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21/07/2008 10:01
While discussing the victory of the Falcons over WP on Friday evening, one of my colleagues mockingly remarked that the reason they won was because they did not play according to the "laws of the game" in South Africa.
He went on to argue that because they ignored the accepted ways of playing the game WP was caught off guard and the result was a surprise victory.
of course we did not let him off the hook that easily and he was made to explain what he meant by the statement ...
First of all, he argued, contrary to the accepted practice in South African rugby, the Falcons surprised everyone when they elected to keep the ball in hand and run at the opposition tryline, as opposed to just kicking the ball up field, or to the touchline.
This, according to my colleague, happens with approximately 50% of possession in every Currie Cup and Super 14 match! The Falcons defied this "statistical fact" by testing the WP defences for eighty minutes without any reprieve at all.
They ran at all angles, from all areas on the field of play, using both forwards and backline players in creative plays, or simply just by running at speed from the deep.
Triumphed
It was a different brand of rugby, a kind of rugby I always thought WP preferred - but on Friday night they looked pedestrian against the fleet-footed, super fit Falcons.
Add to that the chilly breeze, foggy skies and a rock hard playing surface and one begins to understand why the Falcons eventually triumphed.
The second point he made to support his earlier statement was more revealing in that he said the Falcons defied tradition by opting to run around or past defenders as opposed to running at or through them.
This enabled ball carriers to seek out the spaces next to defenders, in the process sucking at least two defenders into the tackle and then passing the ball to support runners coming at speed from the deep.
This created confusion in the WP defensive lines on whether to hold or to rush - and eventually resulted in five tries for the rampant Falcons side.
A stand out aspect of the game was the way the Falcons' ball carriers generated speed when they hit the tackle or advantage line, making it difficult for the defenders to stem their momentum.
Parting shot
Second, third and fourth phase ball were recycled quickly while support runners fanned out at different angles behind the ball carriers, causing further havoc with the WP defense. Poor Ngcobani Bobo had a torrid time keeping his defensive lines disciplined. At one point Wylie Human was retreating so fast I thought he was going to fall over his own feet.
As a parting shot my colleague added that what further distinguished this Falcons team from the rest was the fact that they played with high intensity for the full eighty minutes, something you don't see very often nowadays. They never gave WP an opportunity to breathe or to recover - staying in their face for eighty minutes non-stop.
In the run-up to Saturday's Test against the Aussies Pieter de Villiers promised us that the Springboks will play a similar kind of rugby - running their opponents ragged. I wish he could have seen how the Falcons executed this brand of rugby - I am sure he could have taken a leaf or two out of coach, Rudie Joubert's book on this one.
Nevertheless, what is more exciting about the Falcons is that Joubert has taken a bunch of obscure, average rugby players and molded them into an effective unit that trounced one of the Big Five and very nearly did the same to the Sharks and Lions as well.
While it is still early days in the Currie Cup, the way the Falcons are presently playing, underlines the importance of quality coaching, individual commitment to the cause and team spirit, in the success of any rugby team, be they amateur or professional.
Gary Boshoff is a former Saru player and well-known rugby administrator.
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