Experts and Innovation gambles behind South Africa’s World Cup glory
How the Springboks achieved consecutive victories on the largest platform
During the Rugby World Cup, South Africa revised their rulebook for coaching Test matches.
From winning the 2019 World Cup in Japan, Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber have emerged as the leading innovators in the international game.
It was a big gamble to start seven forwards and one back on the bench in the World Cup final against New Zealand on Saturday. However, like with everything the Springboks coaches accomplished in France, it was ultimately proven correct.
The dice roll had the potential to go horribly wrong, but South Africa held on to overcome New Zealand 12-11 and keep the Webb Ellis Cup.
As they have already shared seven World Cup victories, South Africa and New Zealand are perhaps the two sides who have performed the best on the Test field.
In leadership of the Springboks, Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber have done an outstanding job.
England was the most inventive squad in the years leading up to 2003, but Ireland might make a case with the way they had trained for this World Cup. While New Zealand led the way in innovation and transformation en route to winning titles in 2011 and 2015, it is certain that Erasmus and his coaching staff have turned things around dramatically since declaring triumph in 2019.
Though not all of the wild suggestions have been positively welcomed, they have been validated when it comes to the most important games.
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New Zealand started the World Cup by losing to hosts France in the rain, backing their skills but playing too much open rugby. The All Blacks appeared to have learned their lesson, but were hamstrung by the same affliction in the final against the Boks.
In the opening quarter of Saturday’s final in Paris, the rain was heavier than at any other point in the tournament. And that 20-minute spell is most probably where they lost the game. Again they tried to play too much rugby in the wrong areas of the field, in the trickiest of conditions.
The All Blacks appeared to be improving after the rain stopped, but by then they were down 9-3.instead had several opportunities to kick first-half penalties, but instead punted out for lineouts.
These days, it’s simple for coaches to communicate on the field.Although the Springboks claimed to have utilized different colored lights to communicate messages concerning injuries, nobody really needs a traffic-light system to urge their players to kick at goal.
It was practically impossible for South Africa to lose, but New Zealand wanted to win.
Nothing at all separated the two sides. A feeling of destiny also begins to surface when a team wins by a single point in both the quarterfinal and semifinal.
By the conclusion of the match, South Africa was undoubtedly on fumes, yet they managed to muster just enough energy to win.
Sam Cane made a mistake in his tackle height, and his red card was unarguable. On the other hand, Siya Kolisi came within a hair’s breadth of completing his levels accurately enough to get away with a yellow card. And finals won and lost are decided by such narrow margins.
Wayne Barnes was the referee, and he deserves special recognition. The Englishman handled several really difficult circumstances with great skill and elegance. We should all extend our congratulations to one of the best referees in sports, since his record of work over his career fully justifies him overseeing a World Cup final.