Eddie Jones has cast doubt over whether the Springboks can sustain their current level through to the 2027 World Cup.
Since winning the 2023 global showpiece, Rassie Erasmus has guided the Boks to back-to-back Rugby Championship titles, unbeaten November tours and a firm grip on the No 1 spot in the World Rugby rankings.
“I’ve got a theory on South Africa that maybe they’re hitting their peak right now,” Jones said on the DSPN podcast with Martin Devlin.
“And is the timing right? Because two years to retain a peak is a long time. So, they’ve been playing some sensational rugby.”
A key part of that success has been the Springboks’ aerial game. Since the outlawing of escorts around the catcher, smaller wings such as Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse have thrived in contested high-ball situations, while the Boks’ kick-chase has become one of the most effective in world rugby.
Jones, now coaching Japan, believes the balance has shifted too far in favour of the attacking side and expects World Rugby to respond.
“Everything in the game suits them at the moment,” he said. “The disruption with the high ball, they got guys like Cheslin Kolbe, it’s interesting that they got two of the smallest wingers in the world, but they are one of the best teams in the world at regaining the ball kicking wise, and then they’ve got backs who can open up quickly.
“I think at some stage, World Rugby is going to have to bring in the disruption law in the high ball that, unless you’re making a genuine attempt to catch the ball, you’re going to penalise them, because otherwise we’re just going to encourage high ball kicking too much.
FREE DIGI-MAG: How Andre the Giant became hybrid hero
“This is what I love about rugby league, they had this problem of disruption, where they’re just jumping through, putting their hands through, and it becomes an absolute sh*t fight, which we’ve got at the moment – less than 30% of kicks are being caught by the defending team now clean.
“So every time you put up a high kick now, you generally have a 70% chance of getting the ball back. Those are pretty high odds, aren’t they? You’d take those any day. So, what does it encourage you to do? High balls. So, people can’t complain about it. But we need to change it because we just don’t want a high ball game. So, they’re going to have to bring in disruption law. And when they bring that in, then there might be a bit of a change in the game again.
MORE: Rassie & Co defend aerial contest against critics
“The attacking team has every advantage now. Whereas the advantage used to be all with the catcher, when we had the escort law, and now the advantage is all with the team kicking the ball.
“So I think there needs to be a sort of redress of that law, and that’ll be interesting, whether World Rugby looks at that.”
ALSO: Ireland poach another SA schoolboy
Photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
The post Eddie: Boks may have peaked too soon appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Eddie Jones has cast doubt over whether the Springboks can sustain their current level through to the 2027 World Cup.
The post Eddie: Boks may have peaked too soon appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
