SARrugby.com

 NZ and the NZRU should be handsomely financially rewarded for teaching on the job Australian and South African rugby players how to play rugby! Regular games against NZ provincial sides and the All Blacks has reaped huge rewards for the Springboks and the Wallabies in that they have each won 2 RWCs at the expense of and on the back of kiwi rugby expertise and know how! and the trend is still continuing today.

Hakwa I do agree our returning to the international fold has been tough on the wee abs as our two world cup wins attests to. We could well have had a third but for your lamentable bryce lawrence who got sacked as a consequence of his horrendous performance in our match versus Oz . We would then have had 3 and the abs one. BUT also do remember Hakwa we missed the first few world cups as well so you could well be completely empty handed but fo BL and that fact.  Abs WC record. One win when Boks did not play and  one stolen WC. Not very convincing.  

Whilst I will admit our backline play has been poor we have benefited from backline coaches like Campo and Todd Louden helping out. Both were from Oz? Oz has been worth while watching in the backline stakes until recently when a Deans nz coach has not got it right for them.

We of course have been teaching the wee abs about forward play but they are not twigging and the result was their getting smasjed by the Poms - something one likes to avoid - as we did hahahahahakwa with a severely depleted andpoorly player managed side of very weary players

Anyhow enough said I do hope my very sensible comments have nipped this red herring in the bud.

Hakwa

The feelings are mutual.   I do not think there is much we can learn if we take our own game forward.   Lets see what Sasue said about a video clip - he put onto some kiwi websites.   It dealt with Timo Swiel  - a youngster from Bishops College in Cape Town.   The most laugable Kiwi comment was "that the player must be a Kiwi - Saffas don't play rugby like that.

The problem is that on junior level - Saffas do play rugby like Swiel does - but our donkey coaches battle successfully to coach them out of playing like Swiel and his teammates do.   They insisted on sterile backline play and often enough 10-man rugby.  Sure our coaches should learn from their New Zealand counterparts - namely not to destroy natural talent which they are really successful in doing.

They have tried determinedly to do so - but in some cases they have not really been successful.  The exceptions are Goosen, Lambie and Jordaan.  

However, there is a change noticeable with the appointment of Spencer as backline coach for the Sharks and also assistance granted to the same team by Campese in the past.   There is a small chance that Spencer could convert the donkey Francois Steyn into a better player - miracles can happen.   For the rest he has a sound backline that can perform on high level.

As to forward coaching - I have my dounbts whether we can learn anything from New Zealand at all.    New Zealand forwards  prefer to play a loose type of game with lots of ball-handling and passing  - whilst under-performing in the tight phases of the game.   There style of play looks pleasing to the eye - but can be disastrous as well.   I prefer a combination of loose and tight foward  play - provided both are effective - but I have my doubts about tight forward play by the All Blacks