Shane Williams column: Our packs lack skillset of the giants down South
You may be able to make a case for Wales, but come the crunch, we fell short at the death…again.
The big three have consistently been ‘the big three’ for years. And on the back of their demolition of Six Nations champions Ireland, you would have to say the Pumas deserve to be among the top four.
So what sets the Southern Hemisphere apart from the North?
For me, the answer was summed up in a few seconds by Springbok No.8 Duane Vermeulen against Wales in the closing stages of the quarter-final.
Here we had a giant forward, built like the proverbial brick out-house but still possessing the soft hands to produce a cat-flap pass for Fourie du Preez to score the winner.
It was to be the defining moment of the match and a piece of skill that proved the difference between South Africa or Wales reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup.
But my question is this, how many British, or even European, forwards would have the vision and/or skill to produce that burst and pass? Sadly, I fear the answer is, not many.
Southern Hemisphere forwards always look so comfortable playing rugby. They can do the basics that are demanded of forwards. They scrummage, ruck, maul and work the lineout. But they can also run and pass.
At times against Wales, Schalk Burger was standing as first receiver. When you have a flanker getting 20-odd touches of the ball, that makes it very difficult for opposition to work out what the game-plan is and how to stop it.
Burger was tremendous against Wales. He runs hard but also creates space for others.
Then you look at the All Blacks forwards and guys like Dane Coles, Kieran Read or Jerome Kaino and how comfortable they are will the ball in the middle of the field.
Compare them to, say, Chris Robshaw, who tackles well and picks up to just get over the gain-line. Wales also lacked ball-carriers up front.
But when you face the Southern Hemisphere teams, you’re facing 15 skilful players. So we have to ask ourselves why that is. Part of it will be because of the weather conditions we generally play in here. It’s hard to chuck the ball around in the wet.
Another reason will be the relegation factor in the Aviva Premiership and French Top 14 which inhibits players from taking risks.
But I think the problem goes deeper than that. It’s a cultural thing where we need to look at what we are teaching and demanding from young players.
Perhaps in Australia and New Zealand, when youngsters are coming through the systems, they focus more on skill work rather than just being big in the gym.
As a rugby player, size will naturally come through as guys develop their bodies through playing and training, but skills have to be worked on from a young age.
Australia and New Zealand place plenty of emphasis on touch rugby where it is seen as just as much a part of rugby as full contact. In Wales, touch was seen as a five-minute warm-up before the ‘real’ training. After all, it’s only recently that the Northern Hemisphere has taken Sevens seriously.
But let’s not think it’s all doom and gloom. After all, Wales were within six minutes of beating South Africa despite an injury crisis that I’ve never seen before in all my years involved with Test rugby. And Scotland came even closer to beating Australia.
Let’s face it, they would have beaten the Wallabies if it wasn’t for a referee mistake.
Then we would be looking at New Zealand v Wales and Scotland v South Africa in the semi-finals and suddenly everything looks a whole lot different. So let’s not panic – but let’s get the kids learning the skills they need from an early age.
