DEFENCE WINS GAMES: Flannery the unsung hero of the Rugby Champs campaign

As the Springboks prepare for their cross-continental hop to try and bring the Castle Lager Rugby Championship home, it is becoming increasingly clear that despite changing their starting line-up for every game, the defensive system is remaining rock solid.

A quick glance at the Rugby Championship table has one telling stat - and it jumps off the page at you - that in four games in the competition the Springboks have conceded just five tries.

Considering the quality of the opposition, and the telling stat that four of those came in the All Blacks’ favourite stadium at Ellis Park, that is a remarkable statistic - especially since the departure of defence guru Jacques Nienaber at the end of last season.

There were always going to be concerns that the Boks may struggle initially under new defence coach Jerry Flannery, who has thus far kept himself far out of the limelight, preferring to concentrate on his job and being the most media shy member of the Bok management.

But while the start to Flannery’s job has not been perfect, it has been an exceptional work in progress, and the immense work done by Nienaber has not been discarded, but rather worked on as the Boks have concentrated on fulfilling their attacking potential rather than their defensive prowess.

ATTACK STILL NOT ACCURATE ENOUGH

If there is one criticism of the world’s No 1 side at the moment, it is that they are still not accurate enough as they try to transform to Tony Brown’s attacking structure, and with that they make a lot of mistakes.

Very few who watched the two tests against the All Blacks in Johannesburg and Cape Town would say the Boks were at their best on attack, and often promising moves were stunted by wayward passes, handling errors and an over-enthusiasm to spread the ball wide where in the past more circumspect actions may have resulted in tries.

But that is the nature of their attack these days - having a go in every sense of the word - and while in both games they were guilty of attacking within their own half and were often tripped up by their own mistakes, their defensive system kept them not only in the game but also with a chance to claim victory even when under the pump.

Much has been made about how the Boks use their bomb squad, and the impact it has in turning games in their favour, but little has been said on how their defensive approach has often won them the game.

In Cape Town in particular this was the case, and while stats may be misleading, the Boks rush defence has been particularly good as the season has gone on, and is building into something special.

DEFENCE IS AN ATTITUDE

Defence is often seen as an attitude and the Boks have bought into the game plan, knowing that if there are mistakes they need to rectify these without costing themselves scoreboard points.

Under Nienaber they weren’t the most fluent defence, but they scrambled particularly well, especially with the way their wings shoot up, knowing that teams would try and exploit that. Combined with their physicality, this has been a particularly deadly combination for the Boks and Flannery has continued that evolution for them.

So often teams that attack more, leave their defensive flank open, and concede more tries.

And considering the way the Boks have played, in the past teams like the All Blacks would have punished them more for their indiscretions. Why they didn’t in Johannesburg and Cape Town may partly be because this All Black team isn’t perhaps as deadly as past versions, but it is also because of the confidence in the system that the Boks have, and their willingness to put their bodies on the line.

CONCEDING JUST FIVE TRIES IN FOUR TESTS

Conceding just five tries in four tests - especially when four of those were in one game - is an incredible feat. Keeping the All Blacks tryless in Cape Town even more so.

And while nobody wants to take anything away from the All Black attack, they succeeded in one try through a turnover in Johannesburg, where two players took a chance and shot out of line and had one intercept try. In 160 minutes of rugby the All Blacks could only score one try from phase rugby, which past All Black teams would almost be ashamed of.

Looking at the statistics, the Boks often “miss tackles” on the official stats, but these statistics don’t portray how well they scramble and what a team effort it is. A missed tackle - as any coach will tell you - is a very subjective thing - as some analysis programmes count secondary tacklers as also missing tackles.

In the end what counts is the tries you have conceded. The scoreboard is the main arbiter of success in professional rugby and here the Boks will be more than happy with their return.

And while Australia can be discounted for the state their rugby currently is in, the two tests against the All Blacks showed that while attack can still be improved significantly, defence hasn’t faltered under the new approach.

NEW BOK WORKHORSES

Another interesting stat is the workhorses that have emerged. While a number of the double World Cup winners have featured in the stats of the games, new Boks Ben-Jason Dixon and Ruan Nortje have put in significant shifts as well, often being among the top tacklers in the team.

While this isn’t often glamorous work, these are factors that are often taken into account when the Boks choose their sides and even flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has shown that the 10 channel isn’t an easy one to dissect. Australia in Brisbane targeted him in particular and while he has made mistakes, he easily passed the test to such an extent that the All Blacks often looked to move the ball past him rather than run at him.

All of which just continues to underline that the system is working and if it does once again in Santiago next weekend, the trophy will be heading back for a celebration in Mbombela a week later.

Tackling stats in the Rugby Championship

Brisbane

Australia 7 South Africa 33

Tackles made: Australia 140 South Africa 148

Tackles missed: Australia 29 South Africa 18

Individual tackles: Ben-Jason Dixon 19, Pieter-Steph du Toit (at lock) 13 (missed 1), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 12 (missed 4)

Tries conceded: 1 (in 78th minute when down to 13)

Perth

Australia 12 South Africa 30

Tackles made: Australia 117 South Africa 116

Tackles missed: Australia 12 South Africa 10

Individual tackles: Marco van Staden 11 (missed 1), Thomas du Toit 11, Ruan Nortje 10 (missed 2), Pieter-Steph du Toit 10 (missed 2).

Tries conceded: 0

Johannesburg

South Africa 31 New Zealand 27

Tackles made: South Africa 131 New Zealand 110

Tackles missed: South Africa 17 New Zealand 28

Individual tackles: Pieter-Steph du Toit 11 (missed 1), Ruan Nortje 9 (missed 2), Damian de Allende 8 (missed 3), Frans Malherbe 8 (missed 1)

Tries conceded: 4

Cape Town

South Africa 18 New Zealand 12

Tackles made: South Africa 125 New Zealand 157

Tackles missed: South Africa 37 New Zealand 20

Individual tackles: Ruan Nortje 16 (missed 1), Eben Etzebeth 14 (missed 4), Pieter-Steph du Toit 12 (missed 2), Jesse Kriel 10 (missed 1)

Tries conceded: 0