Defence shores up Boks' playbook

25 August 2016 - 10:06 By Brendan Venter

It would have been an absolute disaster had South Africa lost to Argentina on Saturday in their Rugby Championship opener, because we would have all scrutinised the result rather than the performance and declared that the national team has gone backwards. Very little went the Springboks' way for 70 minutes of the match, but they dug deep for a great win.In my book progress has been made since Allister Coetzee's first Test match in charge. During the June Test series against Ireland South Africa looked like headless chickens but there were signs of improvement against Argentina in Nelspruit.However, post-match comment largely revolved around the home team committing unforced errors and only managing to win the fixture in the final 10 minutes.Flyhalf Elton Jantjies, in particular, drew a barrage of criticism for his performance.While he didn't enjoy his best outing in a Springbok jersey, he has huge potential and, if we keep jumping on the "unforced errors" bandwagon, it could erode the pivot's confidence.Flyhalf is a challenging position and we need to be patient with him, because Jantjies will only improve. We must also remember that there is no such thing as a perfect rugby player.There are many positives to extract from the opening Rugby Championship performance, and I have no doubt that Coetzee will be satisfied with his team's progress.The Springboks' blend of attack and defence was much better. They moved the ball more proficiently against Argentina, and their defence, which I flagged last week as a potential area of weakness, was resolute.South Africa possessed much better line speed on defence and will take heart from the fact that there were lengthy periods of play when a great Argentinian attack never looked dangerous.I realise that New Zealand looked invincible during their Bledisloe Cup victory over Australia in Sydney. The All Blacks caught the Wallabies off guard, because they kept numbers off their feet and made a conscious effort to commit few players to breakdown contests.However, South Africa's defensive display against Argentina at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit was solid and showed glimpses of what was achieved under previous defence coach John McFarland.What really impressed about the men in green and gold was that they weren't trying to bash through the front door .From a professional coaching perspective there appears to be more subtlety to their game and there were some beautiful passes played by the forwards. Locks Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager both gave try-scoring passes, which I have never seen before.In my opinion, it underlines the fact that the Springboks are intent on evolving their play.I'm excited because, for the first time, we saw similar technical aspects from the Springboks and All Blacks in terms of forwards with the ability to pass.It's not easy to execute in confined spaces, and the trick is to shift it twice along the line, run at pace and pass to someone who is in a better position...

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