Lions’ blueprint may not help Boks

THE Lions’ blueprint for a successful Super Rugby season will not necessarily translate to the same success for the Springboks.

However, the Springboks will certainly take a lot out of how the Lions went about their Super Rugby campaign and also from the other South African franchises, according to Springbok assistant coach Johann van Graan.

There have been countless utterances from rugby experts that the Springboks should adopt the Lions’ brand of rugby, but Van Graan says they will need to take a little out of every franchise and player to build a plan that will yield the required results in the Rugby Championship.

Having been part of three Super Rugby-winning campaigns in his years at the Bulls, Van Graan is wary not to get caught up in the mob thinking of adopting everything from one particular franchise, and instead believes that the recipe for success will be to take the good from all the franchises and make it work for the Springboks.

“I thought the way the public got behind the Lions was fantastic. I was privileged to be at a franchise earlier in my coaching career and we did the same thing. When we were successful the whole country got behind us.

“You’ve got to take some positives from all your franchises and all your players and build a plan around it.

“The overseas-based players bring in something special, the Lions guys bring excitement and momentum and the Stormers guys had a fantastic scrum, and I thought some of the broken field attack was brilliant.

“You take what you have in your squad and adapt your plan,” said Van Graan yesterday.

He is adamant that the glaring differences between Super Rugby and the Rugby Championship make for a different approach to the game, starting from dominance of the set pieces to making sure that you capitalise on every opportunity on attack.

Weaknesses

The coach believes there is a lot the Springboks can learn from their June series win against Ireland, from the times when their weaknesses were badly exposed to the strengths that ultimately saw them clinch the series.

The Bok coaching unit have a vision for this team for the next four years, “But we can only control this first Test match, take what was positive from Ireland and learn from what didn’t go that well,” said Van Graan.

“The Rugby Championship is a different animal and very specific, but we have a way that we want to play: a well-balanced game and take the opportunity when it is there to attack. Every Test is a new Test and we must learn from the past and take the positives.”

A valuable lesson from the past that the Springboks will take note of is the might of Argentina.

The Jaguares struggled to adapt to the demands of Super Rugby, but they will surely be a different beast when they play as Los Pumas in a competition in which they have grown by the year and even pulled off a historic victory against the Springboks in Durban last year.

Van Graan is expecting the South Americans to be as feisty as ever in their Rugby Championship opener in Nelspruit next week, and says their understanding of South African rugby will make them more of a threat than before.

“You just have to watch them when they sing their anthem to see what it means to play for Argentina.”