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Cape Town - Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett has highlighted the difference between local coaches compared to their New Zealand counterparts.
Mallett was speaking in the SuperSport studio on Saturday night following a dismal weekend for South African teams in Super Rugby.
All four teams competing lost, with the Bulls going down to the Blues in Auckland (23-18), the Sharks losing to the Waratahs in Sydney (33-18), the Lions undone by the Brumbies in Johannesburg (30-20) and the Cheetahs thumped by the Highlanders in Bloemfontein (45-24).
Mallett said: “At half-time we heard Naka (Drotske, Cheetahs coach) say it's back to basics. So for the first 10 minutes of the second half we saw driving mauls and up-and-unders. And it was strange that they were kicking up-and-unders on Patrick Osborne because he's a very big guy.
“The coaching that you get in New Zealand is very different from what you get here. At practice they will put players into situations that they'll face in game. They will play attack against defence. The attack is faced with varying types of defence - a press defence, a shift defence, a slow defence, a staggered defence, a tight defence or a wide defence. And they get the attack to choose the right option in relation to the defence they're confronted with.
“South African coaches have a tendency to say, ‘From this lineout we're going to do this move. We're going to play the centre on a crash-ball. We'll play the same direction with forwards off No 9, then we'll bring it back the other way with a pod of forwards off No 9 and if we get momentum then we'll play it wide".
“But it's all pre-programmed and it's easy to telegraph. Whereas what the New Zealand teams do is give the No 10 the power to make those decisions on the field of play. He will direct during phase play who needs to get the ball. And that's why they read the situation so much better than us.”
