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Bok coach: Adapt and attack
28/01/2008 22:13 - (SA)
Adnaan Mohamed , Die Burger
Cape Town - South African players will have to adapt quickly to the changes in the rugby laws or they will struggle in the Super 14 competition, says new Springbok coach Peter de Villiers.
Their support play will have to be much quicker and speed to the breakdown points will be a crucial factor.
In addition to that, the defensive mentality that has been installed in SA players will have to be changed to an attacking approach, says De Villiers.
After watching the practice match between the Bulls and Boland Cavaliers at Wellington on Saturday De Villiers said the law changes would have a major influence on the way teams should approach their matches.
"I can see that adapting to the new laws is still a problem for the players. The game is much faster now, and the reaction time of the players will have to be looked at," he explained.
De Villiers had also attended the previous week's warm-up matches between the Stormers and the Cavaliers and said he was impressed by the conditioning of the Stormers.
However, he felt the Boland side provided much better resistance against the Bulls. Their tactical performance against the Bulls also impressed him.
Early in the season
The players tried to launch quick attacks but support did not always arrive in time.
"Play now moves faster from one side of the ground to the other but the players do not return to their positions quickly enough," De Villiers said.
"However, it's still early in the season and that is something that can be corrected."
"Boland put up good resistance but in the second half (Bulls coach) Frans Ludeke made some changes that affected the Cavaliers psychologically."
Even though the Bulls did not play to the new laws as well as Boland did, De Villiers feels the champions have enough depth to play to different patterns. "Frans will know which players to employ in specific situations."
The standard of the rugby in the match between the Stormers and the Cavaliers had been a little below that of the one on Saturday. "Boland were about two hundred per cent better against the Bulls," he said.
Not much should be read from the two matches against the Cavaliers, he warned before adding, "I'm looking forward to next week's match between the Bulls and the Lions.
"But the one between the Stormers and the Bulls at Newlands is going to be a big match."
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