War principles serve Deans well

By SPIRO ZAVOS - SMH | Tuesday, 26 August 2008

The opening minutes of Saturday's test in Durban provided clues that the Wallabies were going to break their overseas hoodoo after 14 unsuccessful Tri-Nations matches in South Africa and New Zealand.

The Springboks smashed away at the Wallabies' tryline. Each phase was met by vigorous and disciplined resistance. Then, an attacker was isolated after the Springboks had been pushed back to the 22. The nearest Wallabies, backs and forwards, poured into the ruck. The Boks lined up for the next attack, which never came, because a turnover had been forced - one of 16 against them in the test.

Coaches forget - at their peril - that rugby is primarily a war game. To paraphrase George Orwell, it is war without the bullets and the killings. The game is described in militaristic terms: attacks are launched down the flanks; halfbacks snipe; there are breakouts from a defensive position; kicks can be torpedoes or bombs.

Tackles are the equivalent of body counts. There are the set-piece confrontations of the scrums and the line-outs, rather like set-piece battles in tactical terms. Phase plays are the equivalent of skirmishes with the troops/players trying to force gaps in the enemy defence.

Rod Macqueen, the last Wallabies coach to win in South Africa before Robbie Deans's triumph on Saturday, understood that war-game tactics could be applied to devising successful game plans. He was devoted to the aphorisms of Sun-Tzu, the fourth-century BC military strategist and author of The Art of War. It is fascinating to see how Sun-Tzu's principles to win battles came into play at Durban:

"Invincibility lies in defence." Although the Wallabies conceded two tries, they were not scored until the game was lost by the Springboks. The home side was kept scoreless well into the second half.

"Opportunities multiply when they are seized." Matt Giteau converted his first penalty kick to give the Wallabies a psychologically important lead. The crowd, always a factor in South Africa, was taken out of the contest - especially when Lote Tuqiri scored his breakaway try following a kick-and-chase that started when an aimless Springboks punt was fielded by Drew Mitchell, who pressed forward with an attack.

The final Wallabies try came when Percy Montgomery, not noted for his tackling ability, was moved into five-eighth in place of the injured Francois Steyn. Stirling Mortlock thundered through the gap like an unstoppable tank.

"Know your enemy." The mentality of the Springboks is that they resort to thuggery when they are under pressure, to induce a free-for-all. In the first half, CJ van der Linde, infuriated at his team's inability to clear its rucks, dived across the piled bodies to head-butt Sam Cordingley. Late in the Test, Schalk Burger (out of frustration?) attacked George Smith in the nether regions. Smith, like Cordingley, did not retaliate, but shouted out to the referee: "He's having a go at my nuts."

"The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes few calculations before." It is clear that the embattled Springboks coach, Peter de Villiers, does not understand the complexities involved in the expansive game he is trying to impose on his team. He doesn't select a "fetcher," a loose forward such as Smith who plays on the ball at every ruck and maul. The instinct of South African players is to smash into opponents rather than create space for players outside them to stretch the defence. The expansive game, in other words, is at variance with the skills (or lack of them) and the instincts of the selected players.

The Springboks haven't lost to the Wallabies at Johannesburg since 1963. Defeat on Saturday would bring with it the likelihood of the sack for de Villiers.

"When the army is restless and distrustful, trouble is sure to come from other princes."