Don’t hate me ’cos you aint me. I’m not sure who coined that term, but it seems to be the one most relevant to the WORLD CHAMPION Springboks right now.
I highlighted “world champion” for the haters out there… and there seems to be a lot of them when it comes to our beloved Springboks and their fans.
Before I get to the hate from other countries on our fans, I would just like to address comments made on our Springbok bench tactics by a certain Mr. Matt Williams.
Exactly. My first thought also.
Who the hell is Matt Williams and why would anyone care to listen to what he has to say?
Whining
So I Googled our mystery man and his Wikipedia entry read: “Matt Williams (born 1960) is an Australian rugby union coach who is best known for whining about Springbok rugby and Rassie Erasmus…”
No surprises there.
Apparently, he is also a former Scotland international who coached a bunch of teams and now works at Virgin Media Television and has a column in the Irish Times.
It’s in a Virgin Media Sport podcast that ‘guy’ is quoted saying after the Springboks beat Ireland 27-20 last week: “At the 49-minute mark, six South African forwards walked onto the field [as replacements], is that what the replacement laws for safety were designed for?
“And that is not any criticism of South Africa, it’s not a criticism of Rassie [Erasmus], it’s a criticism of World Rugby that allows that to happen. That is not what our game is designed for.
“The South Africans took full advantage of a loophole in the system, and that is where the penalty try came from [after South Africa drove Ireland back to Europe in a scrum].”
He added: “It discriminates against backs; our game is for all shapes and sizes, so in that game, you had 14 forwards.
“That is not what our game was designed for, that’s not what the ancients designed for it, it’s not what we did in the 80s, 90s and 2000s…
“The bench was a safety law, that is not safe, what they did – maybe at international level [it is], but not down the lower levels of the game. I won’t stop saying this because I passionately believe it.
“Bringing replacements on at that time, just so close to the start of the second half, that’s not what it’s about…
“It’s abusing our ethos, it’s abusing our traditions, and it’s abusing our safety rules and it has to change.”
🗣 "It is not safe!"
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) July 7, 2024
🗣 "I have no criticism for South Africa or Rassie, because it's legal."
🗣 "The responsibility is on World Rugby."
Matt Williams speaks strongly on rugby's sub laws after South Africa brought six forwards on in one go against Ireland. #SAvIRE pic.twitter.com/5wkAHsGaS7
Brother, brother, hokaai! Stop right there.
I know that back when you played, replacements were known as reserves and probably only took the field when there was an injury.
But the game has evolved since the days of William Webb Ellis.
Rugby is not a 15-man game, but a 23-man game now and you HAVE TO make plans around that.
It’s what makes the game interesting. As a coach or former coach you should be all for it.
It allows a true tactician to fall back on Plan B if Plan A fails.
It also brings fresh energy into the game and keeps fans engaged until the end. Gone are the days of the oversized amateur prop struggling for breath while a fit and fast winger flies past him in the 65th minute.
Intensity
A few more snaps from yesterday - thank you @irishrugby, see you in Durban 👏#Springboks #ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/YEjiBAvQPq
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 7, 2024
Replacements are no longer there just to come on when someone gets injured, they are there to make sure that the intensity of the game remains and also to give coaches the tools to tinker with their plans.
In modern-day rugby you’d often find that some teams keep their most complete players – take Frans Steyn, Damian Willemse and now Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu as examples – on the bench because they can fulfil multiple roles.
It’s there for the coach to size up his shortcomings in the game and plug the holes. It’s there for a coach to see where he can exploit weaknesses in the opponents’ arsenal by using his bench.
SURELY you know this?
Exactly how teams want to split the makeup of their eight replacements remains up to the coach –given that he has replacements for the manne in the tight five for the scrums.
It’s one of the exciting joys of watching the game – to see what plans and tactics a coach comes up with in the second half.
Just because the team you support has not yet caught on that the game has evolved, it doesn’t mean that you must hate on ACTUAL tacticians.
It’s when people come at my people (South Africans) like this when I start enjoying it when our fans have a go at the opposition – you’ll see from previous columns that I’m usually pushing hard for us, South Africans, to put our best foot forward and be welcoming guests.
Usually I would want to bury my head in the sand when our DJs are gooing “Emotional Damage” over the Loftus speakers when Ireland misses a kick and when they starting singing Rassie, Rassie, Rassie to tune of Irish band Cranberries’ Zombie.
Bitter
But when you get bitter against our mense like this, I can feel the national pride welling up inside. And then it hits me, your hate makes us great. It fuels us. So bring it on, the more you bash us, the more we pull together.
And our strength lies in that unity. Come on South Africa!
dudley.carstens@inl.co.za