Attack wins games, but defence wins titles. How often we have heard that spoken by coaches and it seems this World Cup it will be no different.
Because in the weekend’s two massive quarterfinals both South Africa and New Zealand won epic contests through defence and without the majority of the ball.
In the Springboks' win over France it was massively apparent - they had just 37 per cent possession and 41 per cent territory and when they scored their third try of the night had just been in France’s 22 metre area for a paltry 99 seconds.
But when they did get there, their attacking efficiency was something special. Despite having less ball they averaged 3.25 points per 22m entry as opposed to France’s two.
Overall, the Boks only had 10 red-zone entries on the night and spent the lowest time of all four semifinalists in the opposition red zone - 4 minutes 21 seconds.
The Boks' attacking stats against France were the lowest of their tournament so far - carries, defenders beaten and offloads, but defensively they had to hold out.
And in the process the Boks made their most tackles of the tournament - a whopping 163 with Franco Mostert topping the list, closely followed by Frans Malherbe and Jesse Kriel, with all three having monumental games.
That the Boks were happiest without the ball is shown by the weekend’s stats - with the lowest possession time of all the semifinalists - just 15 minutes and 11 seconds of the entire game - over two minutes less than the next lowest team.
CHANGED PERCEPTIONS
When they had the ball, the Boks proved that they are a far cry from the team that won the World Cup in 2019 - averaging just 21.6 kicks per game - way below their average of 30 at the last World Cup.
Compare that to England, who have kicked the most at this World Cup and average 33 kicks a game.
And in the place of that they have spread the ball wide more often and used their outside backs more effectively.
Part of this was strategy, to counter the narrative that seemed to exist among referees and the Boks needed to change perceptions and get on the right side of referees again.
As Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus said this week: “We had to adapt.”
“If you only rely on a certain aspect of the game which is very tough to referee and he gets two wrong — and you’re only relying on those three or four of five opportunities — 50 per cent of your opportunities are gone.
“But if you fire shots in open play, general play from the top of lineouts or counterattack, it’s clearer decisions for the referee and easier to make. We don’t want to be this wonderful ‘playing rugby’ team that the whole world loves, but we do want to score tries.”
SPREAD IT WIDE
As an article in the London Times this week pointed out - since the British and Irish Lions series, the Boks have doubled the amount of times they take the ball wide.
“And when you compare their attacking numbers to 2019, when they won the World Cup, they are carrying over the gainline more, with a better carry dominance (ominously), are scoring more tries, and making more metres with the ball from roughly the same amount of carries per game,” the article continued.
But back to this weekend’s quarterfinals, some of the Bok stats compared to the other winning teams are rather stark, namely:
• Had to make the most tackles to this point (131.0) per game but made the most dominant by some way (14.4), 4.8 more than the next most.
• Made the fewest passes by a long way (120.8) but the second most try assist passes (2.8), so getting a lot out of them.
• Most turnovers won (7.0) and the most at the breakdown as well (4.6).
• Conceded the fewest penalties by a considerable margin, relatively speaking (8.6) - next best is 10. Doing that by conceding the fewest in attack (2.2) but actually the most in defence (6.4), so are extremely efficient with the ball they have.
• Playing the most from 10 metres or more away from the breakdown (55 per cent), 10 per cent of which is further than 30m. This might surprise with the width they want to play with. Fullback Damian Willemse has made the most carries so far (33). Wing Cheslin Kolbe has made the most metres (317) with an average per carry of 16.7m. Also made the most linebreaks for South Africa but with just 5.
• Centre Damian de Allende has beaten the most defenders (14).
All in all this points to a far more attacking-minded team than the kicking, set-piece orientated Boks that were at the last World Cup.
But if they need to, they can go back into the gutter and win by grinding it out. There is nothing more they’re comfortable with than that, even though their game plan has evolved somewhat.
Which makes them a tough team to plan against.
And an even tougher team to try and beat.