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Why the Boks won the Tri Nations by David Clarke

Here is a good summary of the Springboks success over the Tri Nations and, by association, the Lions. It comes from the sports blog, the Roar.

A third Tri Nations championship to the Springboks has capped off a year of achievement for South African rugby, writes Sam Taulelei for The Roar.
Coach Peter de Villiers and his assistants Dick Muir and Gary Gold changed their freestyle approach from last year and developed a more structured, playing strategy based upon pressure, pressure, pressure. A quote from NZ rugby columnist Marc Hinton succinctly sums up their season: “The reality is the Boks don’t beat you with their brilliance. They beat you with their resilience.”

By applying and sustaining pressure they strangled the life out of their opposition like a giant anaconda. They were dominant at the lineout, and used intelligent, accurate kicking, strong defence and relentless chasing. However it was the introduction of two newcomers to the side that had a dramatic effect on the Springboks fortunes in this year’s Tri Nations.

The enforced selection of impressive newcomer Heinrich Brussow through injury to Schalk Burger, proved to be an inspired and inspirational choice.
A large part of the Springboks’ success was a lack of serious injury; they were a largely settled squad and were able to establish combinations particularly in key positions.

Will their Tri Nations success automatically translate to a successful, unbeaten spring tour for the Springboks? This sees tests against France, Italy and Ireland, plus midweek matches against English Guinness Premiership clubs Leicester Tigers and Saracens.

Read more here.

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