Victor Matfield is not happy with the way the Springboks lineout is being run and much prefers the tactics the All Blacks are deploying.<\/b><\/p>\n
The legendary second-rower is widely regarded as one of the greatest lineout operators the game has ever seen and has lent his expertise to several teams since his retirement. He now combines his punditry work with a consulting gig in Eddie Jones\u2019 Japan coaching team.<\/p>\n
Matfield<\/a> was on the SuperSport panel on Saturday to dissect the Springboks\u2019 clash with the All Blacks<\/a> at Eden Park and was visibly frustrated as he aired his dismay with the misfiring set-piece that operated at a 78% success rate.<\/p>\n Even the possession that South Africa did win was messy, with the ex-lock crediting that to the brilliance of New Zealand\u2019s defensive lineout work.<\/p>\n Springboks\u2019 struggling lineout<\/p>\n Speaking on The Rivals<\/a> podcast with All Blacks legend Sir John Kirwan, Matfield explained that Scott Robertson\u2019s side doesn\u2019t defend lineouts with a pod system like most other teams but rather a mirroring technique, similar to the tactics the Boks used during his playing days.<\/p>\n He further explained that he is against the pod system because it gives the opposition an easy out at the front of the set-piece.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s actually something that we struggled with, even last year in South Africa<\/a> as well. New Zealand were very good at contesting and do it differently from most teams in the world,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cMost teams do the pod system, where they kind of give you a free throw to the front of the lineout, and it\u2019s always easy \u2013 South Africa do the same, they give you the front ball. I\u2019ve always been against that because, although you give the front ball, you can make plans from it, you can shift it, you can play, let your backs take it, let a forward fall out, and he can be the playmaker, so there are a lot of options, and you don\u2019t feel the pressure at the lineout.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I played, we did pretty much what New Zealand is doing at the moment. We never gave a free ball, and even if you don\u2019t steal the ball, you\u2019re there in the air, adding pressure, which means that a lot of the time the delivery isn\u2019t good, and that happened on Saturday.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes we got the ball at the back with Pieter-Steph du Toit, but because the All Blacks are contesting, the delivery is under pressure, and it goes to ground, so we always said if you contest like that and you can get 30 or 40% of the ball not delivered well to the nine, you\u2019re actually very successful.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year, Vaa\u2019i was outstanding. I prefer him in the second-row, and on Saturday, he was very, very good again. He brought a lot of energy, he was psyched up every time there was a positive for New Zealand, and he was in the faces of the South Africans.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel the lineout plans that South Africa are going into games with at the moment aren\u2019t good. They don\u2019t understand the different defensive systems and what they need to do when they are up against them. So I think that\u2019s something they need to work on.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve got the guys to do it. Ruan Nortje and Lood de Jager are great lineout callers. I think they are more worried about the attacking play [after the lineout] and not, first let\u2019s win the ball and play off that.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s difficult, but on the positive side, I think South Africa\u2019s scrum was back to its best on Saturday. That\u2019s something New Zealand will worry about.\u201d<\/p>\n Opinion: Springboks were \u2018outfoxed, outboxed\u2019 and deserved to lose to ruthless All Blacks despite perceived referee misgivings<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Springboks legend: \u2018The biggest games need the best referee, and we didn\u2019t get it\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n When to compete and when not to<\/p>\n Asked by former All Blacks winger Kirwan if this meant that teams should be competing at every single lineout, Matfield said that it all depends on the area of the pitch.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s got to do with the different areas of the field. Once you get into your own 22, then I\u2019m happy with giving them the front ball because you can control the maul. You don\u2019t want them to come hard into the vacuum [the space at the back of a lineout between the last forward and the first backline player], but when you\u2019re between the two 22s, you want to build pressure,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the one thing South Africa were really good at, their kicking game and building pressure, but you don\u2019t build pressure if you have a good kicking game, and then you give the front ball at the lineout, because then they can exit easily.<\/p>\n \u201cSo when you use your kicking game, you need to pressure the lineout as well. And at this stage, but that\u2019s not happening. We\u2019re not putting other teams under pressure; we are giving them that front ball.\u201d<\/p>\n Malcolm Marx accepts \u2018formal responsibility\u2019 for area of the game where Springboks rank worst in the Rugby Championship<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The Springboks centurion says that the All Blacks picked up in their analysis of South Africa that they don\u2019t compete in the front and that hooker Malcom Marx is usually stationed parallel to the lineout and is required to cover a peel off the front and whatever happens in the vacuum.<\/p>\n They used this knowledge to their advantage by dummying in the front, forcing Marx to check before throwing over the lineout with Will Jordan too quick for the hooker as he shrugged off the tackle to score.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, the defence is normally much stronger because of the guys at the back, but New Zealand caught us with that one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause we give that front ball, our hooker \u2013 that\u2019s normally at the back of the lineout to defend the vacuum on \u2013 needs to check that bail out first. So he\u2019s not off the back. Normally, you use your back lifter to fulfil that role [covering the front]. Now, New Zealand saw that pulled that back guy forward. Malcolm was halfway to the front of the lineout, and it went over the jumper and inside ball to Jordan.<\/p>\n \u201cSo that\u2019s something that South Africa must know is a weakness. Now, the second guy at the back of the lineout should take that role when there is an overthrow because you can\u2019t go wide from there because it\u2019s at the line, and the first guy out should cover the inside ball. That shouldn\u2019t have been Malcolm Marx\u2019s tackle to make.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we give free balls to the opposition, and you can\u2019t build pressure by doing that. New Zealand build pressure with their lineout at the moment. Their contesting is so good, they almost do the mirror man watch where they don\u2019t give you any free ball. So the lineout caller feels that pressure the whole time, and he\u2019s not comfortable calling anything at the back because he can feel that pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n