SA's new rugby style revealed

2008-05-26 22:03

Stephen Nell

Stellenbosch - New Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has revealed the dynamic style of rugby that the South African team will play under his guidance.

"It's a new culture for this team," De Villiers said here on Monday.

"Some players are still caught in the habit of going to ground when they break through. That's not how we want to play.

"We want to play on our feet and try to run everyone off their feet without abandoning the basics."

Speaking after the national squad's training session at Stellenbosch, De Villiers added, "The biggest challenge is to get the players to understand the "when, how and why?"

His style will come as a culture shock for some Springboks. South Africans traditionally approach Test rugby in a conservative manner, with the emphasis on structure.

Structure was mentioned when De Villiers explained what could be expected in the sessions on Tuesday.

"We should have much more structure on the field than we had today, but it looked good."

The forwards and the backs were split up for a while on Monday. Springbok captain John Smit was back in the pack after arriving in the Cape during the morning and the forwards practised scrumming.

No photographs

They were scheduled to do lineout work in the afternoon and representatives from the news media were asked not to take photographs.

The lineout could be a trump card in the two Test matches against Wales in June but it has become clear that De Villiers will empower the players to utilise their skills.

Stormers tighthead prop Brian Mujati seems likely to be rewarded for his good Super 14 form.

When De Villiers was asked why Springbok Jannie du Plessis had not been included among the Sharks players invited to the training camp he made it clear that Mujati had impressed him.

"Jannie was not in the Sharks' starting lineup," he explained. "There are guys such as Mujati, who really proved he was one of the best, and you also have BJ Botha and CJ van der Linde, who are not bad.

"I would have liked to have everyone here. By not having Jannie, we're not saying he is not good enough or that we're not interested in him.

"It's simply a matter of other players who have shown good Super 14 form and we want to reward that."

Eleven members of the Sharks squad joined the training camp on Monday, which means De Villiers had a very large group of players.

However, the group will be trimmed to 30 on Tuesday when De Villiers announces the squad to face Wales and Italy next month.

- Die Burger