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Ex-Springbok coach De Villiers faces major challenges as Zimbabwe seek spot at 2019 World Cup

Rassie Erasmus and Peter de Villiers

It was certainly one of the more surprising appointments of 2018 when Peter De Villiers was announced as  Zimbabwe’s new head coach in February.

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His considerable task is to guide the country to their first Rugby World Cup since 1991 and only their third overall.

De Villiers hasn’t coached internationally since 2011, when South Africa were beaten at the quarter-final stage of the World Cup by Australia.

But his pedigree is without question, he won a Test series against the British and Irish Lions 2-1 in 2009, along with the Tri-Nations title the same year, beating the All Blacks three times.

One of the biggest challenges De Villiers faces with Zimbabwe is to expand the pool of players available to him. But it’s not at the top table where De Villiers can dine when it comes to recruiting talent, one of the those called up is England-based player Dylan Baptista, a winger who plays for Tottonians in the London 1 South league – the sixth tier of English rugby. Another is South African-born Johan Stander, who plies his trade for Cape Town club side False Bay.

There is an Irish flavour too, Brian du Toit was in the Ireland Club international squad in 2016 while playing for Dublin University and is called up by Zimbabwe for the first time. His older brother Peter du Toit is a former Ireland Under 20 scrum-half, who was on the books at Leinster and won All Ireland League titles with Clontarf in 2014 and 2016 – the second of which was alongside Ireland Grand Slam winner Joey Carbery. He’s already earned senior honours for Zimbabwe and was part of the team which failed to reach the 2015 World Cup and is back again for his second attempt to qualify. They’re eligible to play for the Sables because of a Zimbabwean father, but have lived in Ireland from a young age.

De Villers will get a chance to assess his eclectic collection of players today when a Zimbabwean invitational side called Zambezi Steelers,  which also features former All Blacks forward Rodney So’oialo, faces South Africa’s Blue Bulls in Harare in an exhibition match.

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“A lot of excitement in me, we just finished our final preparation for our first game on Saturday, I look forward to it. I can’t wait to get to the field, with all this trust in the players. I am looking to see them going on the field and showcase their talent.”

“It’s not an easy game (against the) Blue Bulls, but then again that’s what we are here for. We don’t want easy games, we want to show the world that we will be ready to take on the biggest challenges that can be posed to us as Zimbabwe national team.”

The match is being used by De Villiers to prepare for Africa Gold Cup, which acts as a qualifying tournament for the 2019 World Cup. There are six teams vying for the Gold Cup title – Zimbabwe, reigning champions Namibia, 2017 runners-up Kenya, Tunisia, Uganda and Morocco, the winners of the Silver Cup. Zimbabwe start the tournament with a match against Morocco on June 16th.

Last year Zimbabwe had a disastrous Africa Gold Cup, registering just one win, against Senegal, and slumping to defeats to Namibia, Kenya, Uganda and Tunisia. A drastic turnaround in fortunes is required in order to reach Japan, as only the champions advance.

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Zimbabwe’s biggest threat is likely to come from Namibia, who have qualified for the last four Rugby World Cup’s and are coached by the experienced Phil Davies, the Welshman who as Director of Rugby took Leeds RFC from National League Division Four to the Premiership and playing in Heineken Cup.

There is an added incentive for De Villiers to reach the World Cup as the Africa 1 winners would come up against South Africa and the All Blacks in Pool B, along with Italy and the Repechage winner. De Villiers won’t be looking that far ahead yet, he has immediate issues to address.

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Flankly 15 minutes ago
Rassie Erasmus defends controversial innovation with accusation directed at Italy

Esterhuizen was about a metre offside when Libbok took the kick.

It may feel that way, but it depends on the specifics of how the Laws are interpreted, in particular the question of when Open Play begins.


Offside is very specifically defined for other set pieces and structured situations (scrum, lineout, ruck, maul). Not sure why, but there is no kickoff-specific definition for offside in the Laws. So if offside exists during kickoff then it must be covered by a more general law.


There is an offside definition for Open Play, but there is a question of whether or not this is an Open Play situation. Prior to Open Play starting there is no offside. Part of the Open Play definition is that it is after the kickoff, but what does “after the kickoff” mean?


You can say that Open Play starts the moment that the ball is kicked, and it seems this is the assumption by many people. But a reasonable alternative reading is that the kickoff is not complete, and Open Play has not started, until the whole kickoff sequence is complete, including the ball going 10m, landing/being-caught in field, etc.

One reason that this is a credible interpretation is that there would be no need for Law 12.5 (that players on the kickers side must be behind the kicker) if Open Play starts when the ball is kicked. In that case players in front of the kicker would be instantly offside and subject to the usual offside rules and sanctions. Law 12.5 is only needed because there is no Open Play (and therefore no offside) until the kickoff sequence is completed.


My guess is that Rassie and team went through this in-depth, possibly with advice from WR, concluding that this is not an offside situation and is entirely governed by the Law 12.5 sanction. That sanction requires a scrum and provides no alternative choices for the opposition (such as would have been the case if they simply kicked it short, kicked it into touch etc).


Smarter folk than me can figure out whether the above interpretation is definitive, but it is certainly not obvious to me that Esterhuizen was offside. On balance I would suggest that the game was not in Open Play and that there were therefore no offside rules in place. In that case it all comes down to the Law 12.5 sanction of opposition scrum, for not being behind the kicker.


BTW - WR can fix this by simply adding that the opposition can have a choice of a retake or a scrum, as they can for other kickoff situations. Italy would have picked the retake, no doubt.

18 Go to comments
H
Hammer Head 55 minutes ago
Bok rule-benders are changing the game. They deserve respect

You’re right in that it’s hard to tell what the implications are to having the lift in open play (unless it’s for a lineout or tacking a kick-off).


I think few teams would be brave enough to do this on a regular basis.


But in the event that it does become a practiced and regularly executed move by various teams, I’d like to see how it plays out before calling it a no-go and changing the rules. See how much it becomes a regular feature in matches and see how teams counter the move.


Your argument about removing the contest in open play is a valid one. I agree, that is the intention. But on kick-offs and restarts that’s exactly the current situation. The lifted jumper can’t be touched by the opposing team creating the very scenario of eliminating the contest for the ball.


So if preserving the contest is a reason for changing the law - then lifting jumpers on kick-offs should be stopped too at the same time. Kickoffs and restarts happen numerous times in every game. Compared to this move which might feature once in a blue moon.


Perhaps having more contestable kick-offs in every game will make for a positive outcome? Deep restarts, aggressive kick chasers by speedy wings.


Admittedly, The lift in open play is a bizarre move and it’s clearly about testing the limits of the laws whilst giving teams an edge over the competition. If it gets banned for good reasons, no issue.


But thank you Paul Roos u14B and Rassie Erasmus for making my life a little less dull these past few days.

131 Go to comments
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