I do believe the Boks' weakness in the main is the breakdown - both on attack and defense. On our attack, our tackled player becomes isolated with the opposition getting players to the breakdown and legally contesting for a turn-over, thereby giving away the penalty on attack ("not releasing ball") or slowing down the attack and giving the defense time to regroup. This is criminal. I don't have the stats, but would love to know how many such penalties the Boks have conceded this year? Conversely, while we're defending, not only is nobody contesting for the turnover (probably coach's instructions not to give away the penalty for coming off feat), but we are unable to slow the game down and the start of another phase of attack. Hence the record number of tackles made by the Boks. And it all starts at 6,7 & 8. Looking at all the combinations we've had this year, it's clear all players selected in these positions can tackle, carry and break the line (although the latter is a stat best reserved for backline players). I'm not sure how to translate my sentiments into team selections. But I do believe our inability to deal with the breakdown will be telling on Saturday at Loftus. I hope I'm proven wrong.
