There was a clear crackdown on players not rolling away at the breakdown in the Rugby Championship opener between the Springboks and the Wallabies, and the clash involving the All Blacks and Argentina.
The Springboks were on the receiving end of successive second-half penalties in Brisbane, and had a player yellow carded for not rolling away quickly enough.
There were also a number of penalties conceded in Wellington for the same offence when the All Blacks lost to Argentina in.
Before the start of the competition, World Rugby announced a new law variations to try and speed up the game. But it was clear the referees also targeted the breakdown to help teams get quick ball on attack, and had no mercy for players trapped on the wrong side of the rucks.
The penalties were the only blot on the Springboks’ copybook after a dominant display against the Wallabies. They will certainly need to improve on this ahead of this weekend’s match against Australia and tougher assignments against the All Blacks and Los Pumas later in the competition.
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“We got penalised quite a lot during the defensive breakdown, there was about five or six penalties for not rolling away and a yellow card,” said assistant coach Duane Vermeulen during a press briefing on Monday.
“That is one area where we need to sharpen up. That has been our focus going into this week, not to give away penalties and soft moments.
“We are working hard with Jaco Peyper [former referee and assistant coach].
In both matches there were quite a few cases where players were held in by the opposition at the ruck or scrumhalves trying to milk penalties, pretending to struggle to get to the ball before playing from the penalty advantage.
Vermeulen says there is nothing they can actually do when scrumhalves try and milk penalties, but he did explain some of the reasons why players were caught on the wrong side of the ruck.
“It’s a collision sport. Some collisions you win, and others you lose. When you end up on the wrong side you need to get out of there as soon as possible,” said Vermeulen.
“At certain stages we lost the collision and with some guys making leg tackles, we lost the collision and you tend to end up on the wrong side of the tackle.
“If a No 9 is milking it or not milking it, it comes down to the ref. If you are in the way, he is definitely going to penalise the guy on the wrong side.
“Hopefully we can have a different result on Saturday and give the referees better pictures, because it will make your life a lot easier going forward.”
No one loves running the ball into contact as much as Elrigh Louw does 💪![CDATA[]]>💥 pic.twitter.com/nyjHSHeQWi
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Vermeulen, a two-time Rugby World Cup winner with the Springboks, has made the transition into coaching after hanging up his boots following the 2023 World Cup final in France
It’s not clear what his coaching role in the team is, as he is involved with the forwards as well as on the defensive side of things.
“It’s been an easy transition, because I’m still part of the team. You know the guys, you know the players and have worked with the coaches before,” said Vermeulen.
“It’s nice to still be in the mix and learn from the coach, albeit from a different angle. That’s one thing I really enjoy.
“As a player I looked at the game differently and always gave my two cents when needed. It’s nice to contribute in a way and hopefully I can keep on learning while I work with the guys.
Vermeulen has also been seen on the field as a “water boy”, and says there is more to his role than meets the eye.
“Being a so-called water boy is just about not being a water boy. There is a lot of info that goes through those microphones and communication from top to bottom,” Vermeulen added.
“It’s an easy link, because I was a guy on the field not even a year ago. It’s nice to be that link and I’m enjoying that position. We will see where it takes us in the future.”
IOL Sport