Why the Boks get lost in space

If ever one wanted a snapshot of what often undermines South African rugby, the Bulls' Super 15 game against the Lions at Ellis Park in May was it.

Needing a bonus points win to keep their play-off hopes alive, the Bulls butchered three overlaps and were comprehensively outplayed by the Lions.

Central to the botched tries was JJ Engelbrecht.

A winger-cum-centre who still plays like a wing, Engelbrecht passed directly to the extra man instead of taking the ball through the hands to take advantage of the overlap, by drawing and giving, which allowed the defence to shift and successfully cover.

It's not just Engelbrecht, a 12-cap Springbok, who doesn't know how to take advantage of an overlap. Even at his peak Frans Steyn struggled with understanding time and space in his initial position of flyhalf.

This is why a close game like the Test against the All Blacks last weekend will almost always end with the Boks losing. If you don't buy into that, think of the World Cup quarterfinal against the Wallabies in 2011.

At the end of a game like that, we blame bad luck or the referee, when the real reason is that the core skills of our players aren't properly developed to get them over the line.

That's why South African rugby needs to revisit its relationship with the Sevens circuit. Currently, Sevens is where the careers of small players go to die in South Africa, whereas in New Zealand it has been the beginning of some bright futures.

Christian Cullen, Jonah Lomu, Liam Messam and Victor Vito were some of the players who first made their names in Sevens before the 15-man game. With the exception of wing Cornal Hendricks, there isn't a similar correlation in South Africa. Given how South African players can be lacking in individual skills, maybe it's time we used Sevens as a finishing school for our brightest talents.

After playing in the Junior World Championship, SA Under-20 players like Jesse Kriel, Sergeal Petersen, Warwick Gelant and Andre Esterhuizen should be conscripted to doing a season on the world Sevens series for Neil Powell's team.

The point is for them to improve their conditioning, running angles, handling skills, individual defending and, most importantly, spatial awareness.

The unions who contract them will grumble at their players spending October to May globetrotting with the Sevens team.

But chances are during that time they would be bit-part players in the Currie Cup late in the year and would only have Varsity Cup and Vodacom Cup rugby to look forward to in the New Year.

Yet the benefits would finally be the individual attention players don't get in 15-man teams, as evidenced by a kicking game used in spite of a lack of skills to re-gather the ball, or the way South African players handle the ball like a ticking time bomb under pressure.

If there are doubts about whether it can work, Seabelo Senatla, Cheslin Kolbe and Kwagga Smith have proved it in the Currie Cup.

Senatla's searing pace is an unfair advantage, but the fact that Sevens rugby has taught him to read the game makes him even more lethal, while only players in the top 5% in the world can match Kolbe's eye for space and his ability to exploit it.

The 1.80m tall and 80kg Smith can play blindside flank simply because he generates momentum by running into space, instead of brick walls.

The time has come for South African rugby to use all the structures available to it to improve the game, even little old Sevens.