasers and you prey off opposition mistakes.

The Bulls were good at it and the Boks proved masters at it until they ran out of steam at the end of the year. But by then they had already dominated the British and Irish Lions and the Wallabies and whitewashed the All Blacks.

Don’t get me wrong, rugby needs an overhaul as a spectacle but when the chasers are asking the champions to change their winning ways for the sake of it, it’s questionable whether they will buy into that.

What’s in it for them? South Africa’s Super 14 attendances embarrassed their Sanzar partners last year and while New Zealand provided three of the four semifinalists the competition always seemed to be ”owned” by the rugby republic in 2009.

The Stormers and Sharks have flirted with running rugby at times but the Bulls remain the only South African side to lift the trophy and they have achieved that with their simple but effective approach..

The Bulls have talked openly of building a dynasty and the foundations in personnel and approach are well and truly laid. Loftus is the palace of pragmatism – a place where the dropped goal still rules.

Then there’s the global scene to consider. It would be one thing to twist a South African arm but it will be an even bigger task to persuade the stodgy rugby brains up north to follow a template set by the Super 14, a rugby competition they have always regarded as powder puff.

The new interpretations have real merit with their ability to provide a better contest at the breakdowns and reward the attacking team.
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Pundits on either side of the Tasman who have suggested the rules will favour New Zealand and Australian teams need to think again.

So much of the preseason play has been about ball retention and multi-phase attacks.

The South Africans, with their big packs and increasingly athletic loose forwards, might just dine out on that. It could be harder than ever to get the ball off them – unless of course you’re a fullback waiting under another high ball with a swarm of opponents bearing down on you.

With thanks to Stuff.co.nz