Former Springboks hooker Hanyani Shimange believes that Rassie Erasmus made a mistake with his open play lineouts trick play.<\/b><\/p>\n
South Africa debuted the tactic during the July internationals in the second Test against Italy, which the ex-front rower believed was a mistake.<\/p>\n
While Erasmus\u2019 charges scored two tries from the ploy in the clash against the Azzurri in Gqeberha, it has not paid dividends since, with both Australia and New Zealand being wise to the tactic.<\/p>\n
In Cape Town, Franco Mostert went up, but none of the Wallabies bit in on him, and he played off the top with the ensuing attack bearing no fruit, while All Blacks skipper Scott Barrett spotted the trick play quickly and along with his second row partner, Tupou Vaa\u2019i, they shut down the attack with relative ease.<\/p>\n
The innovative play that the Springboks<\/a> adopted from a viral video from Paul Roos\u2019 u14B team<\/a> may have caught the Italians by surprise, but it hasn\u2019t been successful in the Rugby Championship, and Shimange believes that is because Erasmus<\/a> showed his hand too early.<\/p>\n Time to ditch the open play lineouts?<\/p>\n The former Springboks forward discussed the ploy on the GBR AUNZ podcast with former All Blacks scrum-half Justin Marshall, who felt that South Africa made a poor decision about when they were going to utilise the tactic.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they did it, they hadn\u2019t had great territory or a lot of the ball. So it was quite a significant time to do it,\u201d Marshall said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like, okay, we haven\u2019t had much ball, the All Blacks had already scored two tries, it\u2019s like right, \u2018We need to start to get some scoreboard pressure\u2019, and they did that at that stage, which obviously they then fumbled. Yeah. The timing of it, why do it then?\u201d<\/p>\n Shimange<\/a> agreed with his fellow panellist, and while he said that the ploy isn\u2019t really new, having used a similar trick play during the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, he did feel that debuting it against the Azzurri was an error in judgment, as the All Blacks would not have been privy to it if it was first used at Eden Park.<\/p>\n Opinion: Springboks were \u2018outfoxed, outboxed\u2019 and deserved to lose to ruthless All Blacks despite perceived referee misgivings<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n He added that if the innovation works, Erasmus looks like a genius; if not, it leaves the coaches and players with egg on their faces.<\/p>\n \u201cThe South Africans love the innovation. I just thought that we didn\u2019t have to do it against Italy, hold that move for now, so the All Blacks had never seen it before,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause you could see they were prepared for it, but with innovation, if it works, you are a superstar. Last year, we had Cheslin Kolbe throwing the ball into the lineout in an All Blacks game. If he had thrown that ball in skew, everyone would have turned around and said: \u2018Listen, stop trying to be a smartass. Give the ball to the hooker, let him throw.\u2019 So if it works, everyone loves you.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the way, that midfield lineout was done in the 2019 World Cup in the final, but the guys didn\u2019t jump; they stayed on the ground. The difference now is the guys get lifted. It\u2019s nothing new.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big difference now is that the guys get lifted up in the four-man lineout, you go short side or you take it up, and then you come back down to the blind. The guys would stand and then hold it up and then maul it through. If they got a penalty, kick over.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, it\u2019s not something that the guys aren\u2019t used to, but you are right, Marshy, it\u2019s the timing. But you do get it right, you look like a hero, you get it wrong, people say you\u2019re trying too much.\u201d<\/p>\n Duane Vermeulen shuts down Springboks\u2019 criticism that has been blown out of proportion<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Did the All Blacks stop it legally?<\/p>\n Marshall admitted that he hadn\u2019t watched the game and tactic back since calling the match at Eden Park, but saw that there was outrage around the legalities of how the All Blacks stopped the maul from forming.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other thing I did hear, and I can\u2019t recall it as I haven\u2019t actually rewatched the game, and I didn\u2019t see it when I was calling the match, but I heard that they might have got Etzebeth [Editor\u2019s note: It was Ruan Nortje] early,\u201d the former nine number added.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a bit of chat going around that they tackled him or interfered with him before he came to ground because you can\u2019t touch him when he\u2019s in the air.<\/p>\n \u201cIf he\u2019s up in the air and his feet are off the ground, you can\u2019t grab him or touch him or tackle him. If you bump him, touch him or grab him before his feet come back on the ground, that\u2019s a penalty, and I think a bit of the Green Goblin chat from Saffas was that he was tackled early.\u201d<\/p>\n Shimange replied: I haven\u2019t seen the replay either, but the tricky thing is, remember Kyle Sinckler with the [2017] British and Irish Lions when he took the ball off nine, and then the pass was too high. He jumped off, then he got tackled, and it was a penalty against New Zealand. Now, how else are you supposed to stop him if he\u2019s that close to the line?<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just one of those, whether he was caught in the air or not, you just knew New Zealand were ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, the ex-hooker felt that, on the whole, the All Blacks were smarter on the day than the Springboks, pointing to their knowledge of the laws around the lineouts.<\/p>\n