Brüssow wary of power-packed refs
2 Feb 2010
Heinrich Brüssow believes the new law interpretations relating to the breakdown could give referees too much control.
With the new breakdown and scrum law interpretations introduced this season, the referees will be stricter at these facets of play – an initiative aimed at improving the flow of the game.
However, from what has been seen thus far during the pre-season, teams have been struggling to adjust to these interpretations and have been frequently penalised. This has disturbed the flow of the game, rather than improving it.
A main reason for this is that the laws now favour the attacking side and make it more difficult for the defending team to contest possession. Brüssow is one player who’s contesting technique could be hampered because of this.
The Cheetahs openside flank said the law interpretations need sufficient time to be assessed, but added that he felt this would allow referees to have too much influence on the game.
‘If it works, then great. But if it’s spoiling the game, then the referees need to reassess these law interpretations. My only worries are that there will be too many penalties awarded and referees will have too much power,’ Brüssow told keo.co.za.
‘For example, say the Cheetahs played the Crusaders, and the Cheetahs managed to steal their ball from the breakdown regularly, the referee will automatically believe there is something wrong because the Crusaders are considered the stronger team. He will then look to penalise us. This could have a negative impact.’
Brüssow was, however, open to the idea of the new interpretations.
‘In the beginning it’s going to be difficult to play according to the new law interpretations,’ he said. ‘But the idea is to improve the flow of the game, so we have to give it a chance and see how it goes in the opening weeks of the Super 14.’
Cheetahs loosehead Wian du Preez told this website yesterday that they are working on strategy to adapt to the new law interpretations. Brüssow, however, doesn’t believe he should change his technique.
‘I spoke to [referee] Jonathan Kaplan about this, and he pointed out that the way referees officiate the game will still differ,’ Brussow said. ‘In one case, a referee might penalise me for my contesting technique at the breakdown, while the other might allow it.
‘So in that case, I think I can still continue to play my game. I just have to see how much freedom I get from the referee.’
By Gareth Duncan
79 Comments
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2 Feb 2010, 13:27 pm
@ufo: Oh Boy!! Aren’t you just the proverbial genius!
Sometimes it is down to interpretation, and sometimes it is just downright incompetence from the Refs!!
Simple examples abound!!
Mapoe contest ball in the air, and wins it, gets penalised for taking the player out… Thick player????
If you see the breakdowns as so simple to patrol, you are a genius indeed!! To the rest of us mere mortals it’s a lottery at best!!
Maybe Brussow isn’t so thick, maybe he is just smart enough to see serious inconsistant rulings in his future, as each ref blows it differently
2 Feb 2010, 13:28 pm
@ufo:
Aiiii, no doubt they would adapt from new adoption laws too.
Im sure McCaw would no doubt advise Brussow to just do his talking between the white lines.
2 Feb 2010, 13:29 pm
@Cheetah 4 Eva:
Whats ticket sales like in Bloem for the 12th ?
Think there is going to be a lot of people ?
Seriously, can’t wait…
2 Feb 2010, 13:44 pm
@Cheetah 4 Eva:
hey Cheets… I’ll take your word for it…
I know there are lots of examples of refs stuffing up… not disputing that… but stuff up or not… the ref’s call stands…
my remark is about Heinrich’s assertion that the refs will have ‘too much’ power… the refs have always been ‘the law’… like it or lump it… correct calls or mistakes… fair or biased… lone gunmen or conspirators… the refs ARE the LAW…
as far as working it out… hell bud… we don’t have to be geniuses to do that…
the coaches should drum it into the players heads…
tackle… release player… get on my feet… contest the ball…
tackle… release player… get on my feet… contest the ball…
if they do DO that… the ref simply cannot penalise them…
if they hang on and see how far the ref will be pushed… they’ll get pinged…
it really is that simple…
2 Feb 2010, 13:45 pm
@Black Panther:
for sure…
and sound advice…!
2 Feb 2010, 13:46 pm
@Black Panther: Fetchers must adapt or die, Smith and McCaw are intelligent players. I believe Brussow is too. Maybe they’ll out play him this year (maybe), but next year and the next will be Ratels time as 10 years of test rugby is slowly catching up with the other 2. So it is their experience, their greatest strength now that will eventually become their biggest weakness.
2 Feb 2010, 13:48 pm
For what it’s worth..
I believe Heinrich will adapt better than most… Last season he was already tackling and getting to his feet in a single motion…
adding the ‘let go’ to the motion is going to be a cinch for Heinrich…
mark my words… he WILL adapt very well…
2 Feb 2010, 14:45 pm
@Cheetah 4 Eva:
Ok…let me get this straight then……
The Stormers suck big time and your beloved cheetahs have done it all….
Last on the log a few times????? At least we have not accomplished that feat……
And then think a bit further…..why can you goon make the final in the CC but you can not even settle higher than 10th on the log in the international competition???? Maybe cause there are more fair Refs blowing games you lose rather than win to come from 6 defeats and make the semi final and then final!
My point was that a WP/ Bulls final would have been great for viewing purposes……cause you were never going to win the final……face it as much as you hate the fact! Just like you will be nowhere in this years S14!!!
2 Feb 2010, 14:54 pm
@Hoops: Hmmmm my my my !!! You have issues!!
And I suppose the WP were going to beat the Bulls??
Fact is I don’t go on about how other teams don’t deserve to be in a final….
Fact number two, it is generally accepted that the cheetahs exceed expectations with their resources, whilst the WP under achieve with theirs..
No where did I say the Stormers suck, or that the Cheetahs have done it all.
Simply said that it’s a standing joke in South Africa that every year starts with this is our year drom Stormers supporters.
The answer to your question is simple Hoops… two totally different competitions. The S14 requires more depth than what the Cheetahs can afford… they simply don’t have the budgets that the bigger unions have, yet they remain competitive.
Sure the Cheetahs have ended last in the S14, but they have been whipping your asses regular in the CC…. it seems that is the root cause for your animosity!!!
2 Feb 2010, 14:55 pm
@ufo:
Agree 100%
It is simple….release the tackled player!!!
We are so use to playing the slowing down game that most kick against this new interpretation!
This has been helped by JW playing his “without the ball” rugby and “let them make mistake” rugby. We won a few games because Jean intercepted and scored…..when we showed the whole game we do not look like scoring!! That era is over now!
2 Feb 2010, 14:59 pm
@Cheetah 4 Eva:
Nice counter…..no depth….no money…..yes sure we under perform for a union with all that cash…..but that is also the reason we believe every year that it could be the year!
And what whippings are you talking about? The few you had so far???? It is more the fact that you can count the amount of CC on your one hand that makes you so defensive of the fact that you were not going to win the CC last year!
2 Feb 2010, 15:15 pm
I would also like to see the refs blowing against attacking players standing in an offside position or in a position to prevent a defensive player from joining the ruck. Saw it this weekend in the Saxons-Ireland game where the Irish player went into an offside position i.e. overran the tackle/ruck situation and prevented a player from Saxons from joining the tackle/ruck.
Also the last mans feet is the offside line at a ruck if you are not joined to the ruck and to my mind they should interpret joined to the ruck the same as they do in the scrums.
2 Feb 2010, 15:55 pm
Wow. It seems we have a number of people here who can’t read. The new law-’interpretations’ is simply that a ref will blow anything he’s not sure of, and the attacking team (team carrying the ball into the tackle) will automatically receive the penalty.
An there is no such thing as an unbiased ref. It is simply human-nature.
2 Feb 2010, 16:00 pm
… and as for Cheetah 4 Eva’s point:
When the media approaches the team they always want to talk to the stars. Like Matfield and Steyn at the Bulls or Schalk at the Stormers etc. And obviously their questions will be about their specialty. Like they always ask Matfield about the line-outs, and he’s always saying he’ll demolish the other team (which made him look like an idiot at the EOYT where he failed to deliver.)
So point is, what else should Brussow have said?
2 Feb 2010, 16:57 pm
@Hoops: Lol, and how many CC in the last 10 years can you count on yours??
Not defensive at all, those are the facts. Lol, at least the Cheetahs have made it to the finals 5 out of the last 10…. How many have WP made it to…. guess you are going to haul out the anals of rugby sibce 1800 to prove your point!!
Fact is since the game turned pro in 1996, and in particular the last 10 years, WP don’t hold a candle to the likes of the Bulls and the Cheetahs in the CC. And that my friend is a shocking statistic for a Union as old, rich, and with the huge player base the WP have
Now you can argue as much as you like, any WP supporter worth his salt will tell you, that it is simply not acceptable!!!
Cheetahs by contrast have performed admirably with limited resources, just to have contested every semi since 1999, and to have made the finals 5 times is an achievment, wether you have the cahoonas to acknowledge it, or wether you prefer to try and argue to make yourself feel better.
Even in the S14, sure the Stormers have never finished last, but considering their standing in South African rugby, they also haven’t achieved much!!
2 Feb 2010, 17:38 pm
@Ratel Brussow (MSIUR): @56
Im confused, you seem to have strayed from the topic. When you say ‘experience counting against you come 2011′, are you talking about half of the Bok pack incl the Capt ? Are you saying they are now a ‘weakness’ ?
here, grab this square peg. The round hole is to your left.
2 Feb 2010, 22:26 pm
I dont think teh opriblem will be with Brussouws technique in stealing ball – he must just clap (see the Alistair Coetzee breakdowns thread) in between tackling and competing, as that proves that you have let go.
That will add a millisecond or two onto his technique, but it is still fast enough to be competitive. At the very least he could be driving over the ball at the same tme to at least slow any quicl possession. So maybe ghis focus changes from stealing to slowing by counter rucking – but it will still be valuable.
The main problem that SA teams need to adapt to is the idea that you cannot slow the ball down AT ALL. We have in the past relied on slowing the ball enough to let our watertight defences in place. We are going to get penalised to hell and gone before we realise that this will no longer be possible. The only way to do it will be legally by counter rucking.
BUT that is a double edged sword, as sending more men to the ruck will mean less defenders if they get it back quickly anyway. Sharp decision making by defenders whether to commit to teh ruck or not will be key.
An alternative would be to just not commit any defenders to a ruck to counter ruck (or maybe just one or two), not try and steal or slow it AT ALL, and just defend until they make a mistake, kick or score. At least that way we cannot give free points away. I think defending more and having less possession in agame is worth more than 15 points penalty head start. but for each coach, its a judgement call.
3 Feb 2010, 03:34 am
Schalk is saved! These changes favor big strong tacklers who can control the ball carrier in the air. Not groundhogs.
3 Feb 2010, 11:01 am
@haribaldi:
There are NO ‘changes’ in the laws !
SANZAR can NOT ‘change the laws’.
The only change is that the refs have been told to enforce the breakdown/tackler rule to the letter. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Tackler has to release and get back on his feet.
3 Feb 2010, 16:22 pm
Brussouw knows he is stuffed. The new law interpretations are hardly going to help his cause. A smallish, burrowing flank…
If Brussouw has to release the player, show daylight between himself and the player, and then compete for the ball, he is stuffed because players like Bismark Du Plessis, Jean Deysel, Schalk Burger, Pierre Spies & Bakkies Botha will have time to knock him off the ruck like a fly.
I reckon the Sharks should withdraw from negotiations with him. His value has been severely reduced by the new laws.
These news laws will once again change the ideal physique for a so called ‘fetcher’. And its not a Brussouw physique.
3 Feb 2010, 16:23 pm
@haribaldi: I suspect you are right – the new laws will suit a Nr 6 like Schalk. Nr 6′s in the Jacques Botes and Heindrich Brussouw category will suffer though.
3 Feb 2010, 16:27 pm
@Black Panther: Yes, you are right – sorry…new law INTERPRETATIONS…
I guess everyone is just calling them ‘new laws’
3 Feb 2010, 17:47 pm
@Dusky: Speculation my poor fellow!! Brussow is no lightweight, and I don’t think he will be bumped off with the consumate ease you suggest.
If I am not mistaken, he weighs 100 kg’s and has a very low centre of gravity… he is also a very powerful man….
Suggest you temper your predictions till we see the effect if any they have on Brussow’s game…. That boy is real fast, and as somebody wrote earlier, he is like a Jonty Rhodes, up on his feet in a flash and contesting, whilst the big lumbering forwards you are promoting are still lining him up…
They might knock him over, but he will probably have the ball already, and so it will be just going the direction of his support
3 Feb 2010, 18:47 pm
@Dusky:
I couldnt disagree more. I think these new ‘interpretations’ (thanks, Dusky) will play directly IN TO the hands of those players that are more accurate. The most accurate loosies on the Planet are McCaw, Brussow, Juan Smith and G.Smith. Technically excellent players will always be at an advantage.
On the contrary, players relying mostly on brute power and physicality – Burger, Moody, Bakkies etc – will be at a massive disadvantage.
Accuracy will be the key, without a doubt. Lets not judge it until Round 5 or 6 tho.
4 Feb 2010, 10:55 am
@Cheetah 4 Eva: Cool – lets wait and see.
@Black Panther: As above – its all speculation at this time, but, just as the ELVs proved, its impossible to tell what impact new law interpretations will have until the games begin.
Not being allowed to kick directly out if you carried the ball back into your 22 was supposed to promote running rugby, yet, in the beginning, it became a kicking festival.
So – both of you guys could be right, but, so far, all the ‘new interpretations’ have done as far as I can see, is caused a hell of a lot of penalties. So, teams like the Bulls with accurate goal kickers will be in the pound seats. We saw in Durban last year that the Bulls know how to play for a 4 log point win.
4 Feb 2010, 13:42 pm
@Dusky:
I think youre spot on re the concerns over penalising too much, lets hope this is just the normal teething process. I dont turn up to watch kickers, thanks very much.
Bring back rucking I say.
4 Feb 2010, 15:18 pm
@Black Panther: Have you ever watched rugby league ? I must be honest, I havent but I do understand the basics, and from what I can tell, these new interpretations bring us one step closer to rugby league.
The only difference being that the number of ‘downs’ is not limited to 5. Meaning that if teams know how to play the breakdowns, they will be unstoppable.
Teams that take longer to adjust are dead. Simple as that.
4 Feb 2010, 16:27 pm
@Dusky:
Bingo, I had those same thoughts immediately. Seems to almost guarantee ball to the attacking side, which seems very anti-Union. It also gave me concerns that all teams would start looking like the Brumbies teams of old, when they retained possession over multi-phases without actually doing much with it. Yawn !
I like League to a certain degree (if the codes ever merge, forget SA/NZ dominance, the Aussies will clean up !) but its also a bit brainless and limited. Then again, I cant bring myself to watch SuperLeague here in Britain, so boring compared to NRL in Aus.
Im sure our concerns will ease as teams get used to these interpretations. Instead of 1 loosie flying in, tackling and attempting to rip the ball immed, presumably now loosies will have to act more than ever as a small unit, with the 2nd to arrive as the ball-ripper. Hopefully that will mean less forwards fringing about in the backs, the bain of modern day union (and 1 that makes it more like league formations than anything else).
5 Feb 2010, 03:16 am
go to youtube.com/watch?v=iXLYBa5YIqw
That is how flankers should play. Get on your feet release the player and steal the ball. This was legal then and will be now, lying on the player with you elbow in his face ala bakkies and Bissie gets up the nose of the refs and rugby watching public. That is why players like Heinrich get the short end of the stick. Its not what he is doing, its some of the walking yellow cards around him.
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