S
stormer2010
Guest
To be honest, I don't see kicking in and of itself being problematic. Apart from aimless kicking deep at opposition backs hoping for a knock on or a botched return kick or whatever (maybe they are just a bit tired) resulting in to and through kicking I for one can enjoy a good tactical kick towards the corner for a gain in territory, a clever chip kick or grubber behind defensive lines to keep defences honest, a well judged bomb with organised chasers adding a depth of options, the cross field kick to take advantage of an over lap out wide or a boot forward with no-one at the back to gather resulting in a good old honest race to the ball as much as I can enjoy the competition at the set phases and enterprising attacking play.
I for one would hate to see the game change as much as to see it become as one dimensional as simply a running game being rewarded. What makes rugby such a great game IMO is the fact that their is more than one road to victory and the fact that SA dominated NZ this year is not indicative of their being anything wrong with the game as a spectacle but it is rather more indicative that, this year, SA was better at their game than NZ were at their brand of rugby; SA relying on a dominant pack, accurate kicking and good chasing and they were very accurate at executing these plays whereas NZ struggled with their game through inaccuracy and handling errors. Had the passes came off NZ probably could have won one if not two of the match ups this year. So don't blame one teams tactic, make sure your own house is in order or adapt to that team's tactics and not all of a sudden want to create a different sport.
Defenses structures being as robust as they are and inconsistency at the break down do have a part to play but I still feel the only thing that needs to be looked at is simplifying the breakdown. Bring back rucking and don't be so damn pedantic about that area of the game (maybe offences should only result in short arms) and see how it goes. But don't crusify teams and fans that actually enjoy the kicking side of the game because it has been effective for some but might not be your strong point.... just make sure your back three can catch a ball under pressure ie Cory Jane > Joe Rokocoko and Mark Gerrard > entire AUS back three. Will be interesting to see if this continues in the EOY tours as I don't think it will necessarily; think each team will do their own thing unless a kicking game is demanded by the coaching staff. But don't expect the Boks to stop playing to their strengths.
I for one would hate to see the game change as much as to see it become as one dimensional as simply a running game being rewarded. What makes rugby such a great game IMO is the fact that their is more than one road to victory and the fact that SA dominated NZ this year is not indicative of their being anything wrong with the game as a spectacle but it is rather more indicative that, this year, SA was better at their game than NZ were at their brand of rugby; SA relying on a dominant pack, accurate kicking and good chasing and they were very accurate at executing these plays whereas NZ struggled with their game through inaccuracy and handling errors. Had the passes came off NZ probably could have won one if not two of the match ups this year. So don't blame one teams tactic, make sure your own house is in order or adapt to that team's tactics and not all of a sudden want to create a different sport.
Defenses structures being as robust as they are and inconsistency at the break down do have a part to play but I still feel the only thing that needs to be looked at is simplifying the breakdown. Bring back rucking and don't be so damn pedantic about that area of the game (maybe offences should only result in short arms) and see how it goes. But don't crusify teams and fans that actually enjoy the kicking side of the game because it has been effective for some but might not be your strong point.... just make sure your back three can catch a ball under pressure ie Cory Jane > Joe Rokocoko and Mark Gerrard > entire AUS back three. Will be interesting to see if this continues in the EOY tours as I don't think it will necessarily; think each team will do their own thing unless a kicking game is demanded by the coaching staff. But don't expect the Boks to stop playing to their strengths.
