“tell you what. if garcès didn't have a reason to be ... za vol 19, iss 40 -...
TRANSCRIPT
Volume 19 Number 4025 October 2019
ldquoTell you what If Garcegraves didnt have a reason to be biased against the Springboks he sure does now
As jy dom is moet jy kak Idiotsrdquo ndash Alex Tarr on Twitterreferring to South Africans demanding that Garcegraves be stopped from referencing South Africa vs Wales
Register to receive your own free weekly newsletter at wwwrugbyrsacoza
RWC Springboks March into the Semifinals
Prior to the game some pundits were saying that Japan was lucky to have made the World Cup quarter-finals and that they would be hammered by South Africa But quite frankly thatrsquos just bullshit probably founded on the sour grapes that found their way into the mouths of Irish and Scottish rugby fans
The way they played Japan thoroughly deserved their place in the quarter-final and they gave a really good account of themselves Indeed the Springboks led by a slender margin (5-3) at half-time because the Japanese attacked like demons and when called on the defend tackled with the same intensity
But they simply werenrsquot able to break-down the highly effective Springbok defensive pattern And as was inevitable the huge effort took its toll allowing South Africa to run away with it in the end (26-3)
Perhaps The Guardianrsquos Paul Rees captured it bestwhen he wrote in his match report ldquoIt took South Africa who won the Championship last summer an hour to subdue the side who had defeated Ireland and Scotland to finish unbeaten at the head of their pool
ldquoAfter conceding an early try when their attempt to hide their flyhalf Yu Tamura on the blindside of a Springboks scrum was detected by the scrum-half Faf de Klerk who wasted no time in firing a pass to Makazole Mapimpi on the left wing they rallied
The host country applied such concerted pressure that lesser teams would have wilted but the try Japan desperately needed was denied by a dark green wall that would not fracturerdquo
In his five talking points following the match Sport24s Herman Mostert writes ldquoJapan looked dangerous at times in the first half but eventually ran out of puff against a staunch Springbok defencerdquo However what both reporters fail to mention is that South Africa butchered several opportunities in the first half something that coach Rassie Erasmus blamed on nerves
Maybe but we have a feeling that so much emphasis has gone into defence that the players have become rusty on attack But Rob Houwing blames Willie le Roux ldquoBoks in semi Can they risk wonky Willierdquo
KEY TOPICS IN THIS NEWSLETTER
RWC2019 Preview Springboks vs WalesHow the All Blacks Beat the SpringboksConsistency Remains Rassiersquos Watchword
Strong Blitzbok Team for Chester SevensPRO14 Cheetahs Must Box Smart in EuropeThe Complicated World of Scrum Defence
Page 1
Page 2
RWC2019 And Then There Were Four
We covered the quarter-final involving the Springboks on page one so wersquoll look at the other matches here It began with one that nobody in this newsroom wanted to watch Australia vs England Obviously we can tell you what happened ndash the whingers beat the convicts 40-16 ndash but not how it happened However we did find a blow-by-blow match report ndash in the unlikely event that yoursquore actually interested in the detail
The second game on Saturday was Ireland vs New Zealand That began with an Aaron Smith double followed by tries for Beauden Barrett and Codie Taylor At the start of the final quarter Matt Todd crossed to put the result beyond doubt and the score at 34-0 With only pride left to play for Ireland chipped in with two converted tries ndash but not without response Final score 46-14
The curtain-raiser to the Springbok game on Sunday was France vs Wales Much analysis beforehand focused on the French and wondering which team would turn up on the day We didnrsquot have long to wait as they struck twice in the first ten minutes to lead 12-0 Wales pulled one back but the French struck again to lead 19-10 at the break
Early in the second half a red card ended the French challenge At that point France hadnrsquot added to their half-time tally and nor did they as Wales crept back to win 20-19 against the now 14-man French outfit
The best (amd most succinct) analysis we saw on social media was from Darren Smith ldquoFrance were awesome Wales one-dimensional But for the stupidity of their red card this was Francersquos game for the taking Theyrsquod done the hard yards RWC2019ldquo
RWC2019 Preview Springboks vs Wales
Looking ahead to the coming weekend there are two semi-finals to consider England vs New Zealand on Saturday and South Africa vs Wales on Sunday Naturally wersquore focused on the second of those
Looking at the history (35 matches over more than 100 years) the first match between South Africa and Wales was in 1906 and Springboks reigned supreme until a draw in Cardiff in 1970 But it was only in 1999 that Wales chalked up their first win
The two sides have only met once at a World Cup four years ago in a quarter-final stage won by the Boks 23-19 The four matches since then were all won by Wales
One of those four matches (Cardiff 2017) was officiated by the same person handling the semifinal on Sunday Jeacuterocircme Garcegraves Social media eruptedwhen the officials were announced and with good reason as we indicated weeks ago by highlighting an article by Sports24rsquos Garrin Lambley which detaied the Boks shocking record under the French referee
Since then the Springboks have added another to the loss column after losing to the All Blacks in their opening fixture at this World Cup The record under Garcegraves now reads played 15 won four lost 11WalesOnline Rugby reported earlier this week that angry South Africans are demanding that Jerome Garces be stopped from refereeing the semifinal We liked the response of Alex Tarr on Twitter
ldquoTell you what If Garces didnt have a reason to be biased against the Springboks he sure does now
As jy dom is moet jy kak Idiotsrdquo
Page 3
Page 4
How the All Blacks Beat the Springboks
In the world of sport there are analysts and there are Analysts Those in the former category are a dime a dozen but the good ones are priceless because they unpack the game at a level so deep that most fans arenrsquot even aware that it exists
One of our favourites in this latter category ndash both for his unique insight into the game and the irreverent manner of his delivery via a YouTube channel ndash is Squidge Rugby The timing this week is fortuitous because the Squidge [we donrsquot know his name ndash Ed] is Welsh and the Springboks face Wales on Sunday
But donrsquot be fooled by the title yes it is eventually about how the All Blacks beat the Springboks in Yokohama but in the process of getting there he examines the play of both sides generally and what they seem to be trying to do As such itrsquos a foretaste of what we can expect in the probable final next week
In this episode Sqidgersquos analysis of Springbok rugby under Rassie Erasmus comes to some rather startling ndash and fascinating ndash conclusions about what instructions coach is giving to his players
Therersquos a lot to digest in the video (which is just under 11 minutes long) but two of the things that stood out for us were firstly that they play differently in different parts of the field and secondly the Boks have a license to play for short periods when theyrsquore between the two 22m lines But if after five ndash and its always five ndash phases of play nothing has worked out they fall back on a contestable box kick
Do yourself a favour Take the ten-odd minutes needed to watch it and do so Yoursquoll thank us afterwards
Consistency Remains Rassiersquos Watchword
South African rugby fans are a weird lot whether the Springboks win or lose they always want to make changes to the team for the next match And those changes are usually informed only by preferences inherited from the crazy provincialism of a bygone era
Lions supporters [and most intelligent people ndash Ed] will want Lions players while fans from Pretoria would be advocating Blue Bulls players This week Capetonian Zelim Nel insisted that three Western Province players be brought in (or shifted) to cover holes he sees in the current strategy
Whatever the coach does itrsquos never good enough There are also charges doing the rounds on social media calling Springbok rugby ldquoboringrdquo I kid you not The Yellow Cap Tweeted a link to a piece this week headlined with a pointed question ldquoDo the Springboks Need Some Spicerdquo
Irsquoll leave you to find out the answer to that question by reading the short analysis Itrsquos highly informative and ends with statistics that may surprise you if you think the Springbok game plan is boring or ineffective
Take the current situation Itrsquos a World Cup and South Africa are through to the semifinals facing Wales this Sunday But from the outset it was clear that Rassie had his game plans and strategies worked out based on 23 of the players he took to Japan The others were there largely to provide cover for injury or to be used when he felt a need to rest key players
Consequently the team that ran out in the opener against the All Blacks and against Japan last weekend were largely the same And apart from one injury-enforced change its the same team selected for the semifinal against Wales on Sunday
Page 5
Page 6
Strong Blitzbok Team for Chester Sevens
As of this morning there are about 41 days before the start of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 20192020 season And to add extra spice ndash as if any is needed ndash next year is the Olympics in Tokyo
A month ago we reported on the triumph over Fiji in the final of the Munich Oktoberfest7s tournament That outing featured satisfying wins over New Zealand (19-12) England (24-5) Australia (26-19) and eventually Fiji (12-10)
But it was all just preparation for the massive season that lies ahead and that preparation continues with the Athlete Factory Sevens in Chester this weekend This can be seen by the team coach Neil Powell has put together for the tournament
He has recalled a number of players from his 2018 squad to make this trip including stalwarts Seabelo Senatla and Ruhan Nel The Stormers duo are joined by Rosko Specman and Dylan Sage who have both been playing for the Bulls this year
There is also a return to the team for Zain Davids JC Pretorius and Justin Geduld Davids underwent surgery to his shoulder after an injury sustained in Hong Kong in March while Geduld went under the knife at the end of the 2018-19 World Series where South Africa were placed fourth
Christi Grobbelaar and Selvyn Davids joined the team in England straight from Kenya where they played in the Tusker Safari Sevens last weekend Hacjivah Dayimani and Branco du Preez were not considered due to injury England France Spain USA Ireland Hong Kong Nigeria and Jamaica will be represented in Chester
PRO14 Cheetahs Must Box Smart in Europe
OFM Sport is running a piece this week on Cheetahrsquos tour to Europe to contest the PRO14 in which the authors Sintu Manjezi and Morgan Piek suggest that the winning start could all come to naught if the team and management donrsquot ldquobox smartrdquo
Of course it helps us to know that that Manjezi is one of the players because it tells us that hersquos probably delivering a message to supporters that hints at what the team strategy is going to be this year Still itrsquos a worthwhile read because Cheetahs have a real chance of emulating ndash or even bettering ndash their debut season performance when they reached the knock-out stages
The pair write ldquoThe Cheetahs will play Connacht this weekend but will be based in Dublin and only travel to Galway on Saturday morning [for the match]rdquo They quote captain Ruan Pienaar remarking that itrsquos not easy playing in Galway
From the substance of the article new coach Hawies Fourie appears tactically aware that while Cheetahs may be able to play their natural game they will have to adapt to what will be needed in Europe Saturdayrsquos game between Connacht and Cheetahs kicks off at 1815
Meanwhile the other South African team has had the worst start imaginable three losses against teams weakened by losing players to play for their country at the Rugby World Cup Itrsquos unlikely to get better as the season wears on unless some real solutions can be found for what ails the union Southern Kings are playing Benetton in Treviso on Saturday at 1600
The Complicated World of Scrum Defence
With the Rugby World Cup semifinal between the Springboks and Wales looming on Sunday we thought this would be an opportune moment to explore the complicated world of scrum defence
Sam Larner has penned a brilliant analysis of this aspect of the game on PlanetRugbycom Wersquove extracted a few choice passages but we urge you to point your internet browser at PlanetRugbycom and read it properly in a place where you can see all the explanatory photographic illiustrations
ldquoThe issue for teams when defending scrums is that they are not just defending the seven backs or even six backs if you remove the scrum-half They are actually defending the seven backs plus three possible forwards who could come off the scrum That puts huge pressure on the defending backs to cover all the options
ldquoIreland against New Zealand and Japan against South Africa both struggled to keep the attackers outrdquo He follows this point with detailed illustrations from both games of what hersquos talking about Then
ldquoIt is worth looking at scrum defence in more detail The issue for the defensive team is that they do not know how the ball will come out of the scrum It might be carried by the number eight it might be flicked to a scrum-half or it might be passed straight from the scrum by the scrum-half
ldquoThat means that you do not know exactly where the defensive scrum-half should stand He does not need to chase his opposite number around the scrum he could stand in his own defensive line The problem then would be that the attacking scrum-half could pass unhindered
ldquoThe analysts of the four remaining teams will have looked at how their opposition defends Expectmore teams being creative with their attacks from the scrumrdquo
Page 7
For your weekend rugby viewing pleasure
Only two Rugby World Cup matches on this weekendbecause the tournament is down to the last four England vs New Zealand on Saturday (1000) and South Africa vs Wales on Sunday (1100) But knowing Multichoice there will be analysis aplenty and highlights packages of ldquothe path to the semisrdquo for days before the actual matches
And after a one-week hiatus PRO14 kicks off in Europe (schedule alongside) with Cheetahs in Ireland and Southern Kings in Italy Elsewhere the Top 14and Pro D2 competitions continue in France while the English Premiership and second division Championship are also in full flow
Down under in Australia one game is scheduled in the NRC while across the Tasman in New Zealand the Mitre 10 features only two matches Check the schedules with your television network or streamling provider for broadcast times
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8
Page 2
RWC2019 And Then There Were Four
We covered the quarter-final involving the Springboks on page one so wersquoll look at the other matches here It began with one that nobody in this newsroom wanted to watch Australia vs England Obviously we can tell you what happened ndash the whingers beat the convicts 40-16 ndash but not how it happened However we did find a blow-by-blow match report ndash in the unlikely event that yoursquore actually interested in the detail
The second game on Saturday was Ireland vs New Zealand That began with an Aaron Smith double followed by tries for Beauden Barrett and Codie Taylor At the start of the final quarter Matt Todd crossed to put the result beyond doubt and the score at 34-0 With only pride left to play for Ireland chipped in with two converted tries ndash but not without response Final score 46-14
The curtain-raiser to the Springbok game on Sunday was France vs Wales Much analysis beforehand focused on the French and wondering which team would turn up on the day We didnrsquot have long to wait as they struck twice in the first ten minutes to lead 12-0 Wales pulled one back but the French struck again to lead 19-10 at the break
Early in the second half a red card ended the French challenge At that point France hadnrsquot added to their half-time tally and nor did they as Wales crept back to win 20-19 against the now 14-man French outfit
The best (amd most succinct) analysis we saw on social media was from Darren Smith ldquoFrance were awesome Wales one-dimensional But for the stupidity of their red card this was Francersquos game for the taking Theyrsquod done the hard yards RWC2019ldquo
RWC2019 Preview Springboks vs Wales
Looking ahead to the coming weekend there are two semi-finals to consider England vs New Zealand on Saturday and South Africa vs Wales on Sunday Naturally wersquore focused on the second of those
Looking at the history (35 matches over more than 100 years) the first match between South Africa and Wales was in 1906 and Springboks reigned supreme until a draw in Cardiff in 1970 But it was only in 1999 that Wales chalked up their first win
The two sides have only met once at a World Cup four years ago in a quarter-final stage won by the Boks 23-19 The four matches since then were all won by Wales
One of those four matches (Cardiff 2017) was officiated by the same person handling the semifinal on Sunday Jeacuterocircme Garcegraves Social media eruptedwhen the officials were announced and with good reason as we indicated weeks ago by highlighting an article by Sports24rsquos Garrin Lambley which detaied the Boks shocking record under the French referee
Since then the Springboks have added another to the loss column after losing to the All Blacks in their opening fixture at this World Cup The record under Garcegraves now reads played 15 won four lost 11WalesOnline Rugby reported earlier this week that angry South Africans are demanding that Jerome Garces be stopped from refereeing the semifinal We liked the response of Alex Tarr on Twitter
ldquoTell you what If Garces didnt have a reason to be biased against the Springboks he sure does now
As jy dom is moet jy kak Idiotsrdquo
Page 3
Page 4
How the All Blacks Beat the Springboks
In the world of sport there are analysts and there are Analysts Those in the former category are a dime a dozen but the good ones are priceless because they unpack the game at a level so deep that most fans arenrsquot even aware that it exists
One of our favourites in this latter category ndash both for his unique insight into the game and the irreverent manner of his delivery via a YouTube channel ndash is Squidge Rugby The timing this week is fortuitous because the Squidge [we donrsquot know his name ndash Ed] is Welsh and the Springboks face Wales on Sunday
But donrsquot be fooled by the title yes it is eventually about how the All Blacks beat the Springboks in Yokohama but in the process of getting there he examines the play of both sides generally and what they seem to be trying to do As such itrsquos a foretaste of what we can expect in the probable final next week
In this episode Sqidgersquos analysis of Springbok rugby under Rassie Erasmus comes to some rather startling ndash and fascinating ndash conclusions about what instructions coach is giving to his players
Therersquos a lot to digest in the video (which is just under 11 minutes long) but two of the things that stood out for us were firstly that they play differently in different parts of the field and secondly the Boks have a license to play for short periods when theyrsquore between the two 22m lines But if after five ndash and its always five ndash phases of play nothing has worked out they fall back on a contestable box kick
Do yourself a favour Take the ten-odd minutes needed to watch it and do so Yoursquoll thank us afterwards
Consistency Remains Rassiersquos Watchword
South African rugby fans are a weird lot whether the Springboks win or lose they always want to make changes to the team for the next match And those changes are usually informed only by preferences inherited from the crazy provincialism of a bygone era
Lions supporters [and most intelligent people ndash Ed] will want Lions players while fans from Pretoria would be advocating Blue Bulls players This week Capetonian Zelim Nel insisted that three Western Province players be brought in (or shifted) to cover holes he sees in the current strategy
Whatever the coach does itrsquos never good enough There are also charges doing the rounds on social media calling Springbok rugby ldquoboringrdquo I kid you not The Yellow Cap Tweeted a link to a piece this week headlined with a pointed question ldquoDo the Springboks Need Some Spicerdquo
Irsquoll leave you to find out the answer to that question by reading the short analysis Itrsquos highly informative and ends with statistics that may surprise you if you think the Springbok game plan is boring or ineffective
Take the current situation Itrsquos a World Cup and South Africa are through to the semifinals facing Wales this Sunday But from the outset it was clear that Rassie had his game plans and strategies worked out based on 23 of the players he took to Japan The others were there largely to provide cover for injury or to be used when he felt a need to rest key players
Consequently the team that ran out in the opener against the All Blacks and against Japan last weekend were largely the same And apart from one injury-enforced change its the same team selected for the semifinal against Wales on Sunday
Page 5
Page 6
Strong Blitzbok Team for Chester Sevens
As of this morning there are about 41 days before the start of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 20192020 season And to add extra spice ndash as if any is needed ndash next year is the Olympics in Tokyo
A month ago we reported on the triumph over Fiji in the final of the Munich Oktoberfest7s tournament That outing featured satisfying wins over New Zealand (19-12) England (24-5) Australia (26-19) and eventually Fiji (12-10)
But it was all just preparation for the massive season that lies ahead and that preparation continues with the Athlete Factory Sevens in Chester this weekend This can be seen by the team coach Neil Powell has put together for the tournament
He has recalled a number of players from his 2018 squad to make this trip including stalwarts Seabelo Senatla and Ruhan Nel The Stormers duo are joined by Rosko Specman and Dylan Sage who have both been playing for the Bulls this year
There is also a return to the team for Zain Davids JC Pretorius and Justin Geduld Davids underwent surgery to his shoulder after an injury sustained in Hong Kong in March while Geduld went under the knife at the end of the 2018-19 World Series where South Africa were placed fourth
Christi Grobbelaar and Selvyn Davids joined the team in England straight from Kenya where they played in the Tusker Safari Sevens last weekend Hacjivah Dayimani and Branco du Preez were not considered due to injury England France Spain USA Ireland Hong Kong Nigeria and Jamaica will be represented in Chester
PRO14 Cheetahs Must Box Smart in Europe
OFM Sport is running a piece this week on Cheetahrsquos tour to Europe to contest the PRO14 in which the authors Sintu Manjezi and Morgan Piek suggest that the winning start could all come to naught if the team and management donrsquot ldquobox smartrdquo
Of course it helps us to know that that Manjezi is one of the players because it tells us that hersquos probably delivering a message to supporters that hints at what the team strategy is going to be this year Still itrsquos a worthwhile read because Cheetahs have a real chance of emulating ndash or even bettering ndash their debut season performance when they reached the knock-out stages
The pair write ldquoThe Cheetahs will play Connacht this weekend but will be based in Dublin and only travel to Galway on Saturday morning [for the match]rdquo They quote captain Ruan Pienaar remarking that itrsquos not easy playing in Galway
From the substance of the article new coach Hawies Fourie appears tactically aware that while Cheetahs may be able to play their natural game they will have to adapt to what will be needed in Europe Saturdayrsquos game between Connacht and Cheetahs kicks off at 1815
Meanwhile the other South African team has had the worst start imaginable three losses against teams weakened by losing players to play for their country at the Rugby World Cup Itrsquos unlikely to get better as the season wears on unless some real solutions can be found for what ails the union Southern Kings are playing Benetton in Treviso on Saturday at 1600
The Complicated World of Scrum Defence
With the Rugby World Cup semifinal between the Springboks and Wales looming on Sunday we thought this would be an opportune moment to explore the complicated world of scrum defence
Sam Larner has penned a brilliant analysis of this aspect of the game on PlanetRugbycom Wersquove extracted a few choice passages but we urge you to point your internet browser at PlanetRugbycom and read it properly in a place where you can see all the explanatory photographic illiustrations
ldquoThe issue for teams when defending scrums is that they are not just defending the seven backs or even six backs if you remove the scrum-half They are actually defending the seven backs plus three possible forwards who could come off the scrum That puts huge pressure on the defending backs to cover all the options
ldquoIreland against New Zealand and Japan against South Africa both struggled to keep the attackers outrdquo He follows this point with detailed illustrations from both games of what hersquos talking about Then
ldquoIt is worth looking at scrum defence in more detail The issue for the defensive team is that they do not know how the ball will come out of the scrum It might be carried by the number eight it might be flicked to a scrum-half or it might be passed straight from the scrum by the scrum-half
ldquoThat means that you do not know exactly where the defensive scrum-half should stand He does not need to chase his opposite number around the scrum he could stand in his own defensive line The problem then would be that the attacking scrum-half could pass unhindered
ldquoThe analysts of the four remaining teams will have looked at how their opposition defends Expectmore teams being creative with their attacks from the scrumrdquo
Page 7
For your weekend rugby viewing pleasure
Only two Rugby World Cup matches on this weekendbecause the tournament is down to the last four England vs New Zealand on Saturday (1000) and South Africa vs Wales on Sunday (1100) But knowing Multichoice there will be analysis aplenty and highlights packages of ldquothe path to the semisrdquo for days before the actual matches
And after a one-week hiatus PRO14 kicks off in Europe (schedule alongside) with Cheetahs in Ireland and Southern Kings in Italy Elsewhere the Top 14and Pro D2 competitions continue in France while the English Premiership and second division Championship are also in full flow
Down under in Australia one game is scheduled in the NRC while across the Tasman in New Zealand the Mitre 10 features only two matches Check the schedules with your television network or streamling provider for broadcast times
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8
Page 3
Page 4
How the All Blacks Beat the Springboks
In the world of sport there are analysts and there are Analysts Those in the former category are a dime a dozen but the good ones are priceless because they unpack the game at a level so deep that most fans arenrsquot even aware that it exists
One of our favourites in this latter category ndash both for his unique insight into the game and the irreverent manner of his delivery via a YouTube channel ndash is Squidge Rugby The timing this week is fortuitous because the Squidge [we donrsquot know his name ndash Ed] is Welsh and the Springboks face Wales on Sunday
But donrsquot be fooled by the title yes it is eventually about how the All Blacks beat the Springboks in Yokohama but in the process of getting there he examines the play of both sides generally and what they seem to be trying to do As such itrsquos a foretaste of what we can expect in the probable final next week
In this episode Sqidgersquos analysis of Springbok rugby under Rassie Erasmus comes to some rather startling ndash and fascinating ndash conclusions about what instructions coach is giving to his players
Therersquos a lot to digest in the video (which is just under 11 minutes long) but two of the things that stood out for us were firstly that they play differently in different parts of the field and secondly the Boks have a license to play for short periods when theyrsquore between the two 22m lines But if after five ndash and its always five ndash phases of play nothing has worked out they fall back on a contestable box kick
Do yourself a favour Take the ten-odd minutes needed to watch it and do so Yoursquoll thank us afterwards
Consistency Remains Rassiersquos Watchword
South African rugby fans are a weird lot whether the Springboks win or lose they always want to make changes to the team for the next match And those changes are usually informed only by preferences inherited from the crazy provincialism of a bygone era
Lions supporters [and most intelligent people ndash Ed] will want Lions players while fans from Pretoria would be advocating Blue Bulls players This week Capetonian Zelim Nel insisted that three Western Province players be brought in (or shifted) to cover holes he sees in the current strategy
Whatever the coach does itrsquos never good enough There are also charges doing the rounds on social media calling Springbok rugby ldquoboringrdquo I kid you not The Yellow Cap Tweeted a link to a piece this week headlined with a pointed question ldquoDo the Springboks Need Some Spicerdquo
Irsquoll leave you to find out the answer to that question by reading the short analysis Itrsquos highly informative and ends with statistics that may surprise you if you think the Springbok game plan is boring or ineffective
Take the current situation Itrsquos a World Cup and South Africa are through to the semifinals facing Wales this Sunday But from the outset it was clear that Rassie had his game plans and strategies worked out based on 23 of the players he took to Japan The others were there largely to provide cover for injury or to be used when he felt a need to rest key players
Consequently the team that ran out in the opener against the All Blacks and against Japan last weekend were largely the same And apart from one injury-enforced change its the same team selected for the semifinal against Wales on Sunday
Page 5
Page 6
Strong Blitzbok Team for Chester Sevens
As of this morning there are about 41 days before the start of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 20192020 season And to add extra spice ndash as if any is needed ndash next year is the Olympics in Tokyo
A month ago we reported on the triumph over Fiji in the final of the Munich Oktoberfest7s tournament That outing featured satisfying wins over New Zealand (19-12) England (24-5) Australia (26-19) and eventually Fiji (12-10)
But it was all just preparation for the massive season that lies ahead and that preparation continues with the Athlete Factory Sevens in Chester this weekend This can be seen by the team coach Neil Powell has put together for the tournament
He has recalled a number of players from his 2018 squad to make this trip including stalwarts Seabelo Senatla and Ruhan Nel The Stormers duo are joined by Rosko Specman and Dylan Sage who have both been playing for the Bulls this year
There is also a return to the team for Zain Davids JC Pretorius and Justin Geduld Davids underwent surgery to his shoulder after an injury sustained in Hong Kong in March while Geduld went under the knife at the end of the 2018-19 World Series where South Africa were placed fourth
Christi Grobbelaar and Selvyn Davids joined the team in England straight from Kenya where they played in the Tusker Safari Sevens last weekend Hacjivah Dayimani and Branco du Preez were not considered due to injury England France Spain USA Ireland Hong Kong Nigeria and Jamaica will be represented in Chester
PRO14 Cheetahs Must Box Smart in Europe
OFM Sport is running a piece this week on Cheetahrsquos tour to Europe to contest the PRO14 in which the authors Sintu Manjezi and Morgan Piek suggest that the winning start could all come to naught if the team and management donrsquot ldquobox smartrdquo
Of course it helps us to know that that Manjezi is one of the players because it tells us that hersquos probably delivering a message to supporters that hints at what the team strategy is going to be this year Still itrsquos a worthwhile read because Cheetahs have a real chance of emulating ndash or even bettering ndash their debut season performance when they reached the knock-out stages
The pair write ldquoThe Cheetahs will play Connacht this weekend but will be based in Dublin and only travel to Galway on Saturday morning [for the match]rdquo They quote captain Ruan Pienaar remarking that itrsquos not easy playing in Galway
From the substance of the article new coach Hawies Fourie appears tactically aware that while Cheetahs may be able to play their natural game they will have to adapt to what will be needed in Europe Saturdayrsquos game between Connacht and Cheetahs kicks off at 1815
Meanwhile the other South African team has had the worst start imaginable three losses against teams weakened by losing players to play for their country at the Rugby World Cup Itrsquos unlikely to get better as the season wears on unless some real solutions can be found for what ails the union Southern Kings are playing Benetton in Treviso on Saturday at 1600
The Complicated World of Scrum Defence
With the Rugby World Cup semifinal between the Springboks and Wales looming on Sunday we thought this would be an opportune moment to explore the complicated world of scrum defence
Sam Larner has penned a brilliant analysis of this aspect of the game on PlanetRugbycom Wersquove extracted a few choice passages but we urge you to point your internet browser at PlanetRugbycom and read it properly in a place where you can see all the explanatory photographic illiustrations
ldquoThe issue for teams when defending scrums is that they are not just defending the seven backs or even six backs if you remove the scrum-half They are actually defending the seven backs plus three possible forwards who could come off the scrum That puts huge pressure on the defending backs to cover all the options
ldquoIreland against New Zealand and Japan against South Africa both struggled to keep the attackers outrdquo He follows this point with detailed illustrations from both games of what hersquos talking about Then
ldquoIt is worth looking at scrum defence in more detail The issue for the defensive team is that they do not know how the ball will come out of the scrum It might be carried by the number eight it might be flicked to a scrum-half or it might be passed straight from the scrum by the scrum-half
ldquoThat means that you do not know exactly where the defensive scrum-half should stand He does not need to chase his opposite number around the scrum he could stand in his own defensive line The problem then would be that the attacking scrum-half could pass unhindered
ldquoThe analysts of the four remaining teams will have looked at how their opposition defends Expectmore teams being creative with their attacks from the scrumrdquo
Page 7
For your weekend rugby viewing pleasure
Only two Rugby World Cup matches on this weekendbecause the tournament is down to the last four England vs New Zealand on Saturday (1000) and South Africa vs Wales on Sunday (1100) But knowing Multichoice there will be analysis aplenty and highlights packages of ldquothe path to the semisrdquo for days before the actual matches
And after a one-week hiatus PRO14 kicks off in Europe (schedule alongside) with Cheetahs in Ireland and Southern Kings in Italy Elsewhere the Top 14and Pro D2 competitions continue in France while the English Premiership and second division Championship are also in full flow
Down under in Australia one game is scheduled in the NRC while across the Tasman in New Zealand the Mitre 10 features only two matches Check the schedules with your television network or streamling provider for broadcast times
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8
Page 4
How the All Blacks Beat the Springboks
In the world of sport there are analysts and there are Analysts Those in the former category are a dime a dozen but the good ones are priceless because they unpack the game at a level so deep that most fans arenrsquot even aware that it exists
One of our favourites in this latter category ndash both for his unique insight into the game and the irreverent manner of his delivery via a YouTube channel ndash is Squidge Rugby The timing this week is fortuitous because the Squidge [we donrsquot know his name ndash Ed] is Welsh and the Springboks face Wales on Sunday
But donrsquot be fooled by the title yes it is eventually about how the All Blacks beat the Springboks in Yokohama but in the process of getting there he examines the play of both sides generally and what they seem to be trying to do As such itrsquos a foretaste of what we can expect in the probable final next week
In this episode Sqidgersquos analysis of Springbok rugby under Rassie Erasmus comes to some rather startling ndash and fascinating ndash conclusions about what instructions coach is giving to his players
Therersquos a lot to digest in the video (which is just under 11 minutes long) but two of the things that stood out for us were firstly that they play differently in different parts of the field and secondly the Boks have a license to play for short periods when theyrsquore between the two 22m lines But if after five ndash and its always five ndash phases of play nothing has worked out they fall back on a contestable box kick
Do yourself a favour Take the ten-odd minutes needed to watch it and do so Yoursquoll thank us afterwards
Consistency Remains Rassiersquos Watchword
South African rugby fans are a weird lot whether the Springboks win or lose they always want to make changes to the team for the next match And those changes are usually informed only by preferences inherited from the crazy provincialism of a bygone era
Lions supporters [and most intelligent people ndash Ed] will want Lions players while fans from Pretoria would be advocating Blue Bulls players This week Capetonian Zelim Nel insisted that three Western Province players be brought in (or shifted) to cover holes he sees in the current strategy
Whatever the coach does itrsquos never good enough There are also charges doing the rounds on social media calling Springbok rugby ldquoboringrdquo I kid you not The Yellow Cap Tweeted a link to a piece this week headlined with a pointed question ldquoDo the Springboks Need Some Spicerdquo
Irsquoll leave you to find out the answer to that question by reading the short analysis Itrsquos highly informative and ends with statistics that may surprise you if you think the Springbok game plan is boring or ineffective
Take the current situation Itrsquos a World Cup and South Africa are through to the semifinals facing Wales this Sunday But from the outset it was clear that Rassie had his game plans and strategies worked out based on 23 of the players he took to Japan The others were there largely to provide cover for injury or to be used when he felt a need to rest key players
Consequently the team that ran out in the opener against the All Blacks and against Japan last weekend were largely the same And apart from one injury-enforced change its the same team selected for the semifinal against Wales on Sunday
Page 5
Page 6
Strong Blitzbok Team for Chester Sevens
As of this morning there are about 41 days before the start of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 20192020 season And to add extra spice ndash as if any is needed ndash next year is the Olympics in Tokyo
A month ago we reported on the triumph over Fiji in the final of the Munich Oktoberfest7s tournament That outing featured satisfying wins over New Zealand (19-12) England (24-5) Australia (26-19) and eventually Fiji (12-10)
But it was all just preparation for the massive season that lies ahead and that preparation continues with the Athlete Factory Sevens in Chester this weekend This can be seen by the team coach Neil Powell has put together for the tournament
He has recalled a number of players from his 2018 squad to make this trip including stalwarts Seabelo Senatla and Ruhan Nel The Stormers duo are joined by Rosko Specman and Dylan Sage who have both been playing for the Bulls this year
There is also a return to the team for Zain Davids JC Pretorius and Justin Geduld Davids underwent surgery to his shoulder after an injury sustained in Hong Kong in March while Geduld went under the knife at the end of the 2018-19 World Series where South Africa were placed fourth
Christi Grobbelaar and Selvyn Davids joined the team in England straight from Kenya where they played in the Tusker Safari Sevens last weekend Hacjivah Dayimani and Branco du Preez were not considered due to injury England France Spain USA Ireland Hong Kong Nigeria and Jamaica will be represented in Chester
PRO14 Cheetahs Must Box Smart in Europe
OFM Sport is running a piece this week on Cheetahrsquos tour to Europe to contest the PRO14 in which the authors Sintu Manjezi and Morgan Piek suggest that the winning start could all come to naught if the team and management donrsquot ldquobox smartrdquo
Of course it helps us to know that that Manjezi is one of the players because it tells us that hersquos probably delivering a message to supporters that hints at what the team strategy is going to be this year Still itrsquos a worthwhile read because Cheetahs have a real chance of emulating ndash or even bettering ndash their debut season performance when they reached the knock-out stages
The pair write ldquoThe Cheetahs will play Connacht this weekend but will be based in Dublin and only travel to Galway on Saturday morning [for the match]rdquo They quote captain Ruan Pienaar remarking that itrsquos not easy playing in Galway
From the substance of the article new coach Hawies Fourie appears tactically aware that while Cheetahs may be able to play their natural game they will have to adapt to what will be needed in Europe Saturdayrsquos game between Connacht and Cheetahs kicks off at 1815
Meanwhile the other South African team has had the worst start imaginable three losses against teams weakened by losing players to play for their country at the Rugby World Cup Itrsquos unlikely to get better as the season wears on unless some real solutions can be found for what ails the union Southern Kings are playing Benetton in Treviso on Saturday at 1600
The Complicated World of Scrum Defence
With the Rugby World Cup semifinal between the Springboks and Wales looming on Sunday we thought this would be an opportune moment to explore the complicated world of scrum defence
Sam Larner has penned a brilliant analysis of this aspect of the game on PlanetRugbycom Wersquove extracted a few choice passages but we urge you to point your internet browser at PlanetRugbycom and read it properly in a place where you can see all the explanatory photographic illiustrations
ldquoThe issue for teams when defending scrums is that they are not just defending the seven backs or even six backs if you remove the scrum-half They are actually defending the seven backs plus three possible forwards who could come off the scrum That puts huge pressure on the defending backs to cover all the options
ldquoIreland against New Zealand and Japan against South Africa both struggled to keep the attackers outrdquo He follows this point with detailed illustrations from both games of what hersquos talking about Then
ldquoIt is worth looking at scrum defence in more detail The issue for the defensive team is that they do not know how the ball will come out of the scrum It might be carried by the number eight it might be flicked to a scrum-half or it might be passed straight from the scrum by the scrum-half
ldquoThat means that you do not know exactly where the defensive scrum-half should stand He does not need to chase his opposite number around the scrum he could stand in his own defensive line The problem then would be that the attacking scrum-half could pass unhindered
ldquoThe analysts of the four remaining teams will have looked at how their opposition defends Expectmore teams being creative with their attacks from the scrumrdquo
Page 7
For your weekend rugby viewing pleasure
Only two Rugby World Cup matches on this weekendbecause the tournament is down to the last four England vs New Zealand on Saturday (1000) and South Africa vs Wales on Sunday (1100) But knowing Multichoice there will be analysis aplenty and highlights packages of ldquothe path to the semisrdquo for days before the actual matches
And after a one-week hiatus PRO14 kicks off in Europe (schedule alongside) with Cheetahs in Ireland and Southern Kings in Italy Elsewhere the Top 14and Pro D2 competitions continue in France while the English Premiership and second division Championship are also in full flow
Down under in Australia one game is scheduled in the NRC while across the Tasman in New Zealand the Mitre 10 features only two matches Check the schedules with your television network or streamling provider for broadcast times
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8
Page 5
Page 6
Strong Blitzbok Team for Chester Sevens
As of this morning there are about 41 days before the start of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 20192020 season And to add extra spice ndash as if any is needed ndash next year is the Olympics in Tokyo
A month ago we reported on the triumph over Fiji in the final of the Munich Oktoberfest7s tournament That outing featured satisfying wins over New Zealand (19-12) England (24-5) Australia (26-19) and eventually Fiji (12-10)
But it was all just preparation for the massive season that lies ahead and that preparation continues with the Athlete Factory Sevens in Chester this weekend This can be seen by the team coach Neil Powell has put together for the tournament
He has recalled a number of players from his 2018 squad to make this trip including stalwarts Seabelo Senatla and Ruhan Nel The Stormers duo are joined by Rosko Specman and Dylan Sage who have both been playing for the Bulls this year
There is also a return to the team for Zain Davids JC Pretorius and Justin Geduld Davids underwent surgery to his shoulder after an injury sustained in Hong Kong in March while Geduld went under the knife at the end of the 2018-19 World Series where South Africa were placed fourth
Christi Grobbelaar and Selvyn Davids joined the team in England straight from Kenya where they played in the Tusker Safari Sevens last weekend Hacjivah Dayimani and Branco du Preez were not considered due to injury England France Spain USA Ireland Hong Kong Nigeria and Jamaica will be represented in Chester
PRO14 Cheetahs Must Box Smart in Europe
OFM Sport is running a piece this week on Cheetahrsquos tour to Europe to contest the PRO14 in which the authors Sintu Manjezi and Morgan Piek suggest that the winning start could all come to naught if the team and management donrsquot ldquobox smartrdquo
Of course it helps us to know that that Manjezi is one of the players because it tells us that hersquos probably delivering a message to supporters that hints at what the team strategy is going to be this year Still itrsquos a worthwhile read because Cheetahs have a real chance of emulating ndash or even bettering ndash their debut season performance when they reached the knock-out stages
The pair write ldquoThe Cheetahs will play Connacht this weekend but will be based in Dublin and only travel to Galway on Saturday morning [for the match]rdquo They quote captain Ruan Pienaar remarking that itrsquos not easy playing in Galway
From the substance of the article new coach Hawies Fourie appears tactically aware that while Cheetahs may be able to play their natural game they will have to adapt to what will be needed in Europe Saturdayrsquos game between Connacht and Cheetahs kicks off at 1815
Meanwhile the other South African team has had the worst start imaginable three losses against teams weakened by losing players to play for their country at the Rugby World Cup Itrsquos unlikely to get better as the season wears on unless some real solutions can be found for what ails the union Southern Kings are playing Benetton in Treviso on Saturday at 1600
The Complicated World of Scrum Defence
With the Rugby World Cup semifinal between the Springboks and Wales looming on Sunday we thought this would be an opportune moment to explore the complicated world of scrum defence
Sam Larner has penned a brilliant analysis of this aspect of the game on PlanetRugbycom Wersquove extracted a few choice passages but we urge you to point your internet browser at PlanetRugbycom and read it properly in a place where you can see all the explanatory photographic illiustrations
ldquoThe issue for teams when defending scrums is that they are not just defending the seven backs or even six backs if you remove the scrum-half They are actually defending the seven backs plus three possible forwards who could come off the scrum That puts huge pressure on the defending backs to cover all the options
ldquoIreland against New Zealand and Japan against South Africa both struggled to keep the attackers outrdquo He follows this point with detailed illustrations from both games of what hersquos talking about Then
ldquoIt is worth looking at scrum defence in more detail The issue for the defensive team is that they do not know how the ball will come out of the scrum It might be carried by the number eight it might be flicked to a scrum-half or it might be passed straight from the scrum by the scrum-half
ldquoThat means that you do not know exactly where the defensive scrum-half should stand He does not need to chase his opposite number around the scrum he could stand in his own defensive line The problem then would be that the attacking scrum-half could pass unhindered
ldquoThe analysts of the four remaining teams will have looked at how their opposition defends Expectmore teams being creative with their attacks from the scrumrdquo
Page 7
For your weekend rugby viewing pleasure
Only two Rugby World Cup matches on this weekendbecause the tournament is down to the last four England vs New Zealand on Saturday (1000) and South Africa vs Wales on Sunday (1100) But knowing Multichoice there will be analysis aplenty and highlights packages of ldquothe path to the semisrdquo for days before the actual matches
And after a one-week hiatus PRO14 kicks off in Europe (schedule alongside) with Cheetahs in Ireland and Southern Kings in Italy Elsewhere the Top 14and Pro D2 competitions continue in France while the English Premiership and second division Championship are also in full flow
Down under in Australia one game is scheduled in the NRC while across the Tasman in New Zealand the Mitre 10 features only two matches Check the schedules with your television network or streamling provider for broadcast times
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8
Page 6
Strong Blitzbok Team for Chester Sevens
As of this morning there are about 41 days before the start of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 20192020 season And to add extra spice ndash as if any is needed ndash next year is the Olympics in Tokyo
A month ago we reported on the triumph over Fiji in the final of the Munich Oktoberfest7s tournament That outing featured satisfying wins over New Zealand (19-12) England (24-5) Australia (26-19) and eventually Fiji (12-10)
But it was all just preparation for the massive season that lies ahead and that preparation continues with the Athlete Factory Sevens in Chester this weekend This can be seen by the team coach Neil Powell has put together for the tournament
He has recalled a number of players from his 2018 squad to make this trip including stalwarts Seabelo Senatla and Ruhan Nel The Stormers duo are joined by Rosko Specman and Dylan Sage who have both been playing for the Bulls this year
There is also a return to the team for Zain Davids JC Pretorius and Justin Geduld Davids underwent surgery to his shoulder after an injury sustained in Hong Kong in March while Geduld went under the knife at the end of the 2018-19 World Series where South Africa were placed fourth
Christi Grobbelaar and Selvyn Davids joined the team in England straight from Kenya where they played in the Tusker Safari Sevens last weekend Hacjivah Dayimani and Branco du Preez were not considered due to injury England France Spain USA Ireland Hong Kong Nigeria and Jamaica will be represented in Chester
PRO14 Cheetahs Must Box Smart in Europe
OFM Sport is running a piece this week on Cheetahrsquos tour to Europe to contest the PRO14 in which the authors Sintu Manjezi and Morgan Piek suggest that the winning start could all come to naught if the team and management donrsquot ldquobox smartrdquo
Of course it helps us to know that that Manjezi is one of the players because it tells us that hersquos probably delivering a message to supporters that hints at what the team strategy is going to be this year Still itrsquos a worthwhile read because Cheetahs have a real chance of emulating ndash or even bettering ndash their debut season performance when they reached the knock-out stages
The pair write ldquoThe Cheetahs will play Connacht this weekend but will be based in Dublin and only travel to Galway on Saturday morning [for the match]rdquo They quote captain Ruan Pienaar remarking that itrsquos not easy playing in Galway
From the substance of the article new coach Hawies Fourie appears tactically aware that while Cheetahs may be able to play their natural game they will have to adapt to what will be needed in Europe Saturdayrsquos game between Connacht and Cheetahs kicks off at 1815
Meanwhile the other South African team has had the worst start imaginable three losses against teams weakened by losing players to play for their country at the Rugby World Cup Itrsquos unlikely to get better as the season wears on unless some real solutions can be found for what ails the union Southern Kings are playing Benetton in Treviso on Saturday at 1600
The Complicated World of Scrum Defence
With the Rugby World Cup semifinal between the Springboks and Wales looming on Sunday we thought this would be an opportune moment to explore the complicated world of scrum defence
Sam Larner has penned a brilliant analysis of this aspect of the game on PlanetRugbycom Wersquove extracted a few choice passages but we urge you to point your internet browser at PlanetRugbycom and read it properly in a place where you can see all the explanatory photographic illiustrations
ldquoThe issue for teams when defending scrums is that they are not just defending the seven backs or even six backs if you remove the scrum-half They are actually defending the seven backs plus three possible forwards who could come off the scrum That puts huge pressure on the defending backs to cover all the options
ldquoIreland against New Zealand and Japan against South Africa both struggled to keep the attackers outrdquo He follows this point with detailed illustrations from both games of what hersquos talking about Then
ldquoIt is worth looking at scrum defence in more detail The issue for the defensive team is that they do not know how the ball will come out of the scrum It might be carried by the number eight it might be flicked to a scrum-half or it might be passed straight from the scrum by the scrum-half
ldquoThat means that you do not know exactly where the defensive scrum-half should stand He does not need to chase his opposite number around the scrum he could stand in his own defensive line The problem then would be that the attacking scrum-half could pass unhindered
ldquoThe analysts of the four remaining teams will have looked at how their opposition defends Expectmore teams being creative with their attacks from the scrumrdquo
Page 7
For your weekend rugby viewing pleasure
Only two Rugby World Cup matches on this weekendbecause the tournament is down to the last four England vs New Zealand on Saturday (1000) and South Africa vs Wales on Sunday (1100) But knowing Multichoice there will be analysis aplenty and highlights packages of ldquothe path to the semisrdquo for days before the actual matches
And after a one-week hiatus PRO14 kicks off in Europe (schedule alongside) with Cheetahs in Ireland and Southern Kings in Italy Elsewhere the Top 14and Pro D2 competitions continue in France while the English Premiership and second division Championship are also in full flow
Down under in Australia one game is scheduled in the NRC while across the Tasman in New Zealand the Mitre 10 features only two matches Check the schedules with your television network or streamling provider for broadcast times
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8
The Complicated World of Scrum Defence
With the Rugby World Cup semifinal between the Springboks and Wales looming on Sunday we thought this would be an opportune moment to explore the complicated world of scrum defence
Sam Larner has penned a brilliant analysis of this aspect of the game on PlanetRugbycom Wersquove extracted a few choice passages but we urge you to point your internet browser at PlanetRugbycom and read it properly in a place where you can see all the explanatory photographic illiustrations
ldquoThe issue for teams when defending scrums is that they are not just defending the seven backs or even six backs if you remove the scrum-half They are actually defending the seven backs plus three possible forwards who could come off the scrum That puts huge pressure on the defending backs to cover all the options
ldquoIreland against New Zealand and Japan against South Africa both struggled to keep the attackers outrdquo He follows this point with detailed illustrations from both games of what hersquos talking about Then
ldquoIt is worth looking at scrum defence in more detail The issue for the defensive team is that they do not know how the ball will come out of the scrum It might be carried by the number eight it might be flicked to a scrum-half or it might be passed straight from the scrum by the scrum-half
ldquoThat means that you do not know exactly where the defensive scrum-half should stand He does not need to chase his opposite number around the scrum he could stand in his own defensive line The problem then would be that the attacking scrum-half could pass unhindered
ldquoThe analysts of the four remaining teams will have looked at how their opposition defends Expectmore teams being creative with their attacks from the scrumrdquo
Page 7
For your weekend rugby viewing pleasure
Only two Rugby World Cup matches on this weekendbecause the tournament is down to the last four England vs New Zealand on Saturday (1000) and South Africa vs Wales on Sunday (1100) But knowing Multichoice there will be analysis aplenty and highlights packages of ldquothe path to the semisrdquo for days before the actual matches
And after a one-week hiatus PRO14 kicks off in Europe (schedule alongside) with Cheetahs in Ireland and Southern Kings in Italy Elsewhere the Top 14and Pro D2 competitions continue in France while the English Premiership and second division Championship are also in full flow
Down under in Australia one game is scheduled in the NRC while across the Tasman in New Zealand the Mitre 10 features only two matches Check the schedules with your television network or streamling provider for broadcast times
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8
For your weekend rugby viewing pleasure
Only two Rugby World Cup matches on this weekendbecause the tournament is down to the last four England vs New Zealand on Saturday (1000) and South Africa vs Wales on Sunday (1100) But knowing Multichoice there will be analysis aplenty and highlights packages of ldquothe path to the semisrdquo for days before the actual matches
And after a one-week hiatus PRO14 kicks off in Europe (schedule alongside) with Cheetahs in Ireland and Southern Kings in Italy Elsewhere the Top 14and Pro D2 competitions continue in France while the English Premiership and second division Championship are also in full flow
Down under in Australia one game is scheduled in the NRC while across the Tasman in New Zealand the Mitre 10 features only two matches Check the schedules with your television network or streamling provider for broadcast times
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8