We may be wrong about our opinion of the quality of oldie rugby

I checked a few old games during the week, from the early nineties. Jirre boys, it's maar kak hey? I know it was amateur era, but there's no doubt that today's players will blow these oldies away with their skills and complexity of attack all else being equal. Back then there seemed to be two set moves - pass the ball down the backline, or do a scissors (skêrbeweging) with one guy cutting in against the grain. That's it, there's nothing else happening in the backlines. It's hard to spot any difference in play styles between the teams.

The amount of kicking, and especially poor kicking is off the scale. Kicking for position was a big thing back then, probably because with no lifting in the lineouts you always had a 50/50 chance of getting the ball back. You often see a scrumhalf passing the ball back from a lineout on the 10m to inside the 22 so the flyhalf can kick it out in the same spot the lineout just took place. Silliness.

Sure, we see some excellent tries, and the highlight reels from those days can look very impressive. But in between those, mostly basketball shambles. There are of course some decent games too, and the matches move faster because there are fewer technicalities. Scrums, one of the biggest time drains in the modern game, form quickly and without fuss, for one thing.

This was the Currie Cup semi final between Northern Transvaal and Free State in 1991, as an example. What a shit game. The error rate, the kicking, just painful to watch. Kick, knock, penalty, kick, kick, knock, penalty, penalty, kick, kick, kick, knock.

By the way, if you want a good laugh, check 53:19 in the video as Pote Human deliberately charges at Naas Botha and Naas takes evasive action. Hilarious.

Pakie

Sorry to disagree with you. about the issue of backline attacks, The All Blacks realized that better defense requires a change in attack play, They introduced a systrem where the loosies became part of backline attacks and for near to 20 years they ruled the rugby world.

Erasmus brought in Browne to introduce the AB system in SA rugby on both national and franchise level - but the Lions and Stormers showed growth in that regard - while the Bulls and Sharks are stuck in the wrong side of 15 man rugby. It showsd in the results on franchise level - but stuck with Wiese and Kolisi the real growth on test level is still missing on national level. . -

For the system to work the loosies needs pace, and in particular ball sense and skills. But th e promise is there with players llike Du Toit, Roos and De Villiers in exostnce already, However - things are ch ang ing and in two years time Jacobus De Villiers showed us what really is required from future loosies:-

https://www.google.com/search?q=jacobus+de+villiers+oakdale&sca_esv=bafe0ed0d3cfa4c3&rlz=1C1YTUH_enZA1068ZA1070&ei=4oH9acL9K_qHhbIPgfvgsAo&biw=1152&bih=703&oq=Jacobus+de+Villiers+&gs_lp=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&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:b980cb6f,vid:amhva6806Zc,st:0

Plum will think De Villiers should play at center and for a change he may be right if his physica stats are borne in mind.

I blame the coaches of that time, who, along with the players, had no idea what they were doing after coming out of isolation. They had a lot of catching up to do, and what worked in the past was never going to work three decades later. I also think the coaches and players were intellectually bankrupt when it came to rugby, hence a basic and simple kicking game.

I think many varsity teams would beat the 90s Test sides.

How many of the backs in those days would survive a tackle from some of the forwards these days?

Outside of the athletes themselves, today's structures are far more efficient. A simple well organised rush defence would totally shutdown anything the 90s teams had to offer.

But it's the age old Don Bradman argument.

In 30 years from now people might be looking back and saying similar things. Granted, there are always diminish returns when it comes to the efficiency curve.

But it's cool looking at the evolution of sport as a concept. It's literally just like evolution. Small mutations(ideas) that provide benefit have a greater chance of being retained. The greater the benefit the more likely the idea will become a staple part of the system. And then more ideas, more progress, the bad ones fall away and the better ones are kept. Eventually there is massive difference between was is and what was.

And the one thing that drives it...innovators. The guys that don't listen when people tell them "That's a crazy idea."

I'll read a book if I want to know what's known but if I want progress I'll speak to "crazy" man.

And one can't escape that Rassie has been such an innovator. Of course, much of it is gimmick. That's always the case with innovation. 90% are decent concepts but not actually beneficial, too costly, poorly executed, etc. But the good innovators will always end up having contributed something that sticks around in the long run. I think Rassie has done that.

Whats really funny is that in an age of league defence coaches and modern defence/kicking along with layered attack running a Dline will still be sliced open by a DSP (dummy, scissors, pop) or even better the good ol Rangi (9 to 10, 12 and 13 run opposite angles,12 overs line away from 10, 13 on the cut back in hard line. They cross with the delayed 15 straight thought the middle at pace. 10 threads the ball to 15.

Glorious!

Stop flexing, Xavi...you rugby geek!

Ja most tries came from broken play, defences tended to get very fragile when play got loose. Very little was created from set piece or from phase play. And so many good sequences ended in stupidity. Someone just grubbers the ball out 5m from where they are instead of trying to set up another phase. Or just tosses it into opposition hands. Or loses it forward in a tame tackle. Or just kicks it to wherever because why not.

But once the guys got into some space, fair enough, there's some spectacular tries. Check 54:36 of this video (the one below if it shows) to see what I mean, both with the aimless kicking and the great tries. Tinus Linee just boots it for no reason and no apparent goal with three guys outside him, and even worse to Jacques Olivier, one of the most dangerous runners in SA rugby in that era. Northerns players did everything right in the counter, Adriaan Richter's brilliant change of line before feeding Deon Oosthuysen being the clincher. So while much of it can be frustrating to watch now, when it's good it's good :)